| |

Japanese German Cemetery Tashkent

BySubhadip Mukherjee
Japanese and German Cemetery In Tashkent

My fascination for WWII has taken me around the globe, and when I was touring Tashkent in Uzbekistan, I had heard about the Japanese and German Cemetery In Tashkent, a cemetery which had graves of Japanese and German prisoners of war(POW). Mind it we were in a country that was once part of the USSR and during WWII German soldiers of the Nazi German army had created havoc all across the former USSR thus I was surprised to even find such a cemetery in the first place.

After WWII concluded, a vast number of POWs were taken by the USSR, which comprised both German and Japanese soldiers. As per reports, the German POWs were hated by the local population, but the Japanese POWs were not subjected to the same treatment. The same, however, could not be said for the ones held in Siberian camps. Thousands perished due to the harsh weather.

In Uzbekistan, these prisoners were mainly used for reconstruction activities building roads, electrical transmission lines, buildings, etc. Alisher Navoiy Theater, one of the most prominent buildings in Tashkent was built using Japanese prisoners.

Even if the conditions were relatively better than the ones in Siberia, it was still a camp with limited access to housing and healthcare. Food was limited,d and some died in Uzbekistan and were buried across several grave sites. These sites included both Japanese and German dead prisoners.

The ones that survived rather managed to survive were slowly repatriated back to Japan but that took nearly a decade.

Unfortunately, in 1958 USSR took the policy to remove any existence of these prisoners’ burial sites, and these were destroyed. Fortunately, however, there are a few cemeteries like the one in Tashkent, which still have a section dedicated to Japanese and German POWs.

Fozil Ota Cemetery

This place is a regular cemetery and is popularly known as the Fozil Ota Cemetery. The name “Fozil Ota” comes from the name of the caretaker of the cemetery, “Mirokil Fozilov”. Originally, this cemetery was known as Yakkasaray Cemetery and the road in front of the cemetery is still known by the name Yakkasaray Street.

Mirokil Fozilov was not the first, but this cemetery was looked after previously by his father also and currently is being looked after by his son. For his dedicated service to the cemetery, he was also awarded the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun and Silver Rays, and for this, the cemetery was renamed Fozil Ota.

Fozil Ota Cemetery - Entrance
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance
Fozil Ota Cemetery - Interiors
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Interiors

What To See At Japanese And German Cemetery In Tashkent

This is a functioning cemetery and regular burials are held for residents of Tashkent. The graves out here mostly feature an etched photograph of the deceased, something which I have seen before in India, but not on this scale.

Fozil Ota Cemetery – Graves Of Local Residents
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Graves Of Local Residents

To reach the section of the Japanese and German burial sites, you have to enter the site and take the right road until you reach a dead end, and keep following the path till you reach a section that is in an elevated position. Walk up and then you will come across the well-marked site.

On the left, you will find the Japanese POW burial site, and on the right, you will find the German POW burial site. The Japanese section is relatively larger with more gravestones than the German one.

The Japanese section has seventy-nine people buried, and a shrine has been constructed within this section where visitors and relatives pay their respects. The graves have an engraving in Japanese, which I assume is the name of the deceased.

Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance To The Japanese Section
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance To The Japanese Section
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance To The Japanese Section
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance To The Japanese Section
Japanese Section – Memorial Plaque At The Entrance
Japanese Section – Memorial Plaque At The Entrance
Japanese Section – Memorial Plaque At The Entrance Written In Uzbek Language
Japanese Section – Memorial Plaque At The Entrance Written In Uzbek Language
Japanese Section – Japanese Memorial Plaque At The Entrance
Japanese Section – Japanese Memorial Plaque At The Entrance
Japanese Memorial Plaque With Text Written In Japanese (Back Side)
Japanese Memorial Plaque With Text Written In Japanese (Back Side)
Japanese Memorial Plaque With Text Written In Japanese & Uzbek (Front Side)
Japanese Memorial Plaque With Text Written In Japanese & Uzbek (Front Side)
Memorial Plaque With Text Written In Japanese & Uzbek (Front Side)
Memorial Plaque With Text Written In Japanese & Uzbek (Front Side)
Memorial Peace Pole
Memorial Peace Pole
Memorial Peace Pole
Memorial Peace Pole
Japanese Section With Rows Of Graves (As Seen From The Road Side)
Japanese Section With Rows Of Graves (As Seen From The Road Side)
Japanese Section With Rows Of Graves (As Seen From The Oppose Side Of The Gate)
Japanese Section With Rows Of Graves (As Seen From The Opposite Side Of The Gate)
Japanese Section – Graves Covered With Granite Slab
Japanese Section – Graves Covered With Granite Slab
Japanese Section – Graves Covered With Granite Slab With Some Visible Engraving
Japanese Section – Graves Covered With Granite Slab With Some Visible Engraving
Japanese Section – Vertically Placed Granite Slab With Visible Engraving Lining The Outer Walls
Japanese Section – Vertically Placed Granite Slab With Visible Engraving Lining The Outer Walls
Japanese Section – Vertically Placed Granite Slab With Visible Engraving Lining The Outer Walls
Japanese Section – Vertically Placed Granite Slab With Visible Engraving Lining The Outer Walls
Japanese Section – Stone Memorial
Japanese Section – Stone Memorial
Japanese Section – Stone Memorial
Japanese Section – Stone Memorial
Japanese Section – As Seen From The Road Inside The Cemetery
Japanese Section – As Seen From The Road Inside The Cemetery
Japanese Section – As Seen From The Diagonally Opposite Of The Road
Japanese Section – As Seen From The Diagonally Opposite Of The Road

Once exiting the Japanese section, one can find the German section on the opposite side. This is a smaller section with around twenty-one graves. All of these had their names written along with the date year year of birth, and approximate year of death. There are no shrines as such in this section but a large memorial plaque at the center with a crucifix engraved into it. On the right side of this section, I saw a small garden with blooming flowers.

Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance To The German Section
Fozil Ota Cemetery – Entrance To The German Section
Fozil Ota Cemetery – German War Graves Section In Tashkent
Fozil Ota Cemetery – German War Graves Section In Tashkent
German War Graves Section – Flowering Garden On One Side
German War Graves Section – Flowering Garden On One Side
German War Graves Section – Rows Of German Graves
German War Graves Section – Rows Of German Graves
German War Graves Section – Rows Of German
German War Graves Section – Rows Of German
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Grave With A Granite Slab – Name, Date Of Birth, And Date Of Death Engraved
German Graves With A Granite Slab
German Graves With A Granite Slab
Memorial Plaque On The German Grave Site
Memorial Plaque On The German Grave Site

Both sections were very well maintained and cleaned regularly. The whole cemetery, which has other graves of the local Muslim population, is very well maintained and clean.

This is not the only cemetery having graves of POWs, in Uzbekistan, there are test such sites and all are well looked after.

Location Of Japanese And German Cemetery On Map‘

Vlog Of Japanese And German Cemetery In Tashkent

Other Blogs On Tashkent

Chorsu Bazar
Monument Of Courage Tashkent
Memorial Square Tashkent
Lal Bahadur Shastri Monument Tashkent
Hazrati Imam Complex

Resources

The Moscow Times
Uzbekistan Travel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *