The graves of Polish and Ukrainian citizens can be found in the south-western part of the Friedhof am Mühlenberg Evangelical Cemetery in Eckernförde. Several dozen gravestones with (mostly) three names at a time inscribed upon each of them are arranged along the border of the cemetery. However, in between ten and twenty cases, the deceased remain unidentified. In the post-war years, several graves were moved to this site from other local cemeteries. One of the memorial plaques bears an inscription in Polish that reads: ‘Mother! Your children are scattered far away in the distant world. Do not forget about them! Lord, reward them for being separated form their Homeland with your special grace! The weary bodies, the longing hearts in Poland, and the martyred souls with the Creator! 1947. Hail Mary!’
The query conducted in the cemetery has made it possible to establish 104 names of persons of Polish origin interred here. However, only 89 names are inscribed upon the gravestones.
Of these people, 26 persons died or were killed during World War II. The vast majority are Poles who, after the war, stayed in Germany in the camps for so-called displaced persons where they waited for an opportunity to return to Poland or to emigrate elsewhere. Almost half of those buried here (52) are children, most of whom (38) were born and died after the war, between 1945 and 1948.
The state of preservation of the gravestones is good; the first and last names inscribed upon them are legible. However, some of the names are misspelt.
Cemetery address: Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswiger Str. 1
24340 Eckernförde
GPS: 54.477006,9.832403
Cemetery administration: Friedhofsverband Eckernförde,
www.friedhof-eckernfoerde.de,
friedhofsamt-eck@kkre.de,
Schleswiger Str. 33, 24340 Eckernförde,
+49 4351-81291
