Kosakenfriedhof

In May 1945, approximately 40,000 Cossacks from the Don and Caucasus regions, allied with the German Reich, fled from Upper Italy to East Tyrol. Extradition to the Soviet Union threatened them with death or banishment to Siberia. Nevertheless, they – whether men, women, or children – were interned and finally handed over to the Red Army by British troops. Few managed to escape. The dramatic events surrounding this deportation made East Tyrol, for the first and only time, a scene of world history. The Cossack Cemetery in Peggetz near Lienz still commemorates the so-called "Tragedy on the Drau".Memorial Chapel: open upon request. Ms. Erika Pätzold, Tel. No. +43 664 75184576