A mass grave containing the remains of thousands of victims of the Second World War has been discovered in a forest near the Polish village of Białuty. It concerns victims of the Soldau concentration camp, the Polish institute IPN said on Wednesday announced.
It concerns two mass graves of 28 and 12 meters long and about 3 meters deep, write Polish media† The ashes of about 8,000 people were found in it.
According to the IPN, the Nazis tried to erase the traces of the concentration camp by exhuming and burning the bodies of the victims. The ashes of these people were put in the mass graves.
The institute considers the find important because it provides a better picture of what exactly happened in Soldau. According to Polish media, there may still be six such mass graves in the forests surrounding the concentration camp.
Soldau was founded at the end of 1939 in old barracks near the Polish city of Działdowo. Initially it served as a detention center for prisoners of war, but was later also used as a labor camp and for the Nazi euthanasia program. Soldau was liberated in January 1945. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 30,000 people died in the concentration camp.
A symbolic grave for the victims was also unveiled at the press conference on Wednesday.
A symbolic grave for the victims was also unveiled at the press conference on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
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