Memorial to FLAK soldiers killed in Stuttgart
Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie
These pictures were taken on the 29th of September, 2007 in Tränkestrasse in the south of Stuttgart. The event and people memorialized are similar to this memorial to the Latvian air auxilliaries killed in Riga.
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The pillar is supposed to symbolize a tree broken off, like the lives of the men commemorated here were broken off. It reads "MORTUIS MEMORIAE" - Latin for "In memory of the dead." |
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The plaque is marked with the crosses typical of the German War Graves Commission. It reads, "On the night of 29 July, 1944 eight 16-year-old schoolchildren serving as air force auxilliaries and ten anti-aircraft soldiers fell during an air attack." ("Hier fielen bei der Abwehr eines Luftangriffs acht sechzehnjährige Schüler als Luftwaffenhelfer und zehn Flaksoldaten in der Nacht zum 29. Juli 1944"). |
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The back of the pillar reads, "PACIS GRATIA," Latin for "Thankfulness for peace." |
