This Slovakian farmer has gotten global attention after he stumbled upon a long-forgotten piece of the past while tilting his field.
A lot of people come in contact with artifacts from ages past but don’t even know what it is they have in their possession. Just like others, this man wasn’t aware he had just discovered the lower part of a machine gun nest that had been used by the German army during World War II.
The Sudden Discovery
A farmer is out on his field, ready to plow in Kostolna-Zariecie, just like every other day, he starts to plow through the field when he suddenly hits something hard. Not so sure of what it was, a lot of things went through his mind.
He initially thought it was a rock, something he encounters a few times daily, but something was unusual about this rock, so he decided to dig, as he continued to dig, he soon realized that it was something different.
It Was A Long Lost Nazi Artifact
As he continued to dig the sand and things surrounding the unusual rock, he was taken aback by what he saw. Something so shocking came up and it was a unique crater-like object. Something he had never seen before he was puzzled.
He quickly made his way down to the Monument office, to report what he had just found. According to the Monument office of the Slovak Republic, the long-lost artifact that was dug out by this farmer was confirmed to be the bottom half of a concrete structure known as the machine gun nest.
They Quickly Began Excavating
After informing the authorities of Colston-Zariecie in Western Slovakia of his unusual-looking object, they quickly got to work and an excavation was organized to remove the entire machine gun nest from the ground and have it examined.
Taken aback by this discovery, the residents of this small village in Chocholna-Vecice, took pictures and videos of the entire excavation process and posted them on Facebook.
A Machine Gun Or A Kugel Stand Or Kugel Bunker
They needed all hands on deck, nothing was more important than confirming the real identity of this strange object. So archeologists got to work, after removing the large concrete structure from the farmer’s field, they immediately confirmed their initial suspicions.
It was a Machine Gun Nest, and a Nazi German machine gun nest for that matter. This Nazi German machine gun was also known as a Kugel Stand and a Kugel Bunker and has been buried in the field for nothing less than eight decades.
What Exactly Is A Machine Gun Nest?
If you’ve never seen one you’re probably wondering what a Machine Gun Nests is. The machine gun nest was used as a defense structure and firing point for the German soldiers during World War II.
These nests are made from reinforced concrete, and they look like spheres with tiny holes in them. This protected the soldiers and also allowed them to fire at advancing enemies.
They Operate The Machine Gun Within The Nest
Those handling the guns operate them within the nest. The machine gun is securely mounted to provide stability during firing. The nest may include additional features like sandbags or other fortifications to provide protection.
The nests were strategically placed to control key points on the battlefield and to impede the progress of opposing enemies.
The Destroyed Machine Gun Nest
After the whole excavation, what was found on the field of the Slovakian farmer looked like half of a typical German Nazi Machine gun nest.
According to the researchers, the concrete-looking structure may have lost its other half during the World War or might have been yanked off by an angry farmer who wanted to plow his farm.
The Search For Other Buried Artifacts
After the search party for the machine gun nest, the researchers decided that a little more digging wouldn’t hurt and it could lead them to find more buried treasures.
However, after hours and days of searching the fields in Kostolna-Zariecie, they weren’t able to find any other hidden artifact and decided to call it quits
The Was Only One Machine Gun Nest
After several hours of searching with no positive results, the metal detectorist decided that there was only one way to explain this.
They concluded that the lack of any findings only meant one thing. That machine nest was most probably not an active firing location.
Chocholna-Velcice Was on the Frontline
During the last few months of World War II in 1945, the village of Chocholna-Velcice was located along the frontlines for about two weeks
Thanks to the Nazi German army, who defended the village from advancing enemies, the Soviet-Romanian armies till they finally retreated. The German armies were able to protect their positions with the gun nests.
A Thousand Other Machine Gun Nests
After so much research it was revealed that there were at the very least a thousand machine gun nests positioned all around Slovakia during World War II.
Although they were a lot, they all lost their significance after the war ended, they were all abandoned, surviving residents started using them as flower pots and others allowed their kids to play in them.
The Long Lost Machine Gun Nest Was Moved To The Slovakian Museum- The Perfect Home
After the gun nest was removed from the farmer’s field, it had to be moved down to the most fitting location. It was moved to the Trencin Museum, where it was placed on display for everyone to see.
We can all agree that the museum is the perfect place to house this newly found treasure. And the museum is house to lots of treasures, including the Illeshazy family collection of paintings.
Putting Kostolna-Zariecie On The Map
Kostolna-Zariecie is just about 70 miles northeast of Bratislava and also near the Slovaska-Czechia border. Thanks to this discovery Kostolna-Zariecie has been placed on the map as a center of attraction.
Because of this machine gun nest, we have been able to get a better insight into things that happened during World War II.
