Katyn massacre

This time my presentations will cover three quite present issues that willy-nilly somehow concern each of us. Later discussion should be much easier because you won't have to elaborate on things or hobbys that are not necessairly points of your interest. I believe topics picked by me are much more universal and common for all of us.



Let's than kick off with a really tender topic - Katyn massacre presented in medias yesterday because of it's 70th anniversary. If not particulary related to your family, still is a tragic act of genocide on Polish military elite. Obviously justified by older generations, for us for sure much less, it remains a thorn in the flesh when speaking of Polish-Russian relations. And that careful weighting of every word - whether it truely brings back
the truth about that tragedy. Of course, avoiding by Russians of genocide term is simply dictated by hard-nosed means because in that case Russia would have to pay off tremendous restitutions to families of victims. As we know Katyn wasn't the only example of bestial breaking of the human rights by USSR, therefore total sum of such restitutions would be unimaginable. Althought above mentioned, in my opinion, recent policy of Vladimir Putin is going in right direction.



Especially admitting that Katyn massacre was intentionally performed by Soviet Russia. On the other hand I can only imagine that for families of victims, according to saying "deeds not words", it is still not enough and they can expect something more. Only concern that occupies my mind is fact that Katyn is a matter of life and death for some groups of interests. Although it is still an open wound it shouldn't be a stringent argument in modern business or policy relations with Russia. Conservatists tend to impose such rhetoric forgeting that eventually it leads to nowhere.



As a reminder (based on Wikipedia), Katyn also known as Katyn Forest massacre was a mass murder (genocide) of (most commonly cited) 21 768 Polish prisoners of war, intellectuals, policemen by Soviet NKVD. On March 5, 1940 Joseph Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria and entire Soviet Politbiuro approved this "sentence of death". Since Poland's conscription system required every unexempted university graduate to become a reserve officer, the Soviets were able to round up much of the Polish intelligentsia, and the Jewish, Ukrainian, Georgian and Belarusian intelligentsia of Polish citizenship. Executions took place on April when after 3 April at least 22,436 POWs (Prisoner Of War) and prisoners were executed (methodical killings - shooting in the back of the head). In 1943 Nazi Germany announced the discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest. Soviet Union denied the massacres until 1990, originally accusing Germans of making up a hoax. An investigation by the Prosecutor's General Office of the Russian Federation has confirmed Soviet responsibility for the massacres, yet does not classify this action as a war crime or an act of genocide. This acknowledgement would have made necessary the prosecution of surviving perpetrators, which is what the Polish government had requested. The Russian government also does not classify the dead as victims of Stalinist repression, which bars formal posthumous rehabilitation.

Is your family personally related to Katyn massacre? Do you find recent symbolical gestures of Putin a way for healing Polish-Russian relations or in contrary - acknowledging by Russia should be a matter of life and death for Polish policy?