Mass graves at Katyn

Main gate

Mass burial sites are now marked with iron slabs

Tombs of Smorawiński and Bohatyrewicz, the only two Polish generals who perished in the massacre to be identified and buried separately

Katyn war cemetery is a Polish military cemetery located in Katyn, a small village 22 kilometres away from Smolensk, Russia, on the road to Vitebsk. It contains the remnants of 4412 Polish officers of the Kozelsk prisoner of war camp, who were murdered in 1940 in what is called the Katyn massacre. Except for bodies of two Polish generals exhumed by German authorities in the 1940's and then buried separately, all Polish officers murdered in Katyn were buried in six large mass graves. There is also a Russian part of the cemetery, where an undisclosed number of victims of the Soviet Great Purges of the 1930's were buried by the NKVD. The cemetery was officially opened in 2000. Image File history File links KatynPL-mogily. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-mogily. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-wejscie. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-wejscie. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-kontury. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-kontury. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-grobyBS.jpg Obtain with permission for PD use from Smolensk Memoryal (Alyeksyey Melkin) Gen. ... Image File history File links KatynPL-grobyBS.jpg Obtain with permission for PD use from Smolensk Memoryal (Alyeksyey Melkin) Gen. ... Brigadier General Mieczysław Smorawiński (1893–1940), was a Polish military commander and officer of the Polish Army. ... Graves of Gen. ... Katyn is the name of both a village and a forest near Smolensk, Russia. ... A view of Smolensk in 1912 Smolensk (Russian: ) is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River at 54. ... Categories: Belarus-related stubs | Towns in Belarus ... Kozelsks Coat of Arms Kozelsk (Козельск in Russian, also spelt Kozielsk in English) is a town in the Kaluga Oblast in Russia, located on the Zhizdra River (Okas tributary) 72 km southwest of Kaluga. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Mass graves at Katyn war cemetery. ... Grave in Sarajevo during the siege in 1992-1993. ... The Great Purge is the name given to campaigns of repression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s which included a purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ... The NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del )(Russian: НКВД, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) or Peoples Commisariat for Internal Affairs was a government department which handled a number of the Soviet Unions affairs of state. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

The cemetery is a large, irregular area covering roughly 22 hectares of forest. All mass graves are located on both sides of the main alley. There is also a circular alley with thousands of names of the officers who perished in the massacre. At the end of the main alley there is a war memorial and an altar with a memorial bell located underground. This memorial in England lists the names of soldiers who died in the First World War. ... Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

History

Initially, after the exhumation of 1943, the Germans had permitted the Polish Red Cross to build a cemetery on the spot. However, following the Soviet take-over of the area it was destroyed and most evidence removed. The area was again forested and civilians were banned from entering the area. As the knowledge of the massacre was suppressed in Communist countries, in 1976 the Polish Government in Exile awarded the Katyn Memorial in London with the cross of Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military award. 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... The Government of the Polish Republic in exile was the government of Poland after the German occupation of Poland in September 1939. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Virtuti Militari The Virtuti Militari (Latin: For Military Virtue) is Polands highest military decoration for valor in the face of the enemy. ...

Following Soviet admittance of the crime in 1991, the exhumation and archaeological works were resumed. In 1994 a bi-lateral treaty on war cemeteries and war memorials was concluded between Poland and the Russian Federation. This paved the way for a construction of a proper war cemetery in Katyn. After several years of construction it was opened to the public on July 28, 2000. That year also similar cemetery was opened in other mass murder sites of Piatikhatki, Kharkov, Smolensk and Mednoye. The Virtuti Militari awarded to the monument in London was then transferred to Katyn, which became one of the very few places in the world among its recipients. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Katyn is the name of both a village and a forest near Smolensk, Russia. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Kharkov (rus: Ха́рьков) or Kharkiv (ukr: Ха́рків) is the second largest city in Ukraine, a center of Kharkivska oblast. It is situated in the northeast of the country and has a population of two million. ... A view of Smolensk in 1912 Smolensk (Russian: ) is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River at 54. ...

During the opening ceremony the spot was visited by the highest Polish and Russian authorities. Among them were the Prime Ministers Jerzy Buzek and Viktor Khristenko, as well as Marshals of Sejm (Maciej Płażyński) and Senate (Alicja Grześkowiak. The ceremony was opened by the Polish Chief of General Staff Gen. Henryk Szumski and concluded with a Catholic mass celebrated by the primate of Poland Józef Glemp, while the Orthodox ceremony by Metropolitan bishop of Smolensk Cyril Gundyaev. There were also prayers of other denominations held, as there were also Protestant, Muslim and Jewish victims of the NKVD buried there. Jerzy Buzek Professor Jerzy Buzek (born 3 July 1940 in Śmiłowice, then Silesian Voivodship, now Smilovice, Czech Republic) is a Polish academic lecturer and politician, prime minister of Poland in years 1997-2001 and today a Member of European Parliament, elected 13th June, 2004 with the record number of votes... Viktor Khristenko Viktor Khristenko (Ви́ктор Бори́сович Христе́нко) (born August 28, 1957) was the acting prime minister of Russia from February 24, 2004, until March 5, 2004. ... Marszałek sejmu (Sejm Marshal, Marshal of the Sejm) is the title of the Speaker (chair) of Sejm the lower house of Polish parliament since the 15th century. ... Maciej PÅ‚ażyÅ„ski (born February 10, 1958 in MÅ‚ynary) is a Polish conservative-liberal politician. ... Archbishops of Gniezno and simultaneously Primates of Poland since 1412. ... Józef Cardinal Glemp (born 28 December 1929) is the Archbishop of Warsaw and Primate of Poland and Ordinary for the faithful of the Oriental Rite residing in Poland. ... In hierarchical Christian churches, the rank of metropolitan, pertains to the bishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of an old Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital. ... A view of Smolensk in 1912 Smolensk (Russian: ) is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River at 54. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ) is a monotheistic religion based on the Quran. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ...