Still wearing their boots and helmets, and carrying their weapons, the bodies of German soldiers who died in the Battle of the Seelow Heights have finally been unearthed. A team of archaeologists - the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen - have uncovered the skeletons of men who died defending Berlin from the soldiers of the Red Army in the final days of the Second World War. The dig, in Klessin, Brandenburg, brought to the light weapons, helmets, boots and the bones of those fighting to protect the murderous Third Reich [SIZE=14.1666660308838px]Read More: [/SIZE]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2776989/Recovering-fallen-German-soldiers-killed-bloody-Second-World-War-Brandenburg-battle-discovered-wearing-boots-helmets.html
PzJgr: Did it say if any of those bodies had identity disks so that any family members could be notified?
Their site is always quite interesting. http://www.vbgo.de/index.php?cccpage=ausgrabungen&set_language=en Particularly the remembrance section, which illuminates perhaps the core aim of the work. I was intrigued seeing the story this morning on Twatter, as they're usually a very discrete organisation. I have to wonder if there's a bit of gentle PR going on to counter the nighthawks and daft programmes like 'Nazi War diggers' (thankfully pulled before airing). It'd surprise me if they were going more public deliberately, but it makes a kind of sense.
Ike, an interesting article. I don't know much about the organization, but the last line of the article resonates: "Fallen soldiers are also victims..." I hope they are legitimate. The goal of identification is a worthy one.
It did not say. I don't know if this is the same organization that I have read about previously where they also go into other countries to recover remains, attempt identification and return them to their respective country. Also note the condition of the StG44.....looks awesome
I noticed the rusty sturmGewehr. Now, how about the remains of the Soviet soldiers? Certainly they suffered heavy casualties too. Beings they were on the offensive they probably suffered more. Which brings me to another, rather macabre, question. How did the USSR deal with their dead and the dead soldier's families?
Mass graves are quite common in the former Ostblock, but then they were quite common universally for soldiers until relatively recently. Might be worth a thread of it's own? I know the diggers from this group treat each body with equal respect and archaeological rigour.
I hope Kate won't mind me sharing this. Run through in English about VBGO's work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0WIKuUWxU 7,200+ recovered, regardless of nationality, in a respectful & archaeologically sensitive manner. More power to 'em.
Thanks for the update Adam. Their goal is a fine one. There are plenty of unknown fallen around the globe. Even if they only identify a percentage, it will bring some finality to their families.