War is hell. And there are no universal heroes in it. The Soviets became heroes in the eyes of the west when they fought the Nazis in the Second World war. But before Operation Barbarossa when Nazi Germany attacked Russia (Soviet Union), in 1939 the two countries signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty under which they carved up Poland amongst themselves.
It was after the Soviet army defeated the Polish army and captured Eastern Poland, that the infamous Katyn Forest massacre occurred. Thousands of Polish army officers were shot in the head from behind and buried in a mass grave.
In 1943, the Nazis discovered the graves and publicised the fact. But no one believed them. Everybody preferred to believe the Soviet version that the killings were done by the Germans. The truth came out many decades later.
The Katyn Forest killings still color Polish-Russian relations today.
Given below are images of the gruesome graves discovered by the Germans. The photos were taken by the Nazis.
Read the Time story on the killings
A propaganda illustration by Nazi Germany showing how the Katyn killings were done
Captured Polish officers being marched by their Soviet captors to destination death
The Nazi propaganda machine had a field day exposing the Soviet brutality. The poster says, "If the Soviets succeed, they will do a Katyn everywhere."
German officers examining the discovery
The mass graves of Katyn
The German army digs up the graves
The Katyn Forest in Poland. The site of the mass graves.
The Germans at the site
Bodies of the Polish officers dug up
The Germans called in British and American prisoners and showed them the documents and other things discovered from the bodies
The March 5, 1940 memo by Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, the head of the Soviet Secret Police, to Stalin advising the mass killings of Polish officers.
KATYN FOREST VIDEO
It was after the Soviet army defeated the Polish army and captured Eastern Poland, that the infamous Katyn Forest massacre occurred. Thousands of Polish army officers were shot in the head from behind and buried in a mass grave.
In 1943, the Nazis discovered the graves and publicised the fact. But no one believed them. Everybody preferred to believe the Soviet version that the killings were done by the Germans. The truth came out many decades later.
The Katyn Forest killings still color Polish-Russian relations today.
Given below are images of the gruesome graves discovered by the Germans. The photos were taken by the Nazis.
Read the Time story on the killings
A propaganda illustration by Nazi Germany showing how the Katyn killings were done
Captured Polish officers being marched by their Soviet captors to destination death
The Nazi propaganda machine had a field day exposing the Soviet brutality. The poster says, "If the Soviets succeed, they will do a Katyn everywhere."
German officers examining the discovery
The mass graves of Katyn
The German army digs up the graves
The Katyn Forest in Poland. The site of the mass graves.
The Germans at the site
Bodies of the Polish officers dug up
The Germans called in British and American prisoners and showed them the documents and other things discovered from the bodies
The March 5, 1940 memo by Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, the head of the Soviet Secret Police, to Stalin advising the mass killings of Polish officers.KATYN FOREST VIDEO