▲ A Nazi German military motorcycle
As a severe drought significantly lowers the water levels of the Danube River, traces of the Nazi German military from World War II are consecutively being exposed.
According to the German War Graves Commission on the 6th (local time), the remains of two Wehrmacht soldiers, along with a military motorcycle and dish-shaped anti-tank mines, were discovered along the banks of the Danube River in downtown Budapest, Hungary, on the 2nd.
The site where the remains were found is the quay in front of Batthyány Square, where the Hungarian Parliament building can be seen across the river.
The commission stated that thanks to diesel fuel mixed into the riverbed soil, the soldiers' identification tags remained intact for over 80 years, and the remains were recovered over the course of two days.
Wehrmacht refers to the regular armed forces operated by Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945, distinguishing them from post-war Germany's Bundeswehr.
In eastern Serbia, near Prahovo, several sunken Nazi warships have emerged.
This location is a natural bottleneck area with narrow widths and rugged terrain along the Danube River where Serbia and Romania currently share a border.
The Wehrmacht used the Danube River as a supply transport route during their invasion of the Balkans. In September 1944, as they retreated under pursuit by the Soviet army, they intentionally scuttled over 200 warships in the Danube River off Prahovo to block the pursuit.
The sunken Nazi warships on the riverbed have revealed their wreckage during droughts in the past as well, serving as an indicator of the Danube River's water levels.
Believed to still be loaded with explosives, these warships have been pointed out as a hazard to vessel navigation in the region.
Serbian authorities salvaged and removed seven of the sunken Nazi warships by April of this year.
(Photo: German War Graves Commission website, Yonhap News)
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