Tjøtta Russian War Cemetery, War cemetery in Tjøtta, Norway
Tjøtta Russian War Cemetery is a burial ground in North Norway containing more than 800 individual marked graves and a mass burial site for thousands of others. The grounds are laid out across open land with crosses and memorial stones identifying the different groups of people interred there.
The cemetery was established in 1953 to gather Soviet prisoners of war from scattered burial locations across North Norway into a single consolidated site. This consolidation took place years after the war ended, reflecting efforts to properly honor and document the dead.
The graves display names and symbols representing Russian soldiers, Polish prisoners, and Serbian detainees who were held or died in the region. Walking through the site reveals how different nationalities are marked, creating a record of the international dimension of wartime loss.
The cemetery is located on public land and is accessible by road; visitors should come prepared for northern weather with proper clothing and footwear. The grounds are open and exposed, so rain gear and sturdy shoes are recommended.
Many graves at the site remain unmarked because the remains came from the Rigel, a ship that capsized near an island in 1944 carrying Soviet prisoners. The ship disaster left limited remains that could be individually identified, creating a large section of anonymous burials.
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