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Places of Remembrance

Through the centuries Europe has had great turmoil with warring fractions that have led to horrific wars of great destruction and death. As small kingdoms would create alliances with other kingdoms their adversaries would do the same in fear that they wouldn’t be secure against their adversaries. This would lead to a very competitive environment which unified kingdoms into countries like Germany & Italy. The revolution in France toppled a monarchy and the ideas of democracy spread throughout the rest of Europe.  The average person would rise up against the power of not only the monarchies but, those of wealth and influence. Many of these conflicts are commemorated and memorialized usually at the very location they occurred.

The greatest of these are the two world wars that were fought primarily on European soil. These wars impacted all of Europe in one way or another. Across the countries of Europe are museums that document these events and landmarks at the actual locations. Memorials are scattered across the face of Europe to honor the dead and the cemeteries where they rest.

The most moving of these memorials are the concentration camps of WW II. While some were destroyed and merely have markers to show where they existed, others like Auschwitz still have the buildings and grounds where some of the evilest crimes against humanity were committed. These stand in remembrance of all those who suffered and died under the brutality of an oppressive Nazi regime.

European Memorials & Monuments

 AUSTRIA

Soviet war memorial-  Vienna

 BELARUS

Brest Fortress – Brest
Khatyn massacre

 BELGIUM

Memorial de Mardasson –  Bastogne
Malmedy Massacre Memorial – Baugnez
Saint Julien Memorial – Langemark
Island of Ireland Peace Park – Messines
Lion’s Mound – Waterloo
Menin Gate Memorial – Ypres

 CZECHIA

Lidice Massacre Memorial –  Lidici

 ESTONIA

Independence War Victory Column – Tallinn

 FRANCE

Notre Dame de Lorette – Ablain St.-Nazaire
Newfoundland Memorial Park – Beaumont-Hamel
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial – Colleville-sur-Mer
Douaumont Ossuary Verdun – Douaumont
Verdun Memorial – Fleury-devant-Douaumont
Welsh Memorial at Mametz Wood – Mametz
Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre Memorial – Oradour-sur-Glane
Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme – Thiepval
Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial – Villers–Bretonneux
Vimy Ridge Memorial -Vimy

 GERMANY

The Holocaust Memorial – Berlin
Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park – Berlin
Hermannsdenkmal – Detmold
Befreiungshalle – Kelheim
Völkerschlachtdenkmal – Leipzig

 GREECE

Distomo Memorial –  Distomo
Museum of Sacrifice –  Kalavryta

 IRELAND

Garden of Remembrance – Dublin
National War Memorial – Dublin

 ITALY

Sacrario militare di Redipuglia –  Fogliano Repdipuglia

 NETHERLANDS

National Monument  – Amsterdam
Groesbeek Memorial, Canadian War Cemetery – Groesbeek
Netherlands American Cemetery – Margraten
Liberty Monument Welberg – Welberg Steenbergen

 POLAND

Tannenberg Memorial – Olsztynek
Bohaterom Warszawy –  Warsaw
Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto –  Warsaw
Ochota Massacre Memorial –  Warsaw
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – Warsaw
The Warsaw Uprising Memorial –  Warsaw
Wola Massacre Memorial –  Warsaw

 ROMANIA

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier- Bucharest
Mausoleum of Mărăşeşti – Mărăşeşti

 RUSSIA

Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery – Leningrad
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – Moscow
Poklonnaya Hill – Moscow
Mamayev Kurgan Motherland Calls – Volgograd (Stalingrad)

 SERBIA

Šumarice Memorial Park – Kragujevac
Marićevića jaruga – Orašac

 SPAIN

Fossar de les Moreres – Barcelona
Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) – San Lorenzo de El Escorial

 TURKEY

Zafer Anıtı-Turkish İndependence War Glory Memorial – Alagöz
Ulus Cumhuriyet Anıtı-Ulus Turkish Republic Memorial -Ankara
Gelibolu Peninsula (Gallipoli) – Anzac
Guven Anıtı-Turkish Soldiers Memorial – Kizilay
Turkish İndependence War Memorial

 UNITED KINGDOM

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

The National Armed Forces Memorial – Alrewas, England
Shot at Dawn Memorial – – Alrewas, England
Hall of Memory –  Birmingham, England
The Cenotaph, Whitehall – London, England
National Firefighters Memorial – London, England
Nelson’s Column Trafalgar Square –  London
Women of World War II – London, England
The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey – London, England
Animals in War Memorial – London, England

Northern Ireland

The Cenotaph – Belfast, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland War Memorial – Belfast, Northern Ireland
Titanic Memorial – Belfast, Northern Ireland

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland

Scottish National War Memorial, Edinburgh Castle – Edinburgh, Scotland
Commando Memorial – Spean Bridge, Scotland
Lewis War Memorial – Stornoway, Scotland
Lockerbie Garden of Remembrance  – Lockerbie

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales

Welsh National War Memorial – Cardiff, Wales
War memorials in Monmouth – Monmouth, Wales

Also of high interests these days are the sights of the “Cold War” such as the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charley, Cold War museums, old Soviet locations in the prior Soviet areas and more.

Additional Listings for European Memorial sites;
 » Memorials Museums 
    »Traces of War

Concentration Camps of WWII

The Nazis used Concentrations Camps for several purposes. 

● Forced Labor – These camps the earliest of camps where people the Nazis considered undesirable were put to work as cheap labor to build infrastructure projects but, primarily military manufacturing. 
● Transit or Holding – These were camps used as collections points for the apprehension of civilians and then staged for deportation to concentration camps.
● Concentration
● Extermination

 AUSTRIA

Mauthausen-Gusen  – Labor camp

 BELARUS

Koldichevo – Labor camp
Maly Trostenets – Extermination camp

 BELGIUM

Breendonk – Prison & labor camp
Mechelen – Transit camp

 CROATIA

Jasenovac camp – Extermination camp

 CZECHIA

Skrochowitz – Transit camp
Theresienstadt – Transit camp

 ESTONIA

Klooga – Labor camp
Vaivara – Concentration & transit camp

 FRANCE

Drancy – Internment camp, transit
Fort de Romainville – Prison and transit camp
Le Vernet – Internment camp
Natzweiler-Struthof – Labor camp & extermination camp
Alderney – Labor camps located on the Channel Islands off the coast of France

 GERMANY

Arbeitsdorf – Labor camp
Berga an der Elster – Labor camp
Bergen-Belsen – Collection point
Berlin-Marzahn – Labor camp
Bernburg – Collection point
Breitenau – Labor camp
Buchenwald – Labor camp
Dachau – Labor camp
Flößberg – Labor camp
Flossenbürg – Labor camp
Hinzert – Collection point
Kaufering – Labor camp
Kemna – Concentration camp
Langenstein-Zwieberge – Buchenwald subcamp
Malchow – Labor and Transit camp
Mittelbau-Dora – Labor camp
Neuengamme – Labor camp
Niederhagen  – Prison and labor camp
Oberer Kuhberg – Concentration camp
Ohrdruf – Labor and concentration camp
Oranienburg – Concentration camp
Osthofen – Collective point
Ravensbrück – Labor camp
Sachsenhausen – Labor camp

 ITALY

Bolzano – Transit camp
Fossoli – Prison and transit camp
Risiera di San Sabba – Detainment camp

 LATVIA

Kaiserwald – Labor camp
Salaspils – Labor camp

 LITHUANIA

Kauen – Internment camp

 NETHERLANDS

Amersfoort – Transit camp and prison
Herzogenbusch – Concentration camp
Westerbork – Transit camp

 NORWAY

Bardufoss – Concentration camp
Bredtvet – Concentration camp
Falstad – Prison camp
Grini – Prison camp

 POLAND

Auschwitz-Birkenau – Extermination and labor camp
Bełżec – Extermination camp
Chełmno– Extermination camp
Fort VII  – Concentration camp
Gross-Rosen – Labor camp
Lamsdorf – Łambinowice
Majdanek  – Extermination camp
Mittelsteine – Labor camp
Płaszów – Labor camp
Sobibór – Extermination camp
Soldau- Labor & transit camp
Stutthof – Labor camp
Treblinka  – Extermination camp
Warsaw  – Extermination and labor camp

 SERBIA

Banjica- Concentration camp
Crveni krst – Concentration camp
Sajmište- Extermination camp

 UKRAINE

Bogdanovka- Concentration camp
Janowska – Transit , labor & extermination camp

More information can be found at;

 » The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names
Locate tour operators that specialize in war remembrance, battlefield & military tours at out
» Tour Types post

Cemeteries

Because of the many wars over the centuries, Europe is littered with cemeteries of the fallen. With the two world wars being that last large conflict in Europe, many cemeteries dot the landscapes for both Axis and Allies countries. The two world wars only took a total of  approximately 15 to 18 million in WW I and 34 to 54 million in WW II. Unlike the first world war the later took more innocent lives then those of the combatants. Americans can visited many of these locations. The American cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer in Normandy is the one most visited by Americans. It is the resting place of  fallen Americans from the invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach, which suffered the most casualties of the the five invasions beaches. It also has a guest center that has exhibits explaining about events and those who participated in the invasion. In addition their are those of the non military. Certain churches contain the tombs and graves of great rulers and royalty over the centuries. Over time it also became a place to of honor to bury and honor famous people of the non-ruling class who made exceptional contributions to country and society . In cities like London and Paris cathedrals and public buildings will contain those of Charles Darwin to Victor Hugo. Public cemeteries open to the public have those of great writers, poets, composers, performers and famous people. Paris’s  famous Père Lachaise is know for the final resting place of many a artist, from Frédéric Chopin and Oscar Wilde to Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison.

Noted Cemeteries of Europe…

★ WWI Cemeteries     ★★ WWII Cemeteries

For more cemetery listings go to 

➾ Wikipedia Cemetery List     
 ➾ American Battle Monuments Commission   
 ➾ WW I Cemeteries