The graves of German soldiers are not very conspicuous. You need to know what you’re looking for to recognize them. Some are simply rectangular gravestones laid at an angle with a name, a birth date and a death date.

Others are mass graves, for example in memorial groves with a single memorial stone bearing the names of all the fallen soldiers.

However, not all of the graves are those of actual fallen German soldiers.

There are sections with similar gravestones bearing dates of death ranging from April 16, 1945, to the weeks following the surrender of the Nazi regime. This is the period of the end game of World War II in Europe.

The graves contain women, older men, and young boys.

The older men and boys were part of the Volksturm militia that fought against the Red Army in the last weeks of the war. Some were fanatics, while others were forced because the alternative was to be executed by the German secret police Gestapo.

During this time, some women chose to end their lives to avoid what awaited them. Soviet soldiers punished women for supporting the Nazi regime by sexually assaulting them.

Many women stayed loyal to the Nazis because opposing the tyrannical regime could lead to prison or death.

In the end, the women, the brainwashed fanatics, the older men, and the young soldiers forced to fight are also victims of the tyranny and war caused by Germany.

In Berlin and the surrounding area, there are approximately 170 cemeteries where around 150,000 victims of tyranny and war are buried.

There are the graves of German soldiers as well as British and Soviet soldiers, Jews, and Muslims.

Here you’ll find a map with all the gravesites of the victims buried in Berlin.