| I read about the number and variety of unexploded stuff found in the former Eastern Germany. After WW2 ended, a lot of the stuff dropped, fired, planted or whatever, in Western Germany was found over the interviening years. Probably still plenty left around, stories are always coming out about bomb found in a road where construction is occuring or, my personal favorite, the bus stop in Italy where they found a 500lb bomb under it about 40 years after the war had ended. Not the kind of trip most of the people waiting for the bus had in mind!
But most of that was found in the booming economies of the west. In the east, no such growth occured. The building that was done was a small amount compared to the west. And that building in the west was where a lot of the stuff was found. Now it is occuring in former East Bloc countries and stuff is popping up all over the place. Sometimes it's not explosives.
Back at the end of the war, one of the German Armies retreating from the Seelow Hieghts (I think it was the 9th) got into something of a death march. It was a long column heading west. The column was south of Berlin and was constantly being attacked by Russian troops. Along the way, all sorts of stuff was buried or lost. A couple of years back when they were expanding a road , they came across the Enigma Machine from that Army that had been buried. One of the few in existance.
That being said, I wouldn't want to be poking around in that part of Germany. More likely to find a dud shell than anything of interest. |