HILLERSLEBEN:
US 8th Army occupied two buildings in this town in March and April 1945. A cemetery was adjacent to the temporary hospital. Tombstones were erected. Buildings were turned over to Soviets. No visible remains of cemetery now exist. Source: U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.
UPDATE: In early 1945, the U.S. Army provided emergency medical services for a group of liberated concentration camp victims brought to an Army unit located in Hillersleben. Despite this care, 62 of the victims porary U.S. Army field hospital. The site was subsequently razed by the East Germans to clear space for a recreational park. After long negotiations, a group of American Holocaust survivors whose family members were buried at Hiller- sleben obtained authorization from the local government to restore the site as a cemetery. Unfortunately, however, the boundaries of the plot could not be fixed with enough pre- cision to satisfy either the authori- ties or the preservationists. It was at this point that Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman of the House International Relations Preserving monuments, historic buildings, and cemeteries associated with the foreign heritage of Americancitizens-to honor the past, impartmeaning to the present, and advancemutual cooperation and friendshipamong countries.
Dear Chairman Lewan:
I am writing to express my thanks to the Commission for your help with respect to identifying a post-war Jewish cemetery located in Hillersleben, Germany . . .I have to explain that this cemetery, although imbued with all the sanctity of any other Jewish cemetery, has a special emotional significance for the hun- dreds of Nazi survivors who were rescued at the end of the war, who were brought to a US Army hospital in Hillersleben and who saw friends and relatives, parents and children, die as a result of their wounds and deprivation prior to their arrival here. These people are all buried at Hillersleben, and maintaining the integrity of this cemetery carries an emotional significance of a kind that I believe you will understand . . . We are very grateful for your help, and even more grateful for your creating a structure wherein the US Commission has become so important a resource in the battle to help preserve America's heritage abroad.
Sincerely,Rabbi Lazar Stern
President, Athra Kadisha Society for the Preservation of Jewish Holy Site