International Research Team Discovers Grave of the "Anne Frank of Lithuania"

PITTSBURGH, July 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The burial site of the "Anne Frank of Lithuania" and her family has been discovered by an international team of researchers, including Duquesne University professor Dr. Philip Reeder.

Matilda Olkin and her family were killed by a local militia affiliated with Nazi Germany in 1941 in Rokiskis, Lithuania. The finding is significant because Olkin's recently discovered writings and poems capture the thoughts of a young college student caught in the horrors of the Holocaust in a manner similar to Anne Frank's diary, which was penned during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

The discovery of Olkin's burial site was made on July 18 and confirmed on July 20. Rokiskis Mayor Antanas Vagonis made the announcement at a special event on July 21 at the Manor House National Museum in Rokiskis.

The dean of Duquesne's Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Reeder mapped the area, which was discovered using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) with digital precision using GPS coordinates and a total station survey to locate the grave site, which was believed to be on the edge of a forest outside a small village near Rokiskis. Using GPR and spatial analysis, the team determined that there was a rounded four-by-two meter depression eight meters inside the edge of the forest.

"There are very few times that you pose a hypothesis and the research design you set forth quickly uncovers the data required to prove your educated guess," Reeder said. "But it has happened in this case."

Working with colleagues from the University of Hartford, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, WorleyParsons, Inc., and local archeologists and specialists, Reeder said that identifying the location of the mass burial without excavation has been an important element of the team's work.

"The Jewish religion generally prohibits excavations that involve human remains. And given the millions of Holocaust victims, we do not want to cause any more pain to the victims or their families," Reeder said. "So we use non-invasive sub-surface mapping and investigation techniques, along with historical documents and testimonies, to help us locate the grave sites."

The site, on a nearly deserted road surrounded by open fields, will be appropriately marked by the local government to pay homage to its populations before the Holocaust and to ensure that its history is not forgotten. The team included students who documented the GPR and mapping work.

The team's research was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, the Targum Shelishi Foundation, the Rokiskis Mayor's Office and Philip and Aldona Shapiro of Centerville, Va. The project will be featured in Smithsonian Magazine in November.

Duquesne University
Founded in 1878, Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation's top Catholic universities for its award-winning faculty and tradition of academic excellence. Duquesne, a campus of nearly 9,500 graduate and undergraduate students, has been nationally recognized for its academic programs, community service and commitment to sustainability. Follow Duquesne University on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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