PARIS (AP) — The remains of Jewish gas chamber victims subjected to Nazi anatomy experiments have been traced to a medical research facility in the western French city of Strasbourg.

A researcher discovered a World War II-era letter from the then-director of the Strasbourg Medical Institute about the experiments directed by Nazi anatomist August Hirt. The letter detailed the storage of tissue samples taken from Jews killed in gas chambers built specifically for Hirt's experiments. On July 9, the researcher, Raphael Toledano, identified the samples in test tubes and a jar in the institute's closed collection.

The Strasbourg mayor's office said Monday it hopes to return the remains to Strasbourg's Jewish community for eventual burial in the city, which sits on the border of France and Germany.