Archaeological research has begun at Hermann Göring’s house in the Wolf’s Lair area. This is the site where six skeletons, including those of children, were discovered two years ago.
The work aims to verify whether there are any other remains or objects at the site that could help solve the mystery of the deaths of those already found.
The work on Hermann Göring’s house is being conducted by archaeologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences, Jakub M. Niebylski, M.A., and Bartłomiej Sz. Szmoniewski, Ph.D., with the participation of representatives from the Latebra Foundation. The work is scheduled to last three weeks.
“I hope that the archaeologists’ work and their findings will bring us closer to solving the mystery of who was buried at the site of Hermann Göring’s grave,” Zenon Piotrowicz, a forester with the Srokowo Forest District, told PAP. For over a decade, this forest district has managed the Wolf’s Lair area.
Two years ago, the Gdańsk-based Latebra Foundation found skeletons of adults and children in Göring’s home. Initially, five people were reported, but it was ultimately determined that there were six. The skeletons were buried shallowly, approximately 20 centimeters deep in the ground in a part of the building without a basement. They had no hands or feet. Although the prosecutor’s office investigated, it was impossible to determine the identity of the victims, or when and under what circumstances they died. It is also unclear why they were buried in that particular location. The investigation was discontinued.
“Our work aims, on the one hand, to investigate whether there are any missing fragments of previously discovered skeletons or other skeletons or burials in this building,” Jakub M. Niebylski, head of the archaeological work, told PAP. He added that archaeologists want to determine the arrangement of the burials relative to the building’s walls and the cardinal directions. “We also want to determine whether the burials in this location predate the building,” Niebylski added.
At the same time, archaeologists will be conducting a reconnaissance of the building itself, which was Göring’s civilian home on the military grounds. The building had wooden walls covered with a brick and reinforced concrete shell.
– We want to identify, among other things, how the building’s foundations were laid – admitted Niebylski.
In addition to archaeological work, members of the Latebra Foundation are working using other methods to solve the mystery of the burials.
– We are still working on it, we are still waiting for some research results – Stanisław Zachariasz, a member of the board of the Latebra Foundation, told PAP.
For now, archaeologists are working in a different part of the building than the one where the skeletons were found in 2024. Researchers will gradually approach this site.
“We will also pay attention to any artifacts we find. The soil is being sifted, and subsequent elements of the ground are being examined. Each fragment is being examined with due care, as the site may still hold traces that could be crucial to determining what happened there in the past,” Zachariasz told PAP. For now, archaeologists are finding small, everyday objects that were part of the building’s furnishings, including nails.
Permissions and approvals were obtained to conduct archaeological research, including from the office of the provincial conservator of monuments.
Forest District Officer Piotrowicz admitted in an interview with PAP that archaeologists and foresters are considering expanding the scope of archaeological work to the area adjacent to the building in the future. “These are plans for the future. For now, we’re focusing on what’s happening now, because these are important matters,” the forester emphasized.
The Latebra Foundation has in the past conducted searches in so-called giant bunkers, including Adolf Hitler’s bunker.
The Wolf’s Lair was Adolf Hitler’s most important military headquarters, built for Operation Barbarossa, the attack on the Soviet Union. Hitler spent a total of over 800 days here. Decisions were made here not only regarding Nazi Germany’s operations in the Soviet Union but also regarding other fronts, including the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, a fact commemorated today by an exhibition at the Wolf’s Lair.
In July 1944, one of the most serious assassination attempts on Hitler took place in this headquarters, carried out by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
The Wolf’s Lair contains two adjacent structures associated with Reichsmarschall Göring: a bunker and the house where he lived. The house was one of the most impressive structures, as its occupant was a lover of opulence. Göring disliked the apartments in the Lair – whenever he could, he traveled to the Romincka Forest, where he had a hunting lodge and could indulge his passion for hunting.
Header Image Credit : Shutterstock
Sources : PAP
