Vienna: At least two mass graves containing
dozens of people killed by the Nazis have been found on
property used by the Austrian army, government officials said
on Friday.
An army statement suggested some of the remains may be
that of US pilots shot down and imprisoned during World War
II.
Police Col Rudolf Gollia, an interior ministry spokesman,
said his ministry plans talks with the owners of the site to
discuss exhumation, adding it was not yet clear whether the
army owned the property or was renting it.
The mass graves are located in bomb craters underneath an
army sports field in the southern city of Graz. Officials said
they contain about 70 bodies of victims killed by the SS to
eliminate witnesses to Nazi atrocities shortly before Soviet
troops arrived.
The graves were identified from wartime photos, made from
US bombers, showing open graves and bodies. US authorities
made the imagery available on request of Austrian historians
tasked two years ago by Defence Minister Norbert Darabos with
researching documented war crimes at the site, used by the SS
during World War II.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 00:05