Traces of Remembrance

For several years now, volunteer work camps have been helping to clear paths and secure the remains of buildings on the site of the former Zeithain prisoner of war camp. This makes it possible to walk around the site with visitors and explain the history of the camp. Remains of buildings as well as roads and paths have already been recovered. Further work is necessary, for example clearing and cutting free overgrown building sites and paths and renewing wooden shelters to protect the exposed building remains from the weather. In addition, repair and clean-up work is to be carried out at Jacobsthal railway station. The station was the former arrival and departure point for all railway transports, where more than 270,000 prisoners of war arrived between 1941 and 1945. The station was purchased at the end of 2025 and is to be integrated into the memorial site’s work in the medium term.

The Ehrenhain Zeithain memorial commemorates the at least 25,000 people who fell victim to malnutrition and catastrophic conditions in the Wehrmacht prisoner-of-war camp from 1941 to 1945.

As part of the German war of extermination against the Soviet Union, a prisoner of war camp was set up in Zeithain in 1941. Initially, only Soviet soldiers from the Red Army were held in the camp. At the time, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers fought together in the Red Army. Up to 30,000 of them died as a result of inhumane living conditions. From February 1943, the camp served as a central hospital for prisoners of war. Prisoners from other nations also arrived during this period. Italian soldiers formed a large group. The majority of them also died due to inadequate nutrition and poor medical care. The dead were buried in five cemeteries in the municipality of Zeithain.

The memorial is located in one of the cemeteries. An exhibition and name plaques commemorate the victims of the camp.

The area of the POW camp was completely cleared after 1945. The huge 66-hectare site is now part of the Gohrischheide nature reserve and is an unmanaged natural landscape.

The aim of this work camp is to give young people the opportunity to familiarise themselves with archaeological challenges by researching the historical heritage, but also to acquire knowledge about forms of remembrance work.