"It was a real shock": A terrifying discovery beneath Hermann Göring's house

A gruesome discovery at Hitler's "Wolf's Lair" under the house where Göring lived raises questions about the dark history of this location. So what lies behind this mystery?

The "Wolf's Lair", what was once Hitler's main Easter Front military headquarters, located in the Masurian woods of what is now northeastern Poland, continues to be a somber and oppressive site. This expansive 250-hectare military complex was not only home to high command of the Werhmacht, but also featured a series of bunker headquarters of Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring and other operational centres. It was also here that the failed assassination attempt against Hitler in July 1944 took place. As the Germans began their retreat as they were losing the war in 1945 they destroyed a large majority of the site's concrete bunkers. 

Nowadays the Wolf's Lair has become a popular dark tourism destination. The trend of visiting historical locations that are associated with tragedy, death and suffering. Instead of traveling for leisure or sightseeing, this type of tourism offers historical insights and connection to significant, but often somber events in humanity's recent history. Other examples of dark tourism are Auschwitz in Poland, Chernobyl in Ukraine, and Ground Zero in New York. 

Recently a horrific discovery was made when amateur archaeologists discovered the remains of five individuals under Göring's former residence. The remains consisted of three adults, a teenager and a newborn. The graphic detail to this was that they were all missing their hands and feet and were stripped of any personal items, implying a grim fate before their burial. Despite thorough examinations by authorities in Olsztyn, the exact causes of death remain undetermined, leading the criminal investigation to be closed. The remains, indicative of the violent history that once unfolded here, are slated for burial by local authorities.

Oktavian Bartoszewski, who lead the investigation, expressed his shock at the findings, emphasizing the site's macabre allure to tourists and treasure hunters. Speculations about the origins of these bodies range from post-war Soviet atrocities and accidental landmine deaths to more outlandish theories like occult practices during the Nazi era. The presence of "devil's fingers," fossilized Jurassic remnants sometimes used as amulets, beside the shallowly buried skeletons suggests an ancient burial, though this theory is tenuous due to the site's recent construction history and the skeletal arrangement. Bartoszewski and others hope that ongoing research will eventually clarify whether these were victims of Nazi crimes or another unrelated act of mass violence.