Published : 2024-11-25

Exhumations in Górki Czechowskie in Lublin in 2022-2024

Abstract

The area of Górki Czechowskie in Lublin was a site of executions for prisoners from Zamek Lubelski during World War II. From 2020 to 2024, Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej undertook efforts to locate and identify the victims of executions carried out in this area. Górki Czechowskie provided a convenient location for these executions. Its distance from urban buildings made it easier to conceal the crimes from Lublin residents, while the ravines offered discretion and made access to the victims’ burial sites difficult. Between 1940 and 1942, at least six executions were carried out there. In 1947–1948, the Polski Czerwony Krzyż (PCK), together with Okręgowa Komisja Badania Zbrodni Hitlerowskich (OKBZH) in Lublin and the County Office in Lublin, conducted exhumations in the Górki Czechowskie. At that time, 231 bodies were exhumed, but the victims could not be identified. From 2020 to 2024, the Institute of National Remembrance conducted six stages of searches. It was not until 2022 that mass graves were discovered. In 2023, three grave pits were uncovered, containing the remains of at least 25 individuals. Analysis of recovered artifacts, such as buttons, suggests that some of the victims may have been associated with the Polish independence underground. Another two graves were discovered in 2024. Mortal remains belonging to eight people were found there. The Institute of National Remembrance plans to continue its search efforts in the area. The collaboration of historians, prosecutors, and archaeologists aims to determine the identities of the victims and the circumstances of their deaths.

Keywords:

Institute of National Remembrance, victims of World War II, German occupation, Lublin, exhumations



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Derewenda, R. (2024). Exhumations in Górki Czechowskie in Lublin in 2022-2024. Kościół I Prawo, 13(2), 227–243. https://doi.org/10.18290/kip2024.29

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Kościół i Prawo · ISSN 0208-7928 · e-ISSN 2544-5804 · DOI: 10.18290/kip

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