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Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

Article about: Hello, there is a lot known of the graveyard. Willem Tiemens (he died in 2007) wrote a book of it (Ehrenfriedhof Zypendaal te Schaarsbergen). It is in dutch but a very good site. There is a

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    Default Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    Hello!

    Today I went to Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem, the former cemetery of German soldiers in The Netherlands, and I took some photographs to share with you. There are very few photographs to be found on the Internet, so I took a bunch. But it was easy for me, because I live nearby!

    I put up a html page with the whole photo session (including HI-RES), it's landmarks and some additional trivia about the sites.
    You can find it here: Arnhem, Zijpendaal, Schaarsbergen, Ehrenfriedhof

    Or download all half-res pictures in 1 zip:

    http://www.ainaur.net/history/zijpen...l_half_res.zip (+/- 36MB)

    I am still updating the page with additional information, so some of it might change. if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

    Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem:


    Please Note: This area is off-limits for metal-detectors, unless you have a permit. The forest around also has a Forester guarding most of the area.

    Take care,

    Sasha.
    Last edited by Sasha; 06-15-2011 at 12:21 PM.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    I also made some before and after comparison:





    Take care,

    Sasha.

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    I made an impression of how it might have looked like. Since there is no data about this it's purely based upon the available data and imagination. In my estimate the site could have 4 rows with each 60 graves, (at best a 5th row) which gives us around 300+ burial sites. It is known that some graves had two fatalities instead of one. Which might result in approx. 450 graves max. There is another strip that isn't shown here, this strip is the second burial site, which housed an unknown amount of fatalities. The rumor that it housed 1750 fatalities seems like a myth to me. Many soldiers were buried where they died later on in the War, not only because of lack of burial space, but also because it became too time consuming to give each soldier a proper burial as the war progressed and became more intense. It was not uncommon for burials to be stalled several times a day because of heavy shelling. I think a total of 750 burials over two strips at Ehrenfriedhof should be closer to the truth? I like to hear your thoughts about it.

    The 1750 number is 100 fatalities less of the total German soldiers who died (approx. 1850). There is also the rumor that there are still bodies buried here, but that is untrue. In total of the war in Arnhem (all places), there are approx. 100 soldiers missing as of today. (every year they sometimes find a new body at the Oosterbeek area where heavy fighting took place) All those who were buried at Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem were reburied at various places. To my knowledge all fatalities of war were removed from this spot.

    Quick impression I just made:



    It's a quick sketch, I might do a better one soon that also takes in the grassy lanes between two rows
    Last edited by Sasha; 06-15-2011 at 02:35 PM.

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    Fantastic pics especially the overlaying,thanks!

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    Hi Sasha, fantastic pictures. I walked around that area and found some of the things you've photographed. How well do you know the area? I've been going there for the last six years and walking the battlefields, I've even started doing the wandeltoch. I've done the 40k twice now and this year will be my third. Maybe we could meet up at some point in September as I'll be there for the month, and swap stories?

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    Thank you for the pictures very intresting.

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    I know some people who have been searching that area; They came up with some pretty good finds to, mainly Erkennungsmarke, and even a named aluminium gravemarker. After the war they had no clue how many soldiers were burried there as the records were incomplete. There's a good chance there are still some lost soldiers burries there, cause they had no clue about who was burried where, and howmany soldiers in one grave.
    They even made huge mistakes counting the number of corpses when they clearde the site. They ended up with more corpses than they dug up!
    Creepy place by the way, been there some years ago. Back then it was difficult to find, especialy the second cemetary.
    Thanks for the pictures!
    Didn't Kaiser Wilhelm stay at the mansion after the first ww? Becoming Hollands first political asylum seeker?

  8. #8

    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    Great thread Sasha

    Nick
    "In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard." - SS Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Bittrich - Arnhem

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    @Feuerbach So I heard indeed that a team of archaeologists went looking there (Around 40 years later?) and found quite a bit. Well the mix up was to what I know due to the fact that the gravestones from along some road in Arnhem (where others soldiers were buried) were moved to this field, but without the actual bodies. So they became very confused about the actual fatalities buried there. From what I know from locals the actual numbers were less then assumed and that pretty much every body was accounted for. (Actually they found less because of the gravestone mix-up) Sure, it might still be possible that some bodies are still buried around there but I don't think there will be many. The Netherlands (I think most countries?) is bound by the Geneva Convention and must try to find every missing solider that lost their life on it's soil. In 2008 parts of a missing German soldier was found at the Westerbouwing near the Oosterbeek area after they were searching for a missing British soldier (which they didn't find yet)

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    Default Re: Zijpendaal Ehrenfriedhof Arnhem

    After doing a bit more research I read this site: Duitse Veldgraven in Oosterbeek ยป

    Which basically says:

    In the first months of the war 100 German soldiers were buried at Ehrenfriedhof Zypendaal.
    In the period afterwards until 17 september 1944 another 400 were buried there, a large portion were personel of the Luftwaffe
    In the battle for Arnhem another 250 were buried there.

    In total 750 graves. After the war another 500 solders were buried there.

    Between 2 august 1948 and 12 February 1949, all graves were moved to the German military graveyard at Ysselsteyn.

    I think that 750 + 500 after the war: 1250 in total should be the most accurate number. I can't see how they possibly could bury 1750 soldiers there, unless they made mass grave somehow.

    I think I got the above sketch wrong as well. I am currently creating a new sketch based upon new data I found, which indicates a different position in which graves were aligned.

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