Search for a Polish war hero unearths Soviet atrocities скачать в хорошем качестве

Search for a Polish war hero unearths Soviet atrocities

(30 Aug 2012) Archeologists are hoping to unearth the remains of a Polish war hero who voluteered to sneak into Auschwitz to uncover the atrocities being covered there. Witold Pilecki was with the Polish resistance when he went undercover at the Nazi death camp for three years before finally escaping. But rather than being hailed a hero, Pilecki was later executed by the Communists. This is a dark and secret part of Poland's history. It's finally bared under the light of day, despite the best efforts of people who never wanted it unearthed. These are the bones of dissidents and undesirables who met a brutal end. Most of them were killed with a shot to the head. "Here the facial part of the skull was not preserved, or was only preserved in small fragments, because a bullet leaving the skull was forced into the facial area and caused fragmentation of the facial skull bones." says Lukasz Szleszkowski a forensic expert on the dig. Their job is complicated by the fact these remains come from mass graves where the executed were dumped one on top of another. The graves were discrete and the perpetrators hoped people would forget and that time would ensure the killings would remain hidden. Doctor Krzysztof Szwagrzyk is an historian from the Polish Institute of National Rememberance. He says: "As we heard most often they cut out small squares of grass, put them aside, they dug the grave holes, they dumped the people there, they covered it with grass and the surplus soil they spread elsewhere and after a few days it seemed know one was buried there, there was not a single trace." Now archeologists hope to reveal the mystery identities of these victims by meticulously reconstructing the skeletons of the executed. It's a jigsaw puzzle made more difficult by the fact that all of these pieces, these bones may, or may not come from the same person. The work begins down in these pits, the final resting place of these cold war era dead. Here those the government wanted out of the way were dumped. In a place agents referred to as the meadow. Since then others graves have been plotted. Therefore, the excavation must be done beside marked graves. Side by side with other executed may be a Polish Resistance hero Witold Pilecki. His mission could hardly have been a riskier one-- during World War II he volunteered for imprisonment in the infamous Nazi death camp, Auschwitz. Once inside he secretly chronicle the atrocities behind the barbwire and report back. These type of heroics were needed because previously horror filled reports of gas chambers, crematoriums, firing squads, inhumane conditions and starvation that filtered out of Auschwitz were so bad the Allies or even the Polish Resistance refused to believe they could be true. They needed their own man on the job, Pilecki, to confirm. "The decision was brief, it was understood that somebody needs to do intelligence there. It had to be an experienced officer involved in organising underground (resistance) structures and the lot was on Witold Pilecki," says Jacek Pawlowicz a Pilecki expert. Pilecki, the only person known to have volunteered for Auschwitz, detailed what he observed in tight single spaced reports filled with terror. His dispatches were smuggled out but still never acted upon till the wars end. He also organised an armed resistance in the camp. But what Pilecki did is only half as incredible as what he left behind to do it. He was married and had two children when he went on his mission. He would leave them behind in this service to his country. ==== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...