Event description

On April 13, 1945, four thousand people from the Buchenwald concentration camp arrived in a transport train at the station in Stod. It allegedly held Czech, Polish, Russian, French, and Dutch prisoners, as well as several American soldiers. According to witnesses, these people were in a wretched state, and the living, the dying, and the dead were in the wagons together. 

Two hundred and fifty victims from this transport were buried in Stod. Their identities were not determined; we can only judge various nationalities from remnants of clothing and from witnesses’ testimonies. Clothing fragments found show that nine American parachutists were interred along with the victims.

On August 12, 1945, an exhumation was performed, and the American soldiers’ remains were transported from Stod to another location.

According to the records, 241 persons are buried at the Grove of the Martyrs in Stod.

After liberation, most of the town’s German population was expelled into Germany.

Monument

This memorial site stands amid a park with full-grown trees. The space in front of the monument is partially blacktop and partially cobblestones. Directly in front of the building are two spaces planted with small bushes, and the site is demarcated with stone columns and chains.

This marble monument has four levels and is roughly 12 feet high. The bottom part of its base is made of rough-hewn blocks. The next part is made of several large blocks. The third part comprises one large stone block, with a glass plate bearing an inscription upon it. The largest part, a regular four-sided pyramid with a height of roughly 6 1/2 feet, is made of artificial stone and decorated with a metal crown of thorns and manacles.