Second mass grave of Jewish Holocaust victims discovered in Romania
Military prosecutors say the remains of “several” people have now been unearthed near the site of the massacre, in a forest by Popricani in the north-east of the country
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
A second mass grave of Jews killed by Romanian troops during World War II has been discovered in northeast Romania.
The human remains were found near the village of Popricani, the site of a massacre of Jews carried out by Romanian troops allied with the Nazis.
In 2010, a mass grave containing 16 bodies was found in a forest near Popricani. More than 100 Jewish adults and children are thought to have been buried at the site, the Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania announced at the time, based on eyewitnesses to the 1941 shooting.
A team of archaeologists now has unearthed a second site, according to the institute, and has discovered the remains of at least 40 people, including 12 children – one as young as two years old, the French news agency AFP reported.
An investigation by military prosecutors found in 2014 that the Popricani massacre was carried out by Romanian troops, despite Romania’s denial that it participated in Holocaust atrocities.
About15,000 Romanian Jews were killed during WWII in mass shootings and in labour camps, or on trains heading to death camps.
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