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Katyn Massacre

Determining the responsibility of the Katyn Massacre has been shrouded in political

controversy since its “discovery” in 1943. A slew of evidence was provided by both the Nazis

and the Soviets accusing one another in order to impede each other’s war efforts. After World

War II, the Katyn political war raged on between capitalist and communist countries until the fall

of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s. Today, the battle rages on only among historians. The

contention lies between Grover Furr’s skepticism of archaeological finds and historical

documents versus the official version of the Katyn Massacre as presented in the books of Allen

Paul, Benjamin B. Fisher, and Paul R. Gregory.

As noted by Paul R. Gregory in his book Lenin’s Brain and Other Tales from the Soviet

Archives (2008), in 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a Non-Aggression Pact

and by September of that year they simultaneously invaded the country of Poland (p. 4).

According to Benjamin B. Fisher and his investigative journal titled The Katyn Controversy:

Stalin’s Killing Field (2007), both nations isolated military officers and civilian elites within

their borders from the rest of the population by placing them in specific prisoner of war camps

(par. 1). Immediately the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, began to interrogate prisoners they

deemed elite to gain information and to evaluate the prisoner’s willingness to embrace the

Communist Party. Allen Paul, an established historian of the Katyn Massacre and writer of

Katyn: The untold Story of Stalin’s Polish Massacre (1991), provided detailed accounts of

witnesses who escaped the Soviet prisoner of war camps (p. 103-117). The witnesses he

interviewed, throughout his book, described their treatment in the war camps, how they escaped,

and what they allege happened to those who did not escape.

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The concept that the Soviets would purposely isolate and interrogate those they deemed

as “Polish elite” is not refuted by any historian. The Soviet’s attempts to convert prisoners to the

Communist party, like the evidence presented in Allen Paul’s book, have been well chronicled in

multiple countries, eye witness accounts, Soviet documents, and historical texts.

AUSSTELLUNG-GULAG.org, offers an abundance of Soviet political posters that confirm the

use of propaganda to convert prisoners to communism within their gulags1. One poster even

included pictures of prisoners whom were considered “high-performing” workers and celebrated

their contributions to the Communist community. After isolating the Polish officers and civilian

“elite” from the rest of the Polish population, it could be conceived that those who refused to

convert to the Communist ideology would be deemed undesirable. The conditions were

favorable for such an event as catastrophic as the Katyn Massacre to take place.

According to Axworthy’s book Third Axis Forth Ally, on December 2nd, 1941 the Nazis

had pushed within 5 miles of Moscow marking their farthest advancement during the war. The

Soviet Union and Polish government-in-exile signed an agreement to release prisoners of war

and also for those released prisoners to rejoin the Polish Army in a joint effort to defeat the

Nazis. Allen Paul also wrote that while the Polish Army reorganized, they immediately

recognized they were missing 10,000 military officers and begin to question the Soviets over the

disappearances (p. 170). The Polish government-in-exile, as reported by Paul, said Stalin waved

off the Polish concerns, stating that the officers fled to Manchuria during the Nazis invasion of

the Soviet Union (p. 172).

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Paul described that the international world first heard about the Katyn Massacre after the

Nazis suffered a devastating defeat in Stalingrad and in retaliation they broadcasted the shocking

news story from Berlin (p. 203). The Nazis claimed that within the Katyn Forest they had

“discovered” the mass graves of the 10,000 missing Polish officers that were captured by the

Soviets (p. 207-208). Paul said that this inaccurate report (only 4,200 bodies were found at

Katyn) would cause the Nazi government future embarrassment (p. 208). Paul’s book presented

reports that the Nazis requested the international Red Cross to come and investigate the graves

site (p. 207-209). He also noted that they timed the request to happen at the same time as the

Polish government-in-exile in order to alarm the Allies into believing that their governments

were working together. Paul continued to distinguish this belief in Joseph Goebbels own diary

that the Nazis were known for their propaganda skills and such a find could have possibly split

the Alliance between the Soviet Union and the American and British governments (p. 224).

Animosity between the Soviets and the Poles had existed before the start of World War

II. War between the Soviets and Poland broke out during the 1920’s as the new Soviet

government tried to expand Communism to the rest of Europe. Much of this hatred can be seen

in the Polish propaganda posters of that time. One such poster depicts Leon Trotsky, the political

leader of the Soviets expansion of communism, with devil like features, sitting on a mound of

skulls, and with bloody weapons in hand (Guity Novin). I believe that their bitterness played a

major political role in both the treatment of Polish prisoners by the Soviets and the subsequent

investigations into the Katyn Massacre by the Polish government-in-exile

Benjamin Fisher described how the Polish government-in-exile’s call for justice would

go completely unanswered. The tide of war was turning in the favor of the Allies; the United

States and Great Britain refused to believe the Nazi reports even after their own secret

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investigations concluded that the Soviets did commit the massacre (par. 12-13). In Allen Paul’s

description of the Allies reaction he asserted that they were concealing Soviet guilt (p. 301).

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill heavily criticized the Polish government-in-

exile and demanded that they stop talking about the issue. With no legitimate political power and

no country to call their home, the Polish government-in-exile complied (p.302-315).

At this point the war became more important than knowing the truth. It’s hard to be

critical of the Allied leaders during that time as we look back, because in the end their actions

resulted in the defeat of the Nazis. The Nazis, however, were determined to show the world that

the Soviets had committed the massacre. The Poles were easily dragged into the Nazis

propaganda machine, because, in my estimation, they hated the Soviets more than the Nazis.

Several of the Polish scientists involved in the International Red Cross investigation admitted

that they knew the Nazis were using the investigation as propaganda. It is feasible that all of the

evidence gathered by the International Red Cross and the U.S. officials were manipulated by

Nazi government. There was no way the scientists could objectively investigate because the

Nazis controlled the entire crime scene.

The Katyn Massacre disappeared from the international scene until the Nuremburg

tribunals in 1946. Paul verified that during the trials the Soviet Union proposed to charge the

Nazis with the deaths of 11,000 missing Polish officers and civilians (p. 335). The Soviets

provided, as primary evidence, the investigative document USSR-54 which included accounts

from witnesses, repudiated Nazi witnesses, and the evaluation of 925 corpses from the graves (p.

335). Paul Gregory states in his book that the Soviet account was false (p. 3). Allen Paul

conveyed that he believed the Allies reluctantly allowed the charges to be proposed only because

they felt they had to after giving the Soviets responsibility of prosecuting crimes committed in

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Eastern Europe (p. 336). Paul shares that in the issue of the Katyn Massacre, however, the

German defense attorneys vowed to publicly embarrass the Soviet government with

“overwhelming evidence” through witnesses (336-337). The Allied powers, in Paul’s estimation,

were not politically interested in any further investigations so no verdict was produced on the

Katyn charge (p. 336). Thus, the Soviet government was unable to pin the crime on the Nazis

and the case of the Katyn Massacre remained unsolved.

From a personal perspective, the events that took place at the Nuremburg Tribunals are

the most indicative details as to who committed the Katyn Massacre. After studying USSR-54,

the Soviet’s primary source of evidence during the prosecution, it is distinguishable that the

document is not so much a scientific observation of evidence as it is ungrounded statements

filled with political overtones. Statements such as, “…the forensic investigative commission

consisting of: the superior forensic expert of the People’s Commissariat for Health Matters of the

USSR…” are found throughout the document (emphasis given for effect). Also, if the Nazis did

commit the Katyn Massacre, then why didn’t the Allies convict the Nazis of the crime when it

was politically acceptable to do so? Overwhelming evidence from other atrocities proved that the

Nazis were capable of this crime. The inexcusable hesitation followed by complete avoidance by

the Allies and the Soviet Union suggest that the Nazis did not, in fact, commit the crime.

According to Benjamin Fisher, political interest in pursuing the Soviet Union over the

Katyn issue grew with the development of the Korean War (par. 14). The U.S. House of

Representatives opened an investigation. After witnesses and evidence were both thoroughly

examined the Congressional Committee concluded that the Soviet Union was guilty. Fisher

elaborated that although the investigation had political overtones, it was the most extensive in

gathering facts hitherto (par. 15). Fisher shows that, ultimately, there was an effort to bring the

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issue before the United Nations International Court of Justice, but political interest died out with

the end of the Cold War and the untimely death of Joseph Stalin (par. 16). Again, Fisher’s

account reveals that the Katyn Massacre, although Soviet guilt was assumed, would go officially

unsolved. Meanwhile the Soviet Union, within its own borders, began to eliminate all references

to Katyn in maps and historical books.

The fact that the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in an intense political

war during this time makes it easy to explain the evidence presented by Congress as politically

skewed. Examining evidence during a time when Communist distrust was ruling United States

politics makes objective analysis nearly impossible. Even with the amount of empirical data

gathered from this investigation I remain skeptical of its objectivity.

As outlined in Gregory’s, Paul’s, and Fisher’s writings, Soviet guilt was finally admitted

by Gorbachev for the murder of 15,000 Polish officers and civilians after “new discoveries”

surfaced from within the Soviet Archives. After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, and newly elected

President Boris Yeltsin entered into office, documents were found and publicized from the

Soviet Archives incriminating Joseph Stalin and the Soviet NKVD of executing 15,000 Polish

officers and civilians. Fisher specified that the documents released in 1992 by President Yeltsin

confirmed that 21,857 Polish officers and civilians were eventually killed by the NKVD (par. 5).

These documents are now the foundational building block in deciding Soviet guilt and

establishing the “Official Version” of the Katyn Massacre. There are documents that prove the

order was given to execute the Poles, and then Gorbachev followed by President Yeltsin

apologized for the massacre. What other evidence do we need? Skeptics such as myself can see

that providing such documents and confessions aids the fall of the Soviet Union. So I can see

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why more extreme conspiracy theorists and die hard Communist accuse capitalist nations of

fabricating the documents and consider Gorbachev to be a capitalist wolf in communist sheep

clothing. Their evidence, however, is super thin.

Grover Furr, a professor at Montclair State University, presented new historical

arguments against Soviet guilt in his journal publication The “Official Version” of the Katyn

Massacre Disproven? (2013). Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian and Polish

archaeologists have continued to investigate the Katyn Massacre and have found that not all of

the bodies from the executions were buried there. Bodies have also been discovered in several

locations throughout the Ukraine and Russia. As archaeological work continues, more evidence

has been found leading to further discussion over the events surrounding the Polish officers. Furr

argues that not all of the, now assumed 22,000, executions were committed by the Soviets, but

were instead a combination of Soviet and Nazi brutality. Furr, challenged the legitimacy of the

execution documents provided by Gorbachev and Yeltsin, but provided little in actual evidence

(p.98). He did, however, provide Russian writer and historian Iurii Mukhin. Furr listed Mukhin’s

publications and described how those publications provided proof that Stalin’s execution orders

were forgeries (p. 98). Furr’s only argument that was backed with actual evidence -that the

Soviets did not commit all the executions- comes from the archaeological discovery that the

majority of the bullets found in the graves were German-made and from the year 1941 (p. 112).

Furr provides conclusions from the Ukrainian and Polish archaeological investigation that state

the executions occurred no earlier than 1941 (p. 110-112). He also points out that their

investigation found many of the executions and graves were conducted in a manner that

resembled the Nazis SS (p. 112).

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Today it is accepted among most historians, politicians, and mainstream resources that

the Katyn Massacre is another small, well-documented example of Joseph Stalin’s and the

Soviet’s brutality. Politicians like Marcin Zaborowski, Director of the Polish Institute of

International Affairs, as well as Members of the European Union and Russia have come to terms

with this and have accepted that the only guilty party is Soviets and the only solution for future

Russian-Polish relations is acceptance and reconciliation (par. 1, 9, 10).

Even if I threw out the evidence provided by the Nazis, the United States, Great Britain,

the Poles, the Ukrainians, and now the Russians; I could not possibly blame anyone else but the

Soviets for the murder of 4,200 Polish officers and civilians. Their story and investigations do

not add up and they did not continue to pursue convicting the Nazis of the massacre during the

Nuremburg Tribunals, but instead hid and concealed the matter altogether. To me the Soviet’s

effort to deceive and conceal the truth is a greater indicator of the Soviets guilt than any other

piece of evidence combined.

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Notes

1. Gulag is a Soviet forced labor camp.

2. “Bolshevik, a member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers'

Party, which, led by Lenin, seized control of the government in Russia (October

1917) and became the dominant political power.” (Britannica.com)

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Works Cited

Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation. "Gulag: Traces and Testimonials."

Ausstellung Gulag . Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, n.d.

Web. 31 May 2015. <http://ausstellung-gulag.org/en/492/>

Document USSR-54: The 'report of a Special Soviet Commission' Concerning the Katyn

Massacre, Submitted As Evidence at the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg

on 14 February 1946. Hull: The Heretical Press, 1998. Print.

Guity Novin. "A History of Graphic Design." Painting. Posters of the Russian Civil War of

1917-1921. Creative Commons Attribution, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://guity-

novin.blogspot.com/2012/12/chapter-63-posters-of-russian-civil-war.html>.

Secondary Sources:

Fisher, B. B. "The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field — Central Intelligence Agency."

N.p., 14 Apr. 2007. Web. 20 May 2015. <https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-

study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art6.html>.

Furr, G. "The “Official” Version of the Katyn Massacre Disproven?" Socialism and Democracy

27.2 (2013): 96-129. Print.

Gregory, P. R. Lenin's brain and other tales from the secret Soviet archives. Stanford, CA:

Hoover Institution Press, 2008. Print.

Paul, A. Katyn: The untold story of Stalin's Polish massacre. New York: Scribner's, 1991. Print.

Other Sources:

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Axworthy, M. Third Axis Forth Ally. London, United Kingdom: Arms and Armour, 1995.

Print.

Encyclopedia Britannica. "Bolshevik | Russian Political Faction | Britannica.com."

Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 31 May 2015.

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/72272/Bolshevik>.

Sanford, G. "The Katyn Massacre and Polish-Soviet Relations, 1941-43." Journal of

Contemporary History (2006): n. pag. Web. <10.1177/0022009406058676>.

Zaborowski, M. "The Double Tragedy of Katyn." ISS Apr. 2010: n. pag. Print.