Yesterday's Weapons Forums

it seems a lot of wwII is being unearthed lately , im glad these casualtys will be getting a decent burrial finaly , after 60 years its the least that can be done

Jan 12, 11:09 AM EST


WWII remains believed to be 1,800 Germans found

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Associated Press Writer


WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Construction workers have unearthed a World War II-era mass grave containing what are believed to be the bodies of 1,800 German men, women and children near Poland's border with Germany, authorities said Monday.

Poles excavating the site of a planned luxury hotel in Malbork excavated the wartime bomb crater at the foot of the city's famous 13th century Teutonic Knights fortress in October.

It was not immediately clear how the bodies got there, but initial examinations by Polish and German experts have now concluded that they are likely the remains of German citizens still classified as "missing" more than 60 years after the end of the war, town official Piotr Szwedowski told The Associated Press. The town was part of Germany at the time.

"Examination of the remains and the circumstances confirm that these are the missing German inhabitants of Malbork," Szwedowski said. "I have no doubt it is them."

The bodies were buried naked without any possessions, he said.

"We found no trace of any clothes, shoes, belts, glasses - not even dentures or false teeth," he said.

Some 100 skulls - primarily of adults - have bullet holes in them, suggesting the people could have been executed, but it is still unclear how the others were killed, Szwedowski said.

As the Red Army was advancing in early 1945, the inhabitants of Malbork - then called Marienburg - were ordered to evacuate. Some refused, while others were prevented from doing so by the general chaos of the nearing front.

The Red Army bombarded Malbork with heavy artillery in its assault on the city. After German troops fled, the remaining civilians were left to fend for themselves against the Soviet soldiers. There are no known living witnesses of what happened, Szwedowski said.

"We don't know if these (civilians) are direct or indirect victims of the artillery barrage but the bullet holes suggest executions in some cases," he said.

Millions of civilians were killed or declared missing during World War II.

More forensic tests will be carried out before the remains are laid to rest either in Malbork or a German military cemetery in Stary Czarnow, near the northwestern city of Szczecin.

"These people died in such an inhuman way, were dumped so inhumanely that we need to bury them in dignity and respect," Szwedowski said.

....yeah.... ....read that on Fox News earlier today....very similar to what happened in the area my folks fled from during the war ....they are still finding mass graves their while doing new construction that no one knew of....and a few that some folks survived that have been confirmed after all these years...I personally know/knew some people-though most have passed on since then,and I remember their descriptions of what happened....absolutely gruesome....my grandfathers brother was also a partizan-no one ever knew what happened to him-very well in one of those mass graves... ...even my father has told me some of the atrocities he witnessed,though he was only aged 12 thru 16 during those years.............sad stuff............

There are several metal detecting clubs in Russia, and they find a LOT of WW2 stuff. Including human remains.

Remains of Russian soldiers are turned over to the nearest Russian army base for a proper burial and military recognition. German remains are... returned to the earth where they were found.

Feelings still run strong even generations later. SW

"Feelings still run strong even generations later. SW"

and very understandable , yet ................

we are chastised for holding ill feelings toward the japanese - to the extent that we are villified for hiroshima and nagasaki , we are treated as the agressors and the rest of the world stands in line to pi$$ on us for that today ,

we are chastised for firebombing dresden , we are looked on as the agressors for that too today ,

and our liberals stand in line to pi$$ on us for that ,

im all for forgetting - in terms of the living , who had no part in this , im all for remebering , for those that died and deserve to be remembered ,

and im all for remembering history - as it was - and as it should be recalled , and we need to not let thing happen again that result in this kind of history ,

but having said that the russians are in georgia , we are in iraq , the africans are killing themselves with modern weapons as well as ancient blades , and both iran and korea would love to have the weapons to recreate 1945 , the isrealis are being bombed with rockets and gaza is getting the results , will there ever be a time when anyone doesnt harbor ill feeling toward others ?

lets burry the dead and honor those that defend - and lets dispatch those that perpetuate hate and evil and death in this world ...........lets quit pretending about religions of peace and holy places and the absolute absurdaty of the past dictateing the future [except that it repeats as we currently live]