A construction crew in Germany has uncovered the remains of at least 21 Soviet Red Army soldiers killed during WWII.
More than seven decades after the end of World War II, a construction crew has found the remains of at least 21 Soviet Red Army soldiers in eastern Germany.
The remains of the Soviet soldiers were found in the town of Seelow, 43 miles east of Berlin, during the construction of a bike path.
Joachim Kozlowski, from the Volksbund charity that takes care of war graves, told the German news agency dpa on Monday there were probably more remains yet to be uncovered.
Kozlowski said experts will try to identify the soldiers’ remains. He said they likely died during the last days of World War II, in the final battles for Berlin between the Russian army and Nazi Germany.
Some 33,000 Soviet and Polish soldiers and about 12,000 Wehrmacht troops were killed around Seelow.
The Battle of the Seelow Heights was part of the Seelow-Berlin Offensive Operation. A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of the Second World War. It was fought over three days, from April 16–19 1945.
Close to one million Soviet soldiers of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal Georgi Zhukov, attacked the position known as the “Gates of Berlin.” They were opposed by about 110,000 soldiers of the German 9th Army.
The discovery came as Russia celebrated its annual Victory Day on Tuesday. Victory Day is Russia’s most important secular holiday, commemorating the Red Army’s determination and losses in World War II.
On Sunday, Germany authorities acted on another World War II-era discovery. Authorities were evacuating around 50,000 people from their homes in the northern city of Hannover while five suspected aerial bombs from World War II were made safe for removal.
City officials said two suspected bombs were found at a construction site and three more nearby.
By: AP and World Israel News Staff