Essen-Fulerum
At the beginning of April 1945, there was a tragedy over Essen, caused by an American pilot who attacked a column of several thousand forced labourers by mistake. As a result of this incident, 54 people - 52 men and 2 women - were killed on the spot or died from inflicted wounds. In the multinational column there were also Poles, including forced labourers deported from the Warsaw district of Brudno during the Warsaw Uprising. Originally, the victims were provisionally buried on the site, at Schuirweg. After the end of the warfare, by order of the American occupation administration, from the 24th of April to the 1st of June 1945, the bodies were exhumed and buried again in plot 23b, located in the north-eastern part of the cemetery, far away from the other war victims' plots. The exhumed probably also included numerous Polish citizens.
By the time of capitulation of German troops in the Ruhr area, over 300 people from several countries of conquered Europe were buried at the plot: foreigners, forced labourers and prisoners of war. The largest group were Russians and Poles. In 1963, as part of reorganisation of the war victims' plot, a dozen or so graves, originally located in different parts of the cemetery, were transferred. At least four graves of Poles were moved to plot 23b. After exhumation and transfer of the remains to the Allied home countries, there are currently 108 double graves in the plot, in which 210 World War II victims from the Essen area were buried. Only 34 people are known by their surname and partly by other information, such as date and place of birth or date of death. 176 people remain anonymous.
An Orthodox cross was placed in the plot, which gives it the character of a Russian plot. It consists of 4 rows, each of which contains 26 tombstones. According to the current list of names, there are 26 Polish men and women buried there, including 6 civilians and 2 prisoners of war, unknown by their first name and surname (unbekannt).
The list of names of Polish prisoners of war buried at the cemetery (original German spelling preserved):
BANACH JOZEF 13th Artillery Regiment
† 19.3.1943
CHAŁUPA STEFAN 11th Artillery Regiment
* 16.8.1917
† 19.3.1943
IWANICKI JÓSEF
† 19.3.1943
PAPIERNIK JOSEF WAWRZYNIEC Rifleman
* 17.8.1902 Jagielnica pow. Czortków
† 13.1.1944
WŁOSZYŃSKI KAZIMIERZ
* 26.1.1913
† 15.1.1944
Unknown Polish prisoner of war
† 22.3.1945
Two unknown Polish prisoners of war who died the same day
† 22.3.1945
