Two forensic anthropologists from Liverpool John Moores University have been in Greece to analyse remains of victims of a Second World War massacre.
Dr Constantine Eliopoulos and Dr Matteo Borrini were part of a team conducting forensic analysis to find out what happened to the victims of the Nazi massacre in Distomo in 1944.
Over 220 people were killed in the massacre, most of which were women, children and elderly men, the forensic analysis showed.
Dr Eliopoulos said: “The local authorities had asked us to go and help them document those remains and what happened to those people in a scientific manner using anthropological expertise that we have here to ascertain how these people died.
“We were lucky enough to receive funding from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a very prestigious forensic organisation, and through their humanitarian and human rights resource centre we funded our pilot study.”
Dr Eliopoulos also spoke on the significance of the job that they had been asked to go and complete.
He said: “It will be the first time that these remains have been documented in a scientific manner, and this is important so that the relatives of those who were killed, come to know exactly what happened to their relatives.”
The professors’ findings confirmed long-standing beliefs about the victims of the massacre.
Dr Borrini said: “The result of the pilot project demonstrated that the people killed in the Distomo massacre were not people fighting in uniform.
“They were women, children and elderly men so this proved that it was a massacre perpetrated by the Nazi army against an unarmed Greek population.”
The professors have now returned to Liverpool after completing their pilot study and hope to return soon and continue their analysis.
Dr Eliopoulos said: “Were in the process of seeking funding to continue this work and do a more detailed analysis of the remains, something that will take a lot longer than this pilot study.”
Featured image: LJMU
