A World War 2 era mass grave containing remains of 125 soldiers was unearthed in Sukowice, South-West Poland. The soldiers are said to have been killed during fights between January and March 1945 and were mostly Hungarian and Romanian Germans.
The grave was discovered after members of the local community informed the researchers who were conducting another exhumation. It turned out that an elderly women knew where German soldiers were buried as she and other people from the local village participated in burying them in 1945. The soldiers were said to have been buried between May and June, which was confirmed by the researchers, as some of the remains seemed to have been in state of advanced decomposition at the moment of burial. The researchers discovered parts of soldier equipment, tens of helmets, but only 8 dog tags, of which only half is readable.
The mass burial was partially exhumed in the 1970s but it was very limited and only one skull and part of a torso were reported to have been taken. The works were conducted then as the current owner of the field wanted to flatten the area and clear it of human remains. The researchers however managed to reach a document which contained names of soldiers killed in the fights in the area. It mentions over 100 names, addresses, dog tag numbers and was passed out to the local parish. The remains are scheduled to be analysed and afterwards be buried at a war cemetery at Nadolice Wielkie.
(after TVN24, Andrzej Latusek & Grupa Badań Archeologiczno-Historycznych Silesia)