WWII German soldiers to be reburied in Kaunas

VILNIUS – The German War Graves Commission, or the Volksbund, will rebury the remains of German soldiers who died in World War II, including the one-millionth war casualty, at the Aukstieji Sanciai military cemetery in Kaunas on Tuesday.

According to the Volksbund, the one-millionth German soldier has been identified as Max Beyreuther, a military medic who was killed at the age of 31 near Kelme, in western Lithuania, in October 1944.

Beyreuther will be laid to rest at the Kaunas military cemetery 80 years after his death. He will be reburied alongside 78 other fallen soldiers.

So far, four of these soldiers have been identified. Their names will be read aloud during the reburial ceremony.

The event will be attended by representatives from the German embassy and the armed forces of both countries. Representatives from the Volksbund and the Bundestag will address those present, and the Koblenz Army Band will perform at the ceremony.

Beyreuther, from what is now Saxony-Anhalt, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in April 1943 and served in the 5th Company of the 1st Panzer Reconnaissance, Reserve and Training Division.