German prosecutors have begun an investigation into suspected war crimes on the Eastern Front after an unknown person handed in an envelope containing a trove of previously unseen World War Two photographs.
Prosecutors announced the investigation in an effort to contact the person who handed the 50 photographs to a court in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in January 2010.
"The photos show hangings, dead bodies lying on the ground and corpses stacked on trucks," the state's chief Nazi prosecutor, Andreas Brendel, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Brendel's office published two pictures showing what appeared to be a group of prisoners holding shovels in front of German soldiers. Another shows prisoners marching with a detail of German troops. All faces have been blacked out.
The photos are thought to have been taken in the Soviet Union during the German invasion from July to November 1941, known as "Operation Barbarossa," authorities said. An estimated 25 million Soviet civilians and soldiers died during the war.
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A note with the photos said they were found in the early 1960s in an apartment block being renovated in the western town of Eschweiler near the Belgian border. An inquiry into renovations during that time turned up few clues, Brendel said.
Brendel has been working with historians since last year to establish exactly when and where the pictures were taken and to see if any German soldiers could be identified.
"Should someone living be identified, we will attempt to prosecute them for any crimes," Brendel said. "So far, we haven't received any tips."
The identity of the prisoners remains a mystery, he added.
