Brandenburg: There's nothing here

We've just visited the old Brandenburg church cemetery, and to be honest I still cannot find words to describe what is going on there. But, as Stephen Fry has put it once, let me at least try.

To begin the story, let's say, that before the war, Brandenburg was a beautiful place. It was captured and retaken, it was then under siege and mercilessly bombed with phosphorus bombs. Undoubtedly, it was then when the beauty died, leaving but a trace of memory behind.

The old church, or ‘ the ruin on the mountain ‘ as it is now affectionately dubbed by the locals, was the Teutonic church, standing proudly opposite the majestic Brandenburg castle, which of course, was more like a fortress. During the time of the 27th Grand Master of the Order (e.g. 1400s), Heinrich von Plauen the Elder, Brandenburg was an almost impenetrable prison. Heinrich, in fact, spent s one time there, after being falsely accused of treason. That's Heinrich there:

Unfortunately, his story ended at Lochstedt castle, but the grieving shadow is still felt at Brandenburg. However, I have almost no doubts that Heinrich saw the church from his windows, as he was kept in one of the towers- and as a religious and pious man, must have found immense solace and strength in the image of a whitewashed tower, shining in the setting sun.

But the church, as well as the castle itself, was doomed - and the war ruined it, scarring the land around. The cemetery was damaged to - and the new locals finished the process by taking the church and the castle down brick by brick to built their own houses.

When, in August 1944, two RAF crews found their last home there, it was still a nice, calm place. They were quietly buried and left at there.

I'm not sure when the process of utter destruction began, but it led to the church being almost demolished and the only thing left of it was the portal and the bell tower.

This is, by the way, quite a polished photo. Now, the tower is much shabbier and although it sports some resemblance to the Glastonbury Tor, it stands amid the shambles, debris and old derelict stones as a poignant reminder of the wartime atrocities- and what's even worse, the total ignorance of the living towards the dead.

There s but one grave untouched, mainly because it has its own metal enclosure, but its metal plate is long eroded.

That's what can be found exactly in the spot marked on the German sketch of the gravesite. A ruin of a shack stands just behind it, and I guess it was built atop McKechnie’s crew grave.

The place is full of noises, although neglected. An odd bone met my eyes, too.

Human or not, it's troubling.

It makes my skin crawl, this place. It pains me to think the boys are somewhere there. So utterly alone and impossible to find.

We'll be on this subject tonight, so get ready for a podcast.