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UPDATE: Poland remembers victims of 1940 massacre by Soviets

13.04.2022 12:15
Poland's top officials on Wednesday paid tribute to thousands of Polish officers and intellectuals who were killed by the Soviets more than eight decades ago in a series of mass executions known as the Katyn Massacre.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks in Warsaw on Wednesday as he marks the 82nd anniversary of the Katyn Massacre of Polish officers and intellectuals by the Soviets.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks in Warsaw on Wednesday as he marks the 82nd anniversary of the Katyn Massacre of Polish officers and intellectuals by the Soviets.Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara

On the 82nd anniversary of the World War II mass murders, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki commemorated the victims of the Soviet crime at a monument in Warsaw’s Old Town district.

He said during a wreath-laying ceremony that "the free world cannot pretend to have forgotten lessons from over 80 years ago."

He added that Poland was "loudly calling for the memory of our victims, but also for judging what is happening in Ukraine," according to his office.

He reiterated his appeal for the establishment of an international commission to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine, state news agency PAP reported.

"We will not rest until justice has been done," he vowed.

"Today's fight is not only about historical memory, but it is also a fight for our future," he told those at the ceremony.

National memorial day

April 13 is in Poland a national day of remembrance for the victims of the World War II mass murders.

A host of events have been scheduled throughout the nation to observe the memorial day, which was established by the country’s parliament in 2007.

Almost 22,000 Polish prisoners of war were killed in the spring of 1940 on orders from top Soviet authorities, according to estimates cited by Polish Radio’s IAR news agency.

Following the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939, thousands of Polish officers were deported to camps in the Soviet Union.

POWs from camps in Kozelsk, Starobelsk and Ostashkov as well as Poles held in prisons run by the Soviet Union's NKVD secret police were among those murdered in April 1940.

Moscow for decades denied responsibility for the Katyn Massacre, while the topic was taboo when Poland after the war remained under Soviet control until 1989.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP