Half, Germany - In a forest near Berlin, 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were detained last week. The high school students placed the white Gebera daisies on the small black coffin and the German soldiers lowered them respectfully to a large, freshly dug grave as the army played a solemn tune.

Hundreds of villagers and relatives of the Fallen were silently gazing at their cheeks, some wiping their tears as they gained the last resting place in a battle between soldiers killed in the last big world war for Adolf Hitler's army.

The commemorative gesture is part of a long and complex (sometimes even controversial) effort, 80 years after the war in Nazi Germany.

This is still not the end - identify the dead and inform any surviving family members there is still much work.

In Europe, under forests, fields and old farmland, the remains of German soldiers have been found in the work that has been in operation for decades, in a team of a nonprofit called "Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge" or "German War Graves Commission".

As the world stops this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, continuing to search for soldiers’ bodies is a reminder that the legacy of conflict is not only historical or political, but also physical and unfinished, still unfolding throughout Europe.

Martina Seiger, 57, said: "It's still very important.

Seiger and her family offered to attend the funerals of other soldiers who died in the Battle of Halbe in 1945.

Novak was 21 years old when he was killed. He was injured and sent back to Berlin from the front. Seger said he is planning to marry his pregnant fiancé and hopes for a more peaceful future.

Instead, he returned to the battle as the Soviet Red Army approached Berlin in the last few weeks of the war.

The search and identification of remains is slow - many missing persons are buried in a hurry in retreat or battle, without markings or records. Some websites are memorized by default, delivered through local knowledge.

Others cannot reach, under the frontlines of modern infrastructure or eastern Ukraine.

Still, Volksbund is working, searching on old battlefields in Europe, following tips to check old military maps and list of missing soldiers. In western Ukraine, this work continues, away from the fierce battles in the eastern part of the country.

If possible, the organization brings the remains to cemeteries specifically maintained for German soldiers who died abroad. It says its goal is humanistic: whatever the role they play, it provides a dignified funeral to everyone who died in the war. These included soldiers serving in the military, responsible for the worst atrocities of the 20th century.

Instead of framed its mission as a mission that honors the Fallen, Volksbund determines them and makes sure they don't disappear on Earth without a name.

Wolfgang Bartsch, 83, stood on a hill near the open grave, with soldiers' bones resting.

Butz never was able to bury his father, who fought on the frontlines of Russia in January 1942. He is only three weeks old. His mother was killed a few days ago in an Allied bomb attack in Berlin. He was raised by his grandmother but always felt pain without his parents.

"My father was buried in the nameless grave of Oryol, Russia," he said. "Volksbund will never be able to recover his bones because I know many settlements were built on top of these graves."

According to Volksbund's estimates, the remains of more than 2 million German soldiers remain unresponsible. In the past 30 years, Volksbund has restored and restored the remains of one million people since entering the former Eastern Group territory.

In some parts of Europe, resentment lingers on anything that restores the Nazi military past. But many accept that the efforts to find the dead can help end this chapter of history.

"I don't want to rule out the possibility that we have a large number of war criminals in the war graves. We also know that some of them have even been proven to have committed the worst war crimes," said Dirk Back, secretary general of Volksbund.

"Behind every dead man is the fate of mankind, which is our main focus," he said. "When you stand in front of the grave of an 18-year-old young Wehrmacht soldier, you naturally ask yourself if he might have other plans and dreams rather than giving his life to a cause that is also a crime at the age of 18."

A few weeks before the funeral of Halbe, excavations were conducted in the Polish city of OstroVenka.

On March 19, the bones were recorded on that day, and everyone's bones were sealed into black bags. The dog tag has been preserved, hoping that one day the body will be confirmed. The team plans to consider them at a military ceremony in Poland later this year.

Polish archaeologists are studying excavations, and he acknowledged moral concerns because he considered the work of a soldier in an army that invaded Poland and killed about 6 million Polish citizens during the war.

But he said the work is moral and reveals important scientific information.

"These are people, and they are worth burying," Carol said.

Unlike the years after the war, few families today actively seek lost relatives. In many cases, the distance between emotions and generations is too great. No one needs to remember the missing person or the need for closure fades over time.

For Bartsch, 83, who was at the funeral in Halbe, there was no closure.

"I still can't find peace when people who don't think there is a proper funeral are still buried on the ground," he said. "As long as I can bury my father, I will be happy, but that won't happen."

___

Gera reports from Ostrołęka, Poland.