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ARTICLE: LOCAL.CH (AUGUST 2020)

HUMAN GRAVES FOUND AT CONVERTED SWISS SANATORIUM

Human graves have been discovered by specialist Swiss police units at Le Sommet, a luxury Swiss hotel recently converted from a tuberculosis sanatorium.

The graves were discovered by police during an investigation into three murders carried out in January at the hotel.

Archived records show at least 32 women from Germany were sent to the Sanatorium du Plumachit, ostensibly to recover from tuberculosis.

Other regions and European countries are now examining records amid fears that this could be the start of a flood of investigations.

Swiss police have found 32 human graves near the hotel Le Sommet in the Swiss resort of CransMontana, where it is alleged that women were illegally interned and both physically and mentally abused in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Anomalies consistent with potential graves were uncovered at the site, formerly known as the Sanatorium du Plumachit, where patients were housed for the treatment of tuberculosis.

The Valais Police Judiciaire made the discovery while investigating the sequence of recent murders at the hotel, reports Le Matin.

One of the suspects revealed that the motive for the murders lay in the hotel’s past as a sanatorium, leading police to examine the site in more detail.

The gravesite is on the northeast side of the hotel, where it is believed the women were buried decades ago, before the sanatorium closed as antibiotics began to be used in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Forensic scientists from the Valais Police and the University of Lausanne have found 32 graves on the grounds using ground-penetrating radar and soil samples.

The sanatorium failed to record these burial locations, and forged documentation was found stating that the patients had been sent elsewhere to be buried. However, previously hidden documentation confirms that many women died under unknown circumstances, most likely from injuries sustained during abuse carried out under the guise of medical treatment.

All of the women are believed to have been transferred from the Gotterdorf Clinic in Germany. It is not yet known whether these patients had tuberculosis or if this diagnosis was invented in order to have the women admitted.

It wasn’t uncommon at the time for women to be placed in medical care and admitted for treatment against their will and without medical justification. Many women were interned in clinics across Europe at the behest of a male guardian or family member, as a way of taking control—of an inheritance or of independent thought and ideas.

Prosecutor Hugo Tapparel of the Valais Police said, “We are studying the findings of the report. We’ll be reaching out to the victims’ families and discussing suitable next steps as work continues.”

A relative of one of the women remarked, “We believe all of these women were under the care of Dr. Pierre Yerly, a prominent pulmonary surgeon who was known for his experimental treatments. Once the investigation has concluded we’re planning to erect a memorial in remembrance of the victims.”