Memorial at the Village Cemetery St. Johann i. P. in Memory of 167 Soviet Prisoners of War (Mass Grave)

At the St. Johanner Ortsfriedhof there is a mass grave with 167 Soviet prisoners of war. In the year 1941, the first Soviet prisoners of war arrived by rail transport in St. Johann im Pongau. Many of these men did not survive the transport or arrived weakened, starving and ill. The first deceased prisoners of war were brought to the Ortsfriedhof on horse-drawn carriages and buried there in a mass grave. However, the space soon proved insufficient, so that a Lagerfriedhof (camp cemetery) near the Nordlager (North Camp) for prisoners of war was established for further deaths. Today, a Soviet memorial commemorates the 167 buried Soviet prisoners of war at the Ortsfriedhof.