Memorial stone for 11 German marines, Sønderborg

You can be hostile to the occupying forces during World War II, but the locals in Sønderborg must have been shocked by the senseless executions on 5 May 1945.

Mutiny on the M216

Prior to the incident, an announcement about the partial capitulation was sent over the radio to all German troops at 5am in the morning. The partial capitulation will take effect from 8 am and includes the armed forces in Denmark, including all German war ships in Danish waters.

The crew of the minesweeper M216 have of course heard about the partial capitulation and are eager to get home, so when their commander Oberleutnant zur See, Dietrich Kropp, chooses not to comply with the order and at around 8.30 am orders them to continue heading towards Kurland, on an operation to rescue civilians and soldiers from the advancing Russian army, this causes a mutiny on board.

The officers and the commander are locked up and the M216, which had been in Fredericia to refuel with diesel, changes course and sails towards Flensburg. At Sønderborg, the ship is picked up by other German naval vessels, after a short trial on board, 11 young men are sentenced to death, 4 are sentenced to 3 years in prison and 5 are acquitted.

The execution

None of the marines on the other ships in Sønderborg Harbour volunteer to participate in the execution, so a firing squad is forcibly selected. The entire crew of the M612 is ordered to witness the execution, where their comrades are lined up two at a time, without a blindfold and liquidated, after which the four condemned to imprisonment must wrapp the dead in sackcloth and burdened with torpedo parts, they are thrown overboard into Møllebugten Bay (located northwest of the Alssund Bridge), then the next two are next in line and the leader of the mutiny, Heinrich Glasmacher, is shot last.

In the following months, bodies begin to appear in Als Sund, a closer examination shows that they have been shot and gradually suspicions arise as to what happened and when the last two of seven bodies are laid to rest on 29 October 1945, the burial protocol states that they were shot dead. The seven of the 11 marines are buried in the section where the war refugees are also laid to rest, at Østre Kirkegård at Christianskirken in Sønderborg. The last 4 young men have unfortunately never been found.

The memorial stone

Today there is a stone with a memorial plaque at the Multicultural House at the harbour in Sønderborg town, which was inaugurated on 9 September 2020.

The inscription:

After the capitulation in Northern Germany and Denmark
on the night between 5 and 6 May 1945
11 German marines were convicted of mutiny
aboard the minesweeper M612.
They were executed and their bodies sunk in Alssund.
Seven of those executed later drifted
washed ashore here along the coast and were laid to rest
in the cemetery at Christian Church.
They were among the last meaningless victims of the war
that ravaged the world from 1939-1945.
In gratitude for the end of the war
and in remembrance of its many victims
this plaque was erected
1945 Sønderborg 2020

The names of the 11 German marines
The memorial stone does not contain the following names, of which the last 4 do not have a gravestone

Wilhelm Bretzke, born 20 October 1922, Dortmund (22 years)
Heinrich Glasmacher, born 21 February 1924, Neuss (21 years)
Reinhold Kolenda, born 20 November 1924, Beuthen O.S. (20 years)
Gustav Kölle, born 14 July 1923, Eimke (21 years)
Rolf Peters, born 06.02.1924, Rostock (21 years)
Gustav Ritz, born 05.08.1922, Milaszew (22 years)
Bruno Rust, born 01/03/1923, Berlin (22 years old)
Helmut Nuckelt, born 19 April 1921, Essen (24 years old)
Gerhard Prenzler, born 01 April 1924, Groß-Kölzig/Forst (21 years)
Anton Roth, born 22 October 1924, Forchheim (20 years)
Heinz Wilkowski, born 25 October 1925, Calbe (19 years)