La Cambe German War Cemetery, Normandy (Day 16, Part 5 of 8)

 

Our next stop was brief, but memorable -  The German Cemetery at La Cambe.  Most of the war victims buried here died between June 6 and August 20, 1944.  21,222 soldiers rest here and each grave is an exhortation to peace.  "It is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight.  They too have found rest in our soil of France."

 

 

We saw red poppies many times while in Normandy.  They are a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.  This custom began during World War I and continues in many parts of the world today.

 

Many of these soldiers were still very young – they were only 18, 19 or 20 years old. They died during the Allied landings and the battles that followed.  Initially, American and German dead were buried in adjacent fields but the Americans were later returned to America or moved to the American Cemetery about 10 miles away.  The headstones are flat on the ground, with two names on each.  The two buried here were 19 and 26 years old.

Like other German military cemeteries of the two world wars, La Cambe reflects the status of the defeated. Unlike Allied cemeteries, the crosses and headstones are of a dark tone, in accordance with what the Treaty of Versailles had already established in 1919 for cemeteries of the First World War.  This hill is a mass grave of 296 soldiers, more than 200 of these are unknown.

 

The cemetery had a very dark feel to it.  We know that not every soldier buried here agreed with Hitler.  Approximately 1.3 million German men were conscripted from 1935 to 1939, numbers for the rest of the war are uncertain, but these conscripts were force to fight a war they did not believe in.  Also forced to wear the German uniform were French men.  A Nazi decree published on August 25, 1942, ordered the conscription of young men from the annexed part of eastern France.  Referred to as malgré-nous (despite ourselves), 130,000 men were drafted. Around 32,000 died and 9,000 more went missing.  These young men had no choice. If they refused, their family was deported and their property confiscated.

 

 

Next stop: Pointe du Hoc.