BREST, Belarus (NBC) – Soldiers in Belarus are methodically and respectfully unearthing the bones of hundreds of people shot during world war two and dumped in a mass grave.
The town of Brest is the former site of a Jewish ghetto that was lethally cleared out by Nazi troops during World War II.
The grave was uncovered by chance in February during construction in a residential area in the center of Brest, near the Polish border.
Soldiers sifted through the site with spades, trowels and their gloved hands to collect the bones. They also found and cataloged items such as leather shoes that had not rotted.
One soldier leading the recovery efforts told local media that they have recovered at least 730 bodies, with over a thousand expected to be in the grave, adding that there are a lot of women and children in the pit as well.
Some of the skulls have bullet holes, suggesting the victims had been executed by a shot to the back of the head.
Belarus, a former Soviet republic, was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II and tens of thousands of its Jews were killed by the Nazis.
Local authorities want to bury the bodies in an appropriate ceremony at a cemetery at the northern end of the Brest.
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