|Beberbeku Vācu karavīru kapi|
Also known as: Deutscher Soldaten Friedhof Beberbeki, German WWII Cemetery
|Cemetery notes and/or description:|
Directions from Riga to this cemetery: Route A10 toward Jurmala to Route A5 south to the Pinki, Latvia exit which will be Rigas iela (street) and go through the town to Meza iela then turn left onto Meza iela and it will be a short distance on the left. The parking lot is on the right.
The cemetery is being used to bring together all the German World War II soldiers graves of the surrounding regions. It is a joint project of the Latvian government and the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (German War Graves Commission). In time of war, unlike today where soldiers are brought home, soldiers then were buried where they fell which created many small burials. In time, these may be forgotten.
The consecration of the cemetery was on 09 June 2001 with 12 burials in Block 1. Their original location was in Baldone, about 50 km southwest of Riga.
Dedication of the military cemetery took place on 22 .September at 2007. Capacity is programed for 10,000 remains and in 2012, there were approximately 3,000 graves there.
Grave are marked with granite crosses which normally have 4 names on it indicating those buried. Remains that could not be identified to a specific person are listed on the marker as “Unbekannter” – “unknown”.
The names of 6,600 German soldiers who were buried in Riga but whose graves are covered with a civilian cemetery “2. Meza kapseta” are written on 33 columns. The remains in the Meza 2 kapseta were never removed and land was reused as a civilian cemetery. At 2 Meza kapseta there is a monument and a book that lists all who are buried in that cemetery. Also the names of 1200 POW’s who died are written on separate columns. The location of their graves is unknown.
A four-meter-high stone cross of granite stands in the cemetery and on the pedestal, reads: Here lie the German soldiers of the Second World War. Remember her and the dead of all wars
Note that whatever ones feelings are toward what happened, one must remember that many of the soldiers where young people who were conscripted by their governments to fight battles in which they wanted no part in. The purpose of the conflicts was to satisfy older people’s wants of more power and land.
There is an information center on site that is open from May to October daily from 10.00 hrs to 16:00 hrs
“The soldiers graves are the great preachers for peace” Albert Sweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize winner.
There is another German World War II Cemetery located in near Saldus, Latvia in Plesumi, Novadnieki parish, Latvia.
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