Four pieces of unexploded World War Two ordnance – including artillery shells and a grenade – have been discovered in the walls of a church in southern Poland during renovation work.
Last week, local police were informed of the find in Babice, a village located between the cities of Kraków and Katowice, around 20 kilometres from the former German-Nazi camp of Auschwitz.
When they arrived, they determined that there were two artillery shells lodged in a wall surrounding the church grounds (one of which is pictured above) as well as a grenade and a bullet embedded in one of the walls of the church itself (pictured below).
The area was secured by police while army specialists were called in to remove the shells from the outer wall, which were then transported to a warehouse used to securely store such finds. The army will return to remove the grenade and bullet “in the near future”, said the police in a statement on Friday.
The discovery of munitions, weapons and other material from World War Two is common in Poland, which saw intense fighting after being invaded and occupied by both Germany and the Soviet Union.
Unexploded artillery shells from WWII were discovered buried at a primary school in Poland during construction work.
Army sappers were called in and safety removed a total of 72 shells https://t.co/5Efs3MXPKs
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 15, 2023
Last month, nearly 14,000 people were advised to leave their homes in the city of Lublin while army sappers removed a 250kg aerial bomb discovered during construction work.
In July, workers carrying out renovation at a primary school in central Poland discovered dozens of unexploded artillery shells from the Second World War.
Last year, thousands of residents of Wrocław, Poland’s third largest city, were evacuated after a half-tonne bomb was discovered on a housing estate during construction work. Another evacuation was ordered in the same city this year after an unexploded German bomb was found.
Nearly 14,000 people were evacuated in Lublin today after an unexploded WWII bomb was found during construction work.
The device – reportedly a 250kg aerial bomb – has now been safely removed by army sappers https://t.co/75c1Ioutaf
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 11, 2023
In February, an 11-year-old girl was hospitalised with serious injuries reportedly after her brother accidentally shot her with a World War Two rifle he had found in the forest.
Last year, the wreckage of an American World War Two bomber was located at the bottom of a lagoon in Poland. In 2020, sappers detonated a British 5.4-tonne bomb lying underwater near the Polish city of Świnoujście. It was the largest unexploded ordnance ever found in Poland.
Following the latest find in Babice, police have reminded the public to notify them immediately upon finding any ordnance and not to attempt to tamper with it in any way.
A 75-year-old British WW2 bomb exploded underwater in Poland as navy divers tried to defuse it.
No one was hurt, as the operation was being done remotely.
The 5.4-tonne Tallboy "earthquake bomb" is the largest unexploded ordnance ever found in Poland pic.twitter.com/FxYMdOX6ai
— Daniel Tilles (@danieltilles1) October 14, 2020
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Image credit: Policja Małopolska
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
