The Katyń Massacre Monument and Its Place in Modern History

by Dr. Lucja Cannon


Protecting historical landmarks symbolizing freedom and horrors of genocide should be above reproach.  However, the Jersey City monument commemorating the 1940 Katyn massacre of 22,000 Polish POW officers held by the Soviet Army after its 1939 invasion of Poland, is being challenged and plans are made for its removal.




German discovery of Katyn mass graves led to accusations of Soviet guilt, while the Soviets blamed the Germans.  When the Polish government in exile asked the International Red Cross for an investigation, Stalin not only broke off diplomatic relations with Poland but also denounced the London government as an ally of Nazi Germany just because it implied doubt about Stalin’s innocence.  This became a rationale to put forward his own quasi-governmental committee, made up of the ad hoc group of communists and secret Comintern operatives.  Thus in Poland, Katyn symbolizes not only a monstrous crime against the Polish elite but more importantly the implementation of Stalin’s plan to enslave the whole country, killing anyone who might stand in the way,  and impose the oppressive and violent Soviet communist rule in the postwar period.


Most importantly, the Katyn massacre led the Polish government in exile to invent and articulate the concept of genocide: actions and mass killings directed to annihilate the whole nation, believed to be the aim of the Nazi and Soviet regimes tied together in the Stalin-Hitler Pact of 23 August 1939. Polish government lawyer Raphael Lemkin wrote a draft law in 1943 using the term ‘genocide’ describing policies aimed at destruction of the whole Polish nation and its means of existence.

After the war, it was codified in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights, both signed in 1948.  This crime is so abhorrent that it has no statute of limitations.  Prof.  John Connelly of Berkeley called it the ultimate crime.   Its perpetrators are forever guilty, and can be brought to justice any time.  This crime marks both victims and perpetrators in a timeless and absolute manner.



Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev visited Warsaw in 1988 to urge communist leaders to embark on perestroika and was told that the lie of Katyn was an insurmountable obstacle.  About a year later, Gorbachev and subsequently Russian President Boris Yeltsin acknowledged the Soviet guilt and published the original order to kill Polish officers, signed by Stalin and his Politburo.  A full investigation was started as many perpetrators were still alive.  However, when Putin became president of Russia he closed the investigation, made court files secret and treats Katyn as one of many mass murders, perpetrated by Stalin.  He denies that Katyn should be classified as genocide.


Thus, the Katyn massacre was a harbinger of modernity and of barbarism of contemporary pagans, with their unbridled violence against the innocents and the denial of human dignity and memory.  It was experienced not only by the Poles but many others.  That’s why the Katyn massacre monument is so important not only to commemorate Stalin’s crimes against Poland but as a warning that such crimes are possible against anyone if governments have unchecked power, ideological blinders,  and no moral restraints.  Katyn monument stands against the crime of genocide as well as confining victims to oblivion, erased from human memory as when NKVD killers built their vacation retreat on top of mass graves in Katyn.

The Polish-American Congress in alliance with other organizations of very diverse Jersey City proposes to repurpose the Exchange Place where the Katyn monument is located as Freedom Plaza celebrating those fighting for freedom, independence and human rights. This creates an opportunity to honor heroes of other groups who have been oppressed, such as Nelson Mandela, to make it more meaningful for everyone.  The City Council will decide the future of the Katyn Massacre monument and its environs on December 19.

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