Thousands of bone remains buried in Berlin, possibly from victims of Nazi experiments

AFP

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:57

About 16,000 bone remains are buried in Berlin today. It may be partly the remains of victims of Nazi experiments. The bone remains were found during excavations on the campus of the Free University in Berlin.

The human and animal bones were discovered during restoration work that began in 2015. A scientific research institute was located on the site of the university campus from 1927 to 1945. This Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft conducted research into weapons and race improvement, among other things.

It is not known who the bone remains belong to

Researchers have determined that the bone remains belong to men and women of all age groups. The university says they are victims of crimes. These may be colonial victims, but also Nazi victims. The university says it cannot link the bone remains exactly to specific crimes in history. It is also not possible to find out who the bone remains belong to.

“Dividing the victims into groups would ultimately only lead to the racist methods and ideologies of the past being repeated,” says Günter Ziegler, head of the Berlin University.

No further investigation

Organizations representing the interests of possible victims such as Jews, Sinti, Roma or Herero from Namibia have agreed that no further research will be done into the bone remains.

In a cemetery near the university campus, the bone remains were buried today in five small coffins. Some 230 guests attended the public funeral.

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