Brian McDonald
Polish prosecutors have halted an investigation into human skeletons found at the site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during World War II because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
The remains were found on February 24 in Wolf’s Den, which served as Hitler’s headquarters from 1941 to 1944, when the area was part of Germany. The complex of around 200 Nazi bunkers and military barracks hidden in deep forests was the site of Colonel Claus Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944.
Prosecutor’s spokesman for the nearby city of Ketrzyn, Daniel Brodowski, said police officers secured the remains after they were found by a local group, Latebralooking for historical objects.
A forensic medical expert examined them under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which was trying to determine whether manslaughter had occurred. The investigation was halted in late March due to a lack of evidence that a crime had been committed, Brodowski told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.
“The expert stated that the preserved skeletal remains were of human origin and came from at least four people, three of whom were probably middle-aged men, and the fourth was a several-year-old child whose sex could not be determined.” , Brodowski said. he wrote.
But due to the advanced deterioration of the remains, it was no longer possible to determine the cause of death, he said, noting that at least several dozen years had passed.
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The skeletons, without hands and feet, were buried inside the villa of the commander of the German Air Force. Hermann GoeringReuters reported.
“You would never expect such things in a place like this… the most protected place in the Third Reich and after the war, the Russians took control of this place,” Latebra member Dominik Markiewicz told Reuters. “Everyone wondered what could have happened there… We tried to think of something, but nothing reasonable came to mind. We didn’t know what we were dealing with. Could it be some occult rituals of Third Reich fanatics? We have no idea.”
After the war, Toca do Lobo became part of Poland and is now a major tourist attraction.
Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images
