KITCHENER — A few hundred people gathered for a sombre ceremony at Woodland Cemetery on Sunday to mourn victims of war around the world, including 187 German soldiers buried at the Kitchener cemetery.

"We are gathered today to commemorate all victims of aggression and war — children, men and women," German Consul General Thomas Schultze told the crowd under a grey sky on the German national day of mourning.

"Together we pay respect to the victims of both world wars — soldiers and civilians alike, killed in the wars or in the aftermath as refugees or victims of persecution."

The ceremony made special mention of the German soldiers buried at Woodland Cemetery.

"These 187 brave German men were interned as war prisoners and died in Canada," Schultze said. "We thank our Canadian friends that these Germans could find their dignified final rest here in Kitchener in Canadian soil."

The soldiers buried at Woodland — all conscripted to fight for Germany — died in Canada while prisoners of the First and Second World Wars.

"Over in Europe, they had so many of them, so some of them were transported to Canada," Werner Schlueter, president of the German-Canadian Remembrance Society, said in an interview.

Many died of battle injuries sustained before they were captured and shipped across the Atlantic.

None were mistreated in this country, Schlueter said.

"They were treated nicely in Canada. Lots of them who were in internment in Canada, afterwards they came back as immigrants, because they really were treated well here."

The 187 German soldiers had been interred at over 30 sites across the country until a campaign began in the 1960s to move them to a permanent memorial site at Woodland Cemetery. The Kitchener site was dedicated in 1971. Relatives now living in Canada still visit the gravesites and leave flowers and candles.

"At places like this cemetery, history is tangible and encourages us to take responsibility for a more peaceful future," Schultze said. "War cemeteries are first and foremost places to mourn and to remember. But they are, at the same time, memorials against war and its horrors and destruction, and a symbol for reconciliation and peace.

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"It is our civil duty to prevent wars, persecution and violence in the future ... If we can achieve this, the sacrifices of the dead and victims will not have been all in vain."

gpaul@therecord.com, Twitter: @GPaulRecord

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