On Monday, June 1, the Poznań-based Pomost Association carried out exhumation work near Gościszów (Nowogrodziec municipality, Bolesławiec County). The organization:
The site was at the edge of a forest near the dirt road leading to Mściszów. In December 1999, an exhumation was carried out at this location, during which the remains of five German soldiers were recovered. Based on conversations with the oldest residents of nearby towns, we were able to establish that in the postwar period there had been eight birch crosses there (in two rows). The work concluded with the discovery of three additional individual burials, at which we found two broken identity tags belonging to soldiers of the elite Grossdeutschland Panzer Grenadier Division. In addition, we recorded a number of human remains left behind during the work in 1999.
Members of Pomost add:
The graves discovered are connected with the German counteroffensive codenamed “Kozica.” The operation was intended to recapture Lubań, occupied by Soviet forces, and unblock the strategic railway junction. Some of the heaviest fighting of the entire operation took place in early March 1945 around Gościszów and Niwnice.
The organization asks anyone with information about forgotten (unknown) graves of civilians and soldiers from the period of World War II to contact it by phone at: 601 46 94 94, 61 861 92 75 or by email: pomost@pomost.net.pl
The Pomost Association was founded in 1997 by Poles and Germans. Its founders wanted to try, in some way, to repair the poor relations that had developed between the Polish and German peoples, particularly over the previous 60 years.
Initially, the association’s activities focused on documenting wartime events along the Polish-German border. Later, however, they expanded to include ecumenical meetings, the upkeep of war cemeteries, archaeological activities and many other joint Polish-German initiatives.
More about the Pomost Association.