Thought I would forward this from another list. Theola *************************************************************8 > Today there is *Volkstrauertag* [National Day of Mourning] in Baden- > Württemberg and in the whole of Germany. > > It is not only a "Veterans' Day". On this day, nowadays, all the > victims of National Socialism and all the dead of the two Wold Wars, > including the civilians, are remembered. > > A *Volkstrauertag* was initiated by the *Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräber- > fürsorge* [German War Graves Commission] in 1920. From 1934 on the Nazis > used to call that day *Heldengedenktag* [Heroes' Remembrance Day] for > obvious reasons. The *Volkstrauertag* was revived immediately after the > end of the Second World War. > > The *Volksbund* have been doing a marvellous job in trying to find > war graves in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere with the intent > to be able to identify dead German soldiers and have very often been > able to tell the family where the son or father was buried. This is > a terribly difficult task as e.g. graves might now be hidden under a > car park, which formerly was a field, or after having found graves in > a forest the Volksbund discovered that defiler of graves had been there > before because they *collected souvenirs*, like the Iron Cross or, of > course, of more importance to them, the identity discs/tags, which they > sell. > > The *Voksbund* have been laying out new war cemeteries all the time and > are taking care of them. They are a registered charity organization that > mainly relies on donations. > > Regards, > > Lothar Schmid in Ludwigsburg > > > > ______________________________

Hello, Thank you for sharing. May every man and boy come home. Angie ----- Original Message ----- From: Theola Walden Baker <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2000 8:06 PM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] Fw: [B-W] German National Day of Mourning Thought I would forward this from another list. Theola *************************************************************8 > Today there is *Volkstrauertag* [National Day of Mourning] in Baden- > Württemberg and in the whole of Germany. > > It is not only a "Veterans' Day". On this day, nowadays, all the > victims of National Socialism and all the dead of the two Wold Wars, > including the civilians, are remembered. > > A *Volkstrauertag* was initiated by the *Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräber- > fürsorge* [German War Graves Commission] in 1920. From 1934 on the Nazis > used to call that day *Heldengedenktag* [Heroes' Remembrance Day] for > obvious reasons. The *Volkstrauertag* was revived immediately after the > end of the Second World War. > > The *Volksbund* have been doing a marvellous job in trying to find > war graves in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere with the intent > to be able to identify dead German soldiers and have very often been > able to tell the family where the son or father was buried. This is > a terribly difficult task as e.g. graves might now be hidden under a > car park, which formerly was a field, or after having found graves in > a forest the Volksbund discovered that defiler of graves had been there > before because they *collected souvenirs*, like the Iron Cross or, of > course, of more importance to them, the identity discs/tags, which they > sell. > > The *Voksbund* have been laying out new war cemeteries all the time and > are taking care of them. They are a registered charity organization that > mainly relies on donations. > > Regards, > > Lothar Schmid in Ludwigsburg > > > > ______________________________