The Russian War Cemetery Tjøtta

 The Russian War Cemetery in Tjøtta has been built in 1953 for all the Soviet prisoners of the Second World War who died during this time in Northern Norway. Around 13700 Soviet prisoners died in the war and almost 8000 are buried on this cemetery. 6725 of the dead are buried in a common grave to the north and there are 826 individual graves to the south. The decision for this graveyard war very controversial because the prisoners have already been buried in ordinary graveyards and have been resurrected for this operation called Asphalt. There were many protest against the Asphalt Operation since it disturbed the last resting place of the dead Soviet prisoners. There are very less information about the whole process as well as about the War Cemetery itself, probably because this is nothing the Norwegians are proud of. 

 

The cemetery itself is different to all other graveyards I saw before. If you do not know where you are and what you are looking at, it is hardly recognizable as a graveyard because there are neither tombstones nor any information what this place is about. The big memorial is inscribed in Russian, so not readable for everyone, not even for most of the Norwegians. Nevertheless I like the decision not to mark the place as a tourist attraction since it is a place where the Soviet prisoners should find their peace, without thousands of people visiting the cemetery every year. The construction of the graveyard is very interesting and unique. It is framed by a low wall on which you find boards with all of the identified Soviet prisoners. In the south are small stones in the ground which mark the 826 individual graves. Until today many Russians come to this place to look for ancestors who might have died in Northern Norway during World War ll.

The Russian War Cemetery is not the only one at Tjøtta. There is another International War Cemetery which is devoted to all the people who died on a sinking ship right outside Tjøtta in November 1944. The ship was on its way from Finnmark to the south of Norway when the Germans retreated from the front in Northern Norway. On board where about 2800 people, Russian, German prisoners, as well as Czechs, Serbians and Norwegians. The ship has been bombed by British planes and there were only 381 survivors. This event is considered as one of the most significant shipwrecks in the world and might be one reason why the Norwegian government chose this place for the Russian War Cemetery.