Warsaw: On Monday, Poland held a state funeral to honor more than 700 victims of Nazi Germany’s mass executions during World War II. These remains, recently unearthed from the “Valley of Death” in northern Poland, were buried decades after the atrocities took place.
The ceremonies were held in the town of Chojnice, starting with a funeral Mass at the local basilica. The victims were given a solemn burial with full military honors at a nearby cemetery. Their remains were placed in 188 small wooden coffins, each adorned with ribbons in Poland’s national colors of white and red.
The event was attended by the victims’ relatives, an aide to President Andrzej Duda, local authorities, and top officials from the National Remembrance Institute, which led the exhumation. Bishop Ryszard Kasyna, who led the service, expressed a collective wish to “restore the memory and dignity of the victims of the crimes in Chojnice.” President Duda, in a message, highlighted that these individuals were killed simply because they were Polish and pledged that their memory would always be honored.
The remains, including those of 218 asylum patients, were exhumed between 2021 and 2024 from several mass graves around Chojnice. Personal belongings and documents helped identify approximately 120 victims, executed in early 1945. Among them were teachers, priests, police officers, forestry and postal workers, and landowners.
Historical research indicates that the Nazis began executing Polish civilians shortly after their invasion on September 1, 1939, in an effort to suppress the nation. The remains of another 500 victims were traced back to a mass execution in January 1945, carried out as German forces retreated. German handgun bullets and shells were found in the graves.
Experts continue to search the area for more mass graves related to the so-called Pomerania Crime. During WWII, Poland lost 6 million citizens, including 3 million Jews, suffering immense human and material losses.
