Exhumations of WW2 Dead German Soldiers (4 Viewers)

[Windowshopper]

Excellent collection of pics.
The crazy shit we've done...
Things like this need to be found to serve as a Reminder, aswel a Remembrance.
Very nice. 👍

 

[H82Go8675309]

The soil erosion factors since then really make it seem some of these guys weren't buried too deeply. It's gotta be creepy if a flood comes & a bunch of dead nazi's start popping up.
I'm surprised the relic hunters haven't gotten this site too, maybe it's not as popular in Poland. In the USA most civil war places seem really picked over but, more time has passed I guess. Non broken dog tags... MERP.

Excellent stuff 👍

 

[Nihilianth]

Set 6.

Oct. 11. 2022, Kotliska, Jelenia Góra, Poland

Near rural buildings of the village of Kogutów, three graves of German soldiers who died during fighting between February and March 1945 were exhumed.

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2. Not much left of this soldier.
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3. A German General Assault Badge.
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4. An odd position to be buried in.
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8. Plastic bakelite canteen cap (cup).
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9. The barrel of an MG42 rests on the remains of this soldier. It's possible that the 3 soldiers were an MG crew.
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Set 7.

Oct. 2022, Baborów Poland:

Mass grave containing 66 German soldiers buried in a local cemetery in an unmarked section under a concrete wall. The soldiers died in 1945 when the city was seized by the Red Army Workers' and Peasants' Army on March 29, 1945. At first the graves could not be located until an elderly man approached the archaeology team and pointed them to where they were.

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4. German Iron Cross badge, probably a Class 2.
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7. Wounded Badge.
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9. Fatal injury to this skull.
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10. Shattered bones.
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13. Waffen SS Officers Collar Tabs (pips).
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16. Another fatal head injury.
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23. A Wounded Badge.
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The wooden canteen threw me off too - I wasn't aware of them. In another post the excavation yielded only the plastic canteen cup so it's quite possible that that soldier also had one of these wooden ones, which in that case had deteriorated, leaving just the cup. Those are the only photos available - none of a few others clearly shows the buckle: they made not have brushed the clay off it yet.


Thanks - glad folks enjoy them. This is something that I would love to do as a profession, that or just good old metal detecting (which I do) on some farmer's field in Russia or Poland.


As others mentioned, it certainly can be. Most of this stuff often ends up on eBay or the black market when it's found by diggers that aren't there to recover soldiers' remains - just the relics. Once they empty the grave of valuables they may or may not contact local authorities about the skeletal remains. It is illegal to do digs like that but money talks...

Dentures!

 

[WickedMal]

Very cool pix...these are evidence of the true past and are very interesting, thank you

 

[Kapitän Ghul']

This was awesome

 

[whiteboyopie]

Pull those bullets out of the cases and give me the powder and primers. I bet these are still dry and functional for reloading. German factories since 1898 had lacquer sealed their ammo, meaning long term weather and waterproofing.

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Germans are some of the best engineers ever born.

 

[DeathHand]

Dentures!

Good point - I hadn't thought about that. I keep forgetting that folks had dentures back then too, lol

Set 8.

Oct. 18, 2022, Nowa Kopernia, Poland:
An exhumation near Nowa Kopernia, Żagański district (Lubusz Province) of a mass grave of 15 German soldiers, buried beside a dirt road towards Bobrowice. As with many others, the burial-pit is fairly shallow. It's possible that most of the remains in this grave represent men who were German Field Police.


1. The mall coffin-shaped wooden (or plastic) box is what the excavators use to put the skeletal remains in after a body has been documented, mapped and photographed. Once numbered and sealed closed they are sent to the German authorities who will them bury them in similar small caskets.

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5. A German mess kit, condom and hair comb. We've since seen the wooden version of their canteen and now we can see it with the felt cover worn completely away (or it fell off)...exposing the wood. The plastic cup cap wasn't found.

6. Panzer boots?

7. Looks like two bullet holes...it's possible that some, or all, of these Germans, had been executed...

8. An unbroken ID tag.

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11. German Feldgendarmerie Field Police badge?

12. How the above looks when it hasn't been buried in the ground for almost 80 years.

13. Possibly blunt force trauma to the head of this soldier.

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15. Another unbroken ID tag. I think all tags found in this burial were unbroken, so these soldiers will now be able to be added to the registry of German KIA soldiers.

16. Just one German gas mask container for 15 soldiers. I wonder if the masks were something that Soviet soldiers might have taken with them as they continued on to Berlin.

17.

18. Looking like a Waffen SS belt buckle. The Field Police wore the same buckle

The soil erosion factors since then really make it seem some of these guys weren't buried too deeply. It's gotta be creepy if a flood comes & a bunch of dead nazi's start popping up.
I'm surprised the relic hunters haven't gotten this site too, maybe it's not as popular in Poland. In the USA most civil war places seem really picked over but, more time has passed I guess. Non broken dog tags... MERP.

Excellent stuff 👍

I think that the relic hunters prefer the forests, swamps and rural fields in Russia. There is still so much to yield there. Perhaps in these locations in Poland, the populace lives to close to the sites and would undoubtedly report them. The unbroken dog tags make me think the bodies were just piled or laid in their dug graves/pits and then bull-dozed over, before Germans could have had time to recover any (not that many would have been around to do it).

 

[Venture _Capitalist]

for cryin' out loud, let these guys rest in peace

 

[DeathHand]

The iron cross pictured is almost certainly the pin back 1 st class of the award as if it were 2nd class you see a tiny "tac weld" at the 12 o clock position of the frame where the loop.wouldve bee attached. Also of note is the different way the :dog tags" are found. The ones that are only halves more than likely were identified to their fies. The ones that are whole say these poor fellows are still on "vermisst list" to this day. Its heart breaking to think these poor heroes gave their all to try and save humanity and wound up dying lost and alone on foreign soil. At least now they're no longer nameless and will get some sort of recognition and appreciation of their sacrafice. Many thanks to you DEATH HAND for such an awesome thread with clear, concise photos.

Thank you for pointing that out. I think you are most certainly correct that it was a pin-on 1st Class cross. I hadn't realized that the 2nd Class version were looped to a ring. Cheers and thanks for the clarification

for cryin' out loud, let these guys rest in peace

I hear you, but it seems that in some cases the local Poles no longer want memorials and graves to the German soldiers in and around their cities and towns. Secondly, the Germans, with assistance from the Poles, are trying to find and identify their dead in Poland so that they can notify living family members and also strike ID'd soldiers off their MIA status so that they are on the KIA registry.

SET 9.

July 18, 2018, Poznan, Poland:

Remains of over 70 German soldiers were found during construction in the area. The soldiers had died Feb-Jan 1945. The graves were found near the Arena Sports Hall (built in 1974) on Wyspiańskiego Street in Poznań.

It's my guess that either Russian soldiers or locals had gathered the dead, bull-dozed them haphazardly into this shallow pit and then bull-dozed over it. It's clear that many of these bodies have been buried one on top of the other and with the Russian army fast on the advance towards Germany and the Germans fast in retreat back to Germany there was not much else that could have been done.

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2. An intact German thermometer.

3. German ammo pouches.

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5. Map showing location of Poznan.

 

[DeathHand]

SET 10.

Sept. 19 - Oct 3, 2022, Karzvyn, Poland:

At formerly Evangelical parish cemetery workers located the remains of four German soldiers who died in 1945, three of whom were buried in a common grave. Only one ID tag (unbroken) was located here, along with a fair amount of equipment.

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3. A set of keys.

4. Lots of uniform buttons...

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6. This was a fairly deep grave.

7. Unbroken ID tag.

8. Belt of ammo pouches, a charger, tin canteen, tin mess kit, wallets, bayonet or dagger scabbard, 3 belt buckles, a police cap visor and a belt.

9. The visor for a German police cap.

10. Not the correct cap but just an example of the visor.

11. Possibly three WW2 German Heer belt buckles.

12. The above belt buckles, if correct, would have looked this this. Note: the German police also wore these.

13. A toothbrush and what looks like a plastic whistle.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 11.

Sept. 22, 2022, Józefów, Poland:

In the corner of the parish cemetery a mass grave with the remains of 12 German soldiers killed in 1945 were found. These soldiers were buried after the end of the war in two mass graves (3 + 9). It appears that the grave, prior to being filled in with dirt, suffered some fire damage.

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4. A soldiers purse.

5. The contents.

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7. Judging by that melted plastic in the middle, I'd say the soldier had been wearing a Kradmelder's rubberized trench coat.

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9. Probably Waffen SS boots. But they could also be boots worn by volunteers from an Estonian division that also fought here.

10. Someone more familiar with German boots than I might know what type these are - with their distinctive toe pattern. Mountain boots?

11. Steel Waffen SS belt buckle.

12. German gas mask canister, with mask still inside.

13. Same.

14. A Mauser K98k.

15. Same.

16. The Mauser K98k was the standard service issue rifle used by the German Wehrmacht.

17. Medallion portraying the Virgin Mary.

 

[Guipago]

The buried ammo is a bit surprising

Probably buried by local civilians or by the Russians, ammo won't fit their weapons so deny it to the Germans, the full name discs give it away, Germans would have taken 1/2.

 

[Nihilianth]

Good point - I hadn't thought about that. I keep forgetting that folks had dentures back then too, lol

Set 8.

Oct. 18, 2022, Nowa Kopernia, Poland:
An exhumation near Nowa Kopernia, Żagański district (Lubusz Province) of a mass grave of 15 German soldiers, buried beside a dirt road towards Bobrowice. As with many others, the burial-pit is fairly shallow. It's possible that most of the remains in this grave represent men who were German Field Police.


1. The mall coffin-shaped wooden (or plastic) box is what the excavators use to put the skeletal remains in after a body has been documented, mapped and photographed. Once numbered and sealed closed they are sent to the German authorities who will them bury them in similar small caskets.
View attachment 627163

2.
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3

4.
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5. A German mess kit, condom and hair comb. We've since seen the wooden version of their canteen and now we can see it with the felt cover worn completely away (or it fell off)...exposing the wood. The plastic cup cap wasn't found.
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6. Panzer boots?
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7. Looks like two bullet holes...it's possible that some, or all, of these Germans, had been executed...
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8. An unbroken ID tag.
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11. German Feldgendarmerie Field Police badge?
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12. How the above looks when it hasn't been buried in the ground for almost 80 years.
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13. Possibly blunt force trauma to the head of this soldier.
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15. Another unbroken ID tag. I think all tags found in this burial were unbroken, so these soldiers will now be able to be added to the registry of German KIA soldiers.
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16. Just one German gas mask container for 15 soldiers. I wonder if the masks were something that Soviet soldiers might have taken with them as they continued on to Berlin.
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17.
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18. Looking like a Waffen SS belt buckle. The Field Police wore the same buckle
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I think that the relic hunters prefer the forests, swamps and rural fields in Russia. There is still so much to yield there. Perhaps in these locations in Poland, the populace lives to close to the sites and would undoubtedly report them. The unbroken dog tags make me think the bodies were just piled or laid in their dug graves/pits and then bull-dozed over, before Germans could have had time to recover any (not that many would have been around to do it).

Seriously, these photo are wicked awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!

Those dentures, as well as the still-intacr boots caught my eye more than the metal thingies. Those dentures look brand-spankin new! I bet they would actually still be
useable.

and the SHININESS of the boots in this set I'm currenty quoting! Holy crapola, how was that even possible!? Same with that clean-as-fuck fork! 😳

 

[DeathHand]

Set 12.

Nov. 8-9, 2018, Pobłocie, Poland:

Three German soldiers who had been buried in the village of Pobłocie (probably in 1945) were located and exhumed. The remains of one of the Wehrmacht soldier had been discovered several years ago during construction to a house but were then stuck back in the ground by the houses' owner; these bones were scattered haphazardly in his shallow grave because they would have already been just that, a heap of bones.

The other two Wehrmacht soldiers we found buried together in the same grave and their remains were in much better shape (laid out in anatomical order with no disturbances).

1. Excavation work on the first soldier.

2. Same.

3. The other two soldiers.

4. Notice this guys femur bone - looks like a clear wide break...

5. Tourniquet on this ones arm (leather strap).

6. I think it was this guys right hand that found to have been completely shattered.

7.

Seriously, these photo are wicked awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!

Those dentures, as well as the still-intacr boots caught my eye more than the metal thingies. Those dentures look brand-spankin new! I bet they would actually still be
useable.

and the SHININESS of the boots in this set I'm currenty quoting! Holy crapola, how was that even possible!? Same with that clean-as-fuck fork! 😳

Maybe I can contact them to see if they can sell me a pair for you, lol, the dentures...not the boots. Yes those boots were sure made out of some damn sturdy material (not sure if leather or rubber stuff). It's weird to see the skeleton of a soldier, lying their with only his helmet and boots on. In an upcoming set I have one who had gold teeth...like 4 or 5 in a row!

 

[DeathHand]

Set 13.

July 21, 2020, Silna, Poland:

Exhumed graves of a Polish soldier and a German soldier, both killed on the first day of hostilities.

Workers carried out a search at the parish cemetery in Silna, Międzyrzecki district, aimed at finding the grave of a German soldier who died on September 1, 1939 (the first day of the German invasion of Poland) during an attack on the Polish border post located between Pszczew and Nila.

On the same day, the post was defended by a senior Polish guard, Antoni Paluch, who opened fire on the Germans. Moments later, he was shot in the head. According to the accounts of the inhabitants of Silna, both soldiers were buried in adjacent graves in the local parish cemetery. Antoni Paluch's grave was marked with a concrete tombstone with an inscription, while the grave of a German soldier, in a coffin, was only marked with an earthen mound.

Around 1990, the family of Antoni Paluch commissioned the exhumation of his remains and moved the tombstone to the parish cemetery in Trzciel. But it turns out that his actual remains were never exhumed: only his tombstone and the soil above the grave were moved to the cemetery in Trzciel.

The first grave contained the remains of a German soldier buried in a coffin. However, in the second, the remains of a Polish soldier buried without a coffin, which undoubtedly belonged to Antoni Paluch. This was evidenced by elements of the Polish uniform: buttons (model 1928) and remnants of a cap with a metal eagle (model 1919). Both soldiers are thought to have been the first to die in German invasion.

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7. Polish cap badge.

8. Example of the Polish cap badge on a cap (not known what type of cap the soldier was wearing).

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[DeathHand]

Dentures!

I was doing some reading about war dead (medieval times) and came across this interesting little bit of info...about dentures...

"The Napoleonic Wars, and in particular the Battle of Waterloo, were such a boon to the British dental industry in this way that dentures were known as “Waterloo teeth” in the UK over a decade after it ended. Teeth from soldiers were highly sought after owing to predominately coming from relatively young men who still had reasonably good teeth, unlike many others that came from the more wizened dead.

In one account, one Astley Cooper met just such a tooth hunter and noted,

Upon asking this Butler, who appeared to be in a state of great destitution, what might be his object, he said it was to get teeth…but when I came to question him upon the means by which he was to obtain these teeth, he said, ‘Oh Sir, only let there be a battle, and there’ll be no want of teeth. I’ll draw them as fast as the men are knocked down."

 

[KiKeKrusher88]

DeathHand:
Thanks for more awesome pics as usual. The leather pouch described as a purse was actually the case for the dog tag (not the 2 holes where leather cord ran thru and hung around soldiers neck) however coins and other items were kept in these as well. The boots speculated to be german/ possibly waffen ss are neither. I'm thinking private purchase in Estonia. The steel buckle is 100% Waffen SS. Almost unrecognizable due to rust. Finally the dog tag identifies this as belonging to a member of the 20th waffen gren. Div. Of the SS "Estonia" ( Estonian nationals with german officers) also, not being a prick just want the info to be correct. The armed police divs. Wore a completely different buckle as opposed to the wehrmacht buckle pictured. Although the "gott MIT uns" ( God is with us) motto is the same the center roundel displays a large canted swastika in place of the wehrmacht eagle and swastika. The german navy (kriegsmarine) wore the same buckle as the wehrmacht only mostly gold in color. Please keep.up.the awesome posts and fuck.any snowflake nigger loving jew bags who are offended.🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

 

[Nihilianth]

I was doing some reading about war dead (medieval times) and came across this interesting little bit of info...about dentures...

"The Napoleonic Wars, and in particular the Battle of Waterloo, were such a boon to the British dental industry in this way that dentures were known as “Waterloo teeth” in the UK over a decade after it ended. Teeth from soldiers were highly sought after owing to predominately coming from relatively young men who still had reasonably good teeth, unlike many others that came from the more wizened dead.

In one account, one Astley Cooper met just such a tooth hunter and noted,

Upon asking this Butler, who appeared to be in a state of great destitution, what might be his object, he said it was to get teeth…but when I came to question him upon the means by which he was to obtain these teeth, he said, ‘Oh Sir, only let there be a battle, and there’ll be no want of teeth. I’ll draw them as fast as the men are knocked down."

Creepy as fuck, having a dead man's teeth sewn into your own mouth. Ugh. Haha.

DeathHand:
Thanks for more awesome pics as usual. The leather pouch described as a purse was actually the case for the dog tag (not the 2 holes where leather cord ran thru and hung around soldiers neck) however coins and other items were kept in these as well. The boots speculated to be german/ possibly waffen ss are neither. I'm thinking private purchase in Estonia. The steel buckle is 100% Waffen SS. Almost unrecognizable due to rust. Finally the dog tag identifies this as belonging to a member of the 20th waffen gren. Div. Of the SS "Estonia" ( Estonian nationals with german officers) also, not being a prick just want the info to be correct. The armed police divs. Wore a completely different buckle as opposed to the wehrmacht buckle pictured. Although the "gott MIT uns" ( God is with us) motto is the same the center roundel displays a large canted swastika in place of the wehrmacht eagle and swastika. The german navy (kriegsmarine) wore the same buckle as the wehrmacht only mostly gold in color. Please keep.up.the awesome posts and fuck.any snowflake nigger loving jew bags who are offended.🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

"Snowflake nigher loving jew bags" kicked the FUCK out of your white nigger ass SS dumbfucks, and we're digging up their bones today. Hahaha.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 14.

March 23, 2020, Nysa, Poland:

The remains of 310 German soldiers from World War II were found in Nysa. This is the result of exhumation works in the garrison cemetery. Soldiers were buried here from all fronts on which the Third Reich was engaged in military operations. Soldiers who took part in the 1945 battles for the Neisse were also buried here.

Most of them were single graves. Initially, from the hostilities outside Nysa. These are soldiers who died in Lazaretech from various wounds they suffered. Here we came across coffin and single burials. We also found burials of those who died in the frontline battles for the Neisse. These soldiers were placed in the graves without coffins, but in full gear.

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4. It's probable that these soldiers were buried by their comrades since many of their ID tags were broken in half.

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6. An awesome, albeit creepy, photo. This soldier was in a 2nd division (infantry?), as per his shoulder boards.

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10. Shoulder board pips of a German NCO - I'm not sure what rank. I also cannot remember what the sorta "winged" shaped pins are: looks like there are 4.

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14. It's often difficult to determine on first visual if damage like this to a skull was from battle or if from breaking under the weight of the soil. Things like this are analyzed later by the archaeologists in their labs. Along with a broken ID tag this soldier was also buried with a thermometer.

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DeathHand:
Thanks for more awesome pics as usual. The leather pouch described as a purse was actually the case for the dog tag (not the 2 holes where leather cord ran thru and hung around soldiers neck) however coins and other items were kept in these as well. The boots speculated to be german/ possibly waffen ss are neither. I'm thinking private purchase in Estonia. The steel buckle is 100% Waffen SS. Almost unrecognizable due to rust. Finally the dog tag identifies this as belonging to a member of the 20th waffen gren. Div. Of the SS "Estonia" ( Estonian nationals with german officers) also, not being a prick just want the info to be correct. The armed police divs. Wore a completely different buckle as opposed to the wehrmacht buckle pictured. Although the "gott MIT uns" ( God is with us) motto is the same the center roundel displays a large canted swastika in place of the wehrmacht eagle and swastika. The german navy (kriegsmarine) wore the same buckle as the wehrmacht only mostly gold in color. Please keep.up.the awesome posts and fuck.any snowflake nigger loving jew bags who are offended.🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

Thanks for the input. I had read that Estonian volunteers had been in the fight so had wondered if maybe that's who the boots belonged too. Cheers.

 

[DeathHand]

Very cool pix...these are evidence of the true past and are very interesting, thank you

True, and it's amazing how many times in the past and present that this shit just keeps repeating itself, although the countries and belligerents change...in the Ukraine they'll be digging today's remains and 'relics' up in another 75 years, repeating the same scenes.

This one is a bit of a different exhumation although it is the same war and people involved.

Set 15.

July 2020, Gdańsk, Poland and Oct. 19-30, 2020, Olsztyn, Poland:

After extensive searches in three locations to find the WW2 burial sites of 7 Polish nuns who were murdered in 1945 by Red Army troops after they had ousted the Germans, the remains of 4 of the Catholic nuns were located. One was found in Gdańsk while the other 3 were uncovered in an old cemetery in Olsztyn below an area that was now a park. A third search was conducted in Orneta, Poland for the other 3 murdered nuns but the search hasn't been completed.

The Sisters worked at the hospital in Olsztyn when Red Army soldiers entered it January 1945, during their advance against the occupying German forces. The Red Army is recorded to have began pillaging the towns they now occupied and engaging in the mass rape of females. This included the Sisters at the hospital.

One of the nuns was locked up in the hospital's attic and raped over a period of 10 days. She died soon afterwards from various wounds and internal bleeding. Another sister was beaten to death when she attempted to protect a younger Sister from being raped by a Red Army soldier. It was recorded that her eyes were gouged out, her tongue was cut off and she had been stabbed with a bayonet 16 times. The third Sister was reported to have been shot dead by a Soviet soldier after leaving a bomb shelter (where she had hidden with several sick patients after air raid sirens went off) as the Red Army approached the city.

In the next decade after the 3 nuns in Olsztyn were buried, latter burials took place on top of them (there were no burial markers) and one of them was a priest, who was also exhumed in order to reach the womens' remains below his.

Rather than a criminal case spurring on the exhumations, it was the Church who was in the process of the 'beautification' of these murdered nuns, and a few others.

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4. Along with the nuns, archaeologists found that there were several dozen other burials here, although most were regular burials.

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10. This is the priest.

11. Funny, at first I thought this was...well anyways, turns out it's the large crucifix that many clergymen wore around their waists. It belonged to the priest.

12. The nun who had been buried in Gdańsk.

13. Same.

14. Same. Beside her remains were her Rosary beads and crucifux.

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