Description
(Pressphoto) The Nameless dead – Koedriest Amsfoort execution of Russsian prisoner.
Discovered at Amersfoort was nass grave containing remains of 70 Russian prisoners of war of Smolensk regiment. medical corpsmen show skull with two bullet holes to Lt. N. N. Sacharov of Russian military mission to the Netherlands.
The size of the photo is approximately 24 xc 16,5 centimeters.
The photo shows the examination of executed Russian prioners of war in Amersfoort.
Background:
The Soviet soldiers had in September 1941 been brought to Camp Amersfoort as prisoners of war, after enduring a horrific fourteen-day journey in cattle cars. They had received no food during the journey. On the day of their arrival (September 27, 1941), they were forced to march in a procession to the camp. They were marched through the entire city to show the citizens of Amersfoort what these “lowly people” looked like. The residents of Amersfoort reacted with shock. When they tried to give the starving Russians water and bread, the occupying forces prevented them. Upon arrival at the camp, the 100 Russian prisoners of war were mistreated. They were forced to stand for a very long time in the Rose Garden, which was fenced off with barbed wire. Between September 27, 1941, and April 9, 1942, 23 Soviet soldiers died from starvation and mistreatment.
In the early morning of April 9, 1942, the last surviving 77 Soviet prisoners of war were executed. For decades, it was believed that 77 Soviet soldiers who were prisoners of war in Camp Amersfoort were shot on April 9, 1942, at the site of the monument dedicated to them: Koedriest. This was the second-largest mass execution of World War II. After the war the “Koedriest” monument in Leusden was erected in memory of the 23 Soviet prisoners of war who died in Camp Amersfoort and the 77 Soviet prisoners of war who were executed by the occupying forces near the camp grounds on April 9, 1942.
More background: https://www.4en5mei.nl/oorlogsmonumenten/zoeken/1674/leusden-koedriest
