Skeletons missing their hands and feet, as well as that of a baby, have been discovered beneath the home of Hermann Goering.
German and Polish archaeologists made the discovery while digging in the Wolf’s Lair in Poland, a complex of bunkers and ruins that once served as a forest headquarters for Adolf Hitler’s inner circle.
Under a wooden floor in the air marshal’s house, about 10cm below ground, the group found the remains of a human skull. Further digging revealed five skeletons: three adults, a teenager and a baby.
All five bodies were missing their hands and their feet, prompting Polish prosecutors to launch a probe into whether they were victims of Nazi war crimes.
Excavators found no traces of clothing or jewellery, suggesting the victims’ bodies were looted and stripped naked before they were buried.
Oktavian Bartoszewski, one of the researchers, suspects the bodies were buried after the house had been built as the remains were located beneath some pipes.
“Those who laid the pipes should have discovered the human remains,” he told Spiegel magazine. “We were completely shocked.”
Polish police said they had found no evidence of a recent crime, adding to suspicions that the case dates back to the Second World War, and may even personally involve Goering, who was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi party and was the chief of the Luftwaffe during the war.
The Wolf’s Lair consists of around 200 buildings and was created in occupied Poland in 1940, becoming one of Hitler’s favourite hideouts.
It was also the scene of the famous July 20 1944 botched attempt on Hitler’s life, in which he narrowly avoided being killed by a bomb planted by Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a Nazi officer.
Over the years, amateur sleuths have dug up all manner of relics from the site, ranging from crockery to personal effects that may have belonged to members of the Nazi inner circle.
But Goering’s house was considered to have given up all of its secrets before this week’s macabre discovery.
