Conference "Testimonies and witnesses. The Katyn Massacre of 1940"

Conference "Testimonies and witnesses. The Katyn Massacre of 1940"

The conference was attended by researchers dealing with the history of the Katyn massacre who presented the results of their many years of research. The conference is entirely devoted to the witnesses of the Katyn massacre and to the testimonies that concern it. As part of the conference, the film “The Graves of Katyn from 1953” was also presented.

Opening the conference, prof. Grzegorz Berendt, Deputy Director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, stated that "The Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk is a natural place to remember the Katyn massacre, which consumed over 22 thousand soldiers, officers and important figures of the Second Polish Republic. Recognized in March 1940 as part of the leadership elite of Polish society, they were identified by the Bolsheviks as those who, while living, would always stand in the way of Poland's full conquest."

Prof. Tadeusz Wojciech Wolsza added during his speech that "the conference is not about the Katyn massacre itself, its circumstances and consequences, rather in the presented speeches we would like  to raise new issues not yet described by the researchers. Those that have not yet appeared in the literature on the subject. This is the strength of this conference.

As part of the conference, the film “The Graves of Katyn from 1953”, prepared by the Polish emigration community in London, was presented. It is worth noting that this is the first Polish documentary on the subject of the Katyn massacre, which professionally depicts the scenes of the murder committed by the NKVD of Polish officers. The history of the documentary will be presented in his report by prof. Tadeusz Wolsza. “The Graves of Katyn” was previously screened in Poland only once, in Warsaw, in April 2018.