HALBE, Germany (AP) — In a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred last week. High school students placed white gerbera daisies on small black coffins, and then German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug grave as a military band played a solemn tune.
Hundreds of villagers and relatives of fallen soldiers watched silently, some wiping tears off their cheeks, as the soldiers who died in one of the last large battles of World War II fighting for Adolf Hitler’s army got their final resting place.
The gestures of remembrance are part of a long, complicated — and sometimes controversial — effort to bring the German dead to rest, 80 years after a war that Nazi Germany started.
It’s still not the end — much work remains to identify the dead and notify any surviving family members.
A student pays tribute to the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A student pays tribute to the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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Workers of the German War Graves Commission exhume the remains of German WWII soldiers in Ostrołęka, Poland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Workers of the German War Graves Commission exhume the remains of German WWII soldiers in Ostrołęka, Poland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
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A worker of the German War Graves Commission works on the exhumation of remains of German WWII soldiers in Ostrołęka, Poland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A worker of the German War Graves Commission works on the exhumation of remains of German WWII soldiers in Ostrołęka, Poland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
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Artur Berger, Tomasz Czabanski and Diane Tempel-Bornett of the German War Graves Commission inspect an area at a forest at the eve of the exhumation of German WWII soldiers in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Artur Berger, Tomasz Czabanski and Diane Tempel-Bornett of the German War Graves Commission inspect an area at a forest at the eve of the exhumation of German WWII soldiers in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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A worker of the German War Graves Commission holds a dog tag of a fallen German WWII soldier in his hands during a exhumation of remains of German WWII soldiers in Ostrołęka, Poland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A worker of the German War Graves Commission holds a dog tag of a fallen German WWII soldier in his hands during a exhumation of remains of German WWII soldiers in Ostrołęka, Poland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
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A worker of the German War Graves Commission cleans a lower jaw of a German WWII soldier in his hands during a exhumation of remains of German WWII soldiers in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A worker of the German War Graves Commission cleans a lower jaw of a German WWII soldier in his hands during a exhumation of remains of German WWII soldiers in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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Commission works on the exhumation of fallen German WWII soldier in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Commission works on the exhumation of fallen German WWII soldier in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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The remains of a fallen German WWII soldier lay in a box after his exhumation by the German War Graves Commission in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The remains of a fallen German WWII soldier lay in a box after his exhumation by the German War Graves Commission in Bedgoszcz, near Szczecin, Poland, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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German soldiers carry the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII to the grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German soldiers carry the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII to the grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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German soldiers carry the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII to the grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German soldiers carry the small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII to the grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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Small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII are placed on the ground during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII are placed on the ground during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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Small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII are placed in the mass grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Small coffins with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII are placed in the mass grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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Crosses and grave stones stand on a war cemetery for more than 26.000 fallen German WWII soldiers in Stare Czarnowo, near Szczecin, Poland, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Crosses and grave stones stand on a war cemetery for more than 26.000 fallen German WWII soldiers in Stare Czarnowo, near Szczecin, Poland, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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