katyn massacre, a game of politics
TRANSCRIPT
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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contention lies between Grover Furr’s skepticism of archaeological finds and historical
documents versus the official version of the Katyn Massacre as presented in the books of Allen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.