War Cemetery Versen

According to current research, the Versen camp cemetery was only established in 1944. Following exhumations in the 1950s, the Versen war cemetery still contains the graves of 297 deceased prisoners from the Meppen-Versen sub-camp of Neuengamme concentration camp in 1944/45 and 71 dead who were transferred here from the Esterwegen burial site in 1955.

In addition, 64 unknown dead are buried at the war cemetery. The names and nationalities of the deceased are inscribed on four sandstone slabs installed in front of the entrance to the cemetery.

A small plaque next to it commemorates the Italian military internees (IMI). Another slab is dedicated to the Danish prisoners and a metal memorial to the Soviet prisoner of war Dmitri Petrovich, who died in the Versen camp on 31 March 1942.

The victims of National Socialism buried at the war cemeteries have a perpetual right of rest under the ‘Law on the Preservation of Graves and Victims of War and Tyranny’. The current design of the cemeteries was significantly influenced between 1951 and 1974.

The memorial plaque with the Latin inscription was placed in 1951 as part of the redesign. The Versen war cemetery is thus a memorial design, i.e. artistically designed monuments and steles adorn the cemetery without designating specific grave locations.