Katyn executioners named, protected by Russian authorties

With respect I don't think is quite true.

Germany's plan for Poles was to use the Polish nation as a "pool" of slave labourers not "absolute extermination" (unless it was Polish Jews) hence the several million Poles deported to the Reich as forced workers and not sent to "extermination" camps. Plus the majority of Poles who were not deproted as forced labourers during the Nazi occupation were not being singled out for extermination. Extermination through work did not apply to most Polish forced labourers but mainly against Polish Jews.....or am I mistaken?

The Soviets also did not promote "absolute extermination" of Poles either but the removal of all those it thought likley to resist the Sovietisation of the occupied Eastern terittories hence the mass deportation of those Poles (and their families) considered by Soviets as 'enemies of the state' to slave labour camps and settlements. The Soviet murder of Polish POWs was to rid the Polish nation of its leadership ie. Officers. Other ranks were sent to slave labour camps but this treatment of Polish deportees was no different to earlier deporations by the Stalinist regime of 'enemies of the state' from the Soviet republics and occupied territories, and not a specific policy directed against Poles per se.

See Kresy-Siberia.org for the full truth. This is the cattle cars that went in four differant waves to Siberia starting Feb. 10, 1940. This was women, children and men. How can children, babies be considered "enemies of the state"? Families were never intended to live to tell. When Nazi's attacked Soviets and amnesty was granted it was the "Jewish Polish" that were first released. Stalin did not want to release any more. It was due to Stalin being in need of more military that more were released. Even the ones released had a very high death toll due to the conditions they were in from the camps.

I am member of said group.


I personally wouldn't consider them that—but the fact is Stalin did and you would not be able to convince Stalin otherwise—deporting whole families was not applied to only Poles this was standard Russian practice from all periods of history regarding Russian political repression.

But my point was that your post stated Soviets (as well as Nazis) had a policy of "absolute extermination" of Poles—both of which is just not true.


What is your source for this statement?

In fact Stalin did not consider the deported Jews from Eastern Poland as Poles at all and wanted them to stay in camps. Sikorski/ Anders persuaded Stalin otherwise. Jews released had sometimes to covert to Roman Catholicism to get papers to escape from NKVD who were seeking out Jews to put them back into labour camps. Many Jews also had to pretend they were relatives of Poles in Polish army to be able to leave USSR under the amnsety. These are all facts which contradict your assertion that "....Jewish Polish" that were first released"

A good source of reliable and well researched (from primary sources) information on this very subject is:
General Anders and The soldiers of the Second Polish Corps by Harvey Sarner.

Also you could try reading 'The Ice Road' by Stefan Weydenfeld. This is a honest and well written memoir account of his (and family's) deportation to Kvasha settlement in Arkangelesk Oblast and journey to freedom after amnesty.


Are you saying Jews had high death rate or Poles released had high death rates.......in fact it applied to all released prisoners.

This was from a gentleman that was in Siberia and had to wait until Anders convinced Stalin to release the non Jewish. This is in part why when you look at USHMM.org they refer to Anders Army as Jewish army.


This does look very good and I'll read it. My Grandfather was in the 2nd Polish Corps.


Also looks very good. Thank you



It would be both as the death rate was high and the conditions did not afford a long life span.

This gentleman may have believed this to be fact but this is not so.
Stalin did not recognise the Polish Jews from Eastern Poland as being Polish at all and Soviets did everything they could to stop Polish Jews from leaving Union and its republics.


Strange that they should when a large number of Jews still consider Anders' army to be anti-semitic which again is a misperception as there was for a short time a soley Jewish company set up in Anders' army at the request of Jewish servicemen. Anders reconsidered this situation and decided that Jews and Poles in his army would be integrated, receiving equal treatment so the company was disbanded.

Again you will find more information about this in:
General Anders and the soldiers of the second Polish Corps by Harvey Sarner

This book also describes how the Polish 2nd Corps helped smuggle hunderds of Jews into the British mandate of Palestine after WWII in return Jews were helping smuggle Poles into Italy--neither the Italians nor the British wanted more Poles in Italy as they considered them to a destabalising infleunce in Italy (which was pro-communist) and a thorn in the side of British (western) diplomacy with the Soviets.