Soviet Field of Honor
In September 1941, 101 prisoners of war from Central Asia arrive at the veelos site near Amersfoort station. The Amersfoort population refuses to regard the Soviet Russians with their Mongolian features as Untermenschen, as desired by the German occupier. During their stay in Kamp Amersfoort, 24 Soviet Russians die. On April 9, 1942, the remaining 77 are shot. After the war, their remains are reburied at Rusthof.
Another 691 Soviet prisoners of war lie on the American Battlefield in Margraten, Limburg. They succumbed to illness in German hospitals in the last days of the war or after liberation. After the war, the authorities want to make this cemetery a permanent field of honor for American soldiers only. The Soviet victims will be transferred to Amersfoort, where 101 Soviet Russians are already buried.
Amersfoort thus functions a...
In September 1941, 101 prisoners of war from Central Asia arrive at the veelos site near Amersfoort station. The Amersfoort population refuses to regard the Soviet Russians with their Mongolian features as Untermenschen, as desired by the German occupier. During their stay in Kamp Amersfoort, 24 Soviet Russians die. On April 9, 1942, the remaining 77 are shot. After the war, their remains are reburied at Rusthof.
Another 691 Soviet prisoners of war lie on the American Battlefield in Margraten, Limburg. They succumbed to illness in German hospitals in the last days of the war or after liberation. After the war, the authorities want to make this cemetery a permanent field of honor for American soldiers only. The Soviet victims will be transferred to Amersfoort, where 101 Soviet Russians are already buried.
Amersfoort thus serves as a gathering place for victims from the former Soviet Union buried in the Netherlands. The remains of 73 forced laborers and Soviet soldiers in German service are also reburied in Amersfoort.
Because there is insufficient space at Rusthof, a separate cemetery is established. This Russian Field of Honor was opened by Minister of War W.F. Schokking on November 18, 1948.
Monument The Koedriest (aka Russian Monument) stands on the site where a mass grave containing 77 Soviet victims was uncovered after the war. They were part of a group of 101 prisoners brought to Kamp Amersfoort on Sept. 27, 1941. Most were from Uzbekistan.
By early April 1942, 24 Soviet Russians had died in the camp from illness, deprivation and abuse. The remaining 77 were executed on April 9, 1942.
A simple memorial was erected at this execution site in 1954, which was replaced by the present monument on May 4, 1962. The text on the column reads: 'To the glorious sons of the Soviet people who fell in the fight against the German occupation forces in 1941-1945. From the grateful Fatherland'.
The Koedriest is the name of a forest plot where the execution took place. Elementary school De Heerd from Leusden has adopted the monument.
The monument is located at the end of the Loes van Overeemlaan (the former Appelweg), past the former Kamp Amersfoort and golf course De Hoge Kleij.