The exhumation of the remains, found in separate mass graves in Chojnice in northern Poland, began in 2021. Now they have finally been laid to rest in 188 small wooden coffins adorned with ribbons in red and white.
With the help of documents and personal belongings, 120 of the victims have been identified. Among them are teachers, priests, police officers, and over 200 patients from a mental hospital.
Some of the remains are believed to originate from a mass execution in January 1945, when the Germans fled the area. Bullets and cartridge cases from weapons used by German forces are said to have been found in the graves.
Six million Poles – one-sixth of the population – were killed in World War II. Half of them were of Jewish descent.
