Who Lies Here? Stories from a German War Cemetery

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:17]Behind me are the graves of more than 30,000 German soldiers who never made it home from the First World War. This is Misai German War Cemetery. It is the second largest German war cemetery from the First World War in France. Over 15,000 of the individuals buried here are buried in crossed markers while the rest are in communal graves. Let's take a minute to look at this cemetery and see what we can learn from it.

[00:00:53]Imagine receiving a letter telling you that your husband has fallen in the war. That is what happened to Fritz Busen's wife after he was killed on the 14th of September 1916 near the French village of Duran Court. In that letter, his company commander wrote that Bosen had died in a faithful fulfillment of duty.

[00:01:21]But he also added something more personal that he had been respected and that he was wellliked within the company. From the sources that I could find, Fritz Busen served in the fourth company of the Armong Battalion 115 during the First World War. He was not a frontline soldier in the usual sense, but he was part of a unit used for construction and maintenance work that worked on defensive positions on the road. The kind of work that became essential once the western front turned into trench warfare. Find from the sources is that Fritz Bruce was buried near Duran Kurt at first and like many men who are laying at rest here were not originally buried here. Later Fritz was rearied here at Miserie and now lies in block 7 grave, 1510. And in the end, what makes a grave like this so powerful is because before he was just a name on a cross, Fritz Britain was a husband. He was a man known by the people around him. He was liked in his company and loved by his peers and someone they remembered with respect.

[00:02:30]Then the war took him away from all those who hold him dear. And like so many of the others buried here, he never made it home. That impact was felt not only in his direct family but generations afterwards. Another example of the true cost of war and how it takes the best of us away.

[00:02:50]So an interesting fact is France has just around about 300 German war cemeteries within it. And among them is this one here, Misami. Uh the Misami German War Cemetery didn't start off as a battlefield cemetery. It was depicted and dedicated as a cemetery after the war by the French authorities and they started consolidating the many spread out German war cemeteries of the soldiers who died in this area to be buried in one centralized spot. Uh that's why we have such a large number of over 30,000 German war dead that are buried right here in Misami.

[00:03:29]Together we come to the grave of Julius Roth. This is the story of a man who had already built a life for himself before the war ever began. From the sources that I could find, Julius was born on the 5th of April 1881 in Barman, and he was the eldest son of a brewery owner named Hammond Roth. And Julius later became a lawyer in Dortmmont.

[00:03:52]However, when the war broke out, Julius was on reserve training in Air For almost immediately. He first served with an ammunition unit and later became commander of the third battery of the second Vfellian field artillery regiment number 22. The same biographical source says that he was promoted during the war and received both classes of the iron cross and by 1916 he held the rank of Halmon reserve the equivalent to a captain in the reserves. In August 1916, Julius battery was sent into the SA sector near Azikort. Just a month later, on the 13th of September 1916, Julius was fatally wounded by British artillery fire while his observation post was hit.

[00:04:40]He was buried at Liramont at first before his remains were later transferred here to Misari in 1924.

[00:04:47]Today, he lies here in block 8, grave 73. What makes this story so tragic is that before he was buried here, Julius had already built a profession, a name for himself, and a future. The study that I read says he appears to have left behind a wife and a daughter as well, though no further details about them could be found. In the end, Julius was just 35 years old when his life ended, forever changing the lives of those he left behind that loved him the most.

[00:05:16]Their lives would never be the same. And just like many others from his generation, when word was received of the loss of their loved ones, how entire communities had to recover without their most cherished ones ever coming back.

[00:05:36]So, the German War Graves Commission has an ongoing project called Operation Levi where they're going around to identify the German Jews who fought for Imperial Germany. and if they don't already have the proper religious headstone that they're working on replacing the crosses for that individual and giving them a proper Jewish marker. For example, here we have the grave of Leo Lustik. He was a griefer which is roughly the equivalent of a corporal and he died on the 29th of August 1916.

[00:06:11]So my assumption is Leo was originally on this cross right here sharing it with uh Gorg Sherner who was a grenadier who fell on the 29th of August 1916. Um and then when they were able to properly identify his religious and give him the right religious marker that they put it next to him. So the body is still buried together with his comrade, but now he has the proper marker. And I think that is a really unique and important project because it's important for these individuals to lay under the proper markers that indicate their religion. Um, and that's how it should be. And I'm glad that the German War Grace Commission is undertaking actions like this and working together with other historical associations um and to do these kind of things. It's a really fantastic project.

[00:07:12]So I want to share with you guys the story of Dr. Otto Spritz. Uh he's laying here in the communal graves um which we can see represented by the plaques here and these three crosses behind me you'll normally find them in German cemeteries near uh the vicinity of communal graves and they semi represent a German infantry unit class system your officer your non-commissioned officer and the infantrists or the you know normal soldiers. Anyway here we have auto spritz. So, I wrote a little biography about him, which I'm going to go ahead and tell you guys. But one thing I want to know is that from the sources that I found, he was a German Jewish doctor from Witsborg and he was serving during the First World War and fell during the First World War. Um, what makes him interesting is the German Wargrace Commission has uh, Operation Levi right now where they're connecting um, the names of German Jews who fought for Imperial Germany um, to give them the proper headstone. Definitely interesting because if this uh, Auto Spritz is indeed a German Jew, uh, hopefully one day he'll have the correct marker for his religious indicator. Um, that's a very important project that the German Wargaves Commission is working on and that's part of the reason why we're going on this trip right now, looking at different German war cemeteries. Um, a very fascinating story. Anyway, without further ado, let's get to the biography of Otto.

[00:08:44]Otto's story is the story of a man who was meant to heal people, but was instead thrown into one of the bloodiest wars in modern history. From the sources I could find, he was the only son of the doctor at the Woodsbrook Jewish Hospital and Otto was also a member of the Jewish student fraternity.

[00:09:04]He first served as a young doctor in hospitals in Woodsborg before being sent to the front in April of 1915.

[00:09:12]Over the course of the war, he served in some of its most brutal fighting, including Verdun and the SAM, as well as Flanders. On the 21st of March 1918, shortly after being assigned as a battalion doctor to an infantry regiment, Otto was killed by shellfire.

[00:09:29]His comrades buried him near Lle. Later sources list him here at the German war cemetery in the communal grave.

[00:09:36]In the end, he was only 26 years old.

[00:09:40]So, I can't 100% confirm it yet, but based on the sources that I found, Otto was a German Jew doctor from Wittsburg.

[00:09:48]Um, hopefully by the time this video gets posted, uh, I'll be able to confirm that. And if I was able to, I'll put that in the description. But, uh, we're on side here and it's possible that we may have been able to through the research done for this video identified a another German, uh, Jewish soldier.

[00:10:07]And hopefully he'll get the proper indicator.

[00:10:28]In the center of the Misami German War Cemetery is a memorial or a chapel-like building. And when you go inside of it, there's a really unique quality.

[00:10:40]So, let's go inside and I'll show you guys what I mean.

[00:10:44]Whoa, this is a heavy door.

[00:10:47]So, once you enter inside, you have the sarcophagus uh memorial for the dead soldiers. Um, but what's really interesting is when you look up here on the wall, uh there's 30,000 individual stones where this memorial is made of.

[00:11:02]And that 30,000 is supposed to represent the 30,000 dead soldiers that are laying outside of here, which is a amazing piece of work um for the memorial of the soldiers.

[00:11:41]So a really unique quality about this cemetery here in Misami is a lot of the soldiers who are lying at rest here came from the German Rugabi that contains cities like Dortmund, Essen, Dooborg, Gzen and Bohham.

[00:11:56]And since the enormous impact of human life was felt among these communities, the local communities donated to help build and maintain this cemetery and they're coromeating their um fallen with these plaques here along the rows. So it doesn't mean that these rows contain individuals from that community, but I think it's a unique aspect. Um and you can really it adds to the context when you can think about all these communities felt the loss of the individuals that are buried here. For example, like right here we have one from the city and lancries of Bulham that's right in front of the row over here. Uh the same over here with the city of Dborg.

[00:12:48]Uh to the left of me, we had Dortmund and Essen as well.

[00:12:54]And it just keeps going down all the way to the entrance.

[00:12:58]It really helps you visualize the impact, but it's still hard to comprehend when you look over the rows of these crosses that there's multiple names on them. It's hard to comprehend a number like 30,000 war dead that are buried here. The First World War was one of the bloodiest and destructive wars in modern history. Sometimes overshadowed by the Second World War, which was also the cause of mass destruction and human life.

[00:13:27]Sometimes the First World War gets referred to as the forgotten war. Um, and when you come to a place like this here in Misami, it's definitely not forgotten. the 30,000 plus German soldiers as well as the British cemetery on the other side of the hill. Those names aren't forgotten. Those names shouldn't be overshadowed.

[00:13:50]Every individual here in this cemetery, as well as the British one up the road, and the many different cemeteries throughout France related to the First World War, gave their lives, their families were impacted and generations afterwards as well. That's why it's important to come to a place like this to take a moment to take it in to understand the impact of human tragedy that these places represent.

[00:14:20]There's a quote that I saw written on the wall in a different cemetery that said, "The graves of the soldiers are the best preachers of peace." And when you come to a place like that, like he this here, you'll know exactly what that means.

[00:14:40]And that brings us to an end of today's video here at the Misami German War Cemetery. If you thought today's video was educational or added some historical value, uh please leave a like, subscribe to the channel, and check out some of the other videos I've done on this trip where we're going through France and looking at several different war cemeteries, not just German, but also French and American cemeteries. But thank you very much for watching. Thank you for your time and I look forward to learning together with you in the next video.