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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
A doctor has been charged after over 30 human foetuses, along with equipment from apparent medical testing on them, were discovered buried at a private property that previously belonged to her.
On Wednesday last week, prosecutors were informed about the discovery of medical waste in the garden of a house in the village of Lutoryż in southeastern Poland. It had been found during construction work by the current owners of the property, which had previously belonged to a medical pathologist.
That prompted a major search of the area, with dozens of police officers involved, as well as cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar.
🔴Płody w Lutoryżu. Lekarka usłyszała zarzuty
Magdalena H., zatrzymana w Lutoryżu przyznała, że ona sama przywiozła i zakopała ludzkie płody ujawnione u niej na posesji – przekazała prokuratura. Usłyszała zarzuty zbezczeszczenia zwłok i porzucenia niebezpiecznych odpadów w…
— Wirtualna Polska (@wirtualnapolska) June 13, 2026
On Monday morning, prosecutors announced that they had identified the full or partial remains of 34 human foetuses at the property. They have also found tens of thousands of microscope slides and paraffin blocks at the 500 m2 (5,382 sq. ft) plot, reports news website Interia.
“This waste was most likely used by the detained woman to perform tests,” said prosecutor Krzysztof Ciechanowski. “Fragments of documentation were also discovered. Some of it is damaged because it was buried in the ground.”
On Friday, the doctor, who can be named only as Magdalena H. under Polish privacy law, was detained for questioning. The following day, she was charged with desecration of human remains, improper handling of waste, and abandoning hazardous waste in an unauthorised location.
If found guilty, she could face up to 12 years in prison.
The district prosecutor’s office in Rzeszów said that Magdalena H., who is aged 57 and has no previous criminal record, had admitted to burying the foetuses and identified where they had come from. However, she has not yet offered a plea to the charges against her.
Broadcaster Radio Eska reports, based on unnamed sources, that the woman claims to have removed the remains during the COVID-19 pandemic from a hospital in Rzeszów where she worked in order to conduct tests on them at home.
The identities of the human remains have not yet been determined, with investigators planning to carry out DNA analysis on the foetuses. They will also seek to determine if Magdalena H., who has been placed in pretrial detention, acted alone or had any accomplices.
The case has drawn particular attention because Poland, a deeply Catholic country, has among the world’s strictest abortion laws. However, Ciechanowski told reporters that there is currently no evidence indicating that the doctor was involved in illegal abortions, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Na prywatnej posesji w Lutoryżu pod Rzeszowem (podczas prac ziemnych przy budowie podjazdu) znaleziono szczątki 32 martwych ludzkich płodów. Może być ich więcej, bo prace ciągle trwają.
Patamorfolog 57-letnia Magdalena H. została zatrzymana w piątek w Zamościu. Sąd Rejonowy w… pic.twitter.com/CjPnnKlAgC
— Służby w akcji (@Sluzby_w_akcji) June 13, 2026
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Patryk Ogorzalek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
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.
