Poland Honors Victims of Nazi Executions in State Burial

Poland held a state burial for over 700 victims of Nazi Germany's WWII executions, recently uncovered in the Valley of Death. The ceremony took place in Chojnice, with a funeral Mass at the basilica and military honours at the local cemetery. The exhumation occurred from 2021-2024.

Poland on Monday held a state burial for the remains of over 700 victims of Nazi Germany's World War II executions, recently uncovered in the so-called Valley of Death in the country's north.

The observances in the town of Chojnice included a funeral Mass at the basilica and interment with military honours at the local cemetery.

The remains of Polish civilians, including patients of an asylum, were exhumed between 2021 and 2024 from two separate sites near Chojnice. Historians have confirmed that the Nazis, shortly after invading Poland on September 1, 1939, executed some of the civilians. Other remains are from an execution in January 1945, when Germans were fleeing the area. Poland lost 6 million citizens, including 3 million Jews, during the war, along with significant infrastructure, industry, and agricultural losses.

(With inputs from agencies.)