Translated material
Step towards
The prime ministers of Russia and Poland will remember the victims of Katyn
Today, the heads of government of Russia and Poland, Vladimir Putin and Donald Tusk, are going to take part in events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the tragic events in Katyn. Joint tributes to the victims of totalitarianism could mark a historic turn in the difficult relations between the two countries. Polish media emphasize that Vladimir Putin will be the first Russian leader to come to the place where in the spring of 1940 the Soviet NKVD shot 4,421 Polish prisoners.Back in early February, Prime Minister Putin, in a telephone conversation, invited his Polish colleague Tusk to visit Katyn in April. The Russian side explained that in the forests near Smolensk in the late 30s, as a result of political repressions, a large number of Soviet citizens died, Polish officers were shot in 1940, and later many Red Army soldiers were shot by the Nazi occupiers. The Polish Prime Minister gratefully accepted the invitation, after which Polish President Lech Kaczynski also expressed his desire to go to Katyn. Warsaw decided that the prime minister and the president would take part in memorial events on different days - April 7 and April 10.
Numerous publications, interviews and events were dedicated to today’s meeting of the two prime ministers. Notable in this regard is the recent screening of Andrzej Wajda’s feature film “Katyn” on the Russian TV channel “Kultura” and the subsequent discussion. This event caused a wide resonance in Poland. The Polish Gazeta Wyborcza emphasizes: “The first showing of Katyn in Russia for the general public on state television is an important political sign. This is a clear sign of a turning point in Russian-Polish relations. Moscow is coming out to meet us halfway in the tragedy that happened 70 years ago - and very far.”
Andrzej Wajda told Vremya Novostei: “From the first day of preparing for the filming of the film about the Katyn tragedy, I thought about the Russian audience: how will they perceive the truth that has been hidden for years? I want to tell every Russian that this is not an anti-Russian film. He is against Stalinism and the totalitarian system. After all, not only Poles are buried in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk, but also thousands of citizens of the former Soviet Union who became victims of Stalin’s terror. The carefully hidden truth about the Katyn tragedy poisoned Polish-Russian relations for decades. Showing Katyn to millions of Russian viewers is a breakthrough.”
The famous director admitted in a conversation with VN: “I thought that I wouldn’t live to see this. Knowing Russia, where there are almost no political accidents, I can assume that the Katyn demonstration is a step towards revealing its last secrets.” Andrzej Wajda added that he “expects a lot” from today’s meeting of the two prime ministers and therefore “without hesitation accepted the invitation to go to Katyn that day together with the Polish prime minister.”
Yesterday it became known that the Solidarity legend, ex-President of Poland Lech Walesa, and the first post-communist Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki responded to Donald Tusk’s invitation to take part in the Katyn events with him. 25 family members of the victims of the Katyn tragedy will also arrive on the Polish Prime Minister's plane. The ceremonial events will begin on the territory of the Katyn memorial complex - Vladimir Putin and Donald Tusk will pay respects to Polish officers and Soviet citizens, and will also take part in the consecration of the construction of the church, which will be erected at the entrance to the churchyard. Then, in Smolensk, both prime ministers will take part in a meeting of the Russian-Polish group on complex issues, which, on their initiative, was recreated with a new composition two years ago. The active work of this group, co-chaired by the Rector of MGIMO, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly Torkunov and the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Professor Adam Daniel Rotfeld, largely contributed to the current events in Katyn. According to VN, Putin and Tusk will also hold a meeting in a narrower circle, at which they will discuss the development of Russian-Polish relations.
And yet, in Poland there are still plenty of statements questioning the sincerity of the actions of the Russian authorities. Moscow is expected to recognize the innocence of the executed Poles and rehabilitate them as victims of Stalin's repressions. There is a constant demand for the release of documents that were collected during the investigation by Soviet and Russian military prosecutors, which began in 1990 and was closed six years ago.
“Katyn is not the worst thing in Soviet history from the point of view of the Russian authorities. The biggest crime of the USSR was a crime against its own people. This fact is firmly entrenched in the mentality of Russians and does not make it possible to fully reckon with the past,” Stanislav Chosek told VN. As Poland's ambassador to Moscow in 1989-1996, he negotiated official recognition of the Katyn crime. “I don’t understand why things haven’t come to the full disclosure of the Katyn secret,” Mr. Chosek continues. -- What is this? Fear of compensation? But for Katyn families, it's not about money. If someone took money for Katyn, they would become a goner in our minds. It's about symbolism. After all, a crime was committed. People are killed on someone's orders. It is impossible to say today, citing the absence of all documents, that formally there was no Katyn crime. This is absurd! This approach angers people."
Stanislaw Czosek, who is now the general secretary of the Eastern Club, which supports cooperation with the countries of the former USSR, as well as the chairman of the Council of the Polish-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is optimistic about today's events in Katyn. In his opinion, the main question is whether the Russian authorities have the strength to bear the brunt of past events. VN’s interlocutor noted: “With Katyn itself, I think the issue has been resolved. Symbolically, this has already happened when the Russian prime minister called the Polish prime minister and invited him to go together to bow their heads before the victims. This marks the desire of the Russian authorities to reach out to a new generation and deal with the burden of a tragic history. And this is a very good signal."