In 1941 and 1942 in autumn 1941 the Germans changed the former customs warehouse in Melje into the prison-camp for the soldiers from the Soviet Union.
During the winter 1941/42 around 2800 prisoners died there because of terrible sanitary conditions and brutal treatment. The Germans buried them by three in one grave in the south of the city cemetery. Their remains were put in this group tomb after the Second World War and the monument was erected.
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