Build Parking Buildings, Construction Workers In Poland Find Nazi Bunkers

Nazi bunker in Lublin, Poland. (Source: Lublin Conservator of Monuments)

JAKARTA - Construction workers building a parking lot in Lublin, Poland, were surprised by the discovery of a World War II-era bunker thought to have been built by Nazi Germany.

The discovery of the nearly 80-year-old structure consisting of three underground corridors with concrete walls, stairs, and a wooden beam ceiling is beneath the former Clothing and Fabrics Group School on 10 Spokojna Street, Lublin, reports Dailymail July 14 from Polish News.

In addition to the bunker, archaeologists found several bottles of mineral water, brought from Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the remains of ammunition from the weapons of the German Wehrmacht and the Russian Red Army.

The bunker was found at a depth of seven meters, or 23 feet, while workers were digging for the underground garage. Experts believe the bunker may have been the site of fierce fighting between the Germans, during their occupation of the country, and the Soviet Union's Red Army in 1944.

Dariusz Kopciowski, Conservator of the Lublin Monuments, said construction had to stop so that experts could carefully examine the remains of the bunker.

"We don't know yet what else could be there. Right now we have to check if there are no unexploded bombs. In the bunkers that were found, we found ammunition which could indicate that fighting took place inside", Kopciowski explained as written by TheFirstNews.

Illustration of the city of Lublin, Poland. (Wikimedia Commons/Raki_Man)

"The tunnels were excavated using the mining method. After agreeing on further methods to study and document the unusual find with the conservator's office, archaeologists began exploring the interior of one of the corridors," said Kopciowski.

Along with the discovery of the bunker, the construction project was temporarily postponed. This is not the first time traces of World War II have been found in the region. Last April, two skeletons of Wehrmacht soldiers were also found in the area, along with buttons, helmets, parts of uniforms, and dog markings.

To note, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, along with the start of World War II. The two countries were together under the umbrella of the Non-Aggression Pact.

All disbanded when Hitler ordered Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviets, including the repulsion of the Red Army from Poland. The city was also the headquarters for Operation Reinhardt, the operation aimed at exterminating the Jews in Poland.

Most of the inmates of the Lublin Ghetto, about 26,000 people, were deported to the Belzec extermination camp between 17 March and 11 April 1942, with the remainder sent to the Majdanek concentration camp.

Two years later, on July 24, 1944, Lublin was recaptured by the Soviet Army and became the temporary headquarters of the Polish National Liberation Committee, formed by former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.