After the Russian defeat at Tannenberg in 1914, the German authorities established at the end of August 1914 a large prisoner-of-war camp at Piła. Later, the camp also received prisoners from other Entente countries: British, French and Belgian. Owing to the extremely harsh living conditions inside the camp, and to the rapid spread of diseases (cholera, typhoid, dysentery), it was decided in 1915 to build a large cemetery for the prisoners who had died. Until the liberation of the camp in November 1918, more than 2,600 prisoners were buried in this cemetery. Most of them were Russian prisoners, which is why the cemetery was known as the Russen Friedhof until the Second World War. Between 1949 and 1953, a cemetery for Soviet and Polish soldiers killed during the battles of Piła was established on the other side of the forest road.
In the Russian part of the cemetery there was once a Greek Catholic chapel, whose first stone was laid on 21 May 1915 thanks to donations from Russian prisoners. Consecrated on 29 December of the same year, it was demolished in the first years following the Second World War. Today only the foundations can be seen, in the north-eastern part of the cemetery. Not far away a large Orthodox cross still stands. There is also a monument to the Russian soldiers of Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian nationality, erected in 1916. It is a large white marble cross placed on a high pedestal, on which a quotation from the Book of Revelation of Saint John is inscribed in Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian. In the north-western corner of the cemetery, a monument commemorates the Russian soldiers of German origin and Lutheran faith, who died in the Piła camp. It is in the shape of a pyramid and is surmounted by a cast-iron cross. One can read an inscription in German, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews. A black obelisk, erected in 1916, commemorates the British prisoners. On it one can read the names and units of the soldiers who died, as well as a quotation from the Book of Job. The British section is very well preserved.
Three other monuments have not survived to this day. The first was dedicated to the soldiers of the Jewish faith. It was a massive rectangular column surmounted by the Star of David. It was destroyed by the Nazis. Today a few remains of Jewish graves are found. The second was dedicated to the soldiers of the Muslim faith. It was a stele with a quotation from the Koran and surmounted by a crescent moon. It was destroyed under communist Poland. Likewise, remains of Muslim graves are found. The third, finally, was dedicated to the soldiers of the French and Belgian armies. It was a stele surmounted by a cross, with an inscription in French. It too was destroyed under communist Poland. To this day, no gravestone of a French or Belgian soldier (originally, with slabs of black marble) has survived.
In 1984, in the middle of the cemetery, a monument was erected, commemorating all the prisoners buried here. A stone was also placed at the entrance to the cemetery, bearing the inscription 1914-1918.