A World War II-era grave was found in the city during a routine dig, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported on Monday.

The exhumations are set to be carried out by Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), a state body charged with investigating crimes against Polish citizens during Nazi occupation and communist rule.

“When the Germans entered Częstochowa, they began their rule with mass round-ups, arrests and executions of Polish people,” said Adam Siwek of the institute.

According to the institute, up to 1,700 Poles could have been killed by Nazi German soldiers in Częstochowa in the early months of World War II and some of the victims are believed to have been buried in the area where the remains were discovered.

The exhumations are scheduled to continue for several weeks.

(jh/pk)

Source: IAR