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Ash Graves Commemorative Site

In 1944/45 the SS had ashes from the crematorium dumped into a sinkhole located beneath SS falconry. Here lie the remains of thousands.

A green overgrown earthen funnel in the forest. On the left a slope leads up to a tree and plain railing — 1/2

Ash grave, earth funnel, 2012. Photo: Claus Bach. ©Buchenwald Memorial

A row of concrete letters that form the word Memento. In the background a balustrade marks an earthen funnel surrounded by trees — 2/2

Memento sign at the ash grave, 2012. Photo: Claus Bach. ©Buchenwald Memorial

The ash grave was forgotten in 1945. Rediscovered in 1965, it was designed and inaugurated as a cemetery in 1967. Located a good distance from the usual visitor paths of the National Buchenwald Memorial of the GDR, it fell into neglect, and in the 1980s it was used as a forestry refuse ditch.

After being cleared once again in 1993/94, the ash grave was marked by concrete-cast letters spelling the Latin work "MEMENTO" (memory). These letters had originally been used in the first designs for mass graves on the southern slopes of the camp complex in 1949, today the location of the National GDR Memorial.