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The Soviet War Cemetery in Leusden was officially opened on 18 November 1948. During the ceremony a monument was unveiled that commemorates the war victims who lie buried at the cemetery. The ceremony was attended by the Minister for War LLM W.F. Schokking, Soviet ambassador V.A Valkov and other dignitaries and interested parties.
The obelisk was replaced in 1975 by a spire column of white Armenian marble. It was transported from the Soviet Union to the Netherlands in three sections. With the aid of natural stone supplier Dekker from Amersfoort Dutch army engineers placed them on top of each other and glued them together.
On 4 May 1975 this ten metres high cenotaph was unveiled to much attention. The top of the column is adorned with the gilded Russian letters CCCP, short for Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. Beneath that it says СЛАВА ГЕРОЯМ. On the wall behind the obelisk the Dutch translation reads: Praise to the heroes.
Underneath the hammer and sickle, the symbol of the Soviet Union, is inscribed in Dutch and Russian the gilded text: ‘To the combatants of the Soviet army who died in the struggle with the German usurper, 1941 – 1945.’
The graves at the Soviet War Cemetery lie on either side of the central passage. The cenotaph stands at the end of it.
Source: Soviet War Cemetery Foundation
Dodeweg 31, 3832 RE Leusden