-
Ashes of 8,000 WWII victims found in mass grave in northern Poland
Polish authorities say they have uncovered a mass grave of human ashes near the former Nazi concentration camp of Soldau, the Euronews reported.
It said, the discovery was made by Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which documents war crimes.
IPN prosecutor Tomasz Jankowski has said that "at least 8,000 people likely died there" given the weight of the human ashes found -- 17.5 tonnes.
The remains were unearthed in Ilowo Osada in the Bialucki forest, around 150 kilometres north of the capital Warsaw.
The site is close to the Soldau concentration camp -- now known as Dzialdowo -- which was built in 1939 during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II.
An estimated 30,000 prisoners and political opponents were killed at the camp, but some historians say the number could be much higher, according to the Euronews.
Jankowski said: "The victims buried in this grave were probably murdered around 1939 and belonged mostly to Polish elites.”
In 1944, some Jewish prisoners were ordered to exhume bodies and set them on fire to erase the traces of Nazi war crimes.
Abbas adviser praises Nazi collaborator as 'role model'
Andrzej Ossowski, a genetics researcher at Pomerania Medical University, told AFP: "We have taken samples from the ashes, which will then be studied in the laboratory.”
He added: "We will be able to carry out DNA analyses, which will allow us to learn more about the identity of the victims.”
It is worthy to note that around six million Poles died during the war, including three million Jews.
Source: euronews
