Mass grave of Holocaust victims uncovered in Logoza, Belarus

(JNS) — A mass grave of Holocaust victims has been discovered near the village of Logoza in Belarus, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.

Photos from the excavation site show that officials uncovered bone remains, full skeletons (some with bullets in their skulls), fragments of clothing and children’s shoes, in addition to ammunition from ditches that are as deep as five meters. Personal objects were found as well, including a key and a broken comb. The mass grave is located about 22 miles from the capital, Minsk.

Experts from the country’s State Forensic Examination Committee are working on the excavation site in partnership with a group from the general prosecutor’s office. Everything removed from the site has been inspected and recorded, and they will work to identify the excavated bodies.

“While this is the initial state of work, judging by what we see this is a civilian population,” said Dmitry Gora, chairman of the investigation committee under the prosecutor’s office. “Much more will be found in the future.”

The excavation was conducted as part of a criminal investigation into an alleged genocide of Belarusians during and after World War II. Some 1,214 bodies were discovered in May 2019 in a mass grave in the Belarus city of Brest, where the Jewish ghetto was located during the Holocaust. Previous mass graves were discovered in Brest in 1950 and in 1970, and in both instances, hundreds of victims were buried at cemeteries.

Some 1.6 million Belarusian civilians were killed by the Nazis during the occupation in World War II, including between 500,000 to 550,000 Jews, according to the Daily Mail. Most of the victims were women, children and the elderly, reported the Belarus news agency BeITA.