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Sovjet Ereveld

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Dodeweg 31
3832 RE Leusden
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865 Forgotten War Victims at Sovjet Ereveld

At the Sovjet Ereveld in Leusden, next to the Rusthof Cemetery in Amersfoort, lie 865 war victims from the former Soviet Union. They lost their lives in various locations in the Netherlands and Germany. After the war, their identities remained unknown. Since 2000, the Sovjet Ereveld Foundation has identified more than 250 war victims and located more than 225 of their families.

Older residents of Amersfoort can still vividly recall the 101 prisoners of war from Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In September 1941, they arrived at Amersfoort Station. The Nazis viewed them as “subhumans” and treated them brutally. During their journey through the city to Kamp Amersfoort, they appeared exhausted and hungry. Some residents of Amersfoort tried to give them something to eat. To no avail… Even during their stay Kamp Amersfoort, the Russians, as they were called, were treated poorly.

Mass execution

Within a…

865 Forgotten War Victims at Sovjet Ereveld

At the Sovjet Ereveld in Leusden, next to the Rusthof Cemetery in Amersfoort, lie 865 war victims from the former Soviet Union. They lost their lives in various locations in the Netherlands and Germany. After the war, their identities remained unknown. Since 2000, the Sovjet Ereveld Foundation has identified more than 250 war victims and located more than 225 of their families.

Older residents of Amersfoort can still vividly recall the 101 prisoners of war from Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In September 1941, they arrived at Amersfoort Station. The Nazis viewed them as “subhumans” and treated them brutally. During their journey through the city to Kamp Amersfoort, they appeared exhausted and hungry. Some residents of Amersfoort tried to give them something to eat. To no avail… Even during their stay Kamp Amersfoort, the Russians, as they were called, were treated poorly.

Mass execution

Within six months, 24 soldiers died, and on April 9, 1942, the remaining 77 Soviet soldiers were executed by firing squad. It was the second-largest mass execution in the Netherlands during World War II. The dead were buried in the woods and on the heath surrounding the camp. After the war, they were reburied at Rusthof and, in 1947, transferred to the new Sovjet Ereveld, next to Rusthof.

Amersfoort as a gathering place

The Memorial Cemetery (officially opened in 1948 by Minister of War W.F. Schokking) was established to make room for an additional 691 fallen soldiers from the Soviet Union. There is no longer room for them at the American Military Cemetery in Margraten, Limburg, because that site is being converted into a permanent memorial cemetery for American soldiers. As a result, Amersfoort is increasingly becoming a gathering place for war victims from the former Soviet Union. The remains of 73 others, mainly Armenians and Georgians, are also being reburied at the Sovjet Ereveld . A few women and one victim of World War I will also find their final resting place there.

Memorial Column

At the Sovjet Ereveld stands a memorial column, surrounded by a wall bearing an inscription in Russian and Dutch: “To the soldiers of the Soviet Army who fell in the struggle against the German invaders. 1940–1945”. The wall bears the inscription “Glory to the Heroes.”

Since March 2025, there has been a museum within walking distance of the Field of Honor, where you can relive the stories behind the headstones: the Sovjet Ereveld Experience.

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