Katyn: Stalin’s massacre

Radio Polonia ^ | 06.04.06 | Michal Kubicki

[lizol]

Katyn: Stalin’s massacre

06.04.2006

A new study by an American journalist on the Katyn massacre by Soviet forces in 1940 that killed over 20,000 Polish officers, has just been launched in Warsaw.

Report by Michal Kubicki

06.04.06

Every April Poles commemorate an anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre, one of the most notorious World War Two crimes against humanity. Over 22 thousand Polish officers and intelligentsia fell victim to Stalin’s policy aimed at an annihilation of the cream of the Polish nation.

It was twenty years ago that Allen Paul heard about Katyn for the first time. The story of the massacre, of Moscow’s claims that it was perpetrated by the Germans, and of the West’s reluctance to admit the Soviet guilt for many years fascinated him so much that he instantly decided to write a book about it. In 1989 he came to Warsaw on All Saints Day which is Remembrance Day in Poland.

It was an amazing sight. I will never forget it. I went to the military cemetery. It was around midday and a sea of people were walking towards the cemetery, many of them to the Katyn Memorial where they placed candles. For me it was quite revealing because we don’t have anything similar to that in the United States. It showed that the Poles are really in touch with their history, their ancestors, and have a deep commitment to preserving their collective memory and their individual memory.

Allen Paul’s book Katyn, subtitled Stalin’s Massacre and the Seeds of Polish Insurrection has been published in Poland under the title Stalin’s Massacre and the Triumph of the Truth. Its author argues that even though in the early 1990s Moscow finally admitted that the Katyn massacre was perpetrated by Stalin’s NKVD police, the fact that the order to shoot Polish officers was signed by Communist Party leaders continues to be kept secret. More importantly, Russia has refused to admit that the Katyn murder was genocide.

The Polish officers were victims of genocide. That was a terrible crime and it resulted in the death of the Polish nation. There’s so much that can be learnt from this case that has relevance today even though it seems so far off in time. I think it explains a lot about Russian behaviour, Polish-Russian relations and it also suggests why the West should be concerned about this very important relationship.

Allen Paul’s book traces the lives of relatives of several victims of the Katyn massacre. Kazimierz Rasiej, whose father was shot in Katyn, is one of the people interviewed by the author.

”If we do not force Russia to bring to light the whole truth about Katyn, it will remain for ever an open wound and it would be impossible to have normal relations with Russia. With his book Allen Paul has done a great favour to Poland.”

According to Allen Paul, Poland should demand from Russia a new inquiry into the Katyn massacre. In his view, the Polish government should also ask the Polish communities in the United States to exert pressure on the US Congress with a view to resuming the congressional inquiry of the early 1950s.

’I believe that if that were done it would bring a tremendous amount of pressure on Russia. In my view itn would be a way of getting this story more fully explained. It will help the Poles.

Allen Paul, whose book on Katyn has just been published in Poland. Katyn tops the list of issues in Polish-Russian relations which have to be explained in an honest and objective way. Moscow’s refusal to recognize Katyn as a crime of genocide will most probably weigh heavily on mutual relations.

[2banana]

It was twenty years ago that Allen Paul heard about Katyn for the first time. The story of the massacre, of Moscow’s claims that it was perpetrated by the Germans, and of the West’s reluctance to admit the Soviet guilt for many years fascinated him so much that he instantly decided to write a book about it. In 1989 he came to Warsaw on All Saints Day which is Remembrance Day in Poland.

The Katyn slaughter was reported and used by the Nazis for propaganda purposes during WWII - the story has been out there for a long time.

[pabianice]

Let us never forget that just two years later, in May, 1942, the entire Jewish population of Pabianice, Poland, was rounded-up by the Polish Militia and marched to the death camps. This number included my Polish cousins.

What goes around comes around. Those who don't learn from history get to re-experience it for themselves.

[George - the Other]

Katyn Memorial, Baltimore, MD

[nuke rocketeer]

It is just another inconvenient fact about the USSR (and communism)ignored by the MSM and western governments. Add Katyn to the genocide of the Kulaks, Chechens, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other minorities who resisted the edicts of the USSR and it's depraved dictators.

[lizol]

I think we've discussed it already.

I don't know whether you're showing again lack of historical knowledge, or just bad will.

You mean those guys wearing uniforms on the picture are "Polish Militia"???

[lizol]

Katyn memorial, New Jersey (on 9/11).

[finnigan2]

"...the story has been out there for a long time."

- It certainly has.
Years ago I read that the Soviets "selected" those to be executed from the officer ranks (including some women). They were transferred to a special holding camp and each day the Soviets would read out the names of the several hundred who were to be "transfered". They were loaded onto trucks and taken to a prison where they were to be "interrogated", one at a time, in a separate room. As the prisoner stepped into the room (which had been soundproofed), a KGB type shot each in the back of the head. Then, they went back on the trucks for a night time burial in the forest.
Polish civilians in the forest area claimed that they could hear the trucks arriving for many nights before the slaughter was finished.

[Chi-townChief]

Actually it was the Commies' Massacre.

[jamaksin]

"The Katyn Controversy - Stalin's Killing Field" by Benjamin B. Fischer.

Fischer is on the History Staff of the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence.

Also,

"God's Eye: Aerial Photography and the Katyn Forest Massacre" by Frank Fox (West Chester Univesity Press, West Chester, PA, 1999). Seems the Luftwaffe took photos - before, during, and after ... and these showed up on the US Archives.

And, "The Katyn Enigma: New Evidence in a 40-year Riddle" in Studies in Intelligence, Spring 1981, pages 53-63, by Robert G. Poirer

Seems because Stalin was an ally against Hilter, FDR and Churchill worked very hard to "shut up" those who wanted Katyn investigated - particularly the Polish government in exile. It worked ... and the USSR killing of Poles during this period went far beyond Katyn.

Lest we forget ... What happened to Poland at the end of WWII? FDR agreed at Yalta to give Poland to Stalin - so what would a few "Katyns" matter.

[gleeaikin]

bookmark

[twinself]

It's sad to say but Jewish commie traitors pointed out my father's family to be taken to Siberian exile in December '39. My other grandfather - Jozef Kozaczka saved Jewish twins during the war risking the life of my mother among his other children. Just to remind you your own words - 'What goes around comes around'.

[Grzegorz 246]

Looks like Jewish police doing job for Germans.
What's next ? Rosenbergs were Polish too ?

"What goes around comes around."

Indeed.

[George - the Other]

Thanks for the 9/11 - Katyn picture. Part of my blog deals with Katyn:

http://georgetheother.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_georgetheother_archive.html

[tbird-james]

After the war the Rusians were afraid of the Polish officers and sent them off to Siberian lumber camps.

Interesting, a few escaped.

Read the great adventure book - The Long Walk. By Slavomir Ravwicz (1956)

A great read and puts it into perspective.