Institute of National Remembrance

Institute of National Remembrance https://ipn.gov.pl/en/news/2523,Scharfenberg-the-next-stage-of-exploration-work.html 2021-09-29, 14:06 25.10.2019 Scharfenberg: the next stage of exploration work Since 14 October 2019 the Oﬃce of Search and Identiﬁcation of the Institute of National Remembrance has been conducting the next stage of exploration work at the Scharfenberg estate, near the village of Malerzowice Wielkie (Łambinowice commune), the aim being to determine the burial place of the remains of soldiers of the National Armed Forces partisan unit of Capt. Henryk Flame, alias "Bartek", who were murdered as a result of the communist security services / NKVD operation.

On 6 September,1946, a group of several dozen soldiers of the National Armed Forces (NSZ) belonging to the unit of Capt. Henryk Flame, alias Bartek, was lured to a meeting, and then deliberately murdered by the communist Security Services and NKVD oﬃcers. It was one of the elements of the so-called "Operation Avalanche", aimed at the complete elimination of the legendary unit. To this day it has not been possible to determine where their bodies had been hidden. Similar executions took place in Stary Grodków and in the vicinity of the village of Barut (Hubertus forester’s lodge, Opole Voivodeship).

The former estate located in the forest between Malerzowice Wielkie and the Dworzysko hamlet was one of the three places of liquidation of partisans of Flame’s unit in September 1946 . The ﬁrst group was brought here, and its members were shot to the back of the head. The exploration work was carried out in June and November 2017 in cooperation with the Branch Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation of the IPN in Katowice and with the participation of sappers from the 1st Sapper Regiment from Brzeg. Numerous artifacts were found, including the characteristic gorge with an eagle worn by the NSZ partisans, buckles and belt buckles, fragments of battle dress uniforms, along with buttons with an eagle in the crown. Several fragments of human remains were also disclosed.

As a result of this year's work, a pit with buried fragments of military uniforms (buckles, buttons with an eagle), clothing items (footwear) has been discovered. The remains of the soldiers sought have not yet been disclosed.