German civilians from Lindlar are forced to look at the exhumed bodies of ten Russians, which had been thrown into a ravine and buried.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 88873

Overview

Caption: German civilians from Lindlar are forced to look at the exhumed bodies of ten Russians, which had been thrown into a ravine and buried.

The victims were shot on April 4, 1945, by members of the Volkssturm (civilian militia) in retaliation for the killing of the local group leader (SS, SA?) in Overath.
Photographer: Jack Herrington
Date: 1945 June 14
Locale: Lindlar, [Prussian Rhineland; North Rhine-Westphalia] Germany
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.

Photo Source: National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

Copyright: Public Domain

Source Record ID: 338-Cases Not Tried--box 396--file 66-330

Keyword: ATROCITIES COFFINS CORPSES EXHUMATION/REBURIAL FORCED CONFRONTATION GERMANS RUSSIANS/SOVIETS SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
Photo Designation: LIBERATION -- Germany: Atrocities/Death March Victims -- Other -- Lindlar