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German Military Cemetery - Vossenack (Germany) |
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Important note The World War II
Recogne German Military Cemetery photo portfolio is provided
by Mr. Robert Mary. All
photos on this page are copyright Robert Mary and may only be reproduced
with his express permission. You may contact me here.
The cemetery is located in Vossenack, Germany. 2.334 persons
are buried there. |
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Historical information The Hürtgen forest The Hurtgen Forest, in the area between Düren, Aachen and Monschau, is a beautiful part of the Eifel area in Germany. A beautiful place for the locals, tourists and visitors, because of the many hikingtrails, green forests, pitoresque streams and stunning views over the valleys. However, the soldiers who fought here during the wintermonths in 1944 and 1945, did not have much attention for this recreational site of the area: they only saw death and destruction. Ehrenfriedhof Vossenack is situated in the middle of the former battlefield of the Hürtgenwald. Here rest 2.334 casualties, among them 35 men of the Minenräumkommando, who were deployed after the war to clear mines, but also to salvage the casualties from fieldgraves, to register these casualties and to move their remains to war cemeteries. On this war cemetery Fieldmarshall Walter Model has been buried. During Operation Market-Garden he fled to Doetinchem and led a counter-attack from there. When his Army Group B got surrounded by the Americans in the Ruhr Area, he committed suicide as he refused to surrender. Walther Model's history Walther Model (pronounced "modal") (January 24, 1891–April 21, 1945) was a German general, and later a Field Marshal, during World War II. He was noted for his defensive skills, and was nicknamed "Hitler's fireman". A fanatical Nazi, Model served
as an infantry officer in World War I. During the Polish and French
campaigns in 1939 and 1940 he served as
a corps and army chief of staff. In the Russian campaign from 1941 until
1944 he served in succession as a division, corps, and army commander.
Model in January 1944 was assigned as commander in chief of Army Group
North on the Eastern Front. In mid-August 1944 he was transferred to
the west as Commander in Chief West and concurrently as commander in
chief of Army Group B. Upon Rundstedt's return as Commander in Chief
West in early September 1944, Model retained command of Army Group B,
a post he kept until the final dissolution of Army Group B in April 1945.
Aware that he would be tried for war crimes, he committed suicide before
capture on 21st April 1945. He is buried in the German military cemetery "Der
Soldatenfriedhof Vossenack", located near the town of Vossenack,
Germany Model's decision ended the war for his men, but he himself had little desire to witness the aftermath of defeat. He said to his staffers before dissolving his command: "Has everything been done to justify our actions in the light of history? What can there be left for a commander in defeat? In antiquity they took poison". His decision to commit suicide was sealed when he learned that the Soviets had indicted him for war crimes, specifically the deaths of 577,000 people in concentration camps in Latvia and the deportation of 175,000 others as slave labour. After his attempts to seek death on the front line came to nothing, he shot himself in the head in a wooded area on 21 April 1945. The location, between Duisburg and the village of Lintorf, is today part of the city of Ratingen. Model was buried
where he fell. In 1955 his son, Hansgeorg Model, guided by his father's
former
officers, recovered his father's body. Walter
Model was reinterred in the Soldatenfriedhof Vossenack, a German military
cemetery near the town of Vossenack in the Hürtgen Forest. Location information Address: Deutscher
Soldatenfriedhof, Vossenack. |
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