Sensational: Remains of German soldiers from WWII unearthed in Budapest

The remains of fourteen German soldiers, who died during the siege of Budapest in 1944-45 and were buried at the time, have been exhumed in the courtyard of the National Archives building at Bécsi Gate Square in Budapest, the Hungarian National Archives (Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, MNL) informed MTI on Tuesday.

Seven soldiers could be identified

Among the soldiers, the identification tags of seven were found, making it possible to establish their exact identities. Excavation work will continue, so more soldiers buried during or after the siege may yet be found in the area, according to the statement.

The statement recalled that at the end of World War II, in March 1944, Germany occupied Hungary, turning Budapest into a theatre of war. During the winter of 1944/45, the Hungarian capital endured one of the longest sieges of the war, which caused immense destruction and loss in every sense.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the military occupation, the Hungarian National Archives is preparing a European program in cooperation with the Institute and Museum of Military History and the Military History Archives. The German Bundesarchiv has joined the initiative, and some documents previously preserved in Russian archives and later made accessible will also be used in the joint work.

Work is progressing well

According to the statement, the work is progressing well: county archives have reviewed death registers from spring 1944 to 1950 for all Hungarian settlements. Until 1950, death registers still indicated if someone died as a result of war injuries.

With the collected data, a spectacular interactive database and data visualisation will be created, allowing users to see on a map what military events took place in each settlement, which units fought, and the scale of both military and civilian losses.

Not all data has been processed yet, but experts have already identified over 58,000 victims, the vast majority civilians. The program is expected to be presented in the autumn.

Exhibition to present Hungary’s situation during WWII

In connection with the developing database, the archives, together with the Institute and Museum of Military History, are preparing an exhibition to open on 21 June as part of the Night of Museums program. The exhibition will present Hungary’s fate, situation, and horrors during World War II through the 1944/45 history of the archives.