Row after row, cross after cross. All these 8,289 crosses and Stars of David at the American Cemetery in Margraten bear names. You will read this and you will wonder: who were these soldiers? Where did they come from? What did they do before the war?
With The Faces of Margraten they finally get a face. During this two-year tribute at the cemetery, the personal photos of thousands of soldiers can be seen at their graves and on the Walls of the Missing.
You look deeply into the liberators' eyes and stare at young, carefree faces. Often the family members can also be seen in these photos. They were just as much victims of the war. All are met during this tribute.
In this way, the memory of the American soldiers who died during the Second World War is kept alive. 8,291 of these are buried in the American Cemetery in Margraten; another 1,722 missing soldiers are commemorated on the Walls of the Missing.
In both Europe and the United States, many people are scrambling to locate the missing photos, ultimately hoping to give a face to each soldier. More than 7,500 faces have already been found.
But the tribute does more than that. The Faces of Margraten is also a message for the future. If the photos make one thing clear, it is that the soldiers buried and commemorated in Margraten were people just like everyone else.
Individuals with family, friends, a job, a sport, a hobby and a pet. And so the pictures show you that anyone can become a victim of war, just as they were. As a result, the tribute inevitably raises questions. How can peace and freedom be preserved? And who do people pass it on to?
The Faces of Margraten is therefore a powerful encounter with the past, but also a clear signal for the future. A moment of commemoration, but also of reflection.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.
