Memorial Stone of Katyń (Podwale Street)
In the spring of 1940, by decision of the USSR authorities over 20,000 Polish citizens were murdered with a shot in the back of the head. They were mainly officers of the Polish Army, but also representatives of the intelligence: lawyers, doctors, civil servants. Victims were buried in collective graves. This crime was hidden by the Soviets. Families of the murdered had no information about their fate. There were only rumours about what had happened to prisoners of Soviet camps. In December 1941, General Sikorski demanded explanation about what was going on with Polish officers. However, Stalin lied and flinched from answering.
However, the mass graves of Poles were discovered by the Germans, and since 1943 exhumation works were carried out in the presence of the International Red Cross. However, the “Katyn lie” was spread. The Soviets lied about the time of the murders, and they accused the Germans of the crime. After The Second World War, when Poland was in the zone of Soviet influence – the facts of the Katyn crime were still falsified.
A monument called the Katyń Stone commemorates the victims of the Katyń crime. The sculpture designed by the artist Andrzej Renes was created thanks to the efforts of American Polonia, including Colonel Ryszard Kukliński.