Multinational „Wiking“ Division Ehrenfriedhof in Ukrainian Donbás

Wiking divisional insignia at a war cemetery in the Donbas region

European Wikingers cemetery in the Donbas region

The Wiking Divisions military Ehrenfriedhof in Uspenka in the Ukrainian Luhansk Oblast was well-known for the men of the multinational Waffen-SS division. Aerial photographs shows a massive graveyard with graves in rows grouped into larger sections. The great cemetery was surrounded by white walls and with an open entrance. Photographs can be seen in the book European Volunteers by Peter Straßner. The volunteers cited the importance, and even comfort, of the idea that the fallen were never forgotten and such care might be taken over their own loss and recovery. The division cemeteries were the final resting place for thousands of volunteers who met their end in the war against communist Soviet Union. Although they came from all over Europe, most of them were from countries that were occupied by Nazi Germany. The war cemeteries of the Wiking at Uspenka, Amvrosiivka and Modlin and many more were all completely levelled by advancing Soviet troops. They destroyed all German war graves as they recaptured ground. Some 40,000 German war dead are located and reburied in properly maintained German war cemeteries each year across Eastern Europe and Russia according to the spokesman of The German War Graves Commission Fritz Kirchmeier (2012). German Military cemeteries in Kharkov in Ukraine, in Frauenburg (Saldus) in Latvia, in Tallinn and Wesenberg (Rakvere) in Estonia, and in Krasnodar in the North Caucasus region and elsewhere have been set up for bringing thousands of Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS war graves of their regions together. Images: private wartime photographs showing a minor Wiking cemetery in eastern Ukraine and is most likely taken during the construction of the cemetery. Later this cemetery was expanded and acquired a well-known appearance with the graveyard full of typical SS grave markers. Note the SS motto Meine Ehre heißt Treue (My honor is loyalty) under the ancient Germanic Sonnenrad. Credit: Pixpast. Courtesy of Jacob Westberg.