KATYN MASSACRE: RUSSIAN WEB OF CONSPIRACY

On April 16, 2012 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced its judgement in the Case of Janowiec And Others vs the Russian government.  Two applications had been filed, in 2007 and 2009, by fifteen Polish nationals, later joined by the Polish government. They raised grievances against the Russian government for its refusal to allow access to its files containing information about the victims of the Katyn Massacre.

In 1940 the Soviet NKVD under Stalins' orders executed more than 16,000 Polish Officers in the forests near Smolensk, Russia. Three years later the Germans discovered the mass graves and denounced the Soviets as the perpetrators.  The Soviets adamantly denied it, and enjoyed the protection of its allies Great Britain and the United States, whose tacit support ensured that the controversy would remain obscure for decades. 

Exhumed bodies of Polish Officers massacred at Katyn 1940

Mikhail Gorbachev

 
In April 1990 President Mikhail Gorbachev gave State secret documents to the Polish President, which contained information that proved irrefutably that the Katyn Massacre was carried out by the Soviet secret police, and not the Germans. The USSR publicly expressed "profound regret". Gorbachev stated, "It is not easy to speak of this tragedy, but it is necessary."  His gesture, and the admission of Soviet guilt, was unprecedented in the history of Russian-Polish relations.  But despite these revelations, and the subsequent release of more secret Soviet documents about Katyn, the spectre of Russian conspiracy prevailed.



In September 2004 the Russian government promised that information relating to the Katyn Massacre would be submitted to Polish officials as soon as the documents became "declassified".  Surprisingly, in March 2005, the Prosecutor-General's Office declared that the investigation was officially discontinued, that the reasons for so doing was itself a State secret, and that such documents were inaccessible to foreign nationals. The Russian authorities refused to even provide a copy of their decision to discontinue proceedings.  In the meantime out of a total of 183 volumes of files which had been accumulated by the Russian investigative team, there remained 116 volumes still classified as top secret. (NB. On April 7, 2011 the Soviets handed Poland eleven more volumes of declassified documents related to Katyn.)

Soviet declassified documents regarding the Katyn Massacre April 7, 2011

Alexander Savenkov

In March 2005 the Polish Sejm (Parliament) unanimously passed an Act requesting full disclosure from the Russian government regarding documents about the Katyn Massacre, and their acknowledgment of the fact that it was genocide.  Poland emphasized that the refusal by Russia to provide access to the records of the investigation, made it "difficult to determine the whole truth about the murder and its perpetrators."   However, the Chief Military Prosecutor for the Russian Federation, Alexander Savenkov attested that the Katyn Massacre was not an act of genocide, and that there was " absolutely no basis to talk about this in judicial terms" since the perpetrators of the crime had already been found guilty and were dead.



It was therefore not surprising that the Russian government refused to cooperate during the ECHR proceedings. The Court charged the Russian government with a breach of Article 38 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which stipulates that all parties to a case must submit "all necessary facilities"  to the Court upon request.  The Russian government did not.

The court proceedings were fraught with an endless array of Russian-style tactics of evasion and lies, rebuttals, and stonewalling. For example in 2003, Mr. Szewczyk, the lawyer representing  Mr. Janowiec, applied to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, with a request for access to documents related to Mr. Janowiec, and two other persons. The Russian office denied access to such information on the grounds that "documents could only be given to the officially recognized victims or their representatives." Despite repeated attempts, the applicants' lawyers were unable to obtain such recognition for their clients.

The Russian propensity to wield contradictions and ambiguity was particularly frustrating to the Court and painful for the Applicants to bear.  Note that in April 2007 the Military Court of the Moscow Command concluded that there were no legal grounds to assume that Mr. Janowiec and others were victims of the massacre.  According to Russian authorities their names were listed among the prisoners at Starobelsk camp, but their remains had not been identified during the investigation.  And since their bodies had not been identified, there was "no proof that the applicants' relatives had lost their lives as a result of the crime of abuse of power (Article 193.17 of the 1926 Soviet Criminal Code.) In essense, the Russian defense claimed that the whereabouts of the victims were unknown, as though they had "vanished." However, on June 23, 2003, the Prosecutor General's Office declared that an investigation completed in 1991, in which 200 bodies were exhumed from the Smolensk area, resulted in the identification of "some of them including Mr. Nawratil and Mr. Janowiec".  In 1943, of a total of 4,243 bodies exhumed near Katyn, 2,730 were identified. Among them were the bodies of relatives of the claimants in the proceedings.

Vladimir Putin

The ECHR also charged the Russian Government with a violation under Article 3 of the Convention. The applicants had suffered an ordeal that lasted for decades in their pursuit for information about their relatives.  Throughout the process they endured "official denial and indifference in the face of their acute anxiety to know the circumstances of the death of their close family members and their burial sites."  The Russian authorities were unresponsive, and provided information that was either contradictory or ambiguous, and that such information was acknowledged at the highest political level.  No effort was ever made on their part to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of their relatives, nor locate their burial sites.

The ECHR asserted that a denial of crimes against humanity is counter to the fundamental values of the Convention, and of democracy.  The Russian response runs contrary to these fundamental values, and  "demonstrated a callous disregard for the applicants' concern and deliberate obfuscation of the circumstances of the Katyn Massacre."

Russian unwillingness to cooperate with the ECHR and their refusal to make full disclosure about Katyn,  have not contributed one iota to improving Russian-Polish relations.  It has accomplished the reverse. It has elicited a heightened degree of suspicion, distrust, and hostility towards the Russian government, feelings which are unlikely to recede unless the Russian government, and in particular, President Putin, shore up the courage to speak the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.  

MEMORIAL TO VICTIMS OF KATYN MASSACRE, SMOLENSK RUSSIA

The complete transcript of the Judgement of the ECHR, dated April 16, 2012,  is available on line.  Please click here.

WW2 MILITARY UNIFORMS OF THE POLISH ARMED FORCES

POLISH UNIFORMS

POLISH INFANTRY WW2

Polish Infantry - Private (1939)

01  wz. 1939 "rogatywka" garrison cap
02  wz. 1937 "rogatywka" field cap
03  wz. 1937  steel helmet
04  wz. 1936  jacket
05  dog tag
06  WST wz. 1932 gas mask in a tarpaulin bag
07  personal dressing
08  leather ammo pouches
09  wz. 1933 breadbag
10  leather main belt
11  wz. 1938 canteen
12  wz. 1928 bayonet cover
13  folding shovel in a leather cover
14  wz. 1933 backpack with blanket
15  standard army biscuit
16  wz. 1931 mess kit

Polish troops (just before WW2) note French gas mask canisters

17  spoon + fork kit
18  owijacze - belts of cloth used instead of socks
19  boots
20  GR-31 grenade - frag
21  GR-31 grenade - concussion
22  7,92 mm Mauser 1898a rifle
23  7,92 mm ammo clips
24  wz.1924 bayonet
25  wire cutting shears

Polish Infantry 1939

Polish mountain infantry -  Parade of Podhale Rifles circa 1936

Polish Soldiers of Podhale Rifles Regiment


 

Polish Soldiers of the Podhale Rifles Regiment -background High Tatras Mountains
(notice the icepick?)

Cloth insignia on field uniforms of Polish Podhale Rifles

Es steht ein kleines, kleines Edelweiß
auf einer steilen, steilen Felsenhöh! 

There is a small, small edelweiss
on a steep, steep rocky heights!

Highlander Cross badge worn on the collars of the Podhale Rifles Regiment until 1945

The traditional symbols of the Podhale Rifles regiment are the edelweiss and the Mountain Cross, the latter which has been part of the folk culture of the Polish mountain regions. It has no relation whatsoever to the Nazi swastikas of the NSDAP.  In fact the Mountain Cross pre-dates the rise of the Nazi party.

Franciszek Kosibor in his uniform of Podhale Rifles-1939 Defensive War

Polish Uhlan (1939)

01  wz. 1937 "rogatywka" field cap
02  wz. 1932  forage cap

Polish Uhlan

03  "Adrian" French steel helmet
04  wz. 1936 jacket
05  wz. 1931 canteen
06  dog tag
07  leather ammo pouches for Mauser ammo
08  main belt
09  RSC gas mask with canister
10  wz. 1924 bayonet cover
11  folding shovel in a leather cover
12  boots with spurs
13  wz. 1931 mess kit
14  personal dressing
15  wz. 1934 cavalry sabre
16  7,92mm Mauser 1898a rifle
17  wz. 1924 bayonet
18  7,92 mm ammo clips
19  fork + spoon kit

(Photo: Rogatywka with Polish coat of arms and pulkownik is the rank insignia of a Colonel.)


"Rogatywka" is the Polish name for an asymmetrical, peaked,four-pointed military cap. "Rog" is a derivative of the word and means "horn". No other army in the world has such a cap. There are two types of caps, the hardened version, indicated by "Mk.1935, is olive green with black peak and is worn in full gala uniforms; its rim color marks the unit type. The soft version was worn before WWII and during the period of the PRL, but was withdrawn after 1990. Unlike most military forces, Polish soldiers do not decorate their caps with military insignia, but rather with the Polish White Eagle, which is the Polish Coat of Arms. Rim colors have specific meanings as follows;


Navy blue – generals, mechanized troops, law corps and National Honour Guard
Orange – units dedicated to honor historical panzer troops, scouts
Dark green – rocket forces, artillery, anti-aircraft units
Black – engineering units, cadets
Cornflower – HQs, radio services
Cherry – medics
Scarlet – Military Police
Violet – chaplains
Yellow – headquarters, 1st Warsaw Mechanized Division, 1st Warsaw Armoured Division

Czapka of a wachtmeister of 1st Uhlan Regiment of Polish Legion

CZAPKA is the Polish word for a cap.  It was the headgear of 19th century Polish cavalry and was quite high and consisted of a four-pointed cap emblazoned with the regimental insignia on the front.  Sometimes feathers or rosettes were added.

painting of 19th century Uhlan

Polish Uhlans

Polish Uhlans in riding formation 1939 Poland

Polish Cavalry Officer (1939)

01  wz.1935 "rogatywka" garrison cap

Polish Cavalry Officer - Lt. Col Władysław Anders before 1939

02  wz.1923 forage cap
03  round cap of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment
04  wz.1937 "rogatywka" field cap
05  wz.1936 officers' garrison jacket,
insignia of the 6th Uhlan Regiment on collar tabs
06  memorial badge of the 21st Uhlan Regiment
07  dog tag
08  wz.1936 officers' field jacket
09  9mm wz.1935 "Vis" pistol
10  personal dressing
11   wz.1936 officers' main belt
12  leather holster for the wz.1935 pistol
13  officers' boots with spurs
14  officers' field bag, B-type
15  binoculars
16  strap for wz.1935 pistol
17  wz.1921/22 officers' sabre

Polish Cavalry - maneuvers before outbreak of WW2

Private, 1st Grenadier Division, Polish Army in France (1940)

Polish soldiers Camp Coetquidan, France1940

01  Model 1919 beret
02  Model 1918 French forage cap
03  French Model 1915 "Adrian" helmet
04  Polish "rogatywka" cap
05  ammo clip
06  ammo pack
07  leather webbing
08  Model 1916 ammo pouches
09  Model 03/14 main belt
10  8 mm Berthier 1892 carbine
11  Model 1938 privates' jacket
12  Model 1922 trousers
13  Model 1935 gas mask with leather bag
14  calendar
15  Model 1893 backpack
16  blanket
17  Model 1935 mess kit
18  Model 1935 cup
19  canteen
20  Model 1917 boots

Hieronim Dekutowski in Polish Army, France 1940

Hieronim Dekutowski- Polish Army WW2

Hieronim Dekutowski (noms de guerre "Zapora", "Odra", "Rezu", "Stary", "Henryk Zagon") was an Officer of the Polish Armed forces fighting in the Western front, and was a legendary Cichociemni and guerilla commander of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army). After the so-called "Soviet liberation" of Poland, Dekutowski went into hiding from the Soviet NKVD and Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (UB). On February 5, 1945, Abram Tauber, the Jewish commander of the UB in Chodel invited four members of the Polish underground to his headquarters.  Tauber had previously been rescued from the Nazis by Polish AK units, and often sought refuge at the "Zapora" compound.   But when the Polish men arrived at the station Tauber ordered them to be tied up and single-handedly shot them one after another.   In retaliation, Dekutowski attacked and destroyed the UB station in Chodel. The incident sparked an anti-Soviet uprising in the region.

General Sikorski inspects Polish troops Buzuluk, Russia Dec 1941

Private, Polish Army in the USSR (1941)

01  wz.1937 "rogatywka" field cap
02  Model 1937 overcoat
03  main belt
04  Model 1904 ammo pouches
05  felt boots
06  tarpaulin gloves
07  7,62 mm Tokarev SVT-40 rifle

Polish Army in USSR 1941-42

Polish Army parade at Buzułuku - USSR December 1941

Military exercise in Polish camp at Tockoje- Russia 1941-1942

General Anders and General Sikorski at reviewing stand inspecting Polish troops in USSR 1941

F/0 Miroslaw Feric -Ace Pilot

Major, Polish Air Force in the UK (1940-45)

01  RAF officer's cap with Polish wz.1936 air force eagle
02  RAF officer's jacket, Polish major insignia on the collar
tabs, British Flight Lieutenant insignia on the sleeves.
03  Officers' trousers
04  Shoes
05  Briefcase
06  Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Cross
07  Infantry Officer's School Badge
08  Observer badge
09  British Navigator's wings 

Polish Ace Pilots - Jan Zumbach on the left

Polish Pilots - France 1940

Division 315 ‘Dębliński’ - Aug 14, 1942 Divisional Day (UK)

Polish 301 Bombing Division

Photo:  (Aug 20, 1940) Bramcote, UK. Officers inspecting Polish bombing squadrons in formation.
First row L-R; Lieutenant Colonel Roman Rudkowski-the first commanding officer of the Division 301, General Władysław Sikorski, King George VI, and Captain A. Davidson, Station Leader.

General Sikorski awards Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari to ace pilot Jan Zumbach Dec. 23, 1940

Polish Pilots (background is famous the PZL 37 Los Polish bomber )

Polish Ace Pilots - Kosciuszko Squadron-Battle of Britain 1940

GENERAL WLADYSLAW SIKORSKI

 

Polish Soldiers Battalion Chlopskie

Partisan of the Peasant Battalions (Bataliony Chlopskie) Poland 1942

01  wz.1937 "rogatywka" cap
02  jacket
03  trousers
04  boots
05  improvised armband
06  9 mm MP-40 SMG



Bataliony Chlopskie was a resistance movement and partisan organisation created in the mid 1940s by
the Stronnictwo Ludowe, (Polish People's Party), an agrarian political party.  By 1944 it was partially integrated with the Armia Krajowa (Home Army). At its peak it had 175,000 members. Their first major action was during the Zamosc Uprising in 1942 when the Germans expelled the Poles, expropriated their farmland and and gave it to German settlers. After several major battles, the Germans stopped the expulsions.

Battalion Chlopskie "Odwet"

Commander of Battalion Chlopskie Franciszek Kaminski

Major, 1st Polish Armoured Division (UK) 1942-43

1st Polish Armoured Div - Regimental Day

01  British forage cap with a Polish wz.1940 military eagle and major's insignia
02  British officer's jacket
03  British trousers
04  Officer's belt
05  Shirt and Tie
06  Officers' boots
07  Black shoulder strap of 1st Armoured Div
08  1st Armoured Division Badge
09  Banners of 1st Independent HMG Batallion
10  1st HMG Batallion's honorary cord

Photo:   Haddington 29.04.1943 The colour of the 10th Dragoons during the celebrations of the regimental day of the 10th Mounted Rifles.

July 1944 England 1st Polish AD in training

(L) General Stanislaw Maczek

General Stanislaw Maczek

2nd Lt, 1st Infantry Division, Polish People's Army (USSR) 1943

1st Polish (Peoples) Army Parade January 19, 1944

01  wz. 1937 field "rogatywka" cap
02  Model 1936 drill jacket, wz.1943 military
eagle on the buttons
03  Soviet breeches
04  Model 1935 officer's belt
05  synthetic leather holster for Nagant revolver
06  synthetic leather map pouch
07  leather boots
08  Adrianoy compass
09  binoculars
10  7,62 mm PPSh-41 SMG
11  decorations: Cross of the Valorous,
"Zasluzonym na Polu Chwaly" medal

Polish People's Army

Polish soldiers of the 24th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment.

 (Vehicle may be an SU-85) Polish eagle moderated.

Polish soldiers of the  1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division-Soviet backed July 28-30 1943

Polish soldiers of the Soviet backed 1st Polish Army Jan 1945 so-called liberation of Warsaw

Polish soldiers in Berlin May 1945

Zoska Battalion Warsaw Uprising

Soldier of the Warsaw Uprising 1944

01  German "Gladiator" helmet
02  Wehrmacht sweatshirt in "Sumpftarnmuster" camp
03  Polish wz.1933 main belt
04  Polish breeches
05 German pre-1939 boots
06  Ak (Home Army) armband
07  9 mm Sten Mk II SMG
08 German ammo pouches for MP-38/40 mags


Photo of Zoska Battalion: Left to Right: Polish resistance fighters Wojciech Omyla, Juliusz Bogdan Deczkowski, and Tadeusz Milewski in captured German uniforms and Kar98k rifles, Warsaw, Poland, 5 Aug 1944.

Polish scout Warsaw Uprising

Polish Scouts Armia Krajowa Warsaw Uprising 1944

Polish Insurgents column - Warsaw Uprising 1944

Home Army - Warsaw Uprising

Lieutenant, 1st Polish Airborne Brigade, Arnhem 1944

1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade # 5

 

01  British beret with Polish eagle and rank insignia
02  "Denison smock" Mk I Jacket
03  "Oversmock" vest
04  Officers' boots
05  trousers from M37 Battle dress
06  British map pouch
07  captured German ammo pouch
used as a cover for a flashlight
08  webbing, belt and holster for
Enfield No2 revolver
09  9mm Sten Mk II SMG
10  AT Mk II airborne helmet

Standard 1st Polish Parachute Brigade

Polish paratroopers during field exercises Scotland, Kingcraig circa 1943. These men were elite special operations troops who were called "Cichociemni" the dark and silent ones. Of 2,413 candidates, only 605 men were able to complete the training successfully, but 579 qualified for air missions.

Cichociemni  in training (elite special operations Polish paratroopers)

Paratroopers of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade - Market Garden

Allied Paratroopers and 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade - Market Garden

Field Marshall Montgomery inspect 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade

General Stanislaw Sosabowski  at Driel  (Battle of Arnhem)

General Stanislaw Sosabowski

Commander of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade

Private, 1st Polish Army, Kolberg March 1945

01  wz.1937 field "rogatywka" cap
02  Soviet M 1940 helmet with Polish wz.1943 military eagle
03  Model 1937 overcoat

Kolberg 1945

04  Model 1936 tarpaulin jacket, infantry banners on the collar tabs
05  M 1935 drill trousers
06  owijacze (leggings)
07  Soviet main belt
08  boots
09  German M-09 ammo pouches
10  pot
11  self-made spoon
12  7,62 Mosin 1891/30 rifle with bayonet
13  F-1 grenade
14  RPG-1 anti-tank grenade
15  oiler for the Mosin rifle
16  Maxim HMG ammo belt container
17  canteen 

Polish soldiers - Kolberg 1945

Major, maintenance units of the 1st Polish Armoured Division (Germany 1945)

01  M 37/40 battle dress, maintenance units banners on the collar tabs

1st Polish Armoured Division

02  black shoulder strap of 1st Armoured Div
03  1st Arm Div badge
04  Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Cross
05  M 37 webbing
06  11,43 mm Colt M1911 pistol
07  Officers' boots
08  leather vest
09  drivers' gloves
10  armoured units' training helmet
11  AT Mk II motorcycle helmet
12  Mk II helmet
13 leggings

Photo at right: the 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment at Haddington 29.4.1943. Regimental Day

1st Polish Armoured Division Aug 1944 (Sherman Tank)

1st Polish Armoured Division 1944 (Normandy)

1st Polish Armoured Division

Polish Navy

Presentation of new Polish Naval Officers to President on Oct 15, 1936 Warsaw Castle

Polish sailors in UK 1943

Illustration of Polish sailor's uniform WW2

King George VI reviews Polish naval regiment (UK)

Polish Naval Commander RearAdmiral Jozef Unrug (1930 ranked Captain)

Jozef Unrug Polish Vice Admiral

2nd Polish Corps with Wojtek the cub bear

2nd Lt., AAA of the 2nd Polish Corps (Italy 1945)

01  M40 battle dress, AAA colors of the collar tabs
02  American woollen shirt
03  M40 overcoat
04  M42 beret
05  boots
06  M37 breadbag
07  dog tags
08  ribbons of the Monte Cassino Cross
09  2nd Polish Corps Artillery memorial badge
10  Polish-English pocket dictionary
11  Propaganda leaflet

Official Emblem Wojtek

Wojtek was more than a mascot. He grew up to become an official soldier of the 2nd Polish Corp - the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.  He carried heavy loads of ammo for his unit.

Polish Soldiers 2nd Polish Corps Monte Cassino, Italy 1944

An Illustration of soldiers of 2nd Polish Corps Monte Cassino Italy

Soldiers of 2nd Polish Corps charging up Phantom Hill - Monte Cassino

General Anders salutes soldiers of 2nd Polish Corps

General Wladsylaw Anders - Commander of 2nd Polish Corps