Remains of twelve fallen Hungarian soldiers unearthed
The remains of twelve Hungarian soldiers who lost their lives during the Second World War have been unearthed in Tornyópuszta, Komárom-Esztergom County, by the staff of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence’s Institute and Museum of Military History, Directorate for Military Grave Care and Heroic Cult.
Remains of Hungarian soldiers fallen in Second World War have been found
According to a statement published by the Directorate on Thursday via Facebook, information had been received suggesting that Hungarian soldiers who died heroically in the Second World War might be buried in an overgrown former cemetery in Tornyópuszta.
This assumption was supported by a rusted metal sign found on the site, bearing the words “soldiers’ graves.” Following an on-site inspection and the examination of wartime casualty records from the surrounding area, excavation work began earlier this year, assisted by reservists from the 12th Territorial Defence Battalion based in Tatabánya.
More of them could have been buried there
The team of grave care specialists and reservists cleared the dense undergrowth before opening an exploratory trench to locate the presumed mass grave. Over the course of four days, the experts uncovered individual, double and collective graves, from which the remains of twelve Hungarian soldiers were exhumed.
Evidence suggested that additional fallen soldiers had also been buried at the site, but their remains were likely exhumed in the years following the war. Several personal items were found alongside the skeletal remains, allowing two of the soldiers to be immediately identified.
It was noted that the cemetery had been used by the 54/II Battalion to bury its fallen comrades, who had perished or died in the nearby areas of Mesterberekpuszta and Kis- and Nagynémetegyház, located a few kilometres south of the site.
Some of them were identified almost immediately
The exhumed remains were transported to Budapest for further examination. Through on-site and laboratory analyses, experts have so far been able to confirm the identities of ten soldiers. As additional documentation on the fallen troops is available in the Central Archives of the Institute and Museum of Military History, researchers expect to further clarify the identities of all twelve soldiers.
It was also announced that the reburial of the fallen Hungarian soldiers will take place this autumn in Plot 52 of the Fiume Road National Graveyard in Budapest, in the section designated for Hungarian soldiers who died heroically in the Second World War.