Necroviolence in the archaeological evidence. Mass crimes in the Szpęgawski Forest, Poland and the materiality of Aktion 1005

Abstract

The first few months of Second World War were marked by numerous mass crimes against humanity committed by Third Reich civil servants on citizens of the Second Polish Republic – local intelligentsia, people with mental disorders, and the Jewish minority. The bodies were then disposed of by hiding them in mass graves. In the second half of 1944, the Nazis returned to the scenes of the crimes to delete the traces of mass executions – as part of a special operation (Aktion 1005) and cover up all evidence of their crimes. This article analyzes the process undertaken by the Nazis to destroy graves as part of Aktion 1005 through the concept of necroviolence on human corpses – defined by Jason De León, as, ‘the intentional infliction of violence on human corpses’. The following case study presents evidence excavated during archaeological research conducted in the Szpęgawski Forest in Gdańsk Pomerania, Poland.