War Cemetery No. 273 - SzczepanĂłw - a cemetery from World War I, located in the village of SzczepanĂłw in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in the Brzesko poviat, in the Brzesko commune. It is one of 400 Western-Galician war cemeteries built by the Cemetery Graves Division of the C. and K. Military Commanders in Krakow. In the VIII Brest region, there are 52 cemeteries
| type of the cemetery | war |
| state of the cemetery | closed |
| [source: Wikipedia, 3056595] |
History
Buried here are the soldiers of the Austrian and Russian armies who died fighting in the surrounding areas on March 13 - May 6, 1915. After the victory of the combined Austrian and German forces in the battle near Krakow and the battle of Limanowa, Russian troops retreated east, defending the PrzemyĹl railway line - Bochnia. In the surrounding fields there were trenches and tranches. In total, 122 soldiers were buried in the cemetery, including [ . [source: Wikipedia, 3056595]]
Description of the cemetery
It is located at the parish cemetery in SzczepanĂłw, by the road from SzczepanĂłw to Mokrzysk. It is a separate headquarters on the right side of the entrance gate, right next to the cemetery wall. It is a rather large cemetery on the plan of a very elongated rectangle adjacent to the cemetery wall. The original wall has not survived, however, it is now a new wall built of stone
The fate of the cemetery
Austrians built war cemeteries, planning that they would be a place of patriotic meetings. In the interwar period, the cemetery was still in good condition as new. After World War II, the importance of the cemetery in the awareness of the society and the then authorities decreased, because new, more recent cemeteries and dramatic stories of the new war came. For the communist authorities, it was also uncomfortable to cherish the history of the war, which brought Poland independence from the invaders (including Russian). It was not until the 1980s that more care was started for World War I cemeteries [ . The cemetery in SzczepanĂłw was damaged to a great extent, including through growing trees. Until 2000, he was weedy and unkempt. The inscriptions on the plates were faded, some became illegible, some of the crosses on the tombstones were bent. Only seven concrete tombstones have survived. exceptionally well survived the tombstone of lieutenant Leopold Mondl. Several civilian burials were also made on the war camp, tombs were built, and one of them was about 3 m high. Only a few posts and an iron gate survived from the original fence once made of thick iron pipes between the concrete pillars. The main monument of the cemetery and two gravestones of officers were best preserved. The cemetery was renovated, the trees were cut down, but it did not regain its original appearance ][ . [source: Wikipedia, 3056595]]
