Central Commemorations of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Katyn Massacre
On 13 April 2025, the central commemorations of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Katyn Massacre took place at the Parade Square of the Katyn Museum in Warsaw. The ceremony was attended by the last surviving children of Polish prisoners of war murdered by the NKVD in the spring of 1940, members of the Katyn Families and Police Families associations, as well as senior representatives of the Polish state authorities led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The commemorations were organised by the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, the Federation of Katyn Families, the Polish Army Museum and the Katyn Museum. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, and the Minister of the Interior and Administration.
The commemorations began with a Holy Mass celebrated at the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz.
During the ceremony, Prime Minister Donald Tusk delivered a deeply personal address, emphasising that the Katyn Massacre was not only an unimaginable tragedy for thousands of families, but also a symbol of the clash between a civilisation founded on values and the brutality of totalitarianism. He stressed that the memory of Katyn carries an important contemporary message — a warning against indifference to lies, aggression and injustice. Referring to current global threats and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Prime Minister noted that the evil which led to the Katyn Massacre has not disappeared and that the lessons of history must continue to guide modern societies. He underlined the importance of truth, solidarity and strength in defending freedom and democratic values.
Whenever we honour the memory of the victims of the Katyn Massacre, I believe each and every one of us feels the same — that silence speaks more powerfully, that stillness resonates more deeply than even the finest speeches. For there are simply no words, no definitions capable of conveying the enormity and senselessness of this crime.
We can never come to terms with the triumph of evil. We can never accept that victims — those who served a just cause — can at times be powerless. We struggle to comprehend it; we struggle even to speak about it wisely. When we witness evil overcoming good, when wicked men raise their weapons and fire a bullet into the back of an innocent person’s head. We do not always even know how to describe those who perished: were they victims of Katyn, or heroes of a national legend? But today we cannot remain silent. […]
This sacrifice is not only an overwhelming lesson of history; it is a lesson that cries out to us today and demands to be heard with particular sensitivity. For although that evil was defeated, and today we live — as those who died there in the East dreamed we would — in an independent, sovereign and free homeland, the evil that gave rise to this crime still lurks around us. […] It threatens our neighbours, it threatens peace, and — as we feel more acutely with every passing month — it threatens Poland and Europe. It is the very same evil. Whether it is Sumy on Palm Sunday or the tragedy of Bucha […] one cannot remain powerless in the face of evil. One cannot remain powerless in the face of lies, nor in the face of aggression. […]
When we speak of danger, let us remember the words of General Władysław Sikorski, then Prime Minister of Poland. It was the time when the mass graves were uncovered, when Stalin launched a vast campaign of lies. It was also the time when, for the sake of so-called higher geopolitical interests and wartime strategy, Poland’s allies told the Poles and Prime Minister Sikorski: ‘Be quiet. Stop speaking so openly about this. Global interests require discretion. Do not jeopardise the emerging alliance.’ I recall this above all to remind us of Władysław Sikorski’s response to his British friends: ‘Do not surrender so easily to lies. Russia may have strength on its side, but justice is on ours.’
These are beautiful words, yet I believe none of us would ever wish to have to repeat them. If we speak of the lesson of Katyn, then we must say with full conviction, faith and determination that we shall never yield to lies; that we shall never succumb to deceitful propaganda; that we shall never be weaker than evil; that we shall never stand on the side of evil. And when we see the images coming from Ukraine today, we shall not pretend — even if the whole world pretends. We shall not pretend not to know where evil lies, who the aggressor is, who the executioner is and who the victim is; where justice lies and where good resides.
But perhaps what matters most today is that we say to the Katyn families, and to all those who gave their lives then, that we shall never again be alone. […] Today we must pledge to those who sacrificed their lives that Poland will never again stand alone in any confrontation — should one come — with evil, lies or injustice, and that we shall not be naive.
Yet perhaps the most important lesson, and the promise we should proclaim most clearly to the victims of Katyn today, is that we shall never be weak. For what is freedom? What is goodness, if there are no people willing to defend goodness, freedom and truth — and to defend them effectively? How fragile these values are. […]
May no Polish leader ever again have to utter the words that strength is on their side while justice is on ours. May we always be able to say with full conviction that on Poland’s side there are both strength and justice; that truth stands with Poland and that Poland always stands on the side of good. […]
Our remembrance has its deepest meaning only when we draw the right conclusions from it. And the memory of these victims will be not only a source of emotion, but above all a source of our strength. I believe this deeply, just as I believe in Poland.”
– Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
On behalf of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, a letter was read by Małgorzata Paprocka, Head of the Chancellery of the President. In his message, the President highlighted that for decades the truth about Katyn had been suppressed and distorted, which is why today there is a particular duty to bear witness to it with respect, humility and determination.
A moving speech was also delivered by Izabella Sariusz-Skąpska, President of the Federation of Katyn Families and granddaughter of one of the victims murdered by the NKVD in Katyn. She spoke about the suffering endured by the families, their long struggle for truth, and the moral responsibility that the tragedy places upon future generations. She described Katyn as “an attack on the soul of the nation”.
An ecumenical prayer for the victims was then led by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz, Colonel Aleksy Andrejuk and Captain Waldemar Gabryś.
The culmination of the ceremony was the solemn Roll Call of Remembrance, followed by the laying of wreaths at the Katyn Epitaph memorial. Wreaths on behalf of the organisers were laid by Prime Minister Donald Tusk; Lech Parell, Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression; Dr Izabella Sariusz-Skąpska, President of the Federation of Katyn Families; Professor Bogusław Pacek, Director of the Polish Army Museum; and Sebastian Karwat, Director of the Katyn Museum.
