Low Water on the Danube Exposes Remains of Wehrmacht Soldiers

The Volksbund stated that the dead should be buried at a war cemetery. "Die Familien dieser Toten warteten offenbar vergeblich auf offizielle Nachricht," the association declared. The organization coupled this with the note that the identification of the fallen could help relatives who, after decades, still await news about the fate of their kin.

The site of the find lies in the area of the harbor mud of the Danube, where in recent months objects and bones from the Second World War era have repeatedly surfaced. According to the Volksbund, the exact number of recovered dead is the subject of ongoing investigation. Experts are currently securing traces and materials to enable later attribution.

Low Water Exposes More and More Relics

Because of the unusually low water levels of the Danube, relics from the war period have already become visible at several stretches of the river in recent weeks. Near Budaörs, in the south of Budapest, walkers reported ammunition remnants and pieces of equipment. The authorities warned against touching such finds and pointed to the work of the experts.

The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, headquartered in Kassel with an office in Niestetal, is the central German organization that has for decades been responsible for the search, recovery, and burial of German soldiers who fell abroad. The association has also been active in Hungary on a recurring basis, for example in reburials at Soviet or Hungarian cemeteries.

Role of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge

According to the Hungarian Institute for Military History, numerous remains of soldiers of the Axis powers have already been recovered in the urban area of Budapest over the past decades. The majority of the finds date from the final phase of the Second World War, when the city was fiercely contested in the winter of 1944/45. The Hungarian authorities point out that the search for war dead has not yet been concluded to this day.

In Germany, the reports about the new finds triggered memories of the still high number of missing soldiers from the Second World War. The Volksbund estimates that on the territory of present-day Hungary alone, several tens of thousands of German Wehrmacht members are considered missing. Many families still do not know today what happened to their relatives.

The recovery in Budapest will, according to the Volksbund, likely take several days. Subsequently, the remains are to be buried at a central war cemetery in Hungary. Should identification succeed, the relatives would be notified, the association explained. The families of the dead had "offenbar vergeblich auf offizielle Nachricht" gewartet.

Appeal to the Public

According to hydrologists, the water situation on the Danube remains tense. Low water, as is currently the case, has been a recurring problem for shipping and energy supply in Central Europe for years. At the same time, the exposed finds show how much the river has hidden sediments, debris, and human remains over the past eight decades.

The Volksbund also called on the public not to recover wartime finds on their own. Every find must be reported to the authorities, as ammunition remnants and explosive objects could pose a danger. The organization announced that it would provide regular updates on the progress of the recovery work in Budapest.