In March 1940, Stalin gives Beria an order "On relieving NKVD prisons." This simply meant the extermination of eleven thousand Polish officers. At the beginning of April, the first transports from Kozielsk, Ostashkov and Starobielsk start. Soldiers of the Polish Army were shot in the back of the head and thrown into mass graves. The Katyn massacre was discovered by the Germans, and the USSR took advantage of this moment very skillfully. After all, the allegations were a perfect pretext to break off relations with the Polish government in exile. Shortly thereafter, Stalin began to install a communist power camp on the Vistula River...
– said in his lecture, which we recall today, Prof. Dr hab. Przemysław Waingertner from the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Lodz, who died prematurely in January 2024.
On the occasion of the 84th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre, a debate entitled "Katyń – ludobójstwo czy "tylko" zbrodnia wojenna" [Katyń – genocide or 'just' a war crime] was held on Radio Łódź. It was attended by scientists from the University of Lodz: Dr Tomasz Lachowski (Department of Public International Law and International Relations at the Faculty of Law and Administration) and Dr Olgierd Ławrynowicz, Deputy Head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Faculty of Philosophy and History. The conversation was also attended by Dr Joanna Żelazko, Deputy Director of the Institute of National Remembrance, Branch in Lodz, and Kazimiera Lange from the Katyn Family Association in Lodz.
Next Monday, 15 April at 11:00 a.m. Karol Piskorski, the Director of the Institute of National Remembrance Brancj in Lodz, invites you to take part in a meeting entitled "Tatusiu Kochany! Najdroższy!… Czemu nie wracasz? Zbrodnia Katyńska – doświadczenia rodzin" [Dear Daddy!… Why aren't you coming back? The Katyn Massacre – the experiences of families], which will be held at the Provincial Public Library of Marshal Józef Piłsudski in Lodz will hold. An interview with Janusz Lange, Kazimiera Lange and Dr hab. Jerzy Nadolski, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz – the President and members of the Katyn Family Association in Lodz will be led by Dr Joanna Żelazko.
Edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz
Video: YouTube of Radio Łódź and the University of Lodz