Katyn

[EMacionga]

April 3-4, 1940. The Soviets begin killing Polish prisoners captured in 1939. Of the estimated 250,000 Polish officers and soldiers captured 15,000 would be shot in secret in places like the Katyn Forrest and the Kalinin and Kharkov prisons and other prisons in several other Soviet cities.

The Nazi death camps of Auschwitz, Belzac and Treblinka are infamous, but since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s more of the Soviet crimes have come to light.

During the second world war one in six Poles died under the brutal occupation policies of the Nazi's and Soviets.

[berna2vm]

I honestly believe that the Stalin era soviets were worse than the Nazis. My Polish employees also hold this opinion. Winston Churchill was reputedly in tears because having gone to war against an aggressor invading Poland, The Nazis were simply replaced by another, the Soviets, for the next 45 years...To the victor the spoils??

[Enigma]

Both systems were as bad as each other.

However the enemy of our enemy is our friend in war...

[fesm_ndt]

As you may have read the 88 member delgation, including the President of Poland crashed enroute to commerating Katyn yesterday with no surviors.

 

It's just so shocking or is so shocking for Poland to lose 88 senior officials in one accident, President, Presidents wife, Head of the military, Head of the state bank and the list goes on

[berna2vm]

A terrible tragedy, and the death of a good man. My Polish employees respected him so he must have been a decent chap. I hope that the loss of so many prominent figures in the Polish establishment does not cause instability.It sounds like pilot error is to blame. Does anyone know what type of aircraft it was?

A sad day.

[fesm_ndt]

A terrible tragedy, and the death of a good man. My Polish employees respected him so he must have been a decent chap. I hope that the loss of so many prominent figures in the Polish establishment does not cause instability.It sounds like pilot error is to blame. Does anyone know what type of aircraft it was?

A sad day.

 

"Officials have said all 97 people were on board the ageing Soviet-designed Tupolev Tu-154 Polish Government jet died"

 

"Mr Kaczynski and his delegation of top Polish military commanders and state officials had been heading to Russia to mark the anniversary of a 1940 massacre of Polish officers by Soviet secret police"

 

http://www.news.com.au/world/no-survivors-as-polish-president-lech-kaczynskis-plane-crashes-in-russia/story-e6frfkyi-1225852196064

 

Poland was my first ever international trip, so has always been one of my favourite trips. Same as you I hope the system can recover quickly

[Runflat]

For those who haven't seen it, I would recommend you get hold of Andrzej Wajd's 2007 film Katyn - very sobering.

[Tony B]

The name 'Sikorski' comes to mind at the moment. :whistle:

[radiomike7]

The plane was apparently the 26 year old presidential Tupolev TU 154, and while this crash appears to have been caused by human error the TU 154 has allegedly killed 1727 people in 16 incidents since 1994.

 

I had never fully understood the Katyn massacre until researching today, but remember my father reduced to tears telling me that he had lost several of his university pals in and around Katyn, all army officers.

Edited April 11, 2010 by radiomike7