Polish archaeologists uncover WWI cemetery in Bieszczady

Archaeologists from Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Poland have identified a forgotten World War I cemetery near the former church in the mountain village of Szczawne, Bieszczady. The discovery, made during the final phase of a seasonal field campaign, was enabled by aerial laser scanning (LiDAR) and detailed archival research funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Analysis of the LiDAR data revealed more than 20 burial pits. Items recovered from the graves confirm that soldiers of the Austro‑Hungarian, Russian and German armies were interred there. The presence of German troops was unexpected; records now show that heavy fighting on 9–10 May 1915 around Rzepedz and Szczawne resulted in over 100 German soldiers from the Königlich Preußisches Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 9 falling in battle.

The find revises earlier assumptions that the so‑called Carpathian Corps operated only in present‑day Slovakia, providing new insight into the multi‑national combat dynamics of the Eastern Front in the Carpathian region.