Posted on 03/06/2006 12:35:53 PM PST by lizol
Russia’s Refusal to Recognize Katyn Massacre Shocks Polish Leaders
Spokesman for Polish President Lech Kaczynski Maciej Lopinski has said that the Russian chief Military Prosecutor’s Office failure to recognize Katyn crime victims as victims of Stalinist’s repression was “shocking”, the Polish PAP news agency reported.
“This is all the more shocking that earlier the Russian chief military prosecutor’s office maintained that the Katyn crime was not genocide but a simple homicide,” Lopinski told journalists. He announced that Poland would not cease to bring the truth about Katyn to light.
Lopinski stressed that Poland was very interested in improving relations with Russia but that those relations had to be based on truth. “Truth on Katyn is paramount to our relations,” the spokesman said.
The Sejm (Polish parliament) Speaker Marek Jurek also called the decision shocking, as, in his point of view, peace and security can be built only on the condemnation of evil.
He believes that the decision of the Russian prosecutor’s office was a “very unpleasant moment in Polish-Russian relations” and added that the Russian authorities do not have to defend the Soviet policy as Russia was the first victim of communism.
Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said that the country would not give up its efforts to persuade all countries that the killing of Polish officers in 1940 was a genocide.
Jan Rokita of the Civic Platform PO said that the time when there were big chances to clear up issues related to the Katyn crime has been closed for many years.
Rokita believes that the only thing Poland may do now is to try to persuade Russians that their attitude was humiliating not only for Poland but also for their own Russian honor.
Sixty-five years ago, in April and May 1940, the Soviet secret police (NKVD) executed almost 22,000 Polish citizens, mostly Polish officers and policemen imprisoned in Kozyelsk, Ostashkov and Starobelsk as well as Poles imprisoned in the Western regions of Belarus and Ukraine in an “operation” known as the “Katyn massacre”. Katyn is a location a few kilometers off Smolensk city where the burial site of one group of victims was first found.
On Friday, the head of the investigation department of the National Remembrance Institute, IPN, Prof Witold Kulesza, told PAP that the IPN had received from the Russian Military Prosecutor’s Office a document in which the latter claimed it would not recognize Poles murdered in Katyn as victims of political repression.
The Russians said no proof had been found that Poles murdered in Katyn by Stalin’s order had been brought to legal responsibility under the 1926 Russian penal code.
Why do you post without a comment of your own?
Do I have to comment at once?
"Have to?"
Hardly, but I can't imagine you could read through such an article and not have a comment come to mind.
Considering as Lizol has posted 2 articles on this topic today it's likely lizol and others have already beat the topic to death elsewhere.
What am I supposed to comment, if I fully agree with what say the people quoted in the article ?
Go through any of the "most popular keywords" and you'll see, that most of the threads are without the poster's initial comment.
How can it be genocide if it was Army officers? It was a filthy murderous crime, that's for sure.
Army officers and also intelligentsia, priests.
I'm shocked as well - as probably the average Russian is. Sad thing is this is getting absolutely zero attention in the States. Any news on if your President will bring this up when he meets with Putin (if so, don't be surprised if Putin makes a statement declaring it a Stalinist crime and overruling his prosecutor. Could all be planned....)
I was shocked in mid-90s when I knew the truth.
Now I feel mainly irritation.
My grandgrandfather was murdered by NKVD in 1937. His wife (my grandgrandmother) and two her little sons (my grandfather and his brother) lived as 'chlen sem'i vraga naroda' (member of family of people's enemy) till Stalin's death. 2 of 3 of my another grandmother's sisters died of hunger during Golodomor. And yet another my grangrandfather was killed in WW2, the 3rd was paralyzed in WW2.
I don't feel any sympathizing for 10 years of Polish politicians' attempts to speculate on Katyn tragedy.
Big IF... And as to forgiveness - when did you forgive Al Qaida criminals? On 09/11 or the day after?
Would Christ have held a grudge?
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forive those who trespass against us"
(Not those who've asked forgiveness of us)
I suspect he'll go for moral responsibility but not legal responsibility.
Course for the Poles he'll have to go overboard, and name his first born Polish or something.
Not that that's a bad thing, it'd just take up an awful lot of his time.
L
Okay, then tell me what do Poles want formally?
Don't forget, the Russian president has placed a wreath with inscription "Prostite" ("Excuse us") on the Katyn memorial.
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