Paul Cyperski

This memorial page is dedicated to Paul Cyperski, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

Additional information

Grave location: Section BI, Row 10, Grave 247

Paul Cyperski and five other German soldiers had decided to surrender to the Allies; ‘armed’ with a makeshift white flag, they lay waiting in a ditch. Not far away, W. Verbruggen – who, due to the ravages of war, had been in hiding with the van Bommel family – was on his way to his farm to feed the livestock. At that moment, the German soldiers were ready to surrender.

As the first soldier, Paul Cyperski – ‘armed’ with the white flag – emerged from the ditch, he stumbled upon a ‘Tripflair’. This security system consisted of magnesium-filled boxes from which tension wires ran between, for example, two trees. If anyone stumbled upon such a ‘Tripflair’, a safety pin would pop out of the box, causing the surrounding area to be illuminated as the magnesium inside ignited. The Allies, who were keeping watch further along, immediately fired a burst of machine-gun fire in the direction of the ignited ‘Tripflair’, fatally wounding Paul Cyperski. The five other German soldiers, who were still in the ditch, just managed to flee but saw an opportunity a day later to surrender to the Allies.

Paul Cyperski’s field grave was situated on land belonging to F. van der Einden, near the home of W. Verbruggen at Langstraat D.59 in Deurne. In November 1947, Mrs H. Henraat-van Eenbergen from Helmond wrote an emotional letter to His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard. In this letter, she wrote about the field grave of Paul Cyperski, then still an unknown soldier, which had always been visible but was ploughed over in the autumn of 1947 by F. van der Einde, who had begun sowing rye. Following this letter, an investigation was launched by Sergeant 1st Class A. v.d. Heurik of the Deurne National Police unit, and this investigation revealed that W. Verbruggen, together with American soldiers, had buried the body of the then still unidentified soldier at that spot. The Americans had asked W. Verbruggen to take the victim’s Identity tag, but he had refused; the head injuries were such that he could not bring himself to do so, and the identification report confirms these injuries.

On 20 January 1948, the field grave was exhumed by the Identification and Recovery Service for the reburial of the remains at the German Military Cemetery in Ysselsteyn. In 1963, the remains, which were still unidentified at the time, were identified through re-identification as Grenadier Paul Cyperski.

A transfer report containing identification details, drawn up by the Identification and Recovery Service, as well as a comprehensive file, may be available for inspection from the author.

View all persons in the category: German soldiers killed in action