The bodies of around 20 people were discovered in a large pit at the site of a former German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag II D in Stargard, around 40 kilometres from Szczecin.
Marcin Bielecki/PAP

A mass grave containing the remains of civilians, including children, who were forcibly expelled from Warsaw in the aftermath of the Uprising has been unearthed in Western Pomerania.

The bodies of around 20 people were discovered in a large pit at the site of a former German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag II D in Stargard, around 40 kilometres from Szczecin.

The mass grave contained the remains of women, young children, teenagers and the elderly, as well as various objects characteristic of civilian life.Marcin Bielecki/PAP

The mass grave contained the remains of women, young children, teenagers and the elderly, as well as various objects characteristic of civilian life.

The discovery was made by a team of researchers from Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.

The discovery was made by a team of researchers from Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.Marcin Bielecki/PAP

Geneticist Dr. Andrzej Ossowski, head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the university, said: “There are quite a lot of remains of children, which also indicates a civilian population and ties in with historical information that whole families were sent to the stalag.”

He added that in the camp infectious diseases spread very quickly and that this together with starvation made the mortality rate among children high.

Geneticist Dr. Andrzej Ossowski, head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the university, said: “There are quite a lot of remains of children, which also indicates a civilian population and ties in with historical information that whole families were sent to the stalag.”Marcin Bielecki/PAP

The place where the victims were buried was used after the war by the Soviets as a rubbish dump for several decades.

“Everything indicates that when the Soviets took over the area, they were aware that there was a war cemetery here, but they did not respect it in any way,” said Dr. Ossowski.

The place where the victims were buried was used after the war by the Soviets as a rubbish dump for several decades.Marcin Bielecki/PAP

After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, many Varsovians were imprisoned in Stalag II D after being expelled from Warsaw, first to the temporary camp Dulag 121 in Pruszków, and then to the prisoner-of-war camp in Łambinowice.

Stalag II D in Stargard was one of the largest prisoner of war camps in the Third Reich. From the beginning of the Second World War, soldiers from various European countries were imprisoned there: Poles, French, Belgians and Russians.

After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, many Varsovians were imprisoned in Stalag II D.Public domain

From the camp, they were sent to work throughout Pomerania, including on landed estates and in road construction.

After their arrival at Stargard, the civilians from Warsaw were also sent to do slave labour. When prisoners died they were normally buried near their workplaces.

Research at the site of the former camp is being carried out for the third year in a row by the scientists.Marcin Bielecki/PAP

According to researchers, between 3,000 and 6,000 people may have been buried at the stalag site.

Research at the site of the former camp is being carried out for the third year in a row by the scientists.

 Describing this season’s work, Dr. Ossowski said: “We started the work by removing trees that overgrew the place where we expected to come across more graves with insurgent population. And indeed, we found a large grave with the remains of civilians of the Warsaw Uprising.” Marcin Bielecki/PAP

In previous years, they discovered several large mass graves here containing the remains of around 200 people, most of them Soviet prisoners of war. Analysis showed that many had died from typhus.

Describing this season’s work, Dr. Ossowski said: “We started the work by removing trees that overgrew the place where we expected to come across more graves with insurgent population. And indeed, we found a large grave with the remains of civilians of the Warsaw Uprising.”

The remains found so far have been preserved in fairly good condition, raising hopes that DNA samples will allow the identities to be established.