Schwerin/Stralsund (dpa/mv) - The German War Graves Commission has started this year's house and street collection. The regional association Vorpommern-Rügen made the start in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Monday at the Alter Markt in Stralsund. The state association announced a central collection campaign in downtown Schwerin for Tuesday. In addition to Mayor Rico Badenschier (SPD) and members of the state parliament, high-ranking representatives of the Bundeswehr are also expected, said state manager Karsten Richter in Schwerin.
Most of the proceeds from the collection campaign in the north-east, which will last until November 20, will benefit the work at the Stare Czarnowo (Neumark) soldiers' cemetery south of Szczecin. The Volksbund Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns has been in close contact with those responsible there for many years. More than 25,000 war dead were buried in the cemetery, so-called extra beds have been placed to this day, said Richter.
The association's managing director expressed the hope that the trend towards increasing donations would continue. Because of the contact restrictions in the corona pandemic, income had collapsed massively in the meantime. According to Richter, 39,000 euros were collected in the north-east last year. That was more than the year before, but still significantly less than in the pre-Corona times. As Richter said, around 500 voluntary civilian collectors, students, soldiers and reservists of the Bundeswehr will be on the road across the country in the coming weeks. The collections traditionally take place around the national day of mourning.
The German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) is a humanitarian organization that records, preserves and cares for graves of German war dead abroad on behalf of the Federal Government. The Volksbund also promotes encounters between young people at the resting places of the dead. The regional association organized a youth camp in Rostock this year. According to the judge, young people from ten nations took part.
