In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, the remains of a Soviet soldier are exhumed, during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
KLESSIN, Germany (AP) - Thomas Siepert looks across the verdant grain field, glowing in the sun after a spring thunderstorm, as windmills slowly churn in the distance.
Wild boar piglets trundle across the road into town and a hare pops out and dashes away. Yet the serene scene belies the slaughter there 75 years ago as German troops fought furiously - and futilely - to stave off the Soviet Red Army that was approaching the Nazi capital.
'œIt seems so idyllic, but it's a huge cemetery,'ť Siepert said. 'œThat shouldn't be forgotten.'ť
But for decades, many of those who died there were forgotten, some buried where they fell and others dragged by civilians in the months after the war into trenches and foxholes they had themselves dug, and covered over.
For the last 15 years, volunteers like Siepert from around Europe have been trying to rectify that, devoting vacations to excavating long-buried trench lines and military positions in the search for those who never made it home.
During 19 digs across a square kilometer (less than half a square mile), members of the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen in Eastern Europe have found 116 German and 129 Soviet soldiers.
They seek to identify as many as possible - to provide closure for families, to give the dead their names back, and to separate them from the numbers in the history books in the hope of explaining the cost of war to future generations.
'œOn all sides, these are destroyed lives. These are all people who died senselessly,'ť said Albrecht Laue, chairman of the association. 'œIf we talk about a huge slaughter with hundreds of thousands of dead, nobody can understand that. But if I talk about the story of a young 17-year-old soldier, that's tangible.'ť
Laue, a 46-year-old businessman from Hamburg, got interested in the search when looking for the grave of his grandfather, which he located near where he died fighting in Russia in 1942 as a young lieutenant. Siepert, 47, an engineer from nearby Frankfurt an der Oder, remembers as a child having regular lectures in school about avoiding the grenades and other munitions still found in the area, and wondering why.
Other volunteers include anthropologists, archaeologists, excavators and the disposal experts needed when munitions are found. They hail from all over, including Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
'œWe couldn't, and also don't, want to look for soldiers from a specific nation,'ť Laue said. 'œThat's the interesting thing when one finds one of the dead; one never even knows at the beginning if it's a German or a Soviet."
In February 1945, they were bitter foes.
The village of Klessin sits on a height 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Oder River. German military observers used it to call in artillery strikes on Soviet troops as they streamed across a pontoon bridge in the build-up before the final push on Berlin.
Recognizing the strategic importance of the hamlet, 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Berlin, the Soviets made it a target. The Nazis resolved to hold it, moving in a unit of soldiers, augmented by officer cadets and older 'œVolkssturm'ť militia, scraped up as the number of military-aged men dwindled.
The fighting pitted 400 Germans in Klessin against about four times that number of Soviets, with the Germans supported by a unit of Panther tanks in the neighboring village of Podelzig, nearby artillery and air-dropped supplies.
Fierce combat raged for nearly two months, often hand-to-hand, as the Soviets attempted to take the village, firing off 62,000 mortar rounds and artillery shells.
Exactly how many were killed or listed as missing is not known, but the casualties were enormous, Siepert said.
'œOn March 20, German troops tried to break through there to make a corridor,'ť he said, pointing to a field between Klessin and Podelzig where the Soviets had laid a minefield and other defenses after encircling the village. 'œThere were 150 missing from that single attack, as well as 50 killed. Seventy made it through.'ť
On March 23, 1945, the beleaguered German soldiers attempted a breakout under the cover of darkness. About 60 made it, and the others were captured or killed.
German tank commander Lt. Hans Eimer was listed as missing after the breakout attempt. Eimer had led his Panther tank into Klessin the week before on his 22nd birthday to support the garrison, but the vehicle ended up being knocked out and he was wounded and trapped in the village.
Eimer's younger brother, Fritz, had died in fighting that January. After the war, his sister Margarete had long urged Laue's group to try and determine the fate of her only other sibling.
Eimer's remains were located by Laue's group in 2016 by chance and identified by dogtags. The group told Margarete before she died in 2018 that her brother had made it 250 meters (yards) out of the village before he was killed, and lay with two other soldiers.
Identifications are rare, especially of the Soviet soldiers who had no dogtags, but occasionally the volunteers get lucky.
In a dig on a Soviet outpost on a hill outside of Klessin in 2018, they came across three Soviet soldiers who were all highly decorated and traced their names through the medals.
This year's spring dig has been postponed due to lockdown restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. Some work is still underway on a memorial site being established amid the rubble of the original farm buildings.
Hermann Kaiser, a member of the small community association behind the memorial, said he remembered finding military material as a kid growing up in the area, happily throwing on an old steel helmet and fighting 'œwar'ť with his friends, while not understanding they were playing on graves.
The hope is with the memorial to make sure that others do understand.
'œWe want to present what happened here 75 years ago, what war means, show the younger generation that war destroys everything,'ť he said, looking at the cratered landscape and rubble of the memorial. 'œAnd if we can do that in the place where it happened, it's unforgettable.'ť
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, long-buried trench lines and military positions are excavated to search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin, Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, Laura Tradii, center, Social Anthropologist at the University of Cambridge and Werner Schulz, left, an excavation technician exhume the remains of a Soviet soldier during a search for fallen soldiers, near the village of Klessin in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, Werner Schulz an excavation technician makes a note of the bones of the remains of a Soviet soldier on a diagram to confirm they are the bones of one person, during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, Albrecht Laue, center, chairman of the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen in Eastern Europe stands in an unearthed trench during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, Laura Tradii, left, Social Anthropologist at the University of Cambridge and Werner Schulz, right, an excavation technician exhume the remains of a Soviet soldier during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin, in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, a view of bones stuck in a boot, part of the remains of a Soviet soldier exhumed, during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin, in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, Laura Tradii, left, Social Anthropologist at the University of Cambridge and Werner Schulz, right, an excavation technician, cover the remains of a Soviet soldier during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, the remains of a Soviet soldier is exhumed, during a search for fallen WWII soldiers near the village of Klessin in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, Albrecht Laue, left, chairman of the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen in Eastern Europe receives a small coffin with the remains of a fallen German WWII soldier from Yaroslav Zhilkin, right, Chairman of the Ukrainian Union People´s Memory organization, during a funeral ceremony at a memorial site, in Wuhden, Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, a small coffin with remains of a fallen German soldier is decorated with a white rose during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Wuhden Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers in a mass grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Wuhden, Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 photo, people from nearby villages and volunteers from the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen in Eastern Europe attend a funeral service for a fallen German WWII soldiers, at a memorial site in Wuhden, Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Thursday April 30, 2020 photo, Thomas Siepert a volunteer from the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen in Eastern Europe compares an aerial photo, foreground from the German army in Feb. 1945 of the village of Klessin, prior to being destroyed and in background photo taken April 1945 showing the village after artillery damage, in Klessin, Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families.(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Thursday April 30, 2020 photo, Thomas Siepert a volunteer from the Association for the Recovery of the Fallen in Eastern Europe walks in a field which was a former battlefield near the village of Klessin, in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Thursday April 30, 2020 photo a view of the names of Soviet WWII soldiers killed in the battle at the Seelower Heights in 1945 at a war cemetery in Lebus, Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Associated Press
In this Thursday April 30, 2020 photo, clouds cover the sky over the River Oder where the Soviet Red Army crossed in 1945 during the battle of the Seelower Heights near the village of Klessin, in Germany. In eastern Germany, today's verdant pastures were killing fields 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army pushed toward the Nazi capital in the final weeks of World War Two. Volunteers from across Europe comb across the area looking for the remains of the thousands of missing soldiers, working from old maps and aerial photos to identify the trenches, foxholes and strongpoints where they could be buried. They strive to give the dead a proper burial, and wherever possible identify the remains to provide closure for families. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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