The team of the Institute of Search and Identification of the Institute of National Remembrance carried out exhumation works at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw, the purpose of which is to finally clarify the doubts related to the burial place of the Marshal of Poland and the Commander-in-Chief, Edward Śmigły-Rydz.
The circumstances of Marshal Śmigły-Rydz’s death and the place of his burial have been shrouded in mystery and doubts for years, also in connection with the existing hypotheses regarding the alleged exhumation in the 1960s of the Marshal’s remains on the order of the Minister of the Interior, Mieczysław Moczar. The work was carried out in the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw, in 139th burial site, where Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz was to be buried in 1941.
“The ultimate goal of the work undertaken is to confirm that one of the most famous Polish soldiers of the 20th century, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, was buried in Powązki. The exhumation work was personally managed by the deputy president of the Institute of National Remembrance, professor Krzysztof Szwagrzyk. His experienced team participated in it, but the task was slightly different from the work carried out so far. An anonymous grave of a victim of a German or communist crime was not looked for, but it was assumed that there were buried remains at the site,” said PhD Rafał Leśkiewicz, spokesman for the Institute of National Remembrance, in an interview with PAP (Polish Press Agency).
As a result of activities at a depth of about 2.5 meters, a brick tomb crypt with a galvanized coffin containing the remains of a man was revealed. In the vicinity of the chest, there was a gorget with an eagle and an image of Our Lady of Częstochowa. Numerous items of clothing have also been preserved. The remains will be subjected to anthropological examination and genetic testing to finally confirm the identity.