1946: More than 20,000 killed

After the war the US Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the order to clear all temporary cemeteries in Germany and to rebury the dead in the cemeteries of Margraten and Henri-Chapelle. The last burial took place on 30 March 1946.

There were then 17,742 American soldiers in Margraten, 1,026 other Allied soldiers (including more than 700 Russians) and 3,075 German soldiers. The German soldiers had been buried in a separate area (the lawn as you pass when entering the cemetery.)

Book: 'The Margraten Boys' tells the story of the unique phenomenon of adoption of graves in the cemetery in Margraten.