New Warsaw dig reveals Stalinist victims
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
01.07.2014 18:14
Archaeologists have uncovered what appears to be the remains of victims of Stalinist oppression at a cemetery in Warsaw.
Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
The excavation at the Sluzew parish cemetery of St. Catherine follows on from work carried out at the Powazki Military Cemetery, where 200 skeletons were exhumed in recent years as part of an ongoing project.
Professor Krzysztof Szwagrzyk is leading the latest dig under the auspices of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), a state organisation charged with investigating crimes against Polish citizens.
Work carried out so far this week has revealed the remains of five bodies piled up in a burial pit.
It is believed that the site is one of the biggest burial grounds of anti-communist figureheads murdered by the secret police in the years 1945-1956.
“The work will be extremely complicated,” Szwagrzyk told Polish Radio.
“The mass grave, in which up to a thousand people could have been interred, was covered over with hundreds of monuments.
“The excavation of victims' remains will therefore be a huge logistical challenge.
“For now, work is carried out in the alleys and areas that are free of monuments.” (nh)