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Home , Ferdynand Goetel, Katyn (rural locality), Katyn massacre, Lavrentiy Beria, Sergiusz Piasecki, Zygmunt Berling

Special edition / 2020

80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOREST MASSACRE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR CRASH

Warsaw, April 2020

When the Uprising broke out, Andrzej Nusbek, a 14-year-old scout of the underground Zawiszacy troop [named after Zawisza Czarny], was staying in Radość, KATYŃ a town near Warsaw. He was in despair when he realized he had been cut off from his fellow Shadow scouts who were fighting in the capital, but felt somewhat relieved to have heard that Polish units were approaching of My Father from the east. The boy was convinced he would finally have a chance to meet his long-unseen father.

ore, he hoped that the first officer in the four-poin- ted cap he would see was going to be his father – MLt Edmund Nusbek, an officer of the 44th Infantry Regiment, captured by the Soviets after September 17, 1939 and never heard of since. Unfortunately, Andrzej did not find his father in the ranks of the Polish First Army, whose soldiers arrived in at that time. Cut off from his mother, left behind in war-torn Warsaw, he was taken in by the Polish soldiers. As “the son of the Re- giment,” he covered the whole combat trail up to with the 2nd Howitzer Artillery Brigade. He met his mother aga- in only after the end of the war. However, “You are witnesses to a death that must they still had no news from his father. Andrzej was nevertheless hoping that not be forgotten.” Pope Saint John Paul II, Rome, , 1996 he had managed to join the ranks of Continuation on the next page Special edition 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre 2

earlier, in the , crushed the Bolshevik march towards Europe. KATYN STILL CALLS FOR THE TRUTH Three and a half years later, in , their graves, hidden in a forest, were di- Anna Putkiewicz, Editor-in-Chief lensk, the Soviets treacherously killed scovered by the Germans – and they po- of the Polska Zbrojna Historia quarterly with a shot in the back of the head 4,400 inted their finger at those responsible for officers – prisoners of war, about one- the atrocity. The Soviets denied, and, in ut don’t tell anyone, just for now I was about nine years old. The Polish -fifth of the entire number of prisoners turn, planted their own evidence to shift – these words ended the first hi- authorities – in the name of “friendship” sentenced a month earlier to death by de- the blame onto the Germans. Neverthe- story lesson given to me by my with the – were silent about cision of the Soviet Union’s leaders. Over less, the world turned its eyes away from grandfather and my parents. communist crimes of Stalin. 20,000 victims, whose unmarked graves Katyn. This truth was very inconvenient BI asked them why they would patiently However, at the time, my imagina- can be found on the territory of , in the time when Hitler’s plague was turn the radio knob every evening and tion of a child couldn’t contain how our , Ukraine and , were before treated with Stalin’s cholera. Until to- listen to this irritating noise with shrieks friends could attack us in cooperation the WWII the flower of Polish intelli- day, this crime has been a burden on the and howls, behind which the voice of the with Hitler, then murder our soldiers, gentsia. Half of them were the officers of conscience of all the silent now and then. speaker was barely audible. Until today, and sentence their families to annihila- the Polish Army, uniformed services and We, the , still remember. I can still hear in my head the sound of tion in the snows of Siberia. I couldn’t the Police. Ten years ago, our president died in an air Radio Free Europe, broadcast for Poles accept the fact that people who spoke up In the Katyn Forest Massacre died sol- crash near Smolensk. On the plane, there from Munich and regularly jammed by about it might suddenly disappear witho- diers who in September 1939 were the were 96 passengers including the crew, Polish communist government (the RFE ut a trace. Nations which have never first to rise up against Hitler’s army. They among them the highest Polish civil and was founded by the United States gover- experienced Soviet occupation will never were killed at the time when Poland – left military officials. On board of that plane, nment for the Soviet satellite countries; fully understand our post-war situation, on its own, without the support of its al- there was also the last Poland’s president- the Polish section was broadcasting from just as I will never understand people, lies and bleeding to death in its effort to -in-exile who resigned from his symbolic the beginning of 1950s until the collap- who today, at their own request, even in hold back the then most powerful army in office after the collapse of se of Communism and the withdrawal of the times of widely promoted humanism, the world – was attacked by Russia witho- in Poland. the Russian forces from Poland in 1993). are asphyxiated with this most dehumani- ut prior declaration of war. This stab in They were all on that flight to pay ho- That’s when I first heard the word “Ka- zing “ideology” – Communism. the back sealed the fate of Poland and the mage to the murdered soldiers on the tyn,” and it was my family who told me In April of 1940, in the Katyn forest on fate of the officers taken captive. Most of 70th anniversary of the Katyn Forest the story of this atrocity. At the time, the western border of Russia, near Smo- these soldiers were the ones who 20 years Massacre. And they all died.

Anders’ Army, and that he would find wa Kuczyński, born on January 2, 1896 them in Cracow where the boy and his in Czerniowce, last domiciled in Warsaw mother settled after returning from the at Śniadeckich 9, deceased. The date of frontline. Andrzej truly cherished the last death was established as May 9, 1946.” message he had got from Edmund Nus- After many years, it turned out the bek – a postcard sent from captivity. given date was falsified in or- Lt Nusbek was a veteran of the der to erase the proper one, Polish-Bolshevik War of which would make every- 1920, severely wounded in thing clear. the Battle of Borów, awar- Here is what Andrzej fo- ded the Cross of Valor for und out about his father’s courage, so his loved ones fate already in 1939: “We feared the Soviets might received the first pie- have deported him so- ce of news on October mewhere to out 2 or 3, from my father’s of revenge. They could subordinates: 2nd Lt not allow themselves to Goldfeder and a platoon think about the worst sce- leader, who came to our nario. When in 1943 the Ger- ruined apartment in War- mans began to print lists with saw at Śniadeckich 9/9,with names of the Katyn massa- Bombardier Andrzej my father’s file. There was cre victims, Andrzej and his Nusbek, 1944 1,500 zlotys inside. Due to mother did not find the sur- my mother’s serious illness, name Nusbek on them. There was still for us this amount of money was worth hope that the teenage boy would see his its weight in gold. They told us a highly father return and bring the present he improbable story (next to general praises had promised. on his courage and such, and information Sadly, on August 29, 1949, they re- that he walked with his back straight and ceived a letter from the Municipal Court a whip in his hand under artillery fire), in Warsaw with woeful news – it said that which I more or less remember like this: the court “decided to consider Edmund my father, during a military operation, Nusbek, the son of Józef and Władysła- saved some personnel (from his unit) and Continuation on the next page

Families of officers murdered in Katyn during the first official visit to the cemetery where they rest, April 1989. Second from the right is Andrzej Nusbek Boy Scout Andrzej Nusbek the day before the outbreak of the 3 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre Special edition

Message of President of the Republic of Poland Katyn. Truth Wins Andrzej Duda Katyn negationism is not only vile, but also shortsighted. on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre The truth about Katyn cannot be murdered. The whole and the 10th anniversary of the Smolensk tragedy Polish nation remember it. The term “Katyn” has even become one of the symbols of Soviet crimes. In tribute to the victims of the Katyn crime – prisoners of war and political prisoners who were genocidally killed by the NKVD: generals and officers of the Polish Army, few days ago was the 80th an- vize this crime, and thus to, indirectly, soldiers of the , niversary of the Katyn criminal justify it. In the media controlled by the officers of the State Police, officials decision. On , 1940, the Kremlin, voices questioning Soviet per- and other members of the elite of the reborn sovereign state political bureau (Politburo) of petration are becoming more and more who sacrificed their own lives for allegiance to their Fatherland; theA Central Committee of the All-Union frequent. Attempts are being made to Communist Party, that is the Bolshevik remove a commemorative plaque from in the very special time of party, decided to consider in a special pro- a former NKVD Building in , re- the National Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of cedure the issue of 14,700 people in priso- minding that Polish prisoners of war were Regaining Independence by the Republic of Poland ner-of-war camps in , executed there. and the centenary of the victory over the in the 1920 war. and , as well as 11,000 people In 2017, an open-air exhibition dedica- In the highest recognition and profound gratitude arrested in the eastern voivodships of the ted to the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, to all those who in time of the communist regime , occupied by the and in 2018 – a permanent museum exhi- guarded the truth and cherished the memory of the ones killed Soviet Union, “without summoning the bition on Polish-Russian and Polish-So- in Katyn, Kharkov, Tver, Kiev, and other places of murder; detainees and without presenting charges, viet relations in the 20th century, were verdicts on terminating the investigation opened at the complex in Ka- in appreciation to all who revere our national heroes or indictment, sentencing them to the hi- tyn. The exhibition parallels the deaths and pass on to the next generations their heritage, ethos and patriotism; ghest punishment – shooting.” of [Soviet] prisoners of the 1920 war who respectfully remembering those who 10 years ago The basis for the political office’s deci- died due to an epidemic or as a result of died tragically in an air crash in Smolensk sion was a note written for by poor sanitation in POW camps, with the while on their way to celebrate the Katyn crime anniversary; – People's Commissar for coldblooded decision of the highest state Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union. It be- authorities of the USSR to execute near- deeply convinced that memory and historical truth ars four handwritten signatures “in favour” ly 26,000 innocent people and citizens of are the foundation of our national identity and contribute to by the members of the Politburo: Joseph another state, most of whom were in fact building the spirit and power of Poland that is free, independent and sovereign. Stalin, , Vyacheslav murdered. It is not reported though, that Honor and Glory to the Heroes! Molotov and , as well as Polish POWs in Bolshevik captivity were Eternal Memory to Those Who Died for Independent Poland! a remark on and Lazar also dying of similar reasons. This analy- Kaganovich voting in the same way. tically false and simply filthy equation Soldiers and policemen taken prisoner aims to create false symmetry between on Polish territory as they fought to de- the two events. fend their homeland were shot to death. The historical policy of Putin’s Rus- Officials and , whose only sia – based on manipulations, the cult of fault was that of being Polish citizens, criminals, and, increasingly, also on evi- were shot to death. dent lies, offends not only Poles, but all The Soviet Union for 50 consecutive other nations – victims of communist to- years lied to the public about the perpe- talitarianism, including Russians them- tration of the massacre. It confessed to selves. Fortunately, many professional the crime less than two years before its Russian historians or representatives of Andrzej Duda collapse. In turn, the Russian Federation the Russian intelligentsia, distance them- President of the Republic of Poland – the legal continuator and, unfortuna- selves from it, while some – including tely, increasingly the ideological continu- our friends from “Memorial” [a Russian ator of this totalitarian state – has not de- NGO] – openly criticize it. Meanwhile, cided to (even symbolically) punish those Katyn negationism is not only vile, but responsible for the . On also shortsighted. The truth about Katyn September 21, 2004, the Supreme Mili- cannot be murdered. The whole Polish KATYN AND SMOLENSK tary Prosecutor’s Office of Russia discon- nation remember it, especially the relati- tinued the investigation in this case “due ves and friends of the victims of the crime. ARE STILL OPEN WOUNDS to the death of the perpetrators.” Their It is remembered by many persons and names were not officially published, and important circles abroad. The term “Ka- Dear Readers, On the 70th anniversary of the massacre, the decision to discontinue the investiga- tyn” has even become one of the symbols Our national memory is focused aro- our delegates wished to pay tribute to the tion, as well as a lot of its documentation, of Soviet crimes. It is certainly also re- und important Polish anniversaries. murdered, and, as representatives of a free were kept secret. The Russian authorities membered by the Polish State. Ten years The anniversary of the massacre com- nation, express their objection to totalita- have recognized (and continue to do so) ago, the late President Lech Kaczyński mitted on Polish officers in Katyn is, ho- rianism. The Commander-in-Chief and that for the sake of Russia's raison d’État, was planning to say the following words wever, a particularly significant date. It the Commanders of the Polish Armed it is better to keep the names of the per- during a ceremony at the Katyn cemete- reminds us not only of that inhuman cri- Forces were going there to bow over the petrators secured with the Seven Seals. ry: “Truth – this ultimate weapon against me, but also of the subsequent hard and officers’ graves. The memory of their tra- Moreover, the criminals in the Bolshevik violence – wins. Just as the Katyn lie was lonesome struggle for the truth about gic flight is still painful. This heavy loss Politburo, responsible not only for the the foundation of the People’s Republic who was responsible for it. In the post- is an obligation for us. It is an obligation Katyn massacre, but also for millions of [Communist State] of Poland, the truth -war communist reality, people paid the to act and continue their work for Poland victims among Russians, , Be- about Katyn is the foundation of the free highest price for speaking that truth. The and for Polish security and defense. larusians and other nations of the Soviet Poland.” These are very wise words, appli- truth about Katyn was nevertheless saved Let us pay tribute to the Polish offi- empire, are still patrons of Russian streets cable not only to the truth about Katyn. from falling into oblivion by steadfast wit- cers murdered in Katyn. or even cities – such as Kaliningrad ne- nesses. For that, we owe them gratitude, Let the memory of the victims who died ighboring with Poland. A dozen kilome- memory and respect. The foundations of in the air crash and ters from the Katyn forest, at the railway a lie always crumble over time. Therefore, their devotion to station in Smolensk, there is a plaque de- we should base and build our identity and the Fatherland stay dicated to Kalinin, an “outstanding So- Piotr Gliński, relations with other nations on truth. It with us forever. viet Party and State activist.” Prof. always wins and always liberates. This is not the only reason for our First Deputy Today, it is us who are the guardians of sorrow. So far, the victims of the Soviet Prime Minister the truth, since the officers killed in Ka- Mariusz murder have not been rehabilitated, and Polish Minister of tyn belong to our community. The tragic Błaszczak in recent years we have been observing Culture and National flight that took place ten years ago was Polish Minister of increasingly intense attempts to relati- Heritage organized out of respect to their sacrifice. National Defense Special edition 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre 4 Metal Plane She liked to walk her own paths, often against the will of her father, who was one of the most respected people in pre-war Poland. She dreamed of becoming a singer, and later of flying aircraft with the white and red checkerboard on the wings. It was this dream that led her into one of the mass graves in Katyn. 2ndLt was murdered 78 years ago. Soldiers of the 1st Machine Gun Company of the 28th Riflemen Regiment of Kaniów. Sitting in the center is Lt Edmund Nusbek, 1920. Continuation from page 2 here is a woman aviator here It is also possible that the NKVD soldier some supply trains, but he himself was ta- understood why he could not get a name in the camp – a brave girl, for pierced her body with a bayonet. ken captive by the Russians. Before that day gift from his father. Fragmented me- four months now she’s been happened, he had set an appointment with mories, hopes, feelings started surfacing enduring all hardships and Sky-High Dream the two men telling us this story at a cer- from the depths of his mind, forming the Tdiscomforts of captivity, and she’s been Yes, she was a general’s daughter. She tain place within the next 24 hours. He shape of his father’s shadow. Years later, nothing but strong” – recalled in his diary was born in 1908 as one of the four chil- arrived at the spot lightly wounded, let off he also learned that Edmund Nusbek had Maj Kazimierz Szczekowski, a prisoner dren of Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, later for 24 hours by the Russians to whom he been murdered by the NKVD in Khar- of the Soviet camp in Kozielsk. Another the commander of the Greater Poland had given an officer’s word of honor. My kov on the night of May 2/3, 1940. imprisoned officer, Capt Wacław Mucho, Uprising, and his wife Agnieszka. She father handed them the money, the file It is an extraordinary story. The fate of added: “There have been rumors that she spent her childhood and younger years in and our address, asked them to give these Lt Edmund Nusbek could have gone in an is a cousin or a daughter of general N.N., Lusowo near Poznań, where her family things to us, and tell us that he was alive entirely different direction. As many other and that she comes from Poznań.” 2ndLt owned a small property. She graduated and had to return to Russian captivity.” Polish officers, he could have survived, if (Pilot) Janina Lewandowska certainly from high school in Poznań and began Andrzej Nusbek learned the truth not for the officer’s word of honor which drew attention. She was the only woman studies at the Poznań Music Conservato- about his father’s fate much later, in did not allow him to even consider escape. among thousands of prisoners impriso- ry. She wanted to become an opera singer. the 1970s, when a friend returning from The knightly ethos stood no chance ned by the Soviets in September 1939. When it turned out her voice was not good smuggled a book for him. The against the totalitarian machine, whose Nevertheless, she ended up like most of enough, she decided to try performing in book included a list of Polish officers triumph – we know this today – was in fact them – an executioner shot her in the comedy shows. This decision led to a big murdered on the strength of the Katyn superficial and short-lived. back of the head with a Walther P38 gun. family argument, and cooled Janina’s re- order, and his father’s name, Edmund Piotr Korczyński, historian, Nusbek, was on it. At that moment eve- journalist at the Military Publishing rything fell into place, and Andrzej finally Institute (WIW) in Warsaw

The last letter written by Lt Edmund Nusbek to have reached his wife and son, dated November 28, 1939

“November 28, 1939. Dearly beloved! I am now in perfect health, just terribly worried about your lot, that’s why I’m asking all of you to write to me as often as possible, and in a very detailed manner, as I can receive mail without any limitations. I am very sorry I can’t be with Jędrek on his name day, I am sending him the best of wishes, and I shall bring the present later, in person... .” Janina Lewandowska (née Dowbor-Muśnicka) 5 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre Special edition lationship with her father. At that time, the POW camp in Ostaszków, from whe- however, Janina’s heart was already set re she was transported to Starobielsk. “We on a new passion – she got interested in know she was there from the accounts of gliding and parachuting, and at the age of other inmates. There are mentions of that 22 she became the first woman in Euro- fact in the work entitled Zbrodnia katyń- pe to parachute-jump from 5,000 meters. ska w świetle dokumentów [The Crime of In 1936, Janina finished Higher School Katyn: Facts and Documents], which was of Pilots in Poznań-Ławica and became published in and has been reprin- a member of the local aeroclub. She also ted several times,” informs Krzyżaniak. got married to Mieczysław Lewandow- Lewandowska gave the Soviet admi- ski, a gliding instructor. nistration a fake date of her birth and “At that time, Janina’s ties with the mi- father’s name. While in the camp, she litary were limited to a radiotelegraphy wore a man’s flight uniform. She was course she had completed” says Michał most probably accommodated in a se- Krzyżaniak, PhD, the director of the parate room. “We don’t know how she Museum of Greater Poland Insurgents was treated by the guards. We can only in Lusowo. “Before the war, women had learn from preserved memoirs that she not been allowed to serve in the Polish was searched several times, most likely army. The law provided only for the pos- because her task in captivity was to bake sibility to conscript women to the auxi- communion bread,” explains the histo- liary corps,” he adds. However, when the rian. Lewandowska’s name can be found war broke out, Lewandowska, following on the lists of people transported out of a patriotic impulse, volunteered for the the camp. According to them, the trans- 3rd Aviation Regiment, stationed in Po- port of prisoners set off on April 20, 1940. znań-Ławica. Lewandowska was probably killed two “Ultimately, there were no fights in days later. Exactly on her 32nd birthday. Greater Poland, and the Poznań Army had already been withdrawing towards The Mystery Warsaw. Janina joined the so-called gro- of a Certain Skull und echelon of Air Force Base No. 3,” The body of General Dowbor-Mu- explains Krzyżaniak. It is still not cle- śnicki’s daughter was exhumed by the ar what happened to her in the next few Germans in April 1943. It caused some weeks. We know that Lewandowska and confusion among them, as the presence her unit reached the territories seized by of a woman in such a place did not fit the the in the second half of Sep- general picture of the crime. That is why tember. She was definitely taken captive, they decided not to spread this informa- most probably near Husiatyn in today’s tion. “Lewandowska’s skull was neverthe- Ukraine. “Henryka Wolna-Van Das, less sent to Wrocław, where it underwent the author of a fictionalized biography of detailed examination,” says Krzyżaniak. Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki with children. From the left: Olgierd, Agnieszka, Janina, Giedymin Lewandowska, refers to the memories of After the war, it somehow found its way Stanisław Krzyżaniak, then officer cadet, to Bolesław Popielski, a Polish foren- Lusowo in the General’s family vault. ged in underground activity and was shot who was held at one of the local schools sic medicine specialist and a professor There are only few memorabilia left to death by the Germans in Palmiry,” re- with Lewandowska,” says a historian from at the University of Wrocław. Since any after Lewandowska and her family. ports the historian. “Today, we only have the museum in Lusowo. “Krzyżaniak was mention of the Katyn crime was seve- “Throughout the occupation period, a few photos of Janina, a diary with an en- my grandfather’s uncle. He was among rely punished, the doctor kept the skull their family property was left unattended. try written by her, and a small metal plane the few people who survived the camp. He a secret, sharing it only on his dying bed. The General and his wife were already – a toy that used to stand on her shelf.” only died a couple of years ago. However, His friends managed to confirm that the dead, one of their sons committed suici- Łukasz Zalesiński, he never mentioned Lewandowska,” he skull belonged to Janina Lewandowska. de, the other one left for France and was journalist at the Military Publishing adds. Janina was ultimately imprisoned at In 2005, it was buried at the cemetery in never heard of again. Janina’s sister enga- Institute (WIW) in Warsaw We Will Not Last Without Politics of Memory

but above all to undertake activities aiming The Polish state should engage in offen- idly observed the slow agony of the Polish at popularizing Polishness as a value, as well sive and active politics of memory. We must capital. Referring to the message arising as strengthening national identity through persist in the conviction that every institu- from the article written by Prime Minister education and motivating people to partici- tion and each of us personally is obliged to Mateusz Morawiecki for Politico maga- pate in the cultural and social phenomenon cultivate memory and base it on historical zine, we need to remember that “the two which is the community of memory. truth. Polish independence and Polish na- uprisings in the city – the first one in the The is a part of world tional community are the obvious victims Jewish Ghetto in 1943, and the other one he Polish National Foundation history. One of the gravest mistakes made by of WWII. Poland lost up to six million citi- in the entire city in 1944 – were proof of (PFN), as an entity of the non-pro- the elites of the Third Polish Republic was to zens, including up to three million citizens cruel German crimes. While the citizens of Tfit sector, realizes its social mission have neglected the politics of memory in pu- of Jewish descent. Demographically, cultu- Warsaw were waiting and hoping for help, through a wide portfolio of activities whose blic policy, both in internal and international rally and economically, the country was en- Josef Stalin never gave an order for the Red main purpose is referred to in present-day strategies. There is a lot to make up for in tirely devastated, with all its consequences Army to intervene.” social analyses as politics of memory and this area, and this is the priority objective for for the present-day level of Poland’s deve- The Polish National Foundation wants heritage or contemporary historical culture. the Polish National Foundation. lopment and demographic processes. to preserve the memory of past genera- Collective memory of the national commu- Poland played an exceptional role in the Let us not forget that between 1939–1941, tions and actively participates in educatio- nity, and preserving from generation to ge- history of the 20th century, having been the Soviet Union collaborated with Nazi nal projects and national historical movie neration both the nation’s martyrdom and its a victim of rivalry between two criminal . On the day of the 80th anniver- productions that aim at showing the histo- triumph of independence, ensure necessary totalitarian systems. Recently, there have sary of the Katyn massacre, let us remember rical truth and strengthening the Polish ra- continuity and consistency of community- been more and more attempts to impute all the Polish people murdered by the So- ison d’état. The PFN intensively executes -forming values. Without sensible politics of that Poles are co-responsible for the crimes viets in the death pits of Katyn, Mednoye, a wide spectrum of activities according to memory no nation can endure extreme situ- committed during WWII. This fact im- and Bykivnia. The Soviets mur- its statutory objectives and its overarching ations or globalization processes. plies that contemporary historical culture is dered Polish elites to destroy our national mission to cultivate and foster Polish col- The Polish National Foundation has being intentionally distorted to suit imme- identity, deported Poles to the territories of lective memory and historical culture. been established to promote Polish culture diate political goals. Therefore, historical European Russia, Siberia and Kazakhstan. and national heritage abroad and to support politics requires international solidarity, We must not forget that the USSR did Marcin Zarzecki, PhD; Michał Góras; Polish economy sectors in external markets, perseverance and systematic work. not liberate Warsaw in 1945. The Red Army Cezary Andrzej Jurkiewicz Special edition 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre 6 I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

Wedding photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Bilewski

Józef Baran (Bilewski) during track and field competitions

Letter to Józef Baran (Bilewski) from his wife Halina sent to the address of the POW camp in Kozelsk, 1940

Rosary, field altar and host box dug out during exhumation 7 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre Special edition I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

Capt Józef Baran (Bilewski), 1899–1940

With artillerymen. Second on the right is Józef Baran (Bilewski)

With friends. Sitting second on the right is Józef Baran (Bilewski)

1st Group of the Artillery Officer Certificate of appreciation from the Polish Athletic Association Cadet School in Toruń. Fourth “for defending Polish colors in national representations on the left is Józef Baran (Bilewski) and for victorious 11 out of 27 meetings” Special edition 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre 8 Over Katyn

On December 22, 1952, a committee of inquiry established by the US Congress, with Ray John Madden as chairman, published a report on the Katyn massacre. The authors did not have any doubt – the NKVD was guilty of the crime. The report was the first official Western document that confirmed Soviet responsibility for killing Polish officers. Congressman Ray Madden

behind the Katyn massacre,” he adds. For about the that had split Eu- eight years, there had been a conspiracy rope apart. Three years later, the West was of silence on that subject among the allies. disturbed to observe that China had joined the Communist side. However, the paths of Executioners Cover the former allies ultimately went separate Up Tracks ways with the outbreak of the The mass graves in Katyn were discove- (1950–1953). At the same time, also the Ka- red during the German occupation of the tyn issue resurfaced. “The US authorities USSR. They were actually found by Po- wanted to publicize the crime, and reveal les – forced laborers of Organization Todt the true face of the Soviet system. Particu- (OT), a German organization which exe- larly that the American soldiers fighting in cuted military engineering projects. The Korea were afraid they would share the fate news quickly reached the Germans, who of the Polish soldiers if they were caught by decided to use it for propaganda purposes, the Communists,” emphasizes Wasilewski. and so they started exhuming the graves in The so-called Madden’s Committee was April 1943. They would bring international made up of seven Congressmen from observers to the site, organize press confe- the House of Representatives, both Re- rences for foreign journalists. All evidence publican and Democrat. Some of them suggested that several thousand Polish offi- had Polish roots. The Committee began cers were killed in the spring of 1940. That work on October 11, 1951, by hearing in turn meant the crime must have been a testimony of Donald B. Stewart. During committed by the Soviets. WWII, he was taken captive by the Ger- Meanwhile, the truth was very inconve- mans, and after the discovery of mass Polish witnesses before the US Congress Committee – Officer Cadet Marian Gawiak nient for the allies, as in June 1941, the graves he was sent to Katyn as a member and Polish Ambassador in the USSR (1942–1943) Tadeusz Romer, as well as USSR had become one of the pillars of the of the allied POWs delegation to witness Ray J. Madden, 1952 anti-Hitler coalition. The issue of Soviet the exhumation. In the next nine months, responsibility for the massacre was there- Madden’s Committee heard 81 witnesses, his committee unanimously a select committee of inquiry established fore successfully swept under the rug in the whose testimonies were considered by the finds, beyond any question by the US Congress [full name: The Se- West. Also, very quickly started Congressmen as crucial to determine the of reasonable doubt, that the lect Committee to Conduct an Investi- their propaganda counter-offensive. After final verdict. Another 300 people provi- Soviet NKVD [...] committed gation and Study of the Facts, Evidence, the Katyn region had been liberated from ded clarifications and written testimonies. Tthe mass murders of the Polish officers and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest the German occupation, the Soviets con- Witnesses heard by the Committee also and intellectual leaders in the Katyn Fo- Massacre]. It was made up of Congress- ducted their own investigation. In January included Poles, such as Stanisław Miko- rest near Smolensk, Russia. The evidence, men, and its chairman was Ray John 1944, a group of specialists from NKVD łajczyk, the former Prime Minister of the testimony, records, and exhibits recorded Madden. “The Committee’s work did and SMERSH (an umbrella organization Polish Government-in-Exile, or Ferdy- by this committee through its investiga- not lead to sentencing the guilty. It was, for military counter-intelligence agen- nand Goetel, a writer and a member of an tions and hearings during the last 9 mon- however, clearly unfeasible from the very cies), came to the site to “collect evidence.” international commission appointed by ths, overwhelmingly will show the people beginning,” admits Witold Wasilewski, The agents dug up the graves in order to the Germans to examine graves in Katyn. of the world that Russia is directly re- PhD, a historian of the Institute of Na- plant falsified evidence, they prepared fal- There were also anonymous witnesses. sponsible for the Katyn massacre.” – this tional Remembrance (IPN). “The report se witnesses and removed the inconvenient The most famous one, called Joe Doe by is the conclusion of the report, published itself, though, was of great significance. It ones. Soon after that operation, the site of the press, stood before the Committee in for the first time at the end of 1952. The was the first time that representatives of the massacre was made accessible to a na- a hood. He introduced himself as a Polish document was prepared by members of a Western power officially stated who was tional commission led by a Russian doc- soldier and a former Soviet prisoner. He tor, Nikolay Burdenko. The result of the explained that he had escaped from the “investigation” could not be any different – Pavlishchev Bor camp with two other “Germans are the ones responsible for the prisoners, and later observed the execu- murder,” concluded Burdenko. tion of the captives from a hiding place in The Russians tried to seal their version a tree. His testimony, however, raised of events during the Nuremberg Trial. a lot of doubt. Ultimately, though, they did not succeed Apart from hearing witnesses, Madden’s in sentencing the indicated Nazis. The Committee also studied all available docu- Soviet version was full of inaccuracies that ments, analyzed and investigated the in- were easy to disprove. However, the We- famous Burdenko Report, and... travelled stern governments still refused to openly a lot. The Congressmen collected materials accuse the USSR. “The situation changed not only in the USA, but also in London, only at the beginning of the 1950s. Most Naples, Frankfurt and Berlin. They invited likely, the reason for that was the growing Polish governments – the one in Warsaw tensions caused by the Cold War,” explains and the one in exile – as well as the autho- Wasilewski. rities of the Federal Republic of Germany and the USSR to cooperate. Only the re- Travelling Investigators presentatives of the Polish government- The first cracks on the anti-Hitler allian- -in-exile and the Germans agreed. “The ce appeared as early as almost a year after Communists refused. Next, they launched the collapse of the Third Reich. In March a propaganda attack on a scale never seen Witness testifying before the Madden Committee. To hide his identity, the witness testified 1946, the British Prime Minister Win- before. At least as far as the Katyn issue is with a covered head, 1952 ston Churchill uttered his famous words concerned,” emphasizes Wasilewski. 9 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre Special edition

Racism, were sent to Oflag 64 in Szubin near Byd- Plague, goszcz. There, they didn’t tell anybody “Clouds of smoke from cities, settlements, about what they had seen in Katyn either. burnt by American bombs, hang over the tormented Korean land – along However, they kept sending coded messages to with swarms of insects infected with bac- the USA… teria of plague and cholera disseminated That’s true, they both knew military by American aircraft. In West Germa- intelligence codes, which let them encode ny, American politicians and American the information, e.g. about the situation in generals, preparing a new world inferno, the Oflag, in their letters to families. They assemble together with Nazi criminals, would also send to the USA coded mes- Nazi gun and Zyklon producers, a neo- sages about the Katyn Forest Massacre, -Nazi Wehrmacht: against the USSR, confirming that the Soviets were to be bla- against Poland. And in the same February med for it. The gist of one of my father’s of the same year 1952, the US Congress coded messages was: “German claims re- revives an old Nazi provocation: Katyn. garding Katyn are substantially correct in Nothing ever happens by accident.” This the opinion of Van Vliet and myself.” My is a fragment of Bolesław Wójcicki’s book Group of allied prisoners of war examining items taken out of the mass graves father also decided to save as evidence the entitled Prawda o Katyniu (The Truth in the Katyn Forest. Third on the right (profile) is Capt Donald B. Stewart materials and photographs he had received About Katyn), which fully reflects the from the Germans. In January 1945, when mood of publications of that time. the Red Army was approaching and the “The propaganda offensive against MY FATHER SAW EXECUTION PITS IN KATYN Germans ordered evacuation of the Szu- Madden’s Committee started in March bin camp, my father hid the documents in- “In Katyn, my father and other allied POWs saw the execution 1952, and spread virtually across the en- -between the newspaper layers he used for pits filled with the bodies of murdered Polish officers. tire . There were hundreds insulating his clothes. During the march, The Germans wanted them to witness the exhumation and of press articles attacking Americans and he was however thoroughly searched, and confirm that the Poles had been killed by the Soviets. My father reminding people of the Soviet version of a German soldier found and took the Ka- would later send from the POW camp coded messages to the USA the Katyn truth. There were many refe- tyn documents. Fortunately, he didn’t find which confirmed the Soviet guilt for this massacre,” tells us rences to the Burdenko Report,” explains the photographs. My father was sent to the the historian. The Communists also used Dave Stewart, son of Capt Donald B. Stewart. camp in Hammelburg, where he stayed other tools, such as the cover of the sati- until liberation. rical Szpilki [Pins] magazine with a dra- How come that Capt Donald B. Stewart was they would almost continuously smoke wing by Szymon Kobyliński. The author’s in the Katyn Forest in May 1943? cigarettes to cover this terrible smell. Ho- When he came back home, did he tell your fa- objective was for the drawing to expose the Dave Stewart: He was a West Point gra- wever, it was in their clothes and they co- mily about what he saw in Katyn? incognito witness standing before Mad- duate deployed to the 17th Artillery Regi- uld smell it long after they left the site of No, he didn’t, he had been obliged to den’s Committee. It shows a man in a whi- ment of the US Army. In 1942, he was sent the massacre. In Katyn, they saw execu- keep military secret. He was only given te Ku Klux Klan robe, under which we can as a battery commander to North Africa, tion pits full of dead bodies. They had to Pentagon’s consent to testify in 1951 befo- see the cross worn by the Nazis on their where the Allies opened the front against point to one body, which was then taken re the US Congress Select Committee to uniforms. The inscription under the pic- the Germans. He was taken captive in Fe- out and examined. Personal belongings Conduct an Investigation and Study of the ture says: “I am an eyewitness of Katyn!” bruary 1943 during the Battle of Kasserine of the victims were also excavated. After Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Meanwhile, the Committee comple- Pass in , which was one of the first all this, my father and LtCol Van Vliet Katyn Forest Massacre with Ray Mad- ted their work in the late fall of 1952. On encounters of the US forces with Wehr- realized that the Germans were telling den as chairman. He was the first witness December 22, they published a report in macht. At that time, about 90% of his unit the truth, and it was the Soviets who had to be cross-examined. He confirmed the which they found the Soviets responsible was taken captive. My father was in Oflag murdered the Polish officers. information he sent in coded letters about for the Katyn massacre. They also advi- IX A/Z in Rotenberg in Germany. In the Soviet guilt for the crime. Following sed the Congress to turn to the UN for May 1943, the Germans demanded that How did they know that? From the docu- the order, he never talked about Katyn appointing an international commission, a group of English-speaking prisoners go ments found in the pits? afterwards, even after he retired in 1968. as a step towards sentencing the perpetra- to Smolensk to witness the exhumation of Partially so, yes. None of the letters, tors. Unfortunately, the project fell thro- the mass graves of Polish officers discove- notes, newspaper clippings found with How long did he have to keep it secret? ugh. It was blocked by the Communists red by the Germans. The Nazis wanted to the bodies were dated later than the Until 1970, when one of the journalists and countries that did not want to escalate take advantage of this discovery, and use spring of 1940. The Soviets claimed that was given a green light from Pentagon to the conflict between the two superpowers. it to divide the Allies and the Soviets. My the massacre was conducted by the Ger- interview him and LtCol Van Vliet abo- In time, the talk on the Katyn crime father and one other American soldier, Lt- mans in late summer and fall of 1941, ut Katyn. From then on, my father would grew quiet also in the USA. There was Col John H. Van Vliet Jr., were to be some and not the spring of 1940. However, willingly give interviews and meet with a change of power in the White House. of those prisoners. these documents could have been fairly the Polish community in Chicago. He Dwight Eisenhower took office from easy falsified. What convinced my father wanted to spread information about what Harry Truman. The new president – as What was your father’s reaction to this order? was the shoes. Their own jackboots – his the Soviets had done, and how the US Wasilewski explains – on the one hand He refused, as he didn’t want to partici- and his fellow officers’ who had been in administration had been hiding the truth wanted to fight communism, but on the pate in Nazi propaganda. My father and captivity for almost two years then – were not to annoy Russia. Unfortunately, de- other hand, above all wanted to end the LtCol Van Vliet were convinced that it seriously worn out, while the jackboots spite his great desire to visit Poland, he Korean War. In order to do that, he had was the Germans who were guilty of this of the murdered Polish POWs as well as never went there. to ease the tension in American-Soviet massacre, and this entire action was just their uniforms were in a very good state. relations. “However, from the point of a manipulation to take the Katyn crime That meant they couldn’t have been using Why? view of the Poles who had been fighting off Nazi hands. A group of eight POWs them for two and a half years. Also, the He was afraid of what the Russians co- for the truth about Katyn, the very fact from the USA, Great Britain and its corpses were in a state of advanced decay, uld do to him if they caught him. He also that the Madden’s report emerged was dominions was however taken to Katyn, which meant that Polish officers couldn’t warned me against visiting Communist enormously significant,” emphasizes despite their protest and refusal to sign have been shot in 1941, but much earlier. countries. Unfortunately, my father died Wasilewski. a paper which obliged them not to make At the end of the prisoners’ stay, the Ger- in 1983, before Poland regained freedom. On April 4, 2003, Americans han- any attempts of escape on their way to and mans gave them packages with copies of That’s why me and my siblings often vi- ded over to Poland copies of documents from Katyn. The prisoners, on their way documents on exhumation as well as pho- sit Poland now in order to remind people (7,000 pages in total) from the Commit- to the crime site, decided they would not tographs taken during their visit. about the Katyn crime and about the role tee’s work. The ceremony took place in cooperate with the Germans, and whi- of our father in revealing the truth about it. the Capitol. le there, they would not say much, show Did the soldiers talk to each other about their I have handed over to the Katyn Museum Łukasz Zalesiński no emotions or in no way express their conclusions from this visit? the copies of documents on the massacre, opinions, so the Germans could not any- They didn’t, and decided to say nothing including my father’s coded message where In this article, I cited excerpts of: the book entitled Mord thing for their own purposes. in the presence of the Germans who were he confirmed the So- w lesie katyńskim. Przesłuchania przed amerykańską komisją Maddena w latach 1951-1952 [Murder in the filming and taking photographs during viet guilt for Katyn. Katyn Forest. Hearings before the American Madden’s What did your father remember from Katyn? the visit. They were aware that every ge- Committee during 1951-1952], published The odor of decomposing bodies. The sture or word could be used by German Interview by Anna by IPN; Witold Wasilewski’s text entitled "Komisja prisoners arrived at the Katyn Forest on propaganda, and this in turn could be con- Dąbrowska katyńska Kongresu USA (1951-1952)" [The US Congress’ May 13. My father said they could smell sidered by the US Army Command as col- Katyn Committee (1951-1952)], published in the IPN bul- the fetor at the distance of three kilome- laboration with Germany. Soon after, in letin; Bolesław Wójcicki’s book entitled Prawda o Katyniu Dave Stewart, son of [The Truth About Katyn], Warsaw, 1952 ters away from the forest. While on site, June 1943, my father and LtCol Van Vliet Capt Donald B. Stewart Special edition 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre 10 They Bore Witness to the Soviet Crime The participants of the delegations organized by the Germans in 1943, who were to confirm the Soviet responsibility for the murder of Polish officers in Katyn, became inconvenient witnesses for the USSR. After the war, they were accused of collaborating with Germans, wanted on arrest warrants, put in prison. Some of them even disappeared in unexplained circumstances – says Professor Tadeusz Wolsza. Katyn, April 11, 1943 – participants of the first Polish delegation. Third from the left is . After the graves of Polish officers had been di- made up of over a dozen world-class pa- and Sweden. In total, about 31,000 pe- had been given consent by the Danish re- scovered in Katyn in the spring of 1943, Ger- thologists and forensic scientists from ople came through Katyn in the spring of sistance movement to go to Katyn, and on man authorities would organize delegations countries occupied by , 1943, including over 30,000 Wehrmacht his return to he had smuggled that visited the site. What was their purpose? such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, soldiers. The sight of the bodies of Poles the skull of one of the victims, Maj Lu- Professor Tadeusz Wolsza: The Ger- the Netherlands, , the Protecto- murdered by the NKVD was to motivate dwik Szymański. The skull had remained mans wanted to take advantage of the fact rate of Bohemia and Moravia, Romania, them to show more courage and dedica- at the institute until the officer’s son, Jerzy that the Soviets murdered Polish officers Slovakia, Hungary, , and also from tion in fighting the Red Army. Szymański, was found in Australia 60 years to play the western states against their neutral . Doctors from Spain, later. Upon his request, the remains of his eastern ally. To that end, they had to co- Portugal, Sweden and , who had Was the report of the International Katyn father were placed in the Katyn chapel at nvince the world that the Soviets were the also been invited, did not make it to Katyn. Commission signed by all the doctors? the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army. ones to blame for the crime, even more so Between April 28-30, the members of the Yes, and without any pressure from the that the USSR authorities immediately Commission worked in Katyn to determi- Third Reich. The Germans generated a Since the USSR was proven guilty of the cri- accused the Third Reich of the massacre. ne the date of the crime on the basis of, in- massive amount of publicity for this do- me by the specialists, what was the purpose of The Germans needed an independent ter alia, tests conducted on the residue fo- cument, even making it into a book pu- sending to Katyn in May 1943 a delegation of and trustworthy institution to examine und on the bodies. Other evidence proving blished in Germany and France. Moreo- allied prisoners of war remaining in German the bodies, set the date of the murders that the executions were carried out in the ver, all Commission members spread the captivity? and point to the perpetrators, so they spring of 1940, which in turn confirmed news of the crime in their own countries Most of the doctors and journalists came turned to the International Committee the Soviets’ responsibility for the murders, by giving interviews, writing articles, or from occupied European countries, so of the Red Cross. It nevertheless refused were letters, photos, newspapers, notes taking part in scientific conferences. they could have been somewhat unreliable to send a delegation to Katyn. and diaries found together with the bo- for the USA or Great Britain. In order to dies – their dates did not go beyond March The researchers took from Katyn things like, confirm that the Polish officers were mur- Why? 1940. Having finished the work, the Com- for example, pieces of rope with which the dered by the Soviets, the Germans forced Such examination would require the mission prepared a report, concluding that hands of the officers had been tied, shoulder- a group of English-speaking prisoners to consent of all parties concerned, and one the Soviet Union had been responsible for -straps, buttons, and Helge Tramsen, PhD, a witness the exhumation. The eight-per- of them was the Soviet Union, which, the massacre. A bit earlier, Katyn had been Danish surgeon, even brought back the skull of son group included officers from Great surely enough, did not want to give such visited by a few journalist delegations, the one of the murdered men... Britain and the Commonwealth countries, consent. Therefore, the Germans formed first of which had been sent from several Tramsen of the Department of Forensic as well as two Americans: LtCol John the International Katyn Commission, neutral states, such as Spain, Switzerland Medicine at the University of Copenhagen Van Vliet Jr. and Capt Donald B. Stewart. NIGHT OF The winter of 1939/1940 proved to be exceptionally severe. Snowdrifts and freezing weather paralyzed life in almost all of Europe. That harsh winter brought a pause for the fighting armies. However, it did not give any breathing space to Poland.

estapo and the NKVD the People’s Assemblies of Western Bela- Great Terror viet citizenship were immediately sub- tirelessly performed their rus and Western Ukraine. “The represen- Shortly after the decision to annex Kresy ject to to the Red Army. In criminal duties. The So- tatives of the people” appointed as a result to the USSR, another directive was issu- this way, 150,000 Poles were conscripted viets were working parti- of this mockery of elections immediately ed. It was to ultimately change the lives of at once to its labor battalions. Moreover, cularly hard to prepare for announced their intention to incorporate the region’s inhabitants into a nightmare. in December 1939, the NKVD increased Gan extensive operation they were to carry “Western Belarus and Western Ukraine On November 29, the Supreme Soviet the number of arrests. At that time, ma- out in Kresy (Eastern Borderlands of the into the all-union family of Soviet repu- (Council) of the Soviet Union granted inly in the cities located in Kresy, many Second Polish Republic). blics.” As a consequence, the Supreme So- Soviet citizenship to all people who had former employees of the Polish admini- viet (Council) of the Soviet Union, during been living on the annexed territories on stration, judiciary, social and economic Start of Soviet a meeting held on November 1–2, 1939, November 1–2. On December 30, 1939, activists, and reserve officers were arre- Deportations agreed to include these territories within a decree was passed on issuing passports, sted. They were taken to labor camps on After the “liberation of Western Belarus the borders of the USSR. It was then that i.e. Soviet IDs, to all those people. This the strength of sentences given by open and Western Ukraine,” – this is what the uttered a famous sen- compulsory “passportization” was a per- or secret tribunals. As it turned out, this Soviet propaganda called the Red Army’s tence about Poland, saying that “A short fect way for the NKVD to collect or com- was only the beginning – the launch of aggression in Kresy – an immediate unifi- blow by the German army, and subsequ- plete data about the inhabitants of Kresy, a great machine of terror created by the cation of the region with the ently by the Red Army, was enough for particularly Poles, who were the biggest NKVD to subdue Kresy. began. The pace was truly impressive: on nothing to be left of this bastard of the problem for the Soviet security service The NKVD officers were well aware October 22, 1939, they held “elections” to Treaty of Versailles.” at the time. The people forced into So- that no kind of propaganda or indoctrina- 11 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre Special edition

Going to Smolensk, both of them were Commission was to exhume and identify with the Germans. Nevertheless, he with a Foreword by Gen Władysław An- deeply convinced that it was the Germans the victims. After Mackiewicz returned, didn’t revoke his statements. He wrote ders,” and a year later he published his own who had been responsible for the massacre. he gave an interview that was published articles on the subject, made appearances book, in German, on the Katyn massacre. in Goniec Codzienny, entitled “I Saw It in the Polish Section of Radio Free Eu- He also tried to publish it in the USA, but What convinced them that the Germans were with My Own Eyes.” Ferdynand Goetel, rope. He also gave testimony before the without success. Both works played an im- telling the truth? also a well-known writer, participated in US Congress Committee. However, he portant role in spreading the truth about Documents found in the graves, as well another delegation with the knowledge was constantly afraid of Soviet revenge the Soviet responsibility for the crime. as shoes and uniforms which were in good and consent of the Government Delega- and, truth be told, he might have been Also Goetel wrote many articles on the condition. That, and of course the findings tion for Poland. He too prepared a report right. His daughter came to Warsaw in subject and conducted a priceless interview of the doctors and talks with the delegates after his return. It is worth emphasizing 1970 for the Chopin Festival and died in a with Ivan Krivoziercev, a peasant living of the Polish Red Cross. Soon after, the here that reports from the site of the car crash. Tramsen claimed she had been near Katyn, who in the spring of 1940 American officers were put in Oflag 64 in Soviet crime reached the Polish Gover- murdered by Soviet agents, which actu- witnessed the NKVD bringing Polish Szubin near Bydgoszcz, from where they nment in London quite quickly, due to ally seems very probable. A similar, but officers in trucks. He had heard from the sent ciphered communications on the Ka- the effort undertaken by the authorities much less dramatic, fate awaited Vincen- locals about digging holes in the woods. tyn massacre, confirming the Soviet cri- of the . zo Palmieri and François Naville, among Both writers also testified before a special- me, to US military intelligence. After the others. Their scientific careers in Italy ly appointed committee of inquiry, cre- liberation of the camp, in May 1945 LtCol The graves of Polish officers were also visited by and Switzerland were hindered for some ated in 1951 in the USA for the purpose of Vliet submitted a report to the Pentagon, Robert Brasillach, a French poet and writer. time due to Communist interventions. explaining the Katyn crime. In total, Ray confirming again that the USSR was re- During the occupation, Brasillach wro- Madden’s Select Committee to Conduct sponsible for the massacre in Katyn. Un- te for the Parisian collaborationist weekly Did other members of the Katyn Commission an Investigation of the Facts, Evidence fortunately, the document was classified. Je suis partout. The Germans invited him also suffer repressions for having participated and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest to Katyn, because they counted on him to in it? Massacre heard several hundred witnes- The Germans also organized visits to Ka- spread the news of the Soviet responsibi- Almost all of them to some extent. ses, including both US officers and several tyn for journalists and writers from occupied lity for the crime. He did not fail them, After the war, some found themselves doctors: Tramsen, Orsós, Naville, Palmie- Europe. They were to later spread the infor- publishing many articles on the subject in in countries occupied by the Soviets, for ri. In 1952, it published a final report su- mation on the crime in their countries. One of French papers after his return. Besides, example František Hájek from the Czech mmarizing their work, finding the Soviet such people was Józef Mackiewicz, a writer he wasn’t the only one. We might say that Republic, and Marko Markov from Bul- Union guilty of the Katyn massacre. and a publicist who had earlier been senten- in 1943 Katyn was “the hit of the Parisian garia. Both were accused of collaboration Interview by Anna Dąbrowska ced to death by the underground court. spring season.” After the liberation of Pa- and faced death penalty, so they withdrew He had been accused of collaboration ris, Brasillach was arrested, and in Janu- their signatures from the report and dec- Professor Tadeusz Wolsza is a historian and – he had allegedly written several anti- ary 1945 sentenced to death by shooting lared that the massacre had been commit- a political scientist, Deputy Chairman at the -communist articles in 1941 to a Ger- for collaboration with the Third Reich. ted by the Germans. On the other hand, College of the Institute of National Remem- man-controlled propaganda newspaper The sentence was carried out on Febru- František Šubik from Slovakia, despite brance, Chairman of the Museum Committee published in , Goniec Codzienny. ary 6. There are opinions, not entirely spending two years in prison, refused to at the Museum of the Second World War, However, the head of the cell executing accurate I assume, that his death was the change his statement, and after being re- and a Member of the Scientific Council at the sentences, Sergiusz Piasecki, refused Communist revenge for disseminating leased in 1952, he fled the country. Ferenc the History Institute of the Polish Academy of to carry out the punishment, since he do- the truth about Katyn. I guess his entire Orsós from Hungary also left his coun- Sciences. He deals with the problem of Stalin’s ubted Mackiewicz’s fault. Later, LtCol conduct during the war may be conside- try, gave up his career as a doctor and be- crimes in post-war Poland and the history of Aleksander Krzyżanowski, the comman- red blameworthy. He was a supporter of came a painter, and used Katyn as a theme the Katyn massacre. His book, entitled Dotyk der of the Vilnius District of the Home fascism, fascinated with Hitler, he be- of some of his works. Katynia, awarded in Army, looked into the case and decided lieved that only Nazi Germany can save a competition organized to revoke the sentence. In the spring of Europe from bolshevism. What happened to Mackiewicz and Goetel? by Fo- 1943, Mackiewicz, upon the consent of They both fled to Italy. The peer discipli- undation, was published Polish underground authorities, went to After the war, the people who had visited nary court of the Polish Journalists Asso- in the USA under the Katyn. At that time, also the Technical Katyn became inconvenient witnesses for the ciation cleaned Mackiewicz of the collabo- title Encounter with Commission of the Polish Red Cross, led Soviets. ration charge. In 1948, the writer took part Katyn in 2019 (due to by Marian Wodziński, PhD, was working Helge Tramsen was persecuted in in editing the publication entitled “The the effort of Carolina at the site of the massacre. The task of the Denmark and accused of collaborating Katyn Crime in the Light of Documents Academic Press).

tion can turn Poles into “Soviet people.” They began to prepare a large number of Besides, they had clear grounds to think railway sets and mark out ro- tations. Some families had managed to that – for example, on January 21, 1940, utes to take people away into the furthest send letters from Siberia. One of them in Czortków (at the time already a part regions of the vast Soviet empire. Double was the Sowa family. Senior Constable of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Repu- Jan Sowa received a letter from his family blic), a group of 120–150 Polish secondary Freezing Nightmare saying: “We set off on a faraway journey.” school teenagers started an uprising. Par- On the night of February 9/10, 1940, He figured that this meant deportation. tly armed, they seized a train station with together with another wave of frost and Tragedy He told his fellow prisoners to warn their a view to taking control of a transport ro- blizzards, the NKVD began their depor- families of the imminent danger. Another ute to Romania, from where it was possi- tations. The course of that horrible night ne of the first questions they were soldier cautioned in his letter: “Don’t wait ble to get to France, and join the Polish was similar in thousands of Polish towns, asked on entering the camp was: for me, leave town.” On March 5, 1940, Army there. After the initial panic among settlements and hamlets – it was planned O“Where do you want to go when the Political Bureau of the All-Union the soldiers of the Soviet garrison, the riot by the NKVD to the smallest detail. Ac- you are released?” They usually answered: Communist Party (Bolsheviks) adopted was quickly suppressed. Eight mutineers cording to the proscription lists, the ho- “To my family,” and gave the address. In a resolution on shooting the Polish offi- were executed in Odessa, and the rest uses of families selected for deportation this simple way, the NKVD collected ad- cers imprisoned in camps on the territory were imprisoned, but the whole situation were first surrounded. The residents, bru- dresses to later deport the prisoners’ fa- of the Soviet Union, as well as other Po- proved that Molotov had been too rash to tally woken from sleep, were then allowed milies to the east. A total of about 325,000 lish prisoners held captive in the western announce the definite end of Poland. The to take their personal items, cookware Polish citizens (and even close to a million districts of Ukraine and Belarus. On the NKVD then reached for proven methods and food reserves for several weeks. After according to the Polish Embassy in the strength of this decision, on April 3, 1940, of repressing not only single people, but that, they were put into sleighs or taken USSR), were transported deep into the the NKVD began the liquidation of the entire communities and social groups. on foot to the nearest train station, whe- Soviet Union in the four waves of depor- camp in Kozielsk, and two days later the re cattle wagons had already been waiting tations (in February, April and June 1940, camps in Starobielsk and Ostaszków. On the night for them on the side track. This is how and in May and June 1941). This was a do- Within the next six weeks, 14,587 Polish of February 9/10, the then teenage Adela Żurawska from uble tragedy for the imprisoned: having prisoners were shot to death. Also, on the Lipowiec near Drohobycz remembered given the addresses of their families, they strength of the same decision, the NKVD 1940, together with that moment: “Soviet soldiers who sur- unintentionally caused their deportation. murdered about 7,300 Poles held in Soviet another wave of rounded our house gave us a moment to People who studied the graves in Katyn prisons on the territory of pre-war eastern frost and blizzards, pack the most important things, and then found letters and postcards that the pri- provinces of the Republic of Poland. the NKVD began put everyone in a sleigh. We were taken to soners had been planning to send to their Małgorzata Schwarzgruber, journalist the train station in Zborów, where a very families. These documents revealed that at the Military Publishing Institute deportations. long train of cattle wagons was waiting for the captives had known about the depor- (WIW) in Warsaw us under steam. About fifty people were Continuation on the next page Special edition 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre 12

Continuation from page 11 squeezed into our wagon. After four or five days we headed east. [...] One big cry of despair was then heard – people star- ted wailing and praying.” This February Smolensk – We Remember deportation concerned mainly military settlers, foresters and other civil servants, “Let us help the Katyn wound to fully heal and railroaders. All of them with their fa- milies, of course. If heads of families had and cicatrize at last.” been proven to be officers, businessmen or landowners, they were directed to gu- the late President Lech Kaczyński lags on the strength of sentences given by emergency courts. The rest of the people Fragment of the speech that President Lech Kaczyński deported in February 1940 – mainly wo- was to deliver on April 10, 2010 in the Katyn Forest men, children and old people – were taken to the Urals and Siberia, where they had to “start a new life” in extremely severe conditions. Many of them had not lived to experience that hell – they had died of cold and hunger during the transport. The operation of February 9/10, 1940 was the first of a whole series of deporta- tions planned by the NKVD to once and for all cleanse the annexed territories of all Poles. In April, the families of the im- prisoned, sentenced and arrested became victims of mass deportations. That way, the closest families of Polish officers who were being murdered in Katyn at the same time were among people transported to Kazakhstan. In June, deportations co- vered fugitives from central and western Poland. Contrary to what the Russian president, , claims, among the Polish citizens deported at that time were thousands of Jewish people who had escaped from the repressions of Stalin’s ally – Hitler. Many of them did not survi- ve the transport in cattle wagons or died later at the place of their exile – Arkhan- gelsk or Krasnoyarsk. Finally, the last wave of deportations, executed soon before the outbreak of the German-Soviet War in May and June 1941, concerned fugitives from the Vil- nius Region. They were being transpor- ted to Kazakhstan and Siberia practically until the very last days of peace between the Third Reich and the USSR. Many trains with deportees were in fact taken over by Wehrmacht on entering Kresy on June 22, 1941. It is very hard to estimate how many Polish citizens were deported in total during the four waves of deporta- tions. The number mentioned most often oscillates between 400–500 thousand. One thing is certain – all of them faced hell on earth in the “Soviet paradise.” Those who were lucky enough to survive, joined General Władysław Anders’ army after the “amnesty” of July 1941 and later took part in the mass exodus to the West. Those who “did not make it to Anders” returned to Poland in the ranks of Ge- neral Zygmunt Berling’s army. This was Poland in mourning, Warsaw - April 2010. After the air crash, in which a Polish delegation also the fate of the above-quoted Adela of 96 people died on their way to Katyn, thousands bereaved Poles lit candles Żurawska. in front of the empty Presidential Palace, mourning after the late Presidential Couple Piotr Korczyński Mecenasi wydania and all other victims of that terrible national tragedy.

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Wojskowy Instytut Wydawniczy Our Patrons Partner Project realized by the team of polska-zbrojna.pl military news website and supervised by: [Military Publishing Institute] Aleje Jerozolimskie 97, 00-909 Warszawa SKLEP.POLSKA-ZBROJNA.PL Anna Putkiewicz Graphic design: Marcin Izdebski Director: Maciej Podczaski Polska Zbrojna (military monthly) All texts and articles were originally published on polska-zbrojna.pl English translations by: Dorota Aszoff, Anita Kwaterowska Editor-in-Chief: Izabela Borańska-Chmielewska polska-zbrojna.pl (military news website) English translations revised, edited and proofread by: Dorota Aszoff, Anita Kwaterowska Editing and proofreading (Polish version): Robert Sendek, January Szustakowski, Jacek Żurek Polska Zbrojna. Historia (historical quarterly) Editor-in-Chief: Anna Putkiewicz Photohraphs: Artur Bilewski’s collection, Dave Stewart’s collection, Jarosław Wiśniewski, Katyn Museum Martyrdom Division of the Polish Army Museum, Polska Zbrojna is a military magazine published under Paris Kultura Foundation website the supervision of Polish Ministry of National Defense Print: Wojskowe Zakłady Kartograficzne sp. z o.o., since 1921 ul. Fort Wola 22, 01-258 Warszawa WWW.POLSKA-ZBROJNA.PL