DECEMBER 23 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

DECEMBER 23

1937

Wellington Bomber First Flight:  The first production of the  Wellington Mk I, L4212, conducted its first flight on December 23, 1937. The  L4212 subsequently participated in an intensive flight programme. Flight trials with L4212 affirmed the aerodynamic stability initially encountered by K4049, but also revealed the aircraft to be nose-heavy during dives, a flaw attributed to the redesigned elevator. The problem was resolved following modifications, including the interlinking of the flaps and the elevator trim tabs.  The Wellington was used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War. During 1943, it was surpassed by larger four-engined "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other capacities, such as anti-submarine aircraft.  It was the only British bomber that was produced throughout the duration of the war, and produced in greater numbers than any other British-built bomber.

1939

Stefan Bronisław Starzyński was the Mayor of Warsaw before and during the Invasion of Poland in 1939.  He was assassinated by the Nazi Germans Gestapo between December 21 and 23, 1939 in Warsaw, or its environs. Definitive proof is unavailable.  According to recent eyewitness testimony during an inquiry of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, the attack was carried out by Gestapo functionaries Oberscharführer Hermann Schimmann, Hauptscharführer Weber, and Unterscharführer Perlbach.  Again, it was not possible to determine who gave the order to assassinate Mayor Starzynski.  When Poland was invaded by the Germans on September 1, 1939, Stefan Starzynski refused to evacuate the city along with other state authorities and diplomats.  He stayed behind and joined the infantry army as a Major. When Warsaw capitulated to the Germans on September 27, a Polish pilot offered Starzynski the means to evacuate, but was refused. On October 5th, he was arrested by the Gestapo, released, and then arrested again on October 27 and detained in Pawiak prison. By December he was killed.

2005

Lech Kaczynski Won Presidency:   On December 23, 2005, Lech Kaczynski assumed office of President of the Republic of Poland, taking an oath before the National Assembly.  During his inauguration he stated several goals he would pursue during his presidency. Among those concerning internal affairs were: increasing social solidarity in Poland, bringing justice to those who were responsible for, or were affected by communist crimes in the People's Republic of Poland, fighting corruption, providing security in economy, and safety for development of family. Kaczyński also stated that he would seek to abolish economic inequalities between various regions of Poland. In his speech he also emphasized combining modernization with tradition and remembering the teachings of Pope John Paul II.  On December 21, 2008, Kaczyński became the first Polish head of state to visit a Polish synagogue and to attend religious services held there. His attendance coincided with the first night of Hanukkah.....On April 10, 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154M plane crashed while approaching Smolensk Air Base in Russia.  Aboard were Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria Kaczyńska, and other members of a Polish delegation (top public and military figures) who were travelling from Warsaw to Katyn to commemorate the Katyn massacre. There were no survivors.  96 people were killed in the crash, including many of Poland's highest military and civilian leaders.  Poland was in national mourning, and international reaction was one of shock.  Kaczynski was greatly admired by the Jews in Israel, because he promoted educating Polish youth about the Holocaust. There was widespread grief in Israel over his death.

KATYN MASSACRE: SOVIET NKVD KILLING FIELDS

VEIL OF SECRECY

The Katyn Massacre was one of the most heinous crimes ever committed against the Polish nation by the infamous Soviet NKVD. Even after seventy-two years the tragedy of Katyn elicits little if any attention by the West. A veil of secrecy was cast upon Katyn during WWII, by Anglo-American politicians in an effort to maintain and nurture the tenuous alliance or collaboration of their Soviet counterparts. Their objective was to win the war against the Nazis at whatever cost. Extraordinary measures were taken by Churchill and Roosevelt to portray Stalin as a friend of the West, going so far as to refer to him as "Uncle Joe". But there was nothing benign about Stalin. He was by far the most evil dictator and mass murderer, outranking even the perverted insanity of Hitler.

THE MOST EVIL MASS MURDERS IN HISTORY

Stalin decreed the deaths and execution of millions of people. Though statistics vary among historians, the total numbers are quite likely closer to 40 million, which included the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, executions , purges, deportations, and deaths by starvation and overwork of prisoners held at gulag camps. Among the victims were Polish nationals - Jews as well as Christians, as well as Russians and other nationals.

Notebook: Great Names in Russian History

What is most disturbing is that there are many Russian people today who glorify Stalin. In a Russian survey, Stalin was ranked third by a television audience as one of the greatest men in Russian history. Particularly worrisome is the recent sale of school notebooks targeted to young Russian students, depicting the image of Stalin on the front cover - blatant propaganda.(Thankfully, many Russian citizens and ministers of government have voiced their opposition to this trend.)

NAZI-SOVIET INVASION

POLISH OFFICERS CAPTURED BY RED ARMY SEPT 1939

On September 1, 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland from the north, west and south and seventeen days later the Soviet Red Army invaded Poland from the east, partitioning Poland in two - the result of a secret pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop) signed on August 23, 1939 between Germany and Russia. Their objective was to eliminate the Polish state, beginning with its leaders, military and intelligentsia. While the Nazis inflicted their reign of terror against the Polish people in the west, the Soviets swept through eastern Poland arresting and deporting from 250,000 to 454,700 Polish soldiers, officers, and policemen to Russian gulags. Many Polish were able to escape but about 125,000 remained imprisoned in Soviet NKVD camps. By 1941 over 1.5 million Polish people, citizens and military men had been deported to the work camps and gulags. Hundreds of thousands were either executed, or perished from the severe cold, disease, and starvation.



VICTIMS OF THE KATYN MASSACRE

In March of 1940, upon the recommendations of the NKVD Chief, Lavrenti Beria, Stalin decreed the execution of thousands of Poles. About 20,000 Polish prisoners were massacred, including an admiral, 14 generals, 24 colonels, 79 lieutenant colonels, 258 majors, 654 captains, 17 naval captain, 3,420 NCO's, 200 pilots, seven chaplains, three landowners, a prince, 43 officials, 85 privates, 131 refugees, 20 university professors, 300 physicians, several hundred lawyers, engineers, teachers, more than 100 writers and journalists, priests, artists, judges, an Olympic athlete, and the Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army.

PHOTOS OF A FEW OF THE POLISH OFFICERS WHO WERE MURDERED AT KATYN

After decades of denial, on April 13, 1990 the Soviet Union finally admitted that the Stalinist regime was responsible for the massacres but it wasn't until April 2011 that declassified documents confirmed the gruesome statistics: 21,857 Polish internees were executed after April 3, 1940. Of the total number, 4,421 were from Kozelsk, 3,820 from Starobelsk, 6,311 from Ostashkov and 7,305 from prisons in Belarus and the Ukraine. Among the victims was one woman. About 8% of the victims of the Katyn massacre were Polish Jews.

According to sources, the NKVD spared the lives of 395 Polish prisoners, although no mention has been made of their names other than that of Stanislaw Swianiewicz and Jozef Czapski, both of whom were transported first to camp Yukhnov and then to Gryazovets.


COLD-BLOODED MURDER

Katyn Executioner Vasili Blokhin

Under the command of Major General P.K. Sprunenko, head of the NKVD POW department, Polish prisoners were organized into "selections" or groups and were executed at various locations including at Katyn. One of the locations was at the NKVD headquarters in Kalinin, Russia (Tver). Thousands of Polish prisoners were summoned one by one to appear in the presence of Vasili Blokhin, Soviet Major-General and the official NKVD executioner. Blokhin was personally responsible for devising and carrying out the system of executing as many Polish prisoners as possible. In April 1940, the NKVD shot 300 Polish prisoners per night for 28 consecutive nights.


It was a scene from a macabre nightmare. The walls of the execution room were heavily padded to ensure soundproofing. The floor was constructed of concrete and tilted at a sloping angle and was installed with a drain and a hose. One by one the Polish prisoners were led to a small red antechamber which the Soviets referred to as the "Leninist room". There, each prisoner was subjected to a brief identification, after which they were handcuffed and led to the next room - where the execution would take place.

Each prisoner was shoved against a log wall and without any formalities, or reading of sentence, Blokhin, wearing a leather butcher's apron, cap and shoulder-length gloves, entered the room, took aim with his pistol and shot each prisoner once at the base of his skull. It was done very quickly and efficiently with no interruptions. Blothkin later boasted that he averaged one prisoner every 3 minutes.

To add to the horror, Blokhin carried around his own briefcase filled with pistols. He had particular preference for the German Walther Model 2 .25 ACP pistol, because he considered them more reliable under heavy use. As a matter of fact, this choice in weaponry provided the NKVD with a plausible argument in denying Soviet culpability when the grave sites were discovered by the Germans in 1943. It was fairly easy for the Soviets to convince everyone that the Germans were responsible, since the Walther pistol was standard issue to Nazi agents.

NKVD EXECUTION ROOM TVER

After each execution, the NKVD agents or guards would then drag the bodies of the Polish soldiers from the room and hose down the floor of all the blood. This scene was repeated continuously throughout the night until just before dawn the next day. The corpses were taken through the back door of the execution room and loaded onto covered flat-bed trucks. Twice each night these trucks drove to Mednoye where the bodies were dumped into large trenches that had been prepared in advance. Blokhin made arrangements for a bulldozer to be sent to the site with two drivers who dug up at least 24 trenches measuring a total of eight to ten meters. By daybreak the graves had all been covered up with earth. The NKVD worked this way without stopping for ten hours throughout the night and at dawn, Blokhin rewarded his accomplices with vodka.


Thousands more Polish prisoners were executed in Katyn forest. They had been told that they were being repatriated to Poland. The first group boarded a train, but strangely it was not travelling east but rather westward. Trains arrived at Gniezdowo station about 18 kilometers from Smolensk, others reached Smolensk, just outside of Katyn forest. From there the Polish prisoners were herded into black vans, with the windows blurred, and driven to a clearing in the woods. When they stepped out of the van, NKVD agents forced them to kneel at the edge of a huge pit. Their hands were tied behind their backs with rope or wire, and a choke knot tied around their necks and hands to prevent them from struggling.  They were surrounded by dozens of NKVD agents, who systematically shot each Polish man at the back of the head, and dumping their bodies into the open pit. These massacres went on continuously throughout several weeks. By mid-May over 4,500 Polish officers had been executed and buried in eight large mass graves, the largest one containing 12 layers of corpses.

KATYN MASSACRE - HANDS TIED BEHIND BACK - CORPSE OF POLISH OFFICER

Corpses of Polish Officers Exhumed from Mass Graves April 1943 KATN FOREST

Sir Owen O'Malley, the British Ambassador to the Polish government-in-exile, described the grisly scene in his report:

"In the broad deep pit their comrades lay, packed closely around the edge, head to feet, like sardines in a tin.... up and down on the bodies the executioners tramped, hauling [the corpses] about and treading in the blood like butchers in a stockyard."

CORPSES OF POLISH OFFICERS PILED INTO MASS PITS - KATYN FOREST

Polish prisoners from Kozelsk camp were transported to Smolensk and executed in Katyn Forest. No fewer than than 4,410 prisoners were murdered.

Polish prisoners from Starobelsk camp were transported to Kharkov and were taken to the basement of an NKVD prison where they were executed by shots below the back of the head. Their bodies were buried in mass graves on the grounds of the NKVD sanatorium (region 6 of forest-park zone) approximately 1.5 kilometers from the village of Pyatikhatka (near Kharkov). No fewer than 3,739 prisoners were executed there.

Polish prisoners from Ostashov camp were taken to the NKVD prison in Kalinin, where they were killed by a shot at the back of the head. No fewer than 6,314 prisoners were murdered.

Map of Polish Deportations - NKVD prison camps - and location of KATYN MASSACRE April 1940

On July 30, 1941 the Sikorski-Maisky agreement was signed between Russia and Poland whereby Stalin agreed to the release tens of thousands of Polish prisoners from Soviet gulags, and granted them so-called "amnesty" - preposterous since the Polish were not guilty of any crime. Nevertheless, it was agreed upon that a Polish army would be created on Soviet soil to fight alongside the Soviets. Despite Soviet assurances of cooperation, the fledgling Polish army was plagued by starvation, and subjected to training with wooden rifles. After considerable pressure by Generals Anders and Sikorski, Stalin finally relented and agreed to the evacuation of Polish troops through Persia (Iran), Iraq, to Palestine. As evacuees began to arrive in Palestine, it became evident to General Anders that there were thousands of Polish officers unaccounted for, and whose whereabouts could not be explained. Despite intense inquiries by Polish authorities, Stalin remained unresponsive, providing only flimsy explanations as to what may have transpired. He claimed that they may have gotten lost somewhere in Mongolia. It remained an unresolved mystery for the next two years.


Acting on information provided by a local Russian peasant, the Nazi-occupiers found the mass graves at Katyn forest in April 1943 and it was apparent that the Soviets were responsible for the atrocity. It set off a series of virulent Soviet, and Nazi denials and counter-accusations - and a controversy which lingered for decades after the end of the war. Polish officials were all too familiar with Soviet deception and chicanery and made every effort to convince Churchill and Roosevelt of Soviet culpability in the massacre but to no avail. Though Britain and the United States were aware of the facts, neither wanted to acknowledge it for fear of offending Stalin. When General Sikorski called for an investigation of the massacre by the International Red Cross, Stalin broke off all diplomatic ties with the Polish government in exile, and proceeded to install a puppet government in Soviet-occupied Poland. The Polish government-in-exile was severely chastised by Churchill and made out to be the villain.

With the end of the WWII and throughout much of the Cold War, the subject of Katyn was kept secret and hidden. But it was not over by any means. By the early 1970s Polish emigres communities in the UK began to question the HMG about Katyn, and lambasted British officials for their complicity. Surprisingly, even three decades after the war, the Brits were still ill at ease to enter any discussion on the subject for fear of provoking Soviet wrath.

On November 11, 1971, Poles in the UK created the Katyn Memorial Fund Appeal in an effort to raise enough money for the creation of a monument honouring the memory of the victims of the Katyn Massacre. The Katyn Committee proposed that a 20 foot high obelisk be erected at Cromwell Road Triangle. Though some British officials were favorable to the idea, the majority of them firmly opposed the plan for fear of long term negative effects on Anglo-Soviet relations. Those fears were magnified when on September 13, the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, S.P. Kozyrev, delivered the following message:

Attempts have again been made recently in Britain, with aims hostile to the Soviet Union, to propagate the slanderous invention of Goebbels propaganda about the so-called Katyn case... according to the British press, the initiators of this campaign have already received the approval of the local authorities to set up such a memorial obelisk in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea... The Ministry expresses the hope that the British Government will take all the appropriate measures for its part to oppose this provocative act, which can only bring damage to Soviet/British relations.

Former KGB Vladimir Putin

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and collapse of the communism, the truth about Katyn finally began to emerge. In 1990 Gorbachev made the first official statement admitting that the Stalinist regime was responsible for the Katyn massacre and released numerous documents to the Republic of Poland. Further evidence was released in 1991 and 1992 however full disclosure was never provided. In March 2005, the Polish Sejm voted unanimously in favor of an Act calling upon the Russian government to declassify all documents related to the Katyn massacre, and to admit that it was an act of genocide. Moreover, the Polish Foreign Ministry requested confirmation from the Russian government about the alleged film footage taken by the NKVD during the gruesome massacres in April of 1940. Apparently there was no response other than that given by Vladimir Putin, saying that the Katyn massacre was merely a "political crime" and not a genocide.


By 2007 several Russian politicians (pro-Soviet communists) began to deny Soviet guilt of the Katyn Massacre and claimed that the documents that had been previously released were fakes. By the end of the year several Russian newspapers (Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Komsomolskaya Pravda, and Nezavisimaya Gazeta) were printing stories that reiterated the time-worn refrain that the Nazis were responsible for the crime. Irregardless, on May 8, 2010, the Russian government released 67 volumes of de-classified reports and documents to Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski which referred to "criminal case No. 159", an investigation that was instigated in the 1990s regarding the Katyn murders. Then Russian president Medvedev pledged that the Russian government would continue declassifying documents about the Katyn Massacre. While this is regarded as a positive step towards improving Russian-Polish bilateral relations, the rate of declassification of such documents is eternally slow, intermittent and piece meal.


THE SECOND KATYN

In a cruel twist of fate, on April 10, 2010 the aircraft carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 87 high-ranking government and military officials, crashed near the Katyn Forest, near Smolensk, Russia. All aboard perished. They were en route to attend ceremonies commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. The news of the tragedy reverberated around the world plunging the entire nation and Polish citizens worldwide into national mourning. Not long afterwards conspiracy theories began to circulate. Though the crash was investigated and deemed an accident, some sources maintain that there was a sinister element which led to the tragedy. Tragically, one may never know the truth.

THE SECOND KATYN TRAGEDY

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria,

 and government officials died in plane crash April 10, 2010

near Smolensk, Russia

Katyn-Kharkiv-Mednoye Memorial - KATYN MASSACRE SMOLENSK RUSSIA

Mémorial pour Président Lech Kaczynski

Il ya un an, le Président Lech Kaczynski a été sur le chemin de Smolensk en Russie avec 100 membres de sa délégation pour commémorer le 70e anniversaire du massacre de Katyn. Il avait l'intention de faire un discours important à tous ceux qui préside à la cérémonie à laquelle Poutine serait également présent. Ce discours n'a jamais été entendu. En un clin d'œil la Pologne a perdu son Président et la crème du gouvernement polonais - leurs voix réduites au silence à jamais. Cependant a nos voix poursuivre et il est dans cet esprit que je presente son discours en polonais, traduits en français, anglais, et italien.

Je dédie ce blog à la mémoire du Président Lech Kaczynski, son épouse Maria et les membres de la délégation qui ont péri dans l'accident d'avion le 10 avril 2010. Ils ne seront jamais oubliés.

Chers représentants des familles de Katyn Mesdames et Messieurs!

En avril 1940, plus de 21,000 prisonniers polonais des camps de concentration et les prisons furent assassinés du NKVD  Le génocide a été la volonté de Staline, à la demande des plus hautes autorités de l'Union soviétique. Alliance du Troisième Reich et l'Union soviétique, le pacte Molotov-Ribbentrop et l'invasion de la Pologne sur le Septembre 17, 1939 a atteint son paroxysme terrifiant dans le massacre de Katyn. Non seulement dans la forêt de Katyn, également chez les citoyens Tver, Kharkov et d'autres endroits connus et inconnus de l'exécution ont été tués de la Seconde République, les personnes qui ont formé la base de notre État, sans relâche au service de leur pays. Dans le même temps, la famille des assassinés et des milliers de résidents ont été pré limitrophes ont été envoyés en Union soviétique, où ils ont marqué le chemin de la souffrance indicible de la Pologne Golgotha ​​de l'Est.

La gare la plus tragique de cette route a été Katyn. officiers polonais, prêtres, fonctionnaires, policiers, gardes-frontières et les gardiens de prison ont été tués sans procès ni jugement. Ils ont été victimes de la guerre non déclarée. Ils ont été tués en violation des lois et des conventions du monde civilisé. Leur dignité en tant que soldats, des Polonais et des personnes. Les fosses de la mort avait pour cacher les corps des assassinés et la vérité sur le crime. Le monde ne sait jamais. Les familles des victimes ont été privés du droit à un deuil public, pour commémorer fièrement leurs proches. Recouvrement du sol les traces du crime, et le mensonge avait pour l'effacer de la mémoire humaine.

Cacher la vérité sur Katyn - l'effet de la décision de ceux qui ont commandité le crime - est devenue l'une des pierres angulaires de la politique dans la Pologne communiste d'après-guerre: le mensonge fondateur de l'ère communiste. Il fut un temps où la mémoire et la vérité sur Katyn de payer un prix élevé. Mais les proches des assassinés et les autres personnes courageuses gardé le souvenir, il a défendu et transmis aux générations futures des Polonais. la prit par le temps que le gouvernement communiste et qui ont cédé compatriotes libre, la Pologne indépendante. Par conséquent, chacun d'eux, surtout les familles de Katyn, nous devons le respect et la gratitude. Au nom de l'offre grâce République sincèrement le fait que défendre la mémoire de leurs proches pour sauver une dimension très importante de notre conscience et l'identité polonaise.

Katyn est devenu une plaie douloureuse dans l'histoire polonaise, mais aussi pendant des décennies empoisonné les relations entre Polonais et Russes. Faisons de Katyn plaie enfin guérir et cicatrice. Nous sommes déjà sur la route. Nous, les Polonais, les Russes apprécient ces dernières années. De cette façon, rapprochement entre nos peuples, nous devrions aller plus loin, sans l'arrêter ou de revenir en arrière.

Toutes les circonstances du massacre de Katyn doit être examinée et clarifiée. Il est important qui a été confirmé innocence des victimes, et que tous les documents relatifs à ce crime. Pour Katyn mensonge a disparu à jamais de l'espace public. Nous exigeons que ces actions principalement due à la mémoire des victimes et le respect de la souffrance de leurs familles. Mais je demande aussi au nom de valeurs communes qui doivent constituer le fondement de la confiance et de partenariat entre les pays voisins en Europe.

Rendons hommage à l'assassiné et de prier sur leurs têtes. Gloire aux héros! Honorer leur mémoire!

Une mer de bougies devant le palais présidentiel

Memoriale per il Presidente Lech Kaczynski

Un anno fa il Presidente della Polonia Lech Kaczynski era nell'aereo viaggiando verso Smolensk, Russia con 100 membri della sua delegazione per commemorare il 70 ° anniversario del massacro di Katyn. Il Presidente aveva progettato di consegnare un importante discorso a coloro che presiedono alla cerimonia, alla quale Putin sarebbe anche essere presenti. Il discorso non è mai stato ascoltato. In un batter d'occhio, la Polonia ha perso la sua Presidente e la crema di governo polacco - le loro voci a tacere per sempre. Ma le nostre voci continuamo, ed è con questo spirito che presento il Suo discorso in polacco et tradutto in italiano, francese ed inglese.

Io Dedico questo blog alla memoria del Presidente Lech Kaczynski, alla sua moglie Maria, ed ai membri della delegazione che perirono in un incidente aereo il 10 aprile 2010. Saranno ricordati per sempre.

Cari rappresentanti delle Famiglie Katyn, Signore e Signori!

Nel mese di aprile 1940, oltre 21 mila prigionieri polacchi dai campi di concentramento e nelle prigioni furono assassinati dalla NKVD. Il genocidio era la volontà di Stalin, su ordine delle più alte autorità dell'Unione Sovietica. Alleanza del Terzo Reich e l'Unione Sovietica, il patto Molotov-Ribbentrop e l'invasione della Polonia il 17 Settembre 1939 ha raggiunto il culmine nel terrificante massacro di Katyn. Non solo nella foresta di Katyn, anche i cittadini di Tver, Kharkov e altri luoghi conosciuti e sconosciuti di esecuzione sono stati uccisi della Seconda Repubblica, le persone che hanno costituito il fondamento della nostra statualità, implacabile al servizio del loro paese. Allo stesso tempo, la famiglia degli uccisi e migliaia di residenti sono stati pre confine sono stati inviati in Unione Sovietica, dove hanno segnato il cammino della sofferenza indescrivibile del Golgota polacco d'Oriente.

La stazione più tragico di questa strada era Katyn. ufficiali polacchi, sacerdoti, funzionari, polizia, guardie di frontiera e agenti di polizia penitenziaria sono stati uccisi senza processo o sentenza. Essi sono stati vittime della guerra non dichiarata. Sono stati uccisi in violazione delle leggi e delle convenzioni del mondo civilizzato. La loro dignità di soldati, polacchi e gente. Pits di morte nascose i corpi degli uccisi e la verità sul delitto. Il mondo non avrebbe mai saputo. Le famiglie delle vittime sono stati privati ​​del diritto di pubblico lutto, per ricordare con orgoglio i loro cari. Terreno coperto le tracce del delitto, e le menzogne ​​sono state perpetrate per cancellarlo dalla memoria umana.

Nascondere la verità su Katyn - l'effetto della decisione di coloro che hanno architettato il delitto - è diventato uno dei capisaldi della politica del dopoguerra in Polonia comunista: la menzogna fondazione del periodo comunista. E 'stato un momento in cui la memoria e la verità su Katyn a pagare un prezzo elevato. Ma i parenti degli uccisi e le altre persone coraggiose conservata la memoria, lo difese e passato alle future generazioni di polacchi. La prese per il momento il governo comunista e hanno assegnato connazionali libero, indipendente Polonia. Pertanto, tutti di loro, soprattutto le famiglie di Katyn, dobbiamo rispetto e gratitudine. A nome della Repubblica offerta grazie sincero al fatto che difendere la memoria dei loro cari per salvare una dimensione molto importante della nostra coscienza polacca e identità.

Katyn è diventata una dolorosa ferita della storia polacca, ma anche per decenni avvelenato i rapporti tra polacchi e russi. Facciamo Katyn ferita finalmente guarire .. Siamo già sulla strada. Noi, polacchi, i russi apprezzare negli ultimi anni. In questo modo, portando i nostri popoli, dobbiamo andare avanti, senza fermarsi né tornare indietro.

Tutte le circostanze del massacro di Katyn devono essere indagati e chiariti. E 'importante far conoscere l'innocenza delle vittime, e di tutti i documenti relativi a questo crimine. Per Katyn bugia scomparve per sempre dallo spazio pubblico. Chiediamo che queste azioni in primo luogo per la memoria delle vittime e il rispetto per la sofferenza delle loro famiglie. Ma ho anche la domanda in nome di valori comuni che deve costituire il fondamento di fiducia e di collaborazione tra le nazioni vicine in Europa.

Rendiamo omaggio alla assassinato e pregare sulle loro teste. Gloria agli eroi! Onorare la loro memoria!

Un mare di candele di fronte al Palazzo Presidenziale

Poland 2010: A Retrospective

As we near the end of 2010, it is a time of reflection of all the things that transpired in our lives over the past year.  But more importantly to reflect upon the events in our nation and the world that shape our lives.  Initially my objective was to present a brief summary of a few of the major events that took place in Poland throughout the year.  But as my research progressed, I realized that this blog post can only be about one thing - the death of a President.

On April 10th, 2010, the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski was killed in a horrible plane crash. The Soviet-built Tupolev 154, carrying the President and high ranking officials of the Polish government crashed in Smolensk, Russia. All 96 passengers aboard were killed including his wife Maria. Also among the dead - Ryszard Kaczorowski, Head of the Polish government in exile (in London) during the Communist occupation; Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Foreign Minister; General Franciszek Gagor, Chief of Staff; General Tadeusz Buk, Head of Land Forces in Poland;  Admiral Andrzej Karweta, Head of the Polish Navy; Andrew Blasik, Commander of the Polish Air Force; amid many government officials, Members of Parliament, Senators, dignitaries, and the governor of Poland's central bank, Slavomir Skrzypek. Complete List of Casualties

 

The President and his delegation were on their way to Smolensk to attend the 70th Anniversary commemorating the Katyn Massacre. (During April and May of 1940, the Soviet NKVD massacred over 16,000 Polish Officers by order of Stalin. All were systematically executed by a gunshot to the back of the head, and buried in mass graves in areas around Smolensk, Russia.  For decades the Russian government denied culpability and only in recent years have they admitted to the truth.)

The news of the crash has pierced the heart and soul of the Polish people.  A nation in mourning is also gripped by the uneasy suspicion that foul play could have been involved. That the plane crashed on Russian soil, and on the 70th Anniversary of the Katyn Massacre stirred painful memories for many Poles, as well as suspicion of Soviet conspiracy.

Soviet officials promised a full investigation of the plane crash and on December 17, 2010 delivered its findings in a 150 page draft report. It was lambasted by the Polish government as unacceptable due to errors, omissions, and contradictions, in addition to contravening the Chicago Convention of the rules of aviation investigation.  Moreover, there are suspicions that the Soviet authorities had tampered with the evidence by dismantling the plane wreckage into smaller pieces, apparently without the knowledge or consent of the Polish government. Warsaw prosecutors are investigating the situation.

Left: Marta, daughter of President Lech Kaczynski; beside her is Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Lying in State: Caskets of President Kaczynski, and First Lady Maria Kaczynski, Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, Poland

Mourners, Pilsudski Square, Warsaw, Poland

Most disturbing is that the coffin of President Lech Kaczynski does not contain his remains at all.  In a statement on December 20, 2010, Jaroslaw Kaczynski confided that he did not recognize the remains but was told by others that it was Lech Kaczynski. " But when I saw the body that was brought back in a coffin to Poland, that person did not look like my brother. I was told it was him."   Former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has yet to decide whether to order an exhumation. Moreover, an unidentified source indicated that Soviet autopsy reports were inaccurate and strewn with errors in more cases than one. In fact, the coffins were sent to Poland sealed shut and "no formal inspection" of them was carried out in Poland. While news reports assert that the crash was caused by bad weather and pilot error, one can never be certain. Especially when the Soviets are involved. To this day, controversy still has not relented concerning the mysterious plane crash on July 4, 1943 of Wladyslaw Sikorski, General of the Polish Armed Forces as well as Prime Minister of the Polish Government-in-exile in London. Then, as now, Soviet interference is suspected.

Poland has suffered a great shock. But the country is strong and so are it's people. The newly elected President, Bronislaw Komorowski, gave much optimism and hope for the future of Poland. In his inaugural address on August 6, 2010, he said that the swearing in of a Head of State " is a feast of Polish Statehood and Polish Democracy ", and that " the order which we have built over the past 20 years in Poland managed to maintain the continuity of power and to honour the memory of the victims with dignity."

Indeed. Poland has come a long way.  Its' strengths are in the ability to move forward, and in its vision for building a strong nation while never forgetting its past. It has long been committed to the ideals of democracy and freedom. In fact Poland's first constitution was adopted in 1791 on the very principles of the United States Constitution ratified just three years earlier.

Poland has had more than its share of tragedy throughout its long history.  It was partitioned a fourth time in September 1939 and its people subjected to genocide and slavery by occupying forces. Though the Allies won the war, Poland was betrayed and languished for almost 50 years under Soviet occupation and totalitarianism. But the spirit of the Polish people never wavered. Courage and faith endured and made freedom a reality. 

The death of President Kaczynski and that of many other key members of Polish government is a terrible tragedy to their families and to the nation at large. Despite the enormous void left in their wake, Poland remains strong.  Whatever conclusions are arrived at concerning the crash, one thing is certain: the chain of power is not broken and is stronger than ever. Poland still rises to the top. It always has. That is the makings of a Great nation. Poland. God Bless You.

Sources:

UPI - Poland Rejects Russian Report on Jet Crash

Vancouver Sun - Poland's Kaczynski doubts body in tomb is presidential twin

Polish American Congress - Poland rejects Russian report on jet crash in Smolensk