Graves dug by the people of Ludwigslust on the palace grounds of the Archduke of Mecklenburg. German civilians were forced by U.S. troops to bury the bodies of prisoners killed in the Woebbelin concentration camp.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 29541

Overview

Caption: Graves dug by the people of Ludwigslust on the palace grounds of the Archduke of Mecklenburg. German civilians were forced by U.S. troops to bury the bodies of prisoners killed in the Woebbelin concentration camp.
Date: 1945 May 07
Locale: Ludwigslust, [Mecklenburg] Germany
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Louis Drucker
Event History: Woebbelin, a sub-camp of Neuengamme, was captured by British and American troops on May 4, 1945. Upon entering the camp, the liberators discovered nearly 4,000 prisoners, one-quarter of whom were already dead. Outraged by what they found, the ranking Allied commanders in the area forced civilians from the nearby towns of Schwerin, Hagenow, and Ludwigslust to view the concentration camp and then bury the bodies of prisoners in their towns. Approximately 200 bodies were buried in Ludwigslust on the grounds of the palace of the Archduke of Mecklenburg. A somewhat smaller number were buried in the garden of the leading Nazi official in Hagenow and 80 bodies were interred in Schwerin. Every fourth grave was marked at each site with a Star of David in honor of the unidentified Jewish dead.

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006160.

Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Louis Drucker

Source Record ID: Collections: 1997.A.293

Keyword: CONCENTRATION CAMPS GRAVES/MARKERS/TOMBSTONES MASS GRAVES NEUENGAMME SUB-CAMPS WOEBBELIN
Photo Designation: LIBERATION -- Germany: Atrocities/Death March Victims -- Woebbelin/Ludwigslust/Schwerin