Germany decides to not excavate remains of soldiers who died during WWI: Report

The German government has decided to declare the burial site of soldiers a war memorial, CNN reported on Saturday (February 11). The remains of more than 200 German soldiers are at the site.As per reports, the soldiers were buried alive in a tunnel in northeastern France during World War I. Now, it has been decided that the remains will not be recovered.The CNN report mentioned that the Volksbund, the war grave commission, and the French government announced the decision at the Caverne du Dragon museum in northeastern France on Friday.

As quoted by CNN, a spokeswoman for the Volksbund said, "Rescue efforts to reach the remains in 2021 and 2022 had proven very difficult."

The spokeswoman added that there had been "several attempts" to open the "very deep and very long" tunnel, which is located in a nature reserve with "sandy ground still contaminated with ammunition".

For the unversed, the German War Graves Commission had launched a recovery operation, drilling in the Craonne forest to locate the entrance of the Winterberg Tunnel.

AFP mentioned that at the Winterberg Tunnel, over a hundred German soldiers of the 111th Baden Infantry Regiment died on May 4, 1917, from the cave-in of their defensive position during the Nivelle Offensive of the Battle of Chemin des Dames in World War I.

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