80 years after World War II, Germany still searches for fallen soldiers

German soldiers carry the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII to the grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany (Image: AP)

80 years have passed since the second World War came to an end. However, the search for the bodies of fallen soldiers continues. Much work remains to identify the deceased and inform any surviving family members.
Last week, in a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen German soldiers were cremated respectfully with rituals. Hundreds of villagers and relatives looked on as soldiers who died in one of the last big World War II battles, fighting for Hitler’s army, were finally laid to rest.
The remains of German soldiers are still being found across Europe in forests, fields and beneath old farmland. Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge (German War Graves Commission) is a non-profit organisation that has been continuously digging up the remains of soldiers and reburying them. They have been doing this work for decades.
This week marks 80 years since World War II ended, but the search for soldiers’ remains continues. The war’s effects are still being felt, and the work to find and identify the dead is not yet finished.
“It’s very, very important that this is still being done,” said Martina Seiger, 57, whose grandfather’s bones were found and buried a few years ago.

‘More than 2 million German soldiers unaccounted for’

Finding and identifying the remains is a slow process. Many of those missing were buried quickly during retreats or battles, without any markers or official records.
Whenever possible, the organisation brings the remains to cemeteries maintained specifically for German soldiers who died abroad. It has a humanistic goal: to offer a dignified burial to every person who died in the war, regardless of the role they played.
The Volksbund’s mission is not about honoring the fallen, but about identifying them and making sure they aren’t forgotten or lost in the earth without a name.
According to the Volksbund’s estimate, more than 2 million German soldiers remain unaccounted for. Over the past 30 years, since gaining access to former Eastern Bloc territories, the Volksbund has recovered and reburied the remains of one million people.

‘War criminals in our war graves’

In some parts of Europe, there is still resentment toward anything that seems to revive or honor the Nazi military past.
“I don’t want to rule out the possibility that we have a large number of war criminals in our war graves. We also know that some of them have even been proven to have committed the most serious war crimes,” said Dirk Backen, the secretary general of the Volksbund.
“Behind every dead person is a human destiny and that is our main focus,” he said. “When you stand in front of the grave of an 18-year-old young Wehrmacht soldier, you naturally ask yourself whether he may have had other plans in life and a different dream than to give his life at the age of 18 for a cause that was also criminal.”

‘They deserve to be buried’

Lukasz Karol, a Polish archaeologist working on the excavation, admits to having ethical concerns about his task. He struggled with the challenge of unearthing soldiers from an army that had invaded Poland and caused the deaths of around 6 million Polish citizens during the war.
But he said the work has moral significance and uncovers important scientific information.
“These are also people and they also deserve a burial,” Karol said.