EXCAVATIONS OF GERMAN SOLDIERS / WWII METAL DETECTING 

Seeing a soldier frozen in time like this is truly insane. The stories these items tell, so interesting.

This guy is very Lucky to be found. Most of the soldiers in the easternfront were never found . Keep on the work you're doing a great Job. Many families will be grateful to you .

Imagine he was once held as a baby by proud parents, watching him as he grows up then he ends up like this truly haunting yet a significant story to be told

I am happy there are people out in the world looking for lost soldiers. I don’t care what military anyone served in once they are dead we treat them with respect. Their service is over and they need to go home. My hat is off to anyone able to do this. Looking forward to your videos.

A Polish friend of mine told me once that he was hiking out in the countryside and through some woods when he decided to take a break and and sat down perched up against a tree by some undergrowth. He looked to his side and he saw a weird shape covered in branches and weeds and stuff, he investigated further and began breaking up all of the weeds and it turns out it was a German soldier. Still had his weapon, helmet, everything but most of his clothing had rotted away except for some strips here and there and his boots. Apparently its not uncommon in Poland to find even whole tanks and artillery pieces and stuff like that in the woods, just left there from WWII.

Human Madness...The most painful part of all this is that these dead men had people waiting for them to come back home. A mother, a sister, a daughter, a son, a father. They just vanish, never to be seen again. So sad!!! Thank you to these people who take the time to give back humanity to these soldiers. It doesn't matter on which side they were fighting.

Hello from France, this guy have two type of shoes because he drive a motorcycle. It was more easy to change the gear rapidly... We find the same equipement on many guys in Normandy in a motorcycle scout bataillon. Good job all. Have fun.

All those many millions that died, on all sides, is just so incredibly sad. Thank you for treating them with such respect.

Imagine your death is unknown, and 80 years later someone find your body still wearing the exact uniform that you wear before you died. So sad to think that he is someone's son/brother/father/friend

Frozen in time.. A really interesting and also sad thing to see. Yes, they were SS, but still, it's nice to see they are found and are no longer missing.

It's just downright eerie seeing skeletal remains with boots still on. What really got to me was in another video a small mirror was found and it was chilling knowing the last person to look into it was the dead soldier that tried keeping himself tidied up in the field.

interesting that the clock stopped at 08:05 - the date the war stopped was 08.05. as well.

It's weird to imagine their last moments: the shouting, the blood, the shooting, the smells, the blasts. These weren't CoD gameplays.

The fact that he's still laying the way he died is insane!

You show so much respect to the remains of these servicemen, thank you for your valuable work.

Спасибо за вашу доброту. Пожалуйста, отправьте остальных обратно в Германию, чтобы немецкое правительство могло найти его семью.

Thank you for doing this. Two young men of my family also served in the 2.WW for Germany and died in Russia and are still missing. They were two brothers and only 22 and 21 years old just as I am today. Greeting from Germany keep on your great work.

Rest in Peace to all of the soldiers who have fallen in the war.

This is truly amazing. In his last days when he was still alive, was just a young man living a traumatic lifestyle, in a warzone. All of them fellow comrades, weapons, and ammunition surrounding him couldn't save his life. The helmet really held up well. They were well outfitted soldiers for those times. Another part of me wonders how my own skeletal remains will look, after seeing this. Very fascinating, the details of someone's life you can gather just by digging them up. I don't condone it, but that's really no proper burial for someone. RIP unnamed fallen soldier.

Seeing them frozen in time, and seeing exactly how they died like a photo into the past. You guys do very very impressive work on your digging not to disturb the body or objects!

When my grandfather was about to end his life at the age of 95, he said to me: "yes, yes, you had to hold out your bones for the great men!" my grandpa experienced the war in verdun as a young soldier. He ran across a field of funnels with 6 other soldiers, heard a grenade coming and threw himself down. the other 6 were dead, he was bleeding to death. a paramedic called: we can leave Franz behind! a young lieutenant whistled him back and snapped at him: and you will take Franz with you !! my grandpa was then in the hospital for a long time. In the regiment he was the best shooter he was proud of. but then they wanted to make him a sniper, against which he defended himself with hands and feet and then was freed from it. during the war he received the iron cross. at a very young age he got to know death and misery while high generals enjoyed themselves in victories. yes, it was the little soldiers who had to suffer so terribly and today it is no different.

5:40 really cool detail is that the handles of the ammo boxes are off to the side instead of in the center so you can carry two boxes in one hand easily. True German engineering

I used to use my metal detector while I was in Germany back in 1989-1991 with the US Army. I found live ammo numerous times and eventually got banned from the military because they said I was taxing their services. Every time I found a grenade or mortar round they had to secure the area until the demo team could remove it. I went to the black forest and searched around the fox holes that were there. You can still see the depressions and the outlines. Didn't find any bodies but did find some gear.

A superb channel by an amazingly knowledgeable group of people. Such care and humility in the way these guys excavate the dead.

Finding the dog tag and notifying families is the neatest thing!!

Rip to this unknown soldier and to all the soldiers of ww2😢

I was amazed how much of the guy you found, I can just picture his face and figure and voice with all of this. Good job you guys!

War is such a waste. All the lives lost and heartbroken families

What strikes me the most is the soldier with a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other. This really speaks about how desperate the supply situation was in the Ostfront, the soldiers wore anything, whether they found it or was looted, to keep themselves warm. The SS couldn't even supply their own troops, it was every man for themselves.

Thank you for the work you do. It is very honorable to give them a final resting place back home.

When I travelled around Russia several years ago I joined a group who were searching the fields near Stalingrad (today known as Volgograd). We didn't find any bodies but we did find many items. It was quite an experience. Very somber.

The "medallion" actually was a German identity disk! They came, and still come, in two parts: one to stay with the body, the other to be collected for registration.

“He died with his boots on”. 👍👍👍 (and his helmet.) The watch probably ran for hours after he died.

I commend the work that this group is doing in the recovery of lost soldiers. However, I think it would be more beneficial to have skilled archaeologists on hand after a site has been located. In my opinion, the methods used in archaeological excavations is more thorough and would treat the remains with much more care then what I have seen in these videos.

I see bodies of men who been lost for years that died fighting for what they believed in or had been told to do. Thank you guys for finding them I sincerely hope you return them home to their relatives for burial and may they finally rest in peace!! The war is over!! The hatred stops be it German or American soldiers or others we was taught in school that the Germans were so bad so awful but I truly don’t believe that I hope this guy found his final resting place!! Much love fellas if I seen bones it might have been different 😅

Imagine being the enemy or the kin of the enemy and returning the soldier to the family's burial lands, and offering prayer and forgiveness.Thats a special privilege.

this is really sad, most of them were just teens and to die that young is just so tragic. RIP

Esse canal é fantástico. Descobri agora esse canal e já estou maratonando nos vídeos. Saudações do Brasil.

Very heart breaking to watch these soldiers who were very young and wanted to come back home to their loved ones, especially Mothers Rest in peace 🙏

It’s amazing to stare history In the face like this, you can almost picture him alive sitting there, absolutely amazing.

Much RESPECT for your handling of the remains of these SOLDIERS....GODSPEED...

this is truly fascinating, to do this as a job would be awesome. constantly digging up history, the biggest event in the 20th Century WW2.

У Запада традиция такая, каждое столетие приходить чтобы занять позиции под землёй.

Those were somebody's sons, fathers, husbands or brothers. War is terrible.

To find the dead and then send them home is the highest honor you could bestow on any fallen soldier. For his family ...Thank You .

Judging by the spark-plug found in his pocket and the fact that the soldier looks to have been quite tall, most likely Flemish (based on his watch), he could have been a vehicle driver, which might explain why he was wearing a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other. Being tall, it would have been very unconfortable in the footwell, especially over long periods of time. Either that, or some sort of injury to his ankle that was not serious enough for him to leave the war.

Thank you for the video guys! Really enjoyed it and it rekindled my fascination with WWII. I am a 64yo Pole living in Australia. Few years ago it was my dream to go to Poland, buy a metal detector and do what these guys did. Sadly, the new law makes it a criminal offense to look for and excavate old WWII relics. I remember in the late 60s while going on scouting excursions with my uncle, we had our camp in a forest near the Baltic Sea and there were lots of old WWII helmets, shells, boots etc. on the surface still. No digging necessary! At the entrance to our tent we were tripping over something that we thought was a tree root, but turned out to be unexploded artillery shell... Sappers were called and the shell was removed. The camp was cancelled after that, it was just too dangerous.

10:01. By the length of this soldier’s leg bones, you can tell he was a tall guy. Long arms and fingers too. Very fitting of a tall Nordic man that would you might picture would be in the Wiking Division.

This is truly haunting to see. Glad these men are being found and returned home.

*“I do not fear death as I have been dead for billions of years before birth and it didn’t cause me the slightest inconvenience “*

So Brilliant! The skill and patience you have is a credit to you!

If you find a complete dog tag it means that this soldier was at best reported as missing and his fate remained unknown until now, unless someone else witnessed his death and lived to tell. The Wehrmacht dog tags were made to be split in two whenever there was time to do it; one half remained with the body and the other identical half was carried away to be reported as a casualty. Of course, many many times this was impossible to do or the soldier carrying the dog tag half was also killed, and the end result was a complete muddle in body identification. It could hardly be otherwise. The wealthy American Army opted by using two separate Dog Tags, and the Soviet WW II Army used the worse method of all: a strip of paper inside a Bakelite tube hanging from the neck, as most of you know. Nowadays, every time you try to unwind the strip it has totally decayed and disintegrates. We in the Portuguese Army used a round dog tag very similar to the Wehrmacht model. I had a Girlfriend who used one who had belonged to her former late boyfriend. (he died from cancer, not in combat, although one day his truck hit an anti tank mine and he spent several hours trapped underneath and surrounded by bodies) And she just kept wearing it, wether I liked or not... 💀

Came here to see a full fallen soldier skeleton intact..........This did not disappoint. Fantastic job on the excavation.

I'm a medical doctor with a master's degree in anthropology and forensic facial reconstruction, and that skull could easily be reconstructed. He has complete dental arches, and that is the basis for a successful reconstruction. Doing a good job it would be possible to know with relative ease, what that soldier was like. I have reconstructed six skulls with a successful approximation in five of them.

Thank you so much for returning them home. I hope we never have another world war. These soldiers never got the chance to go home and see their families. ❤

"Rest In Peace", unless some random metal detectors find you interesting so near in the future that your children are still alive.

I appreciate the respect you gave to these soldiers. Thanks for sharing

" Only the dead have seen the ending of the war. " - Latin proverb

هذا هو اخر مصير للانسان في هذه الدنيا. لماذاالحروب ولماذا يقتل الانسان اخوه الانسان. لماذ لم نعمر الارض ونزرعها ونجد فرص عمل لكل الناس ونترك العداوات بيننا الارض كلها لله وحده ونحن نعيش عليها فقط وغدا نتركها

That’s crazy how the growth just covers it up !

With DNA analysis it could be possible to detected relatives in Germany. Usually it used genetic material from tooth. Rest in peace.

the guy in the first clip took a piece of shrapnel to the back of the skull, either by artillery or a grenade fragment I'm guessing. The hole is far to big to be made by a bullet around that time (unless it was a shot gun) and the skull had major cracks allowing it to break down over time rather than stay intact like other soldiers who have been found, at least it was a quick death yk. RIP to all the young men who didn't get to come home, war is truly hell

A "fond acier inoxydable" watch is a watch stamped with those French words meaning "stainless steel back." This stamp can be found on many vintage watches.

You look at a sparkplug that a german soldier was carrying in WWII and it really makes you think "Wow, spark plugs have not changed much since then..."

When my dad was stationed in Germany in the early 80's, I remember going to elementary school and telling my classmates that we were walking above dead bodies buried in mass graves from ww2. I was just a kid. Now I think there could have been some truth to that.

So glad these guys families can get some closure on what happened to their family members. The only issue I have is I wish professional archeologists could have worked these sites and document the finds they way pros do. Great work all the same!!

Ainda hoje tenho preocupações com as decisões que alguns lideres mundiais tem tomado. Espero que o Conflito entre a Rússia e Ucrânia e em outras partes do mundo chegue ao fim. A todos um forte abraço e parabenizo toda essa equipe que trabalha nessas escavações e contribuem com nossas reflexões .

Excellent work. I'm a retired forensics expert. Those parallel, equal length gashes atop the helmet appear to be multiple edged weapon blows as the cause of death. Likely an axe (wish you'd taken his helmet off and examined the cranium). I developed a theory that he was wounded, and then finished off with overhead swings of a weighted object with sharpened edge (axe?). I see a probable shrapnel hole in the left ilium of the pelvis suggesting he was wounded. The guy was exceptionally bucktoothed. The artillery ammo and the binoculars suggest he was in the artillery. That his ID tag lower was uncollected suggests an enemy burial, but I'm surprised that he'd be buried with a quality Zeiss 6-30 binocular and that no one took his watch.

One shoe, one boot…so sad. Tells the story of very harsh conditions these men were fighting in. RIP.

Wow.. those were some quality boots it seems. Glad that fella got found, even if he was on the wrong side he was still a soldier.

I'm for one am grateful to you for returning home the soldiers no matter the uniform they wore , no one should be forgotten . Good work , and good luck with your work .

This seems incredibly dangerous drigging around old exposives and munitions but it also equally awesome. Much respect to you guys

I was in The Netherlands living and had the opportunity to go into the Aachen area and into the Hurtgen Forrest in many occasions between 1999-2004 with the Boy Scouts. A US Army NCO assigned to the Dutch NCO Academy and even sometimes a US General from NATO would visit our Boy Scouts. We went to a lot of places, the the first visit was to the Bunkers. We were where the US Army encountered the Siegfried Line the night before the massive German Ardennes offensive AKA the Battle of the Buldge. This particular some months after our visit was able to locate the remains of two or three American GIs remains about 50 feet from the bunkers - the Americans never knew what hit them. I has seen so much ammo, genades, broken weapons, helments and eating utensils from both German and American soldiers. There is so much history waiting to be uncovered on private lands in Belguim and Germany. The German Cemetary was tended to by the final remaining soldier of his division, maybe the German 77 Infantry... Two soldiers buried together so that they not spend eternity alone, was the phrase that struck me, as this was how the soldiers were burried, by two's. We visited the the Kall Trail running along a deep river ravine, and our American NCO Guide showed us the remains of the American Medical Station dugout into the side of the hill on the trail. We had diary's of soldiers that fought in all the battles, but the Kall Trail was one where the Germans and US Medicals paired together with strechers to recovery the wounded, then the dead. We saw pictures of US Soldiers laid on the trail, especially the dead was haunting while standing along side the very trail looking at the places. Bunkers the US Army never breached in the Hertgen Forrest where wounded Germans soldiers were chained to maching guns by the SS fighting desperatelly to hold the lines with wounded soldiers, soldiers with amputated hands as asst machinge gunners. The diary of the German medic over the weeks with medical supplies, morphine, food, etc. Yet the Germans kept those positions to the end of the war. In the Battle of the Bulge area we found some bodies with weapons and it was a dark scene for the Boy Scouts, but exciting at the same time. Finding live generades or mortar rounds met stop and don't touch, whether on the beaches of Normandy or on the other adventures. I was retired from the US Army and served over half my 20-years in the 82d Abn Div. I took my two boys to every battle sight and all the parachute landings of US and British soldiers.

Soldiers final moments must be terrifying

You guys do a fantastic job. Let these boys go home.

For me as a German born in the 70s: Let something like this as WW2 never happen again. My deepest respect and honor to the Russian people. Now, nearly 80 years later, let friendship and love exist between our countries!

RIP Soldier ... You gave higest sacrifice in your line of duty.... Salute... Dont know how long did your family wait for you its been 80 years now..

Around 83 years ago they used to make earthquakes all over Europe now they are just piece of skeleton. *From strongest super power to inside earth*

Amazing. It’s really fascinating too see a time capsule like that.

i cant beleive they excavated down so nicely that they actually found even the buttons. this is amazing

Up until about 15 years ago, skeletal remains were still being found at Little Big Horn "battle" site in USA. The fight happened in 1876

Thank you that you do it so Respectfull and bring them Home. I dont know why you do it or for what but its good that People Like you and your Team do IT. Thanks and Take Care of you. Greetings from Germany and Thanks for all

Bless you all for looking for fallen soldiers from WW2. Very touching, emotional to see a Wehrmacht soldier lying where he had fallen so long ago. Just pray he did not suffer and so sad that only now are people searching for bodies and omg how m many hundreds or thousands to a million German soldiers were killed on the Eastern front or died from being frozen. It must be a very humbling feeling to discover something like this. Bless this soldier, he has been discovered and hopefully some of his family are still alive and hopefully he can have a decent burial. He was someone’s, husband/lover/ son........who had been fighting for his country and who had died alone, no comfort. Truly so sad what all the soldiers went through no matter who they were. They just wanted the war to end and go home. Salute and Respect and may his Soul and that of other RIP

I think the solider had a dislocated leg and broken pelvis on his right side! When you compare the skeletons right trochanter to the left trochanter, you can see that the left trochanter is visible while the right is not. The trochanter could have broken off over the years, or the trochanter was rotated underneath, suggesting that the ball joint was rotated unnaturally in the hip joint and dislocation occurred. The ball joint on the right side is also protruding out of the hip joint socket, where as compared to the the left, the ball joint is still in the socket. The right side pelvis is also displaced compared to the left side. And, If you look at the feet/boots on the solider, the right leg is rotated unnaturally compared to the left!

Coolest grave ever very sad also, I’m amazed how perfectly the skeleton is. Everything still in tact.

This is very interesting seeing the relics from the war, amazing

Thanks to these guys. One can not help notice the care being taken exhuming the humans as opposed to equipment and ordinance(which they should probably be more careful with 😳). Obviously they have a sense of history and respect even dealing with those who attacked their country.

I hope this solider will be able to go home, God bless all solider and those who never made it home.

Video realmente impressionante, mesmo sem ter entendido uma palavra. Nunca imaginei que a ossada de um soldado da segunda guerra poderia se preservar dessa forma,depois de tanto tempo! Um verdadeiro achado arqueologico!

Whatever his side, may his soul rest in peace

Congratulations for the great job of finding and digging the remains out, but especially for treating them with dignity. So interesting, hopefully their descendants are notified of the finding. Thank you for sharing this.

R.I.P Respect death solders send them home. 😔🙏 Thank You & God Bless all who died in the war.

Brings alot of sadness to see these poor dead soldiers laying there rotting through time. Imagine the families that never saw their loved one again regardless of what side they fought for. Rest in peace.

Danke für eure Arbeit mit ausführlichen Bericht

Hope the soldier makes his way back to Germany

Much respect for the work you do. Very respectful to the dead.

Very well done, both the excavation/exhumation and the photography. I wish I could understand all the (Russian?) commentary that the diggers were saying, I would love to have more info about what they were finding... Keep up the good works!

of all the things you could find, i'd never expect condoms.

обалдеть просто, история оживает на глазах, а эти солдаты остались там, навсегда...

This is incredibly important work. Not only are you uncovering hidden & lost history but you are doing a great service to the fallen soldiers & their families. When we see documentsry shows on WW2, they often aggrandize the patriotism, duty & honor of the soldiers who fought. That’s how we cope with trauma. We couldn’t function or deal with history if we solely focused on the sacrifices, casualties & harsh realities of wars. So while we cover the sobering awfulness of the reslity of combat we also sanitize it by omitting or ignoring. It’s not a bad thing. We don’t go through our day thinking about all the awful things happening in the world. Excavations like this are a stark reminder on the harshness & brutality of war. When you look at WW2 casualties & see the millions of KIA & MIA, it is mind boggling. Any casualties are harsh but due to mass media any casualties seem egregious. Look at our wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. There were a lotnof casualties. However, compare it to the military & civilians casualties on D-Day. Put this into perspective. In Iraq according the WikiP, there were almodt 5,000 US service membeer casualties from 2001 until present day. That’s over 20 years. This is not to trivialize any of the casualties. On June 6, 1944 during the Normandy landings there were 4,414 combined Allied casualties on that single day alone. That is insane. The magnitude & scale of WW2 was horrific. Anyways, I am a huge history & military history fan. One day, I’d love to own some real militaria. Seeing artifacts in a museum is incredible but being able to own a relic from WW2 for example is amazing. I’d love to have a Luger or Waffen-SS dagger. I presume a huge motivating factor for you guys is not only the chase & discovering lost treasures of the war which helps you get through the hard work & weather, but being able to honor the fallen is truly a great service. It is sobering seeing the fallen remains of soldiers. Some 70-75 years ago these were young men doing their duty never to return home. You wonder who they were. What happened. For decades they were lost but now they can be returned home hopefully to family. That is no small thing. It must be moving & sobering making these discoveries. Anyways, thanks for your hard work & videos. You can tell how passionate all you guys are on the subject. I am sure the families of the missing in action are grateful that their loved ones can be returned home & interred with dignity & respect now instead of just being lost on some old battlefield.