Skeletons without hands or feet have been discovered beneath the home of Nazi war criminal Hermann Goring in the sprawling bunker complex Adolf Hitler used as a headquarters during World War II.

Part of Hitler’s inner circle who went on to be the highest-ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg, Reichsmarschall Goring is responsible for some of history’s most heinous crimes against humanity.

His home in northeastern Poland was considered to have been thoroughly researched, until a team of local researchers and amateur archaeologists set out to uncover a wooden floor in the concrete building.

The German-Polish excavators went to the haunting site in the hope of finding some nails or other building materials, and instead uncovered something much darker.

The remains of three adults, a teenager and a baby were exposed in the dig, each of which appeared to have been buried naked and had no hands or feet. A murder inquiry has now been launched into their gruesome deaths. 

Skeletons without hands or feet have been discovered beneath the home of Nazi war criminal Hermann Goring in the sprawling bunker complex Adolf Hitler used as a headquarters during World War II. Pictured: Archaeologists are seen working at the site of the discovery

An archaeologist holds up a skull found beneath the bunker complex

Hermann Goring’s house in Wolf’s Lair. Former war headquarters of Adolf Hitler in Poland

Hermann Goring was the highest-ranking Nazi official tried for World War II war crimes in tribunals held in Nuremberg

Hitler, Goring and other Nazi top brasses are pictured at the Wolf’s Lair complex in 1941

Wolfsschanze, where Hitler’s bunker was located, is situated in the northeast region of Poland

Goring (right) was part of Hitler’s inner circle who went on to be the highest-ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg

Bones were discovered around ten centimetres below ground. Pictured: The remains being exhumed

Located in the Masurian woods in northern Poland, the Wolf’s Lair was used as a base for Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union

‘We were completely shocked,’ says Oktavian Bartoszewski, who has been working with the research association at the site for some years, Der Spiegel reports.

Bartoszewski also claimed that the bodies may have been dumped before the house was built in 1940.

He said that workers who laid the pipes would have been unable to miss the bodies if they had been there at that point, meaning Goring himself may have known about the deaths. 

However, Goring’s residence in the building may have predated the deaths, with theories that the corpses could have been victims of a mass killing that came after the Nazi hideout was abandoned. 

It is also not known if the victims’ bodies had their hands and feet amputated or if their bones decomposed over decades.

Experts have been combing the site after the shocking discovery and a murder probe has been launched

The remains of three adults, a teenager and a baby were exposed in the dig, each of which appeared to have been buried naked and had no hands or feet. A murder inquiry has now been launched into their gruesome deaths

Pictured: A spine found at the site is seen after being uncovered by archaeologists 

Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini are pictured at the bunker complex, known as Wolfsschanze

Hitler used the complex as a headquarters during the war, living there for more than 800 days of it

The site of around 200 buildings was built in 1940 in Masurian woods of northeastern Poland

The Wolf’s Lair: It was from this secret complex in northern Poland that Hitler orchestrated some his most terrorizing campaigns on the Eastern Front

Chilling images show the reinforced bunker overrun by foliage and moss, but its looming structure still stands in place

Piotrek Banaszkiewicz from the Latebra Foundation which was involved in the discovery said: ‘During the uncovering of the first skeleton, as they moved from the ribs through the pelvis to the shinbones, another skull unexpectedly appeared, surprising them.

‘This prompted the police to decide on conducting a series of exploratory digs to determine if more human remains were beneath the floor.’

‘Upon uncovering the second skeleton, below the shinbones, infantile remains appeared.

‘The sight shocked us. Initially, we thought they were animal bones, and we weren’t sure what we were dealing with until a delicate skull emerged at one point.

‘During the third exploratory dig, additional remains were uncovered. This time, we came across the remains of an adult. All of this took place at night.

‘After a moment of reflection, the phrase was uttered: ‘there is another.’ To the left of the last discovered remains, more teenage remains appeared.

‘The first set of remains was arranged unnaturally; the spine was highly curved, and the deformed skull without a visible eye socket and a displaced jaw suggests that the individual might have dealt with significant health issues during their lifetime, although this might mean the remains were displaced.

‘The jawbone of the skull had worn-down teeth, indicating an elderly person.

‘Throughout subsequent stages of uncovering human remains, the police continuously conducted documentation activities, recording what was observed and taking photographic documentation.

The site already attracts 300,000 tourists visit every year at a fee of 15 zloty (£3.18), but organisers say that they want to draw in more visitors

The complex dubbed Wolf’s Lair – Wolfsschanze in German – was named as such owing to Hitler often referring to himself as ‘the Wolf’ 

‘After some time, a hearse arrived to collect the remains and transport them for examination.’

He added: ‘None of the skeletons had any clothing on – the bodies were buried without clothes.

The public prosecutor’s investigation is ongoing, and its findings will be published in due course.

Located in the Masurian Woods in northern Poland, the Wolf’s Lair used to be a sprawling 618 acre complex.

It was used as Hitler’s part-time base during the years 1941-1943 and it was from here that he launched a Nazi invasion into the Soviet Union, known as Operation Barbarossa.

Reinforced bunkers on the site are now overrun by foliage and moss, but its looming structures still stands in place after their density made them difficult to rip down.

The discovery of the bones in Goring’s home is potentially the most chilling to have been made since the site was turned into a morbid tourist attraction in 1959. 

One of Hitler’s right-hand men, Goring held many positions of power and influence in the Nazi state.

He was Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, Director of the Four Year Plan in the German economy, and a key force behind the Holocaust.

It was Goring who ordered Security Police chief Reinhard Heydrich to organize and coordinate a ‘total solution’ to the ‘Jewish question’ in 1941.

He was sentenced to death at Nuremberg before taking his own life the night before he was due to be executed.