Post Card Details
The mass grave of German and Russian soldiers, built by the garrison battalion in 1914, opposite the barracks in Soldau, Poland. The field postcard v. 25.08.15 s.
History of Soldau in World War 1 and Post Card Picture
In the second half of the 19th century 87% of the district's population were Poles. With the increase of Germanisation efforts in 1910, the whole district population was divided among 57% Poles, 42% Germans and 1% Jews according to official German statistics. In 1910 the town itself had 4,728 inhabitants, 3,589 of them Germans. In 1912 the Germans introduced the terms "Masurs" and "Masurian language" instead of "Pole" and "Polish language" in the census in the area. It was part of the Landkreis Neidenburg district in East Prussia, and it was the southernmost town in the province. The town was fought over in the early stages of World War I. It was briefly occupied by Russian troops, and won back by the Germans during the Battle of Tannenberg. The occupation of Soldau is described in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel August 1914. [ Wikipedia]
The mass grave shown in the postcard was built in Soldau after the war between Germans and Russian soldiers in 1914. This is the rarest post card, the only one found in Google and eBay.