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This documentary talked about the ornate iron crosses that the Germans from Russia would have marking their grave sites. The tradition of using iron crosses stemmed back from Europe where there was a legend behind them based on a story of an old warrior who met a group of opposing knights and fought bravely in battle. He fought even though the force he went up against in battle was overwhelming. As a result of being so outnumbered he was killed but his opponents were so impressed with how he fought that they stuck his very ornate iron sword in the place where he had fallen. The sword then looked like it was a cross and groups in Europe particularly the Germans from Russia picked this up and brought it with them to the plains of North America. The grave sites on the Great Plains are particularly important because many of the grave sites in Russia were either destroyed just to get rid of them or torn down for the materials that made them up. The film also went into detail about what went into making the crosses and also the fact that each cross had its own story to tell.

I thought the crosses were for most part very beautiful and each one seemed to have its own unique identity. Before watching this movie I had never even heard of this kind of grave marker, I have probably seen them but must have never really paid attention to them. Which is shame because they are not only great pieces of Great Plains art but they also can tell us more about those who came before us in the unique story each one of theses markers tells.