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Under the supervision of an American soldier, German civilians from Suttrop dig graves for the bodies of 57 Russians, including women and one baby, exhumed from a mass grave outside the town.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 80471

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    Under the supervision of an American soldier, German civilians from Suttrop dig graves for the bodies of 57 Russians, including women and one baby, exhumed from a mass grave outside the town.
    Under the supervision of an American soldier, German civilians from Suttrop dig graves for the bodies of 57 Russians, including women and one baby, exhumed from a mass grave outside the town. The victims were forced to dig their own grave and then were shot by SS troops six weeks before the arrival of American troops. On May 3, 1945, the 95th Infantry Division of the U.S. Ninth Army arrived in Suttrop and were informed by locals of the mass grave. American troops forced the townspeople to exhume the grave after which Russian displaced persons in the area identified the bodies. The victims were reburied in individual graves, and a U.S. Army chaplain conducted burial services. Russians remaining in the area placed wreaths on the graves.

    Overview

    Caption
    Under the supervision of an American soldier, German civilians from Suttrop dig graves for the bodies of 57 Russians, including women and one baby, exhumed from a mass grave outside the town.

    The victims were forced to dig their own grave and then were shot by SS troops six weeks before the arrival of American troops. On May 3, 1945, the 95th Infantry Division of the U.S. Ninth Army arrived in Suttrop and were informed by locals of the mass grave. American troops forced the townspeople to exhume the grave after which Russian displaced persons in the area identified the bodies. The victims were reburied in individual graves, and a U.S. Army chaplain conducted burial services. Russians remaining in the area placed wreaths on the graves.
    Date
    1945 May 03
    Locale
    Suttrop, [Prussian Westphalia; North Rhine-Westphalia] Germany
    Variant Locale
    Warstein-Suttrop
    Photo Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park
    Event History
    In January 1945, as the end of the war approached and Germany's defeat became imminent, an attempt was made to eliminate all enemies of the Third Reich. On January 24 the RSHA sent a telegram to the leaders of the local police offices in Duesseldorf, Muenster, Dortmund, and Cologne ordering the killing of all Communists and slave laborers in their custody. As a result, a large number of political prisoners were killed in North Rhine-Westphalia during the last few weeks of the war.

    https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10008065.

    Rights & Restrictions

    Photo Source
    National Archives and Records Administration, College Park
    Copyright: Public Domain
    Source Record ID: 111-SC-205630
    Second Record ID: 153-Case files 1944-49--box 313--file 12-639 to 12-646

    Keywords & Subjects

    Record last modified:
    2003-10-23 00:00:00
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/pa1085055

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