A few years ago, around 16,000 human bones and bone fragments were discovered near the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Genetics and Eugenics in Berlin – relics of possible Nazi victims and victims of Germany’s colonial past. Now these remains were buried in a solemn burial. Because the origin and background of the bone finds remained unclear, this was done in a non-religious and non-Eurocentric manner.
In July 2014, human and animal bones were found during renovation work on the grounds of the university library at Freie Universität Berlin. There was a suspicion that these finds could be connected to the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Genetics and Eugenics, which was in the immediate vicinity. This institute, founded in 1927, put itself in the service of the Nazi state early on. Scientists from this institute researched, among other things, racial hygiene and were involved in the crimes of National Socialism. The notorious concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele was a guest scientist at the institute and is said to have later sent skeletal parts from Auschwitz to Berlin for further examination, as historical studies suggest.
Bones of possible victims of the Nazi era and colonialism
The bone finds were therefore explosive. To clarify their context, the approximately 16,000 human bone fragments recovered were subjected to thorough analysis. In 2021, the team led by Susan Pollock from the Institute for Near Eastern Archeology published its results. Accordingly, the bones come from at least 54 people of all ages as well as male and female sex. Remnants of glue and inscriptions on some bones, as well as the lack of modern medical intervention, indicated that many of the bones were from anthropological or archaeological collections. However, according to Pollock and her colleagues, it cannot be ruled out that some bones come from contexts that are directly related to National Socialist crimes.
Based on these findings and the fact that the provenance of the human remains could not be definitively determined, it was decided not to carry out any further analysis and to bury the bones instead. Representatives of organizations representing possible victims also agreed, including the Central Council of Jews in Germany and associations of Sinti and Roma, as well as organizations representing the victims of euthanasia and forced sterilization during the Nazi era. Because some of the bones could also come from killed Herero and Nama from the former colony of German West Africa, today's Namibia, representatives of the Herero and Black people in Germany were also involved.
Burial at a public funeral service
Together they came to the decision that the attempt to assign the found bones and bone fragments to specific victim groups using invasive methods would ultimately reproduce the racist methods and classifications of the past and should therefore be rejected. It was agreed that the human remains would be buried with dignity but without religious appropriation or Eurocentric symbolism. This burial took place on March 23, 2023 at the Waldfriedhof in Berlin-Dahlem as part of a public funeral service with around 230 guests.
Source: Free University of Berlin