Blast injuries found on the exhumed remains of Polish postwar partisans killed by the Polish security service in 1946.

Exhumed, badly decomposed human remains constitute very difficult research material. It requires a great deal of caution and critical judgment to analyze the nature of injuries, especially those resulting from an explosion. Scientific publications in the field of traumatology concerning injuries caused by the action of explosives mainly focus on the effects of contemporary terrorist or military activities. The results of this research regard mainly clinical medicine and the organization of healthcare. This article discusses the problems and solutions of determining the presence of injuries caused by explosions on badly decomposed human remains exhumed 70 years after death. To obtain optimal results in valuable injures estimation it is vital to apply efficient work methods i.e.: forensic team composed of experienced pathologist and anthropologist, archeological methodology and doubled examination and description of the remains (in the field and next in the autopsy room), detailed photographical documentation and protocol. The results of forensic examinations of the remains (58 fragments forming anatomical wholes), derived from not fewer than 30 individuals (MNI = 30), confirmed, despite the presence of severe taphonomic changes, the presence of injuries caused by an explosion. Forensic examination of the remains revealed a characteristic pattern of injuries resulting from the dismembering the bodies. We discovered typical traumatic amputation of the limbs, which corresponds to the aforementioned mechanism of injury. The findings confirm the thesis that in the area of the former Luftwaffe airport near Stary Grodków (Opole province, Poland), in September 1946, a group of Polish postwar partisans was liquidated.

The possibility of establishing causes of death on the basis of the exhumed remains of prisoners executed during the communist regime in Poland: the exhumations at Powazki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.

This study presents the results of the analysis of forensic examinations of the remains of 194 prisoners exhumed at Powazki Military Cemetery in Warsaw. In all probability, most of those buried there were judicially sentenced to death by firing squad or hanging in connection with activities of the Polish independence underground in its struggles with the postwar communist regime. Forensic medical research focussed on determining causes of death and reconstructing the mechanisms of injury leading to death. Most probable causes of death were found in 108 of 194 cases; of these, 76 were isolated gunshot wounds to the head, mostly directed to the occipital region. In 29 of 194 cases, only extensive skull fractures were observed, making it impossible to determine the mechanism of injury. The condition of these skulls do not permit the exclusion of injuries due to gunshots, which were very likely given the historical context of the studied location. In one case, it is assumed that the cause of death could be blunt force trauma to the head. In 86 of 194 cases, it was not possible to determine the cause of death. Of these cases, 20 skeletons were in such poor condition that erosive changes could have completely obliterated even very extensive head injuries leading to death. No injuries were observed that could be associated with execution by hanging.

Gunshot wounds (resulting from execution) of exhumed victims of the communist regime in Poland.

This study presents the results of the analysis of the remains of 23 executed male individuals aged between 21 and 63 years, recovered from Osobowicki Cemetery in Wroclaw (Poland), field 83B, in 2012. In 1948 and 1949, prisoners sentenced to death by firing squad--most of them associated with the post-war anti-communist underground independence movement in Poland--were buried there. The aim of the study was to analyse fatal wounds and the method of execution, and to compare the results to data from archival documents. The results were also compared with studies concerning executions during a later period, i.e. 1949-1954. The research on the method of execution during this period of history carried out during the exhumations in Osobowicki Cemetery was the first conducted on such a scale in Poland. Forensic analysis revealed a wide variety of gunshot wounds inflicted during executions, revealing both gunshots to the head, especially single shots to the back of the head, and cases corresponding to the use of a firing squad, probably equipped with machine guns. The results of the research indicate that capital punishment by shooting was carried out in ways both similar to those the specified in the regulations and completely different.

Exhumation research concerning the victims of political repressions in 1945-1956 in Poland: A new direction in forensic medicine.

In 2011 in Wroclaw (Poland), the bodies of 223 prisoners were exhumed, including the victims of political repressions and prosecutions in the period 1949-1954, during which people fighting for the independence of Poland were executed and buried in unidentified graves in various graveyards. It was the first exhumation conducted in Poland on such a large scale. The aim of the present publication is to describe the new direction in forensic medicine employed in these exhumations, which resulted from the new opportunities created by the opening of the state archives after the political transformation of 1989. The authors describe the difficulties they encountered during their exploration of prisoners' burial grounds. The graveyards included in the investigation bear the marks of an intentional policy of confusion and secret burial methods. First, significant disorder in the logical (based on time of death) sequence of burials was observed. This made identification difficult. A substantial time lapse between death and burial in each case, along with the unavailability of comparative data, limited the use of identification methods widely employed in forensic medicine. For this reason, initial analysis had to be based on observations and confirmations made by forensic medicine about the sequence of burials as compared to cemetery documentation. Situations such as this clearly call for the cooperation of historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic pathologists. Political transformations in Eastern Europe in the 1990s gave rise to hopes of exchanging experiences in this type of research as conducted in other countries of the former Eastern Bloc.

Reconstruction of methods of execution of the death penalty by shooting in the years 1949-1954 based on exhumation research of "prison fields" in Osobowicki Cemetery in Wroclaw. Part II--analysis of gunshot injuries and an attempt at reconstructing the course of execution.

The analysis of gunshot injuries in prisoners who were executed in Wroclaw penitentiary in the years 1949-1954 shows divergences from legal regulations describing the method of execution. This observation leads to the conclusion that the predominant method of execution of the death penalty was a gunshot or gunshots to the back of the head, which is analogous to the results of exhumation works on collective graves of war prisoners executed during World War II in the territory of the former Soviet Union.