Stephanie Posted 12 November , 2007 Share Posted 12 November , 2007 Hi Pals, Seeing many Jewish graves (mainly amongst Germans) at the Western Front, I was just wondering what happened to these graves during WW2, were any purposely destroyed, cared for or just simply left alone? Regards, Steph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 12 November , 2007 Share Posted 12 November , 2007 Steph As I understand things, the war cemeteries were pretty much left undamaged during WW2. John (PS; nice to see you back posting, BTW) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 12 November , 2007 Share Posted 12 November , 2007 We've covered this a couple of times. In the main it depended on the local commander. Some were very sympathetic (and either sent in parties to cut the grass or let the locals do it with army equipment) to those who let the SS rip up Jewish gravestones (mostly in German cemeteries). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 12 November , 2007 Share Posted 12 November , 2007 In the only Greman Cemetery I have visited with old pre consolidation stones men were not identified as Jews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 13 November , 2007 Share Posted 13 November , 2007 The cemetery I referred to above is Montaigu II near Laon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 13 November , 2007 Share Posted 13 November , 2007 In the only Greman Cemetery I have visited with old pre consolidation stones men were not identified as Jews. That was quite often the case, Paul. Most german cemeteries of the 1930s had pretty uniform markers (quite often wooden crosses no matter what the religion) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 13 November , 2007 Share Posted 13 November , 2007 Most german cemeteries of the 1930s had pretty uniform markers (quite often wooden crosses no matter what the religion) For example. How many of these wooden crosses mark the graves of Jewish soldiers? (Langemark 1932 , in which, apart from by name, jewish soldiers are unidentifiable amongst their gentile comrades to this day)... dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 13 November , 2007 Share Posted 13 November , 2007 Dave the ones at Montaigu II are not wooden but also are not the other types one sees commonly. I can get a picture emailed to me but being Mr Technology don't know how to put em on the forum. Now I have the emailed pictures and can send it to you if you message me your email, they are flat, white and no indication of religion. For some reason, maybe the registers, I was sure they pre-dated the consolodations that began in the 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 13 November , 2007 Share Posted 13 November , 2007 When I visited Neuville St Vaast cemetery north of Arras recently I was struck by the high number of Jewish graves amidst the crosses. The death of so many Jews for their country was something the Nazi party conveniently forgot just a few years later. If they were respected by the occupying soldiers in WW2 I hope that it was because they were soldiers as well. Gunner Bailey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 14 November , 2007 Share Posted 14 November , 2007 The cemetery I referred to above is Montaigu II near Laon. Montaigu II (photos courtesy of Keith Knight (and Paul!)). The cemetery actually is a concentration cemetery originally dating from 1917 (concentrations in 1928 and 1974). The headstones actually only date from 1969 when they replaced the existing wooden crosses (just noticed that bit in my files!)... dave ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dally Posted 14 November , 2007 Share Posted 14 November , 2007 Far from being any sort of expert on this subject, I was lucky enough to talk to an Englishman who works on the Somme and I asked him the same question. He told me that they were treated with the utmost respect on the orders of Hitler. He went on to say that a German soldier was caught urinating on a Jewish grave and was duly tried and executed for it. I don't know if it's true but the other fella, who is an expert in these things believe it to be. I think I expected the Jewish ones would have been removed by Hitler. I'm glad they we'rnt and I'd like to believe that they were respected on his orders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 14 November , 2007 Share Posted 14 November , 2007 He told me that they were treated with the utmost respect on the orders of Hitler. He went on to say that a German soldier was caught urinating on a Jewish grave and was duly tried and executed for it. I don't know if it's true That's an oft repeated story, dally. Quite often the target of the (quite often drunk) German soldier's urine in the tale is the Menin Gate, though I have heard the same mentioned for various other memorials/graves. I can't say whether it's true or not, but I have my doubts (I can only see the death penalty being issued on a soldier if he did such a thing in the Feldherrnhalle, Munich to be honest - anywhere else, it'd be more of a misdemeanor than a crime with, at the most extreme, a posting to the east being the punishment) but it is true that, in July 1940 an order was issued (not necessarily direct from Hitler) stating that the war cemeteries were to be respected as such. dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted 15 November , 2007 Share Posted 15 November , 2007 Apparently the German commandant at verdun during WW2 had fought there in WW1. He was ordered to destroy the French Jewish monument, but somehow had it boarded up and hidden. Not military related but... a few years ago I was in Berlin and visited the Jewish cemetery there... It was, I suppose a prime piece of real estate. I to this day do not know how it survived the Nazi period... I would have thought they would have leveled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted 15 November , 2007 Share Posted 15 November , 2007 I to this day do not know how it survived the Nazi period... I would have thought they would have leveled it. I think that the animals had their hands full in killing the living rather than desecrating the dead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted 15 November , 2007 Share Posted 15 November , 2007 I think that the animals had their hands full in killing the living rather than desecrating the dead What about 33-40 when they had plenty of time? but that is all another topic and should not divert from the main one. best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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