Local authorities said in July that a potential "mass grave" had been found near Meymac in the Correze department after a 98-year-old former Resistance fighter went public with claims of the killings.
ADVERTISEMENTExcavators in central France have started digging for the remains of dozens of German soldiers said to have been executed by Resistance fighters during World War II.
Local authorities said in July that a potential "mass grave" had been found near Meymac in the Correze department.
It came to light after a 98-year-old former Resistance fighter went public with claims of the killings.
"Witnesses from that time showed us this place. We came with the georadar devices, which detected anomalies," explained excavator, Thomas Schock. "Today, we're trying to verify whether these anomalies are indeed bodies."
"We launched a search which is now taking the form of excavations, exhumations," explained Etienne Desplanques, the Prefect of Correze.
"We're looking for 36 bodies, according to testimonies, notably from Edmond Réveil, who speaks of 47 bodies, but eleven were already exhumed at the end of the '60s. 36 bodies, 35 of which are German soldiers and one person who is said to be a female member of the wartime collaboration."
If successful, the excavation would "allow the bodies of these German soldiers [...] to be exhumed, said the mayor of Meymac, Philippe Brugere.
France's National Office for Former Fighters and War Victims is leading the dig, in cooperation with Germany's war graves authority.
The excavations are set to last until 27 August.