WWII Soviet Airplane Shot Down Near Auschwitz

[henryk]

https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7789/Ar ... WWII-plane

Bodies discovered among wreckage of WWII plane
Polish Radio 23.01.2020 14:30

Four bodies have been discovered among the wreckage of an American-made bomber from World War II, which was shot down in 1945 by Nazi German forces near Auschwitz.
(See source for photos and Polishtext))
The remains of the plane have been located in the forests at Bieruń, Silesian voivodship. Identified as a B-25 Mitchell, the plane was being used by the Russian air force when it was shot down on 19 January 1945 near Auschwitz, probably with a crew of five.

The plane's captain, Alexei Bochin, survived and was taken prisoner by Germans. The wreckage was unearthed by historians from the Silesian September 1939 museum in Tychy, following up on reports that fragments had been found regularly in the forest.

Although the history of the plane was generally known, it was not certain where exactly it had crashed.
Work to bring up the wreckage stopped at the discovery of human remains - the skeletons of the first and second pilots, and two more individuals. The skeletons are now to be transported to the local forensics laboratory for examination and identification.

Sappers needed to be alerted as the digging also brought up machine-gun bullets. The crash site has now been cordoned off by police until all dangerous objects can be removed.

Arkadiusz Dominiec of the Silesian September museum told Polish Press Agency PAP that the discovery of human skeletons is puzzling, as there are documents dated to the 1950s that the remains of the airmen were exhumed and buried at a Soviet army cemetery in Pszczyna. He also said that he hopes it will eventually be possible to extract the remains of the plane and after conservation exhibit the wreckage at his museum in Tychy.
(ek/jh)
Source: PAP