Friday, April 30, 2010

Russia's Katyn Files Are Now Open To The Public

The mass graves were found by the German army when it invaded Russia. It was immediately used as propaganda against the Russians who continued to deny they were to blame until 1990. But even today the Communist Party in Russia says the killings were carried out by German soldiers. Photo from The Daily Mail

Russia Opens Its Files On The Katyn Massacre

In a move that takes it one step closer to easing its long-running tensions with Poland, Russia on Wednesday posted online for the first time its files on the Soviet Union's World War II massacre of thousands of Polish officers in Katyn forest.

The documents — which were once classified — were opened to the public in 1992, but have mainly only been read by researchers and historians. Now for the first time, anyone with a computer can see for themselves the files that prove Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and his aides were responsible for the killings of 22,000 Polish officers in the forest in western Russia. "Let people see [the files], let them know who made the decision to kill the Polish officers," said Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who ordered that the files be published online. "It's all there in the documents. All signatures are there, all the faces are known."

Read more ....

More News On The Katyn Massacre

Documents prove Stalin signed death warrant for 22,000 Poles -- Sydney Morning Herald
Secret documents confirm Stalin DID sanction Katyn massacre... but Russia still won't name police who shot 22,000 -- The Daily Mail
Documents show Stalin signed Katyn death warrants -- The Telegraph
Russia posts Katyn massacre documents online -- The Guardian
Russia opens Katyn massacre archive -- Financial Times
Russia posts documents on Polish executions online -- CNN
Russia posts some Katyn documents on Internet -- AP
Commentary: The issue will never die - Poles will always want more -- Times Online
New Katyn documents published by Russia "good sign": Polish PM -- Xinhuanet

My Comment: Russia wants to close the file on this part of it's Soviet history .... this goes a long way to accomplish that.

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