“Memento bellum” commemorated the victims of the First World War (PHOTOS)

On November 11, the world celebrated the end of the First World War, one of the greatest tragedies of mankind in the twentieth century. For the first time, the Memento bellum Center for Military History Research, a non-governmental organization, held a memorial service at the Memorial Cross near the Uzhgorod Railway Station. The funeral service near the memorial cross, which was installed in 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the war, was delivered by Father Igor, military chaplain of the 128th Transcarpathian Mountain Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces.

It once was a place of a big military cemetery, where, in 1914-1918, about 11 thousand soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies from 19 modern European countries were buried. During those 4 years, the area of the cemetery reached 2.5 hectares, there were both single and mass graves there. In particular, the youngest buried soldier is our compatriot, 18-year-old Michal Kropag from modern Tsehlivka, Uzhgorod district. An 18-year-old nurse who worked at the hospital, Silvashi Barbara from Uzhgorod also rests there. "This is an important place of our common European historical heritage, which clearly needs more respect," – Yuri Fatula, the head of the Memento Bellum, researcher of the region’s military history concluded.