III Międzynarodowa Konferencja Naukowo-Praktyczna we Lwowie
On 22 November 2025, the Head of the Katyn Museum, Sebastian Karwat, took part in the Third International Scientific and Practical Conference, “Places of Remembrance. Polish–Ukrainian Dialogue of Understanding. The 85th Anniversary of the Katyn Massacre”, organised in Lviv by the Federation of Polish Organisations in Ukraine. The conference brought together historians, museum professionals, representatives of academic institutions and non-governmental organisations from Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Among the distinguished Polish speakers, who have devoted many years to researching Soviet repression in the territories occupied after 17 September 1939, were representatives of the Institute of National Remembrance, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Juliusz Mieroszewski Centre for Dialogue. The Katyn Museum was represented by its Director, Sebastian Karwat. The event was also attended by representatives of Polish organisations operating in Ukraine, school principals and young people.
The conference was dedicated to commemorating the victims of the Katyn Massacre on the 85th anniversary of the crime. It also addressed issues related to the protection of places of remembrance, the documentation of Soviet repression and the preservation of historical truth. Participants reflected on the significance of places of remembrance as spaces for dialogue and for fostering mutual understanding between nations. The papers presented during the conference explored various aspects of the Katyn Massacre, Soviet repression against the Polish and Ukrainian populations, burial sites and contemporary forms of commemoration. In his presentation, Sebastian Karwat introduced not only the Museum’s most valuable collections relating to the former Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic, including personal legacies connected with victims originating from those territories, but also the activities of the Katyn Museum aimed at commemorating the victims of the crime and preserving its tangible historical heritage. He emphasised the role of museums as institutions responsible not only for safeguarding cultural heritage but also for providing historical education and passing on the memory of these events to future generations.
