Collective grave

Mass grave of 26 victims of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, excavated in 2014

A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution,[1] although an exact definition is not unanimously agreed upon.[2][3][4] Mass graves are usually created after many people die or are killed, and there is a desire to bury the corpses quickly for sanitation concerns. Although mass graves can be used during major conflicts such as war and crime, in modern times they may be used after a famine, epidemic, or natural disaster. In disasters, mass graves are used for infection and disease control. In such cases, there is often a breakdown of the social infrastructure that would enable proper identification and disposal of individual bodies.[5]

History

The mass grave of the German troops who fell in the Battle of Hyvinkää in 1918 during the Finnish Civil War in Hyvinkää, Finland

Mass or communal burial was a common practice before the development of a dependable crematory chamber by Ludovico Brunetti in 1873. In ancient Rome waste and dead bodies of the poor were dumped into mass graves called puticuli.[6]

In Paris, the practice of mass burial, and in particular, the condition of the Cimetière des Innocents, led Louis XVI to eliminate Parisian cemeteries. The remains were removed and placed in the Paris underground forming the early Catacombs. Le Cimetière des Innocents alone had 6,000,000 dead to remove. Burial commenced outside the city limits in what is now Père Lachaise Cemetery.[7]

War

Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus'

A mass grave containing at least 300 bodies of victims of a Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in the year 1238, was discovered during an excavation in 2005, in Yaroslavl, Russia.[8]

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War, in the 17th century, was Europe's deadliest religious conflict. In the Battle of Lützen, 47 soldiers who perished were buried in a mass grave. Archaeological and osteological analyses found that the soldiers ranged in age from 15–50 years. Most corpses had evidence of blunt force trauma to the head while seven men had stabbing injuries. Most of the soldiers died from gunshot wounds inflicted by pistols and cavalry carbines.[9][10]

Napoleonic Wars

Several mass graves have been discovered that were the result of Napoleonic battles, mass graves were dug for expeditious disposal of deceased soldiers and horses. Often soldiers would plunder the substantial quantity of corpses prior to burial. Generally the mass graves were dug by soldiers or members of logistical corps. If these units were not available, the corpses would be left to rot or would be burned. Such examples have been found scattered throughout Europe.[11][12]

Spanish Civil War

Mass grave of Spanish Civil War victims in El Soleràs

There are over 2,000 known mass graves throughout Spain from the Spanish Civil War wherein an estimated 500,000 people died between 1936 and 1939, and approximately 135,000 were killed after the war ended.[13]

Exhumations are ongoing. Some are conducted on the basis of information given in witnesses' and relatives' testimonies to the Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (ARMH).[14] These testimonies serve the purpose of helping geophysicists, archaeologists and forensic scientists to locate graves in order to identify bodies and allow families to rebury their relatives.[13]

In the summer of 2008, information from these testimonies was used to unearth a 4 meter long square grave containing five skeletons near the town of San Juan del Monte. These five remains are believed to be of people that were kidnapped and killed after the July 18, 1936 military coup.[14]

Another mass grave from the Spanish Civil War was found using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Eyewitness accounts identified two potential locations for an unmarked grave in mountains of Lena in Northern Spain. Both sites were examined and an unmarked mass grave of approximately 1 meter by 5 meters was found.[13]

2nd Sino Japanese War

See also: Nanjing Massacre, Datong Mass Grave Memorial, and Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders
Mass graves of 2nd Sino Japanese War victims found in China

Korean War

Approximately 100,000–200,000 civilians were killed at the start of the Korean War. These people were flagged by the government of South Korea for potentially collaborating with or sympathizing with North Korea. They were arrested and subsequently executed without trial.[15] The sites where the massacres occurred were forbidden to the public. The bodies were considered to be traitors and the act of associating with them was considered treasonous.[15] Despite this, families retrieved bodies from the shallow forbidden mass graves at the massacre sites.

In 1956, bereaved families and villagers exhumed over 100 decomposed and unidentifiable bodies, ensuring that the complete human skeleton was intact.[15] Each exhumed body was buried in its own "nameless grave" in a cemetery on Jeju Island. There is a granite memorial within the cemetery which bears the cemetery's local name, "Graves of One Hundred Ancestors and One Descendant."[15] This name functions to express the opposite of how the genealogy should be as typically many descendants derive from one ancestor.[15]

1973 Chilean coup d'état

The Chilean military coup against President Salvador Allende occurred on September 11, 1973. The military surrounded Santiago and searched for people hiding in potential guerilla insurgent locations. Civilians were detained for long periods of time and some disappeared.[15] Following the coup, bodies were abundant in the streets and in the Mapocho River. It is estimated that 3,200 people were executed or disappeared between 1973 and 1990 in Chile. Higher estimates are up to 4,500 people.[15] These bodies were taken to morgues to be identified and claimed. Unidentified bodies were buried in marked mass graves.[15]

From this conflict, several hidden mass graves have been identified. In December 1978, 15 bodies were discovered in an abandoned limestone mine in Lonquén. In October 1979, 19 bodies were exhumed after being secretly buried at the cemetery of Yumbel.[15] Mass graves were also identified in Santiago's General Cemetery with multiple bodies being forced into a single coffin. This cemetery had an influx of over 300 bodies within a three-month time span. These mass graves were distinguished by a cross with the initials "NN." "NN" is indicative of the phrase "Nomen Nescio" or "no name." Following extensive media coverage of these mass graves, the Chilean military decided to exhume the bodies from Lonquén, Yumbel, and Santiago's General Cemetery. The military airdropped the exhumed bodies over open water or remote mountain locations.[15]

Turkish Invasion of Cyprus

Many mass graves of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots were found in Cyprus after Turkey invaded the island in 1974.[16][17] On August 3, 14 Greek Cypriot civilians were executed and buried in a mass grave.[18] In Eptakomi 12 Greek Cypriots were found in a mass grave executed with their hands tied.[19] On the other hand, during the Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre, 126 Turkish Cypriots including elderly people and children[20] were murdered by EOKA B and the inhabitants of the three villages were buried in mass graves with a bulldozer. The villagers of Maratha and Santalaris, 84 to 89 people in total,[21] were buried in the same grave.[22] Mass graves were used to bury Turkish Cypriot victims of Tochni massacre too.[17]

1976 Argentine coup d'état

On March 24, 1976 at 3:21 AM, the media told the people of Argentina that the country was now under the "operational control of the Junta of General Commanders of the Armed Forces."[15] This event and years following it became known as the 1976 Argentine coup d'état. President Isabel Perón had been taken captive two hours prior to the media announcement. The new dictatorship implemented travel bans, public gatherings, and a nighttime curfew.[15] Additionally, the new dictatorship resulted in widespread violence, leading to executions and casualties.

Abducted captives were disposed of in one of the five defense zones within Argentina where they were held. The bodies were typically buried in individual marked anonymous graves. Three mass graves are known to exist on Argentinian police and military premises although other bodies were disposed of through cremation or by being airdropped over the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 15,000 people are estimated to have been assassinated.[15]

Argentina's largest mass grave's exhumation began in March 1984 at the San Vicente Cemetery in Cordoba. The grave was 3.5 meters deep and 25 by 2.5 meters across. It contained approximately 400 bodies.[15] Of the recovered and exhumed bodies, 123 were of young people violently killed during the 1976–1983 dictatorship. The remaining bodies were identified as older and having died nonviolent deaths such as leprosy.[15]

Vietnam War

Numerous mass graves were discovered during the Vietnam War. In the fall of 1969, the body count unearthed from mass graves was around 2,800. During the months and years that followed the Battle of Huế, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and around Huế. The victims of the Huế massacre buried in mass graves included government officials, innocent civilians, women and children. They were tortured, executed and in some cases, buried alive.[23] The estimated death toll was between 2,800 and 6,000 civilians and prisoners of war, or 5–10% of the total population of Huế.

In Quang Ngai, a mass grave of 10 soldiers was discovered on December 28, 2011. These soldiers were buried alongside their belongings including wallets, backpacks, guns, ammunition, mirrors, and combs.[24]

Other larger mass graves of Vietnamese soldiers are believed to exist, with hundreds of soldiers in each grave.[25]

Second Libyan Civil War

The Second Libyan Civil War that began in 2014 is a proxy war between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez al-Sarraj and the Libyan National Army (LNA) of the militia leader Khalifa Haftar. In 2020, the GNA ousted the forces of Haftar, who is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Russia, and captured Tarhuna. The GNA discovered mass graves in the Harouda farm of the town that was under the control of the Kaniyat militiamen, who allied with Haftar in 2019. For a decade, the Kaniyat militia brutalized and killed more than a thousand civilians, where around 650 were murdered in 14 months under the UAE-backed Haftar forces. Thousands of holes were dug by government workers, where 120 bodies recovered. The unearthed remains were used by the families to identify the missing members and only 59 bodies were claimed. Survivors reported that the Kaniyat militia aligned with the UAE-backed Haftar tortured or electrocuted them. Many also reported being beaten by the militia.[26]

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Bucha

Main article: Bucha massacre

On 1 April 2022, following the Russian withdrawal, video footage was posted to social media, that showed mass civilian casualties. By 9 April, Ukrainian forensic investigators had begun recovering bodies from mass graves, such as at the church of Andrew the Apostle.[27] 116 bodies were found in the mass grave near the Church of Andrew the Apostle.[28] On 21 April, Human Rights Watch published an extensive report that summarized their own investigation in Bucha, implicating Russian troops in summary executions, other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and torture.[29]

Mariupol

Main article: Siege of Mariupol

Mariupol's deputy mayor Serhii Orlov stated on 9 March 2022 that at least 1,170 civilians in the city had been killed in the city since Russia's invasion began and the dead were being buried in mass graves.[30]

By April 2022 several new mass graves located in vicinity of Mariupol were discovered using satellite footage.[31]

In early November 2022, Ukraine stated that at least 25,000 civilians had been killed in Mariupol.[32] In late December 2022, based on the discovery of 10,300 new mass graves, the Associated Press estimated that the true death toll may be up to three times that figure.[33]

Izium

Main article: Izium mass graves

On 15 September 2022, several mass graves, including one site containing at least 440 bodies were found in woods near the Ukrainian city of Izium after it was recaptured by Ukrainian forces.[34][35] The graves contained bodies of people who were killed by Russian forces.[36][37][38] One of the victims was a Ukrainian poet, children's writer, activist and Wikipedian Volodymyr Vakulenko.

According to Ukrainian investigators, 447 bodies were discovered: 414 bodies of civilians (215 men, 194 women, 5 children), 22 servicemen, and 11 bodies whose gender had not yet been determined as of 23 September 2022. Most of the dead showed signs of violent death and 30 presented traces of torture and summary execution, including ropes around their necks, bound hands, broken limbs and genital amputation.[39]

Israel Gaza war (2023-current)

Main article: Gaza mass graves

Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Yunis

Main article: Siege of Khan Yunis

In April 2024, following the withdrawal of israeli forces, over 300 bodies of young men, women, and children were unearthed at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza, after Israeli military withdrawal. The bodies exhibited signs of having been bound and potentially executed in the field. Reports indicate that two other mass graves have been identified, but have yet to be excavated. [40][41][42]

Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City

Main article: Al-Shifa Hospital siege

In April 2024, health workers in Gaza exhumed the first bodies from mass graves at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where at least 381 bodies were found after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, following their two-week siege. Officials claim that many bodies showed signs of severe trauma, including being crushed or disfigured, and claim this is partially the result of being ran over by Israeli tanks.[43] The graves included both buried and above-ground remains, some under dirt or plastic sheeting. [44][45]

Mass killings

Rwandan genocide

View over the Nyabarongo River where Tutsi victims were thrown in 1994, outside Kigali, Rwanda.

The Rwandan genocide began after the unsolved death of the Rwandan president, Juvénal Habyarimana, on April 6, 1994. Extremist members of the Hutu government formed an interim wartime government. They called for an extermination of the Tutsi population, Hutu political opponents and Hutu who resisted the violence.[46] The genocide lasted 100 days and resulted in an estimated 800,000 killings.[47]

Rwandan people sought refuge in gathering places such as churches and stadiums. An estimated 4,000–6,000 people gathered in Kibuye Catholic Church. Around April 17, 1994, the church was surrounded by armed civilians, police and gendarmes. Those inside were attacked with a variety of weapons including grenades, guns, and machetes. Survivors of the attack were sought after and killed in the following days. Burial of these bodies took place in at least four mass graves.[48]

The first mass grave resulting from this attack was discovered behind the church where several bodies were left unburied and scattered. In December 1995, archaeologists surveyed the area and flagged any potential human remains. In January 1996, forensic anthropologists located and exhumed 53 skeletal assemblages.[48] A second mass grave was found under a tree marked with wire, indicating a memorial. Below the tree was a trench filled with multiple bodies. The third and fourth mass graves were found using a probe to test for deteriorating remains. The third grave was marked by the local population, similar to the second grave. The fourth grave was identified by a priest.[48]

Throughout the Rwandan genocide, bodies were buried in mass graves, left exposed, or disposed of through rivers. At least 40,000 bodies have been discovered in Lake Victoria which connects to Akagera River.[49]

Cambodian genocide

Main article: Cambodian genocide
Mass graves at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in Cambodia

Mass grave mapping teams have located 125 Khmer Rouge prison facilities and corresponding gravesites to date in Cambodia while researching the Killing Fields. These mass graves are believed by villagers to possess tutelary spirits and signify the dead bodies becoming one with the earth. Buddhist rituals, which were taboo at the time, were performed in the 1980s which transformed the anonymous bodies into "spirits of the departed." In the 1990s, religious ceremonies were re-established and the Festival of the Dead was celebrated annually.[49]

Holocaust

Workers from the town of Nordhausen bury corpses found at Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp in 1945.

The Mittelbau camps held about 60,000 prisoners of The Holocaust between August 1943 and March 1945. Conservative estimates assume that at least 20,000 inmates perished at the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. In early April 1945, an unknown number of prisoners perished in death marches following the evacuation of prisoners from Mittelbau camps to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany.[50][51]

In April 1945, U.S. soldiers liberated the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Only a few prisoners were still in the camp and the U.S. soldiers found the remains of approximately 1,300 prisoners in the Boelcke barracks.[50] The names of these prisoners are unknown.[51] Mass graves of the dead prisoners from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp were dug by German civilians under orders from U.S. soldiers.[52][53]

Soviet mass killings

17 men, most in military uniform, stand in a cemetery, inspecting two graves.
Secretary of State of the Vichy regime Fernand de Brinon and others in Katyn at the graves of Mieczysław Smorawiński and Bronisław Bohatyrewicz, April 1943
This paragraph is an excerpt from List of mass graves from Soviet mass executions.[edit]
In July 2010, a mass grave was discovered next to the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, containing the corpses of 80 military officers executed during the Red Terror of 1918–1921.[54] By 2013 a total of 156 bodies had been found in the same location.[55] At about the same time a mass grave from the Stalin period was discovered at the other end of the country in Vladivostok.[56]

Communist regime massacres in Yugoslavia

Srebrenica massacre

Main articles: Srebrenica massacre and Bosnian genocide
Delegates of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) examine an exhumed mass grave of victims of the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, outside the village of Potočari, Bosnia and Herzegovina. July 2007.

Victims of the Srebrenica massacre were murdered by the Army of Republika Srpska and buried in mass graves. Serb forces used mass graves throughout the Bosnian War and thousands of victims remain unidentified as of 2017.[57]

Famine

The Great Famine

Ireland's Great Famine lasted from 1845 to 1849, a period wherein about one million people died.[58] Because of the excessive number of deaths and extreme poverty, many families were unable to provide a wake or proper burial for loved ones and used mass graves instead. Archaeological excavations have taken place on Irish mass burial sites. One excavation revealed a mass grave of nearly 1,000 individuals. The skeletons within the grave were layered on top of each other in multiple sub-rectangular pits positioned less than a meter apart.[59]

Epidemics and pandemics

Bubonic plague

Victims of bubonic plague in a mass grave from 1720 and 1721 in Martigues, France.

The bubonic plague outbreak existed in three pandemic waves and is known as the Black Death. In the 1300s alone, an estimated 20–30 million people were killed in Europe and approximately 12 million people were killed in China.[60] These deaths were at least 30 percent of the European population at that time. The last major outbreak of the bubonic plague occurred in London from 1665–1666 and is known as The Great Plague.[61]

In March 2013, a plague pit of 25 skeletons was found in a 5.5 meter-wide shaft during the construction of a new railway in London. The skeletons were neatly lined up in two rows and were about 8 feet underground.[60] Samples from 12 corpses were taken and forensic analysis confirmed traces of DNA from Yersinia pestis.[62]

Spanish flu

In several territories, the amount of death caused by the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was beyond the capacities of funeral industry, requiring the use of mass graves.[63]

Several mass graves of Spanish flu victims were created in Australia,[64] Canada,[65] and the United States.[66][67]

COVID-19

Reports of mass graves having been dug for COVID-19 victims have been made about Iran, using satellite pictures of sites near Qom as evidence.[68][69][70]

In New York City, mass graves have been prepared in Hart Island for an afflux of dead;[71][72] however, other reports said mass graves would be unlikely in the United States.[73] University of Huddersfield experts said mass graves might be considered if local services end up overwhelmed.[74][75][76] Following the rise of deaths and morgues being overwhelmed, New York City temporarily allowed for mass graves on Hart Island for unclaimed bodies.[77][78]

In Brazil, the city of Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, used mass graves[79][80] after a large spike in deaths attributed to the pandemic.

Natural disaster

Burial of the victims of Brunner Mine disaster, New Zealand 1896

Brunner Mine disaster

The Brunner Mine disaster occurred at 9:30 a.m. on March 26, 1896. An underground explosion caused the death of 65 miners, making it New Zealand's deadliest mining disaster. Of the 53 victims buried in Stillwater cemetery, 33 victims were in one mass grave.[81]

2010 Haitian earthquake

Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, thousands of bodies were left in the streets on Port-au-Prince, exposed to the sun and beginning to decompose and smell.[5] The government of Haiti collected the bodies on the street, along with rubble through use of dump trucks and other heavy machinery. The bodies and rubble were then transported to empty rectangular holes, 20 feet deep, 20 feet wide and 100 feet long.[82] No efforts were taken to identify the dead that were transported and buried.

Within Haitian culture, burial rituals hold great significance and the sacred ceremonies can cost more than their own homes.[82] There is a Haitian Vodou belief that the dead continue to live and are connected to their ancestors through these rituals. The burial of unidentified corpses in mass graves rather than familial plots severs this spiritual link between the living and dead.[82]

2013 Typhoon Haiyan

As the casualties of the Typhoon Haiyan were in the thousands, unidentified or unknown corpses were buried in several mass graves in Leyte (especially in Tacloban City where the most deaths happened), Samar, and other areas, while identified corpses were given to their families for burial.

Health concerns

The debate surrounding mass graves amongst epidemiologists includes whether or not, in a natural disaster, to leave corpses for traditional individual burials, or to bury corpses in mass graves. For example, if an epidemic occurs during winter, flies are less likely to infest corpses, reducing the risk of outbreaks of dysentery, diarrhea, diphtheria, or tetanus, which decreases the urgency to use mass graves. A research published in 2004 indicates that the health risks from dead bodies after natural disasters are relatively limited.[83][84]

See also

References

  1. ^ Human remains and identification. Oxford University Press. 2015. pp. 169–171. ISBN 978-1784991975.
  2. ^ Mant, A.K. (1987). "Knowledge acquired from post-War exhumations". In Boddington, A.; Garland, A.N.; Janaway, R.C. (eds.). Death, Decay, and Reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science. Manchester University Press. pp. 65–78. ISBN 0-7190-2303-3.
  3. ^ Skinner, M. (1987). "Planning the archeological recovery of evidence from recent mass graves". Forensic Science International. 34 (4) (34 ed.): 267–287. doi:10.1016/0379-0738(87)90040-5. PMID 3305249.
  4. ^ Cox, M.; Flavel, A.; Hanson, I.; Laver, J.; Wessling, R., eds. (2008). The Scientific Investigation of Mass Graves: Towards Protocols and Standard Operating Procedures. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521865876.
  5. ^ a b Park, Madison. "Where bodies go after natural disasters - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  6. ^ Emmerson, Allison L. C. (2020-05-24). Life and Death in the Roman Suburb. Oxford University Press. pp. 92–98. ISBN 978-0-19-259409-9.
  7. ^ Krupa, Frederique (1991). "Paris: Urban Sanitation Before the 20th Century".
  8. ^ Weisberger, Mindy (10 September 2019). "13th-Century Death Pit Reveals Murdered Family in the 'City Drowned in Blood'". livescience.com. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  9. ^ Nicklisch, Nicole; Ramsthaler, Frank; Meller, Harald; Friederich, Susanne; Alt, Kurt W. (2017). "The face of war: Trauma analysis of a mass grave from the Battle of Lützen (1632)". PLOS ONE. 12 (5): e0178252. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1278252N. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178252. PMC 5439951. PMID 28542491.
  10. ^ Killgrove, Kristina. "Mass Grave From Thirty Years' War Reveals Brutal Cavalry Attack". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  11. ^ "Archaeologists Seek Mass Graves in Waterloo Battlefield". artnet News. 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  12. ^ Arce, Nicole (2018-06-12). "Archaeologists Dig Up Mass Grave Of Soldiers Crushed By Napoleon's Troops". Tech Times. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  13. ^ a b c Fernández-Álvarez, José-Paulino; Rubio-Melendi, David; Martínez-Velasco, Antxoka; Pringle, Jamie K.; Aguilera, Hector-David (2016). "Discovery of a mass grave from the Spanish Civil War using Ground Penetrating Radar and forensic archaeology". Forensic Science International. 267: e10–e17. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.05.040. ISSN 0379-0738. PMID 27318840.
  14. ^ a b Ríos, Luis; García-Rubio, Almudena; Martínez, Berta; Alonso, Andrea; Puente, Jorge (2012). "Identification process in mass graves from the Spanish Civil War II". Forensic Science International. 219 (1–3): e4–e9. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.11.021. ISSN 0379-0738. PMID 22227148.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Robben, Antonius C. G. M.; Ferrándiz, Francisco, eds. (2015). Necropolitics : mass graves and exhumations in the age of human rights. Wilson, Richard (First ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812247206. OCLC 911497054.
  16. ^ Zikakou, Ioanna (4 September 2015). "Mass Greek-Cypriot Grave Found in Occupied Cyprus | GreekReporter.com". Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  17. ^ a b "Mass grave of massacred Turkish Cypriots found in Cyprus". worldbulletin.net/ (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  18. ^ Karadimas, Nektarios (2016-06-28), "Agios Vasilios in Lakonia", The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. 1, doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30180, ISBN 978-1-4443-3838-6
  19. ^ "Bones don't speak". the Guardian. 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  20. ^ "CYPRUS: Ankara's Slow Nibble". Time. 16 September 1974. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  21. ^ "The Victoria Advocate – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  22. ^ Oberling, Pierre (1982). The Road to Bellapais: The Turkish Cypriot Exodus to Northern Cyprus. Social Science Monographs. ISBN 978-0-88033-000-8.
  23. ^ Dror, Olga (2018-02-20). "Opinion | Learning From the Hue Massacre". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  24. ^ "Vietnam: Mass grave of war martyrs unearthed in Quang Ngai". Asia News Monitor. 2011. ProQuest 913076619.
  25. ^ "Vietnam: Vietnam receives information on soldiers' mass graves". Asia News Monitor. 2016. ProQuest 1786292818.
  26. ^ "Mass murder and the sin of silence". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  27. ^ "With bloodied gloves, forensic teams uncover gruesome secrets of Bucha in Ukraine". The Guardian. 9 April 2022. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  28. ^ "Buried as numbers, more of Bucha's victims are laid to rest". Associated Press. 12 August 2022. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  29. ^ "Ukraine: Russian Forces' Trail of Death in Bucha". Human Rights Watch. 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  30. ^ "Ukraine says 1,170 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since Russian invasion". Reuters. 9 March 2022. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  31. ^ "Several mass graves have been discovered in the Mariupol district". 23 April 2022. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  32. ^ "The agony of not knowing, as Mariupol mass burial sites grow". BBC News. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 10 Nov 2022.
  33. ^ "Russia scrubs Mariupol's Ukraine identity, builds on death". Associated Press. 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  34. ^ Lamb, William (15 September 2022). "A mass grave site with 440 bodies was found in Izium, a police official said". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  35. ^ "Mass grave of more than 440 bodies found in Izium, Ukraine, police say". Reuters. 15 September 2022. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
  36. ^ Luke Harding (17 September 2022). "Izium: after Russian retreat, horrors of Russian occupation are revealed". The Guardian. Izium. Archived from the original on 17 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  37. ^ Koshiw, Isobel; Lorenzo, Tondo (16 September 2022). "'Some hanged themselves': the work to find answers amid Izium's mass grave". The Guardian. Izium. Archived from the original on 2022-09-16.
  38. ^ Julia Skoryk (19 September 2022). ""Przebaczyć? Nigdy! To jest nasz wielki, palący ból". Pomordowanych w Iziumie mogą być tysiące" ["Forgive? Never! This our great, burning pain". There may be thousands of murdered people in Izium.]. ukrayina.pl (in Polish and Ukrainian). Lviv: gazeta.pl. Archived from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  39. ^ "В Ізюмі закінчили ексгумацію – підняли 447 тіл, серед них багато жінок, є діти". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 23 September 2022. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  40. ^ "More than 300 bodies found in mass grave at Gaza hospital, says Gaza Civil Defense". CNN. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  41. ^ "Nearly 200 bodies found in mass grave at hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis". Al Jazeera. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  42. ^ "UN rights chief 'horrified' by mass grave reports at Gaza hospitals". Reuters. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  43. ^ "'Tell us where our children are?' First bodies exhumed from mass graves at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli siege". CNN. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  44. ^ "'Tell us where our children are?' First bodies exhumed from mass graves at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli siege". CNN. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  45. ^ "Mass graves in Gaza show victims' hands were tied, says UN rights office". UN News. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  46. ^ After mass crime : rebuilding states and communities. Pouligny, Béatrice., Chesterman, Simon., Schnabel, Albrecht. Tokyo: United Nations University Press. 2007. ISBN 9789280811384. OCLC 226911996.{cite book}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  47. ^ "Rwanda: How the genocide happened". BBC News. 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  48. ^ a b c Haglud, W.D.; Connor, M; Scott, D.D. (2001). "The Archaeology of Contemporary Mass Graves". Historical Archaeology. 35 (1): 57–69. doi:10.1007/BF03374527. JSTOR 25616893. PMID 17600960. S2CID 30867057.
  49. ^ a b Dreyfus, Jean-Marc; Anstett, Élisabeth, eds. (2015-01-20). Human remains and mass violence: methodological approaches. Manchester. ISBN 9780719096501. OCLC 953458622.{cite book}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  50. ^ a b "Liberation of Dora-Mittelbau — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". ushmm.org. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  51. ^ a b "Mittelbau-Dora Memorial". www.buchenwald.de.
  52. ^ "The bodies of prisoners killed in the Nordhausen concentration camp lie in a mass grave dug by German civilians under orders from American troops. – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  53. ^ "Nordhausen Civilians Dig Mass Graves". fcit.usf.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  54. ^ "More 'red terror' remains found in Russia". UPI.
  55. ^ "St Petersburg by Petropavlovsk fortress [C] Executions & burials". mapofmemory.org. August 19, 2014.
  56. ^ "Stalin-era mass grave yields tons of bones". Reuters. June 9, 2010 – via www.reuters.com.
  57. ^ "AP PHOTOS: Many Bosnian war victims still unidentified". AP NEWS. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  58. ^ Ross, David (2002). Ireland: History of a Nation (New ed.). New Lanark: Geddes & Grosset. ISBN 1842051644. OCLC 52945911.
  59. ^ Jonny, Geber. Victims of Ireland's great famine : the bioarchaeology of mass burials at Kilkenny Union Workhouse. Larsen, Clark Spencer. Gainesville. ISBN 9780813055633. OCLC 921889193.
  60. ^ a b Smith-Spark, Laura (2013-03-16). "London rail excavation unearths suspected 'plague pit'". CNN.
  61. ^ Wade, Nicholas (2010-10-31). "Europe's Plagues Came From China, Study Finds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  62. ^ Morgan, James (2014-03-30). "Crossrail digs up Black Death victims". BBC News.
  63. ^ Schoch-Spana, Monica (2000-12-01). "Implications of Pandemic Influenza for Bioterrorism Response". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 31 (6): 1409–1413. doi:10.1086/317493. ISSN 1058-4838. PMID 11096011.
  64. ^ Hegarty, Nicole (2019-12-07). "Likely mass graves uncovered in Queensland community decimated by deadly flu". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  65. ^ "When half the city took ill". The Toronto Star. 2009-05-02. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  66. ^ Klein, Christopher (12 February 2020). "How America Struggled to Bury Its Dead During the 1918 Flu Pandemic". HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  67. ^ "100 years ago, 'Spanish flu' shut down Philadelphia – and wiped out thousands". phillyvoice.com. September 27, 2018. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  68. ^ "Mass graves in Iran for coronavirus deaths". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  69. ^ "Coronavirus deaths in Iran lead to mass burial pits, changing the way families mourn". Los Angeles Times. 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  70. ^ Borger, Julian (2020-03-12). "Satellite images show Iran has built mass graves amid coronavirus outbreak". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  71. ^ Collman, Ashley (2020-03-10). "New York City's contingency plan for 'biological outbreaks' includes mobile refrigerator units for dead bodies and mass graves dug by inmates". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  72. ^ Grim, Ryan (2020-03-31). "Rikers Island Prisoners Are Being Offered PPE and $6 an Hour to Dig Mass Graves". The Intercept. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  73. ^ Hughes, Trevor. "Bodies could start to stack up from the coronavirus. Coroners and funeral homes say they're ready". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  74. ^ "UK local authorities not ready for the number of deaths from Covid-19: The situation could lead to a bottleneck in burials and cremations, mortuaries filled beyond capacity and the possibility of mass graves". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  75. ^ Meaton, Julia; Kruger, Helen; Williams, Anna (2020-03-25). "Pandemic Continuity Planning: will coronavirus test local authority business continuity plans? A case study of a local authority in the north of England". Emergency Management Review. 4 (1): 4–27. ISSN 2049-5927.
  76. ^ "Mass graves possible with UK services set to be overwhelmed by coronavirus". Metro. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  77. ^ "New York City will bury unclaimed bodies on a remote island after 14 days because coronavirus deaths are overwhelming morgues". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  78. ^ "Coronavirus: New York using mass graves amid outbreak". BBC News. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  79. ^ "Com pandemia, mortes em Manaus estão 108% acima da média histórica". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  80. ^ "'Utter disaster': Manaus fills mass graves as Covid-19 hits the Amazon". The Guardian. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  81. ^ "Brunner mine disaster kills 65 | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  82. ^ a b c Cave, Damien (2010). "As Haitians Flee, the Dead Go Uncounted". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  83. ^ "Mass graves draw out the pain for quake-hit Haitians". Reuters. 20 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010.{cite news}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  84. ^ "Infectious Disease Risks From Dead Bodies Following Natural Disasters" (PDF). Pan Am J Public Health. 15 (5). 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

External links