Five human skeletons found outside Nazi leader's home in Poland

(CNN) — A team of archaeologists has discovered the skeletons of five people missing arms and legs from a former Nazi military base in Poland.

The discovery was at a Nazi command center known as the Wolf's Lair in Gierloz, northeastern Poland, and on February 24, during an excavation, the team found part of a human skull and alerted local authorities, who decided to carry out further searches.

According to a report by the Latebra Foundation, a historical organization based in the Polish city of Gdansk, published on Thursday, the remains belonged to three adults, a teenager and a newborn baby.

Remains were found from an old bathroom. Credit: Ladbra Polish Foundation.

All five bodies were placed in the same direction outside the house occupied by Hermann Göring, a fighter pilot during the First World War who was a close friend of Adolf Hitler.

Burnt boards and remnants of sewage infrastructure were found next to them, but no traces of clothing were found, the report said.

Adrian Kostreswa, a member of the foundation's board of directors, told CNN that the group first thought they were digging up the old bathroom when they discovered the pipes were underground.

Polish police are investigating the discovery. Credit: Ladbra Polish Foundation.

However, they later find ashes and a burnt key before finding the skull part.

“It was really amazing,” Kostreva said.

The trust is waiting to hear the results of the police investigation into the remains, so many questions remain unanswered.

“There are many theories as to why they don't have arms and legs,” Kostresva said. “It's really hard to say right now.”

The excavation site is outside a house inside a wolf den. Credit: Ladbra Polish Foundation.

Determining the age of the remains through radiocarbon dating is the next important step, he said.

Wolf's Lair, purposely built miles from civilization in the forests of northeastern Poland, was the headquarters of the Nazis' 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 sq mi) Eastern Front.

According to the foundation, the foundation is one of the largest in Europe.

“The uniqueness of this discovery lies in the fact that the bodies were found in the facilities of the most protected complex in the Third Reich,” the report explains.

Hitler spent a total of three years there.

The fortress was the site of Operation Valkyrie, an assassination attempt against Hitler in July 1944, before it was destroyed in January 1945 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the advancing Soviet Army, the foundation says.