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Paris Coal Mine

Silesia

It officially received the name Paris Coal Mine only in 1989. Known as Nowa-Łabęcki Coal Mine (since 1945 Generał Zawadzki Coal Mine), it was established in 1876 from the merger of  Nowa, Łabęcki and Koszelew mines. Their owners leased those mines to the French-Italian Society of Dąbrowa Coal Mines. The Paris shaft, to which the mine owes its name, was opened in 1884. In 1969, the only water disaster in the Polish mining industry occurred due to the sedimentation tank breakdown and between 89 to 119 miners were trapped. The rescue operation used table tennis balls filled with vitamin preparations. They were sent via the canal under the coal heading to keep the rescued in good condition.

14 October 2024

What happens when someone you love goes missing on a European border? There is still no European law that requires governments to identify the dead and notify their families. Over half the graves we found in our investigation were buried without a name. We present the stories of Europe’s border graves in three collections of 360 degree videos, taking us to border cemeteries in Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Poland.