The Soviet War Memorial is located in the former Soviet sector of Niederschönhausen in Berlin, and at the entrance you are greeted by a message from the former Soviet occupying power.

A pillar with an inscription reminds East Berliners who liberated Germany from Hitler and the Nazi regime. It reads (translated):

In eternal remembrance of the heroes

The monument is just one of several Soviet war memorials in Berlin. They serve as cemeteries where soldiers from the Red Army who fell during the Battle of Berlin are buried.

Click and read about the Soviet war memorials in and around Berlin

The memorial is the largest of the Soviet burial sites in Berlin. Around 13,200 soldiers, including 120 women, are laid to rest here. It is also the largest Soviet cemetery in Europe outside of Russia.

Only a quarter of the soldiers could be identified, and their names are written on 142 burial plaques throughout the memorial.

It was built in the aftermath of World War II between 1947 and 1949. The memorial itself is a rectangle surrounded by a wall. A pair of large mausoleums form the main entrance to the memorial, and straight paths lead down to a large obelisk.

In front of the obelisk sits a statue of Mother Russia, watching over a fallen comrade. Behind her, the tall obelisk towers into the sky. Two Soviet colonels are buried underneath the chamber inside the obelisk.

Why the memorial is located in Schönholzer Heide is perhaps no coincidence.

The park was Berlin’s second largest forced labor camp during World War II, where many of the forced laborers came from the Soviet Union, the so-called Ostarbeitern (East Workers).

It is an obligation for Germany to look after all Soviet war memorials and give them protected status. It is part of the agreement with the four occupying powers on the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.

Needless to say, it is also an obligation for us visitors to pay respect for the dead when we visit this place. After all, it is a cemetery, and the soldiers came from one of the countries that ultimately liberated Europe from Nazi Germany, regardless of how Europe’s history continued to unfold during the Cold War.

Read about the Soviet war memorials in and around Berlin