Team of explorers uncovered numerous large stones with German inscriptions along with a mysterious bottle with a letter inside near Przemków, South-western Poland. The finds are believed to date to World War II when German youth camps operated in the area.

The discovery was made after the vice-director of the Lower Silesia Landscape Parks (Dolnośląski Zespół Parków Krajobrazowych) informed the exploration society “Legion” about strange stones with German letters on one of the fields near Przemków. The explorers went to the site, located the stones and unearthed many of them. Under one a glass mineral water bottle with a letter was found. The find was turned over to the mayor of Przemków who passed it on to the local heritage office for further investigation.

Most of the stones are covered with names and numbers. They were traced to Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service) youth camps run by Germans between 1935-1945 for people between 18-25 years old, separate for men and women. Some of the old pictures depict such stones standing in a park – why were they found in a field remains a mystery.

According to the researchers, the history of such camps has not been fully studied. Each of them had its own name and its participants provided services for the local population. They conducted drainage works, changes the course of streams, cleared forests, laid railroad tracks. It is believed that around 11 such places existed in the area, possibly housing nearly 2000 people. So far 8 stones with their names were found. The researchers state that these are not ordinary stones but large boulders weighting from half to one and half tonnes. Names of places where the camps were located and their individual numbers are carved on the surface.

(after RMF24 & Tomasz Walkowiak)