An archaeological evaluation of crimes committed in the Arnsberg Forest (South Westphalia, Germany) in the final months of the Second World War

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12844487
AutoresMichael Baales (0000-0001-9049-075X, autor de correspondencia), Marcus Weidner, Manuel Zeiler (0009-0001-1699-317X)
Año2021
Volumen16
Número3
Páginas162-189
Fecha de publicación2021-09-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Conflict Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1574-0773 • E-ISSN: 1574-0781
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15740773.2022.2124142
OpenAlexW4297899759
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas3

In recent years an historical reappraisal has been carried out of one of the worst crimes – outside of prisons and concentration camps – committed in Germany by the SS and Wehrmacht in the final months of the Second World War: the execution of 208 forced labourers by firing squad in the Arnsberg Forest near Warstein and Meschede (Westphalia, western Germany) by the ‘Division for Vengeance’ of the SS in March 1945. The use of archaeological research methods allowed us to (1) pinpoint both the scenes of the crimes and the events, (2) recover and classify finds attributed to both the victims and the perpetrators and (3) uncover and record in their historical context concrete finds and features from when the atrocity occurred, the period of the initial burial of the victims by US troops in May 1945 and their exhumation in 1964, with the aim of preserving them for future presentations

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Ethnology · First world war · Period (music · Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · War crime · World War II · Archaeological Research and Protection · European history and politics · German History and Society · History · Law