80 years after World War II, Germany is still painstakingly searching for its fallen soldiers

HALBE, Germany (AP) — In a wood adjacent Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred past week. High schoolhouse students placed achromatic gerbera daisies connected tiny achromatic coffins, and German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug sedate arsenic a subject set played a solemn tune.

Hundreds of villagers and relatives of the fallen watched silently, immoderate wiping tears disconnected their cheeks, arsenic the soldiers who died successful 1 of the past ample World War II battles warring for Adolf Hitler's service got their last resting place.

The gestures of remembrance are portion of a long, analyzable — and sometimes arguable — effort to bring the German dormant to rest, 80 years after a warfare that Nazi Germany started.

It's inactive not the extremity — overmuch enactment remains to place the dormant and notify immoderate surviving household members.

Across Europe, successful forests, fields and beneath aged farmland, the remains of German soldiers are inactive being found, exhumed and reburied by teams from a nonprofit enactment called the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, oregon German War Graves Commission, which has been doing this enactment for decades.

A hunt for the dead

As the satellite pauses this week to people the 80th day of the war’s end, the continued hunt for soldiers' remains is simply a reminder that the conflict’s legacy is not lone humanities oregon political, but besides carnal and unfinished, inactive unfolding crossed Europe.

“It’s very, precise important that this is inactive being done,” said Martina Seiger, 57, whose grandfather’s bones were recovered and buried a fewer years ago.

Seiger and her household marque a constituent of attending the burials of different soldiers who died successful the conflict of Halbe successful 1945. It’s arsenic adjacent arsenic they tin get to immoderate benignant of ceremonial for her grandfather, Werner Novak.

Novak was 21 erstwhile helium was killed. He had already been injured and sent backmost from the beforehand to Berlin. He was readying to wed his large fiancée and hoped for a much peaceful future, Seiger said.

Instead, arsenic the Soviet’s Red Army was approaching Berlin successful the past weeks of war, helium was backmost into battle.

Lost successful the chaos of war

The process of uncovering and identifying the remains is dilatory — galore of the missing were buried hastily during retreat oregon combat, with nary markers oregon records. Some sites are remembered lone vaguely, passed down done section knowledge.

Others are beyond reach, beneath modern infrastructure oregon the beforehand enactment successful eastbound Ukraine.

Still, the Volksbund works on, searching crossed Europe's aged battlefields, pursuing tips, checking aged subject maps and missing soldiers lists. The enactment continues adjacent successful occidental Ukraine, distant from the raging warring successful the country's east.

When possible, the enactment brings the remains to cemeteries maintained specifically for German soldiers who died abroad. It says its extremity is humanistic: to connection a dignified burial to each idiosyncratic who died successful the war, careless of the relation they played. That includes soldiers who served successful a subject liable for immoderate of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.

The Volksbund does not framework its ngo arsenic 1 of honoring the fallen, but of identifying them and ensuring they are not near to vanish into the earth, without a name.

A missing father

Wolfgang Bartsch, 83, stood connected a tiny elevation adjacent the unfastened graves arsenic the soldiers’ bones were laid to rest.

Bartsch has ne'er been capable to hide his ain father, who died successful January 1942 warring connected the beforehand successful Russia. He was conscionable 3 weeks old. Days earlier his parent was killed successful an Allied weaponry raid connected Berlin. He was raised by his grandma but ever felt the symptom of increasing up without parents.

“My dada is buried determination successful a nameless sedate successful Oryol successful Russia," helium said. “The Volksbund volition ne'er beryllium capable to retrieve his bones due to the fact that I cognize that tons of settlements were built connected apical of those graves.”

By the Volksbund’s estimate, much than 2 cardinal German soldiers stay unaccounted for. Over the past 30 years, since gaining entree to erstwhile Eastern Bloc territories, the Volksbund has recovered and reburied the remains of a cardinal people.

Work that tin beryllium controversial

In immoderate parts of Europe, resentment lingers toward thing perceived arsenic rehabilitating the Nazi subject past. But galore judge that efforts to find the dormant could assistance adjacent this section of history.

“I don’t privation to regularisation retired the anticipation that we person a ample fig of warfare criminals successful our warfare graves. We besides cognize that immoderate of them person adjacent been proven to person committed the astir superior warfare crimes," said Dirk Backen, the caput wide of the Volksbund.

“Behind each dormant idiosyncratic is simply a quality destiny and that is our main focus," helium said. "When you basal successful beforehand of the sedate of an 18-year-old young Wehrmacht soldier, you people inquire yourself whether helium whitethorn person had different plans successful beingness and a antithetic imagination than to springiness his beingness astatine the property of 18 for a origin that was besides criminal.”

Weeks earlier the burial successful Halbe, an exhumation took spot successful the Polish metropolis of Ostrołęka, wherever Volksbund employees and section Polish archaeologists dug for the remains of German soldiers successful a Polish cemetery wherever it would not impact disturbing a marked grave.

The skeletons were documented that day, March 19, and the bones of each idiosyncratic were sealed into a achromatic bag. Dog tags were saved successful the anticipation the remains tin 1 time beryllium identified. The radical plans to rebury them aboriginal this year astatine a subject ceremonial successful Poland.

They merit to beryllium buried

Łukasz Karol, a Polish archaeologist moving connected the exhumation, acknowledges having had ethical concerns arsenic helium considered the occupation of unearthing soldiers of an service that invaded Poland and killed immoderate 6 cardinal Polish citizens implicit the people of the war.

But helium said the enactment has motivation value and uncovers important technological information.

“These are besides radical and they besides merit a burial," Karol said.

Unlike successful the contiguous postwar years, fewer families contiguous are actively searching for mislaid relatives. In galore cases, the affectional and generational region is excessively great; determination is nary 1 near to retrieve the missing, oregon the request for closure has faded with time.

For Bartsch, the 83-year-old who attended the burial successful Halbe, determination is nary closure.

“I inactive can’t find bid erstwhile I deliberation that truthful galore radical are inactive buried present successful the crushed without a due funeral,” helium said. “My bosom would rejoice if lone I could hide my begetter too, but that won’t happen."

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Gera reported from Ostrołęka, Poland.