Finally at peace, the victims whose bones were collected by Nazi scientists: Remains of at least 54 men, women and children are laid to rest in Germany after they were discovered during construction work
- Bone fragments uncovered in 2014 on the grounds of Berlin’s Freie Universitaet
- On Thursday, the city held a funeral to honour the people they belonged to
The remains of at least 54 men, women and children, thought to have been part of ‘scientific’ collections held by the Nazis, have been laid to rest in Germany after they were discovered during construction work.
Fragments of human bones were discovered in 2014 during excavation work on the grounds of Berlin’s Freie Universitaet. Over the next two years, thousands more fragments were found around the site.
On Thursday, the city held a funeral to honour the people they belonged to, whose identity remains a mystery but who were undoubtedly the victims of crimes committed in the name of science.
The burial, organised by the university, took place in a cemetery in the west of the city, close to the spot where the 16,000 bone fragments were discovered during archaeological digs after the initial find.
‘It is our duty, even if it has been a long time, to grant peace to all the victims, even if we do not know their names,’ said Guenter Ziegler, president of the Freie Universitaet.
Boxes containing human remains found on the grounds of a Berlin university are carried during a burial ceremony at Waldfriedhof cemetery on March 23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany
A woman throws flowers on the boxes containing human remains found on the grounds of a Berlin university at the burial site during a burial ceremony at Waldfriedhof cemetery on March 23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany
Experts say the bones belonged to at least 54 people, most dating from at least two centuries ago. They also included fragments of the skeletons of rats, rabbits, pigs and sheep.
The site where the bones were found was once home to the notorious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics (KWIA).
Founded in 1927, the KWIA was a hub for Nazi scientists during World War II – including doctor Josef Mengele, notorious for his experiments on prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Traces of glue and inscriptions on the bones suggest they were part of collections held by the institute, experts say.
The experts concluded that the bones came from ‘criminal contexts’ dating back to the colonial period in particular, but that ‘some of the bones may also have come from victims of Nazi crimes’.
After lengthy consultations, the university decided not to perform any further investigations on the bones, out of respect for the victims.
Boxes containing human remains found on the grounds of a Berlin university are lowered into the ground at the burial site during a burial ceremony at Waldfriedhof cemetery on March 23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany
Pallbearers carry boxes containing the remains of political prisoners executed by the Nazis and dissected for research, during a burial ceremony at Berlin’s Dahlem cemetery on March 23, 2023
People gather for the burial of bones found on the grounds of the Freie Universitat, Free University, at the Waldfriedhof in Berlin, Germany, on March 23, 2023
Pallbearers prepare to lower boxes containing the remains of political prisoners executed by the Nazis and dissected for research, during a burial ceremony at Berlin’s Dahlem cemetery on March 23, 2023
Flowers on caskets containing bones found on the grounds of the Freie Universitat, Free University after being lowered into the ground for burial, at the Waldfriedhof in Berlin, Germany, on March 23, 2023
Separating them into categories ‘according to different sources, different crimes and different parts of the world’ would risk repeating history, according to Ziegler.
‘We would then have reproduced exactly what we wanted to avoid, a division into different classes,’ he said.
‘Of course, I would like to know who these people were, but it wouldn’t be appropriate given what was done to people in the name of the institute,’ said Susan Pollock, the archaeologist who led the research.
The bone fragments range from around the size of a fingernail to 12 centimetres and none were found fully intact, according to Pollock.
As well as coming from victims of colonial crimes, they may also have been acquired through grave robberies around the world.
Pollock noted that the KWIA’s first director, Eugen Fischer, conducted research in the German colonies in southern Africa at the beginning of the 20th century.
A collection of human remains from around the world named for the anthropologist Felix von Luschan – who carried out the collecting partly in the colonial context – was also housed in the institute.
Boxes containing human remains found on the grounds of a Berlin university are lowered into the ground at the burial site during a burial ceremony at Waldfriedhof cemetery on March 23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany
A woman throws flowers on the boxes containing human remains found on the grounds of a Berlin university at the burial site during a burial ceremony at Waldfriedhof cemetery on March 23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany
Until 1945, the KWIA ‘disseminated research on racial hygiene throughout the world… and participated in the crimes of National Socialism’, according to the Freie Universitaet.
The institute ‘turned human lives into things, into research objects’, Pollock said.
Today, a small rusty plaque on the side of a university building near the site of the former KWIA reminds visitors of the abuses committed there.
Mengele sent ‘eyes of people who were murdered in Auschwitz to this institute’, but also other organs, said Pollock.
Germany has already worked extensively, albeit belatedly, to identify the remains of thousands of disabled and sick people exterminated under the Third Reich as part of the Nazi regime’s ‘euthanasia programmes’, supported by scientists and doctors.
The decision not to pursue further investigations into the bones found in Berlin was taken in consultation with groups representing the alleged victims – including the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and the Central Council of the African Community.
The first two in particular objected to the use of DNA analysis, which they said would be ‘invasive’.
The burial will be carried out without any religious symbols and in a way that is not ‘Eurocentric’, according to the university.
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