Memorial for Soviet Prisoners of War at the Villacher Central Cemetery

In Villach, in the area of Magdalenerstraße/Reitschulgasse, there was a labor command camp for Soviet prisoners of war. Their living conditions in camps within the "German Reich" were so poor that, compared to people of other origins, a disproportionately high number of Soviet citizens died. The bodies of six fallen and 37 prisoners of war from the Red Army, as well as other Soviet citizens, possibly including forced laborers, a total of 114 people, were buried at the Villacher Central Cemetery or, after the end of the war, reburied there. A monument initiated by the Soviet occupying authorities in the form of a dark stone obelisk with a golden Soviet star and an inscription commemorates them.

If one enters the cemetery through the entrance at St. Magdalener Straße, corner Friedensstraße, one must turn left at the "roundabout" with the large cross and then proceed to the end of the cemetery in order to reach the monument; it is located at the eastern edge of the cemetery.