13. 5. 2013 Soldier's body found in the forest
Categories: Finds and rescue research in the Czech Republic , Second World War , Calendar
Eight years ago, a 45-year-old man discovered the body of a dead soldier from World War II in the woods near Oldřišov in the Opava region. Police officers, technicians and an expert from the Archaeological Institute in Opava immediately went to the site.
An archaeologist called in determined that the remains were those of a fallen soldier from the Second World War. Petr Toman, the mayor of Oldřišov, took possession of the remains and other items and had them deposited in the local funeral parlour.
"At the site of the discovery there were parts of the bones of the human body, a part of the skull, the lower jaw, a deformed metal cup, a comb, small metal coins, buttons, part of a soldier's identification tag and other small objects," police spokesman René Černohorský said at the time.
The finder of the skeletal remains also immediately guessed that it was a soldier from the Second World War. It was speculated that he was a member of an association that deals with searches of this kind. Thus, the discovery of the skeleton was probably not accidental. After all, associations usually have a list of missing soldiers and locations where fighting took place.
It was in the Opava region that numerous battles took place during World War II. Searchers with metal detectors have found various munitions there several times. One of the locals even found an armoured fist in his garden.
Even Mayor Toman was not surprised to find the skeleton of a soldier from the Second World War near the forest. "The front moved back and forth in front of Oldřišov several times. They kept coming back. So the Germans came here once, then the Soviets again, and so on. Basically, eighty percent of the properties were damaged or destroyed," Toman outlined.
Parts of the soldier's skeleton were clear. Toman said at the time that it probably belonged to a German soldier. The remains were handed over by representatives of a civic association that is engaged in collecting skeletal remains and depositing them at the central military grave of German soldiers.
Oldřišov was liberated by the Soviet army in mid-April 1945. They came from Poland with the Allies to launch an offensive on Czech territory leading to the liberation of Opava, Ostrava and the surrounding area....
Sources: Opava Region, www.denik.cz, www.rozhlas.cz
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