(WWI ROUTE APP)

CEMETERY OF GERMAN SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR I

BARTKIŠKE VILLAGE

During the First World War, many German soldiers died in the vicinity of Turmantas. Here, in the former village of Bartkiškė , the cemetery of the fallen soldiers of the 88th Infantry Division of the German Imperial Army was established.

The division started its battle on the Eastern Front, received its baptism of fire in the battles near Lodz in 1915, participated in the Gorlica - Tarnow campaign, and the battles near Narevo (Naruči). From November 1915 to December 1917, the division's main deployment location was Turmantas. The division had 3 infantry brigades with 12,500 soldiers.

1914 - 1915 The cemetery of German soldiers who died in the First World War buried in the village of Bartkiškė occupies an area of 0.11 ha. A grey-brown stone has been preserved in the cemetery to this day, on which two boards were hung with the sign of the 88th Infantry Division and the years when soldiers were buried in the cemetery . Their number is unknown. Next to the memorial stone, an alley was formed from field stones. In the beginning, the burial places of soldiers were marked by birch crosses, which were replaced in the interwar period by standard cement crosses with surnames, initials, military ranks, and dates of death.

in 1967 this cemetery, like many former cemeteries of German soldiers in Zarasai, was barbarically destroyed, the crosses were destroyed. Some of them were placed in the foundations of the farms under construction, others were buried, the graves were leveled. The original memorial stone inscriptions and symbols have been replaced with an inscription glorifying the Soviet Army.

This information stand has been prepared with the financial support of the European Union. Zarasai Tourism and Business Information Center is responsible for the content of this stand. Under no circumstances can it be assumed that it reflects the opinion of the European Union.

This informational stand was created under the Interreg V-A Latvia-Lithuania Cross-Border Cooperation Program 2014-2020, with financial support from the European Union for Project No. LLI-501 "Creation of the World War I Heritage Route and Exhibition to attract visitors to the border area" (WWI ROUTE). The project aims to attract visitors to the border region of Lithuania and Latvia by utilizing World War I heritage sites located in the Aukšdaugava and Zarasai districts, which are relatively well-preserved on both sides of the eastern Lithuania-Latvia border. Total project financing amounts to 731,449.50 euros, including 85% funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERAF) amounting to 621,732.07 euros.