Likely remains of a Polish officer found in Podlasie region

The search was launched three years ago. Members of "Wizna 1939" Association knew only that in 1920 local residents had buried a Polish officer, who had been found dead in the area after a battle against the Bolsheviks at night between August 3-4.

"At the time, Bolshevik army pushed towards Warsaw, while the Poles were retreating to defend the capital. Many Polish soldiers are buried in those forgotten graves up to this day," said Marcin Sochań, a member of the said association, explains in a video posted in social media.

A local resident came forward with an aerial photo from the 1970s.

The first stage of the search focused on finding remnants of the battle and any other traces that could lead to the burial place. The second stage was all about marking a precise location where the body of the soldier was believed to have been buried. Unfortunately, despite numerous attempts, the remains couldn't be found.

The breakthrough came in September, when a local resident came to association chairman Dariusz Szymanowski with an archive aerial photo from the 1970s. The image shows a characteristic location at which the burial was said to have taken place. The search area was narrowed down to an approx. 100m2 square. A ground-penetrating radar was used.

"Wizna 1939" Association said in its website that the taking of measurements was very difficult due the type of ground and numerous anomalies. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but in the next one the radar helped to mark another location within the square. This time, human remains were found some 40 cm beneath the ground.

The works were put to a halt. The police, prosecutor's office and municipal authorities were notified.

"The prosecutor approved the resumption of the works and the exhumation. Uniform buttons found during the exploration, as well as a mention in church records, confirmed that the remains belonged to a Polish soldier. Other documents and testimonies allow to assume that it could have been artillery officer Major Aleksander Majewski, who went missing in action during night fighting on August 3-4, 1920. The age of the remains was also confirmed by an anthropologist at the scene," said the aforementioned Dariusz Szymanowski.

The association plans to send samples to the Polish Genetic Database of Victims of Totalitarianism - ran by the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin - for DNA tests. Furthermore, in cooperation with the Military Police Forensics Lab, an attempt to reconstruct the soldier's face is to be carried out.

"We are also hoping to find the major's family. The remains have been taken to a funeral home. Soon they will be buried at a cemetery," Szymanowski said and added that preparations for the funeral ceremony were already in progress.