Malcolm Hilgartner

I stepped out of the car to the sounds of birds singing, mixed with the clink of shovels digging into sand. The pit dropped ten feet down, and a Hungarian soldier who was working with the Volksbund gestured for me to join him at the bottom. Behind the soldier, sticking out from a wall, an army of bones had risen.

I stepped out of the car to the sounds of birds singing, mixed with the clink of shovels digging into sand. The pit dropped ten feet down, and a Hungarian soldier who was working with the Volksbund gestured for me to join him at the bottom. Behind the soldier, sticking out from a wall, an army of bones had risen.

Where once there were men, now there were ribs, fragments of sternum, pieces of vertebrae, and teeth. Everything sticking out from the earth. On the ground, other soldiers sat with paintbrushes, dusting off the bones and placing them into groups. Femur with femur, hip with hip. A collection of skulls covered a table, tree roots springing from where there once were eyes.

Where once there were men, now there were ribs, fragments of sternum, pieces of vertebrae, and teeth. Everything sticking out from the earth. On the ground, other soldiers sat with paintbrushes, dusting off the bones and placing them into groups. Femur with femur, hip with hip. A collection of skulls covered a table, tree roots springing from where there once were eyes.

The soldiers whose bones we were looking at Wehrmacht soldiers and Hungarians who fought with them had survived the Soviet invasion and been sent as prisoners of war to a camp in a town called Baja. But after they arrived there, a sickness, most likely typhus, began to spread among them.

The soldiers whose bones we were looking at Wehrmacht soldiers and Hungarians who fought with them had survived the Soviet invasion and been sent as prisoners of war to a camp in a town called Baja. But after they arrived there, a sickness, most likely typhus, began to spread among them.

They had lived through a world war, the oldest among them had probably survived too, only to die at a camp, mostly in their bedclothes. The sun broke through the clouds, and the Hungarian soldier and I simultaneously spotted something twinkling in the sand. It was a dog tag. A crowd of Hungarians and Germans quickly crowded around to examine it.

They had lived through a world war, the oldest among them had probably survived too, only to die at a camp, mostly in their bedclothes. The sun broke through the clouds, and the Hungarian soldier and I simultaneously spotted something twinkling in the sand. It was a dog tag. A crowd of Hungarians and Germans quickly crowded around to examine it.

Part of the birth date on the tag, July 29th, was clear, but the year was rusted beyond legibility. The name was Peter Virág. His last name meant flower in Hungarian, the soldier told me. The day after the exhumation, several Volksbund officials took me to a cemetery outside Budapest, where the remains of many Germans who died during the 1944 siege were being buried.

Part of the birth date on the tag, July 29th, was clear, but the year was rusted beyond legibility. The name was Peter Virág. His last name meant flower in Hungarian, the soldier told me. The day after the exhumation, several Volksbund officials took me to a cemetery outside Budapest, where the remains of many Germans who died during the 1944 siege were being buried.

It was a quiet site with hundreds of white crosses and a stone engraved with a quote from Albert Schweitzer. The soldiers' graves are the greatest preachers of peace. The presence of the cemetery on Hungarian soil seems to have been accepted by the locals, but elsewhere the Volksbund's gravesites have stirred up controversy.

It was a quiet site with hundreds of white crosses and a stone engraved with a quote from Albert Schweitzer. The soldiers' graves are the greatest preachers of peace. The presence of the cemetery on Hungarian soil seems to have been accepted by the locals, but elsewhere the Volksbund's gravesites have stirred up controversy.

As I started to look into other cemeteries the Volksbund managed, I came across many disputes over the graveyards, some going back decades, and similar to the one involving the tomb of Anne Frank's tormentor in the Netherlands.

As I started to look into other cemeteries the Volksbund managed, I came across many disputes over the graveyards, some going back decades, and similar to the one involving the tomb of Anne Frank's tormentor in the Netherlands.

In one case, the residents of Costomano, Italy, had discovered that Christian Wirt, an SS officer known as Christian the Cruel for having pioneered Hitler's gassing and lethal injection programs, was buried at a local Volksbund cemetery along with two other top Nazi officials.

In one case, the residents of Costomano, Italy, had discovered that Christian Wirt, an SS officer known as Christian the Cruel for having pioneered Hitler's gassing and lethal injection programs, was buried at a local Volksbund cemetery along with two other top Nazi officials.

The townspeople demanded that the remains be removed, but the Volksbund said it couldn't disinter them because they were buried in a mass grave. Only after four years of protests by the residents and a refusal by officials to bury more remains there were the names of the men removed from the Book of Honor at the cemetery's visitor center in 1992.

The townspeople demanded that the remains be removed, but the Volksbund said it couldn't disinter them because they were buried in a mass grave. Only after four years of protests by the residents and a refusal by officials to bury more remains there were the names of the men removed from the Book of Honor at the cemetery's visitor center in 1992.

In 2002, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, objected before a Volksbund ceremony in Israel that honored Germans killed during army service, including SS officers. The event had to be postponed. The following year, the Volksbund proposed building a memorial for Germans near a cemetery in the Russian enclave Kaliningrad for victims of SS medical experiments.

In 2002, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, objected before a Volksbund ceremony in Israel that honored Germans killed during army service, including SS officers. The event had to be postponed. The following year, the Volksbund proposed building a memorial for Germans near a cemetery in the Russian enclave Kaliningrad for victims of SS medical experiments.