“Light of Remembrance” reaches the Katyn Museum
…We, the dead, want remembrance to live.
Together with the earth, stained with our blood,
so that forever in people’s minds may remain
the Katyn Massacre – not forgotten…
The 2026 edition of the “Light of Remembrance” project has come to an end. The route included, among other places, the Polish War Cemetery at Kyiv-Bykivnia, the Polish War Cemetery in Kharkiv and sites of remembrance in Volhynia. The final destination of the journey, on 12 July 2026, was the Katyn Museum in Warsaw.
The visit to the Katyn Museum was of particular significance for Rafał Pyra, a member of the Olsztyn Katyn Family Association, who took part in this year’s mission. In 2022, he donated to the Museum’s collection fragments of Russian rockets, military equipment and fragments of a cluster munition found at the site of the Polish War Cemetery in Kharkiv. These objects are now on display in the Museum’s permanent exhibition. They serve as a reminder that places associated with the memory of the victims of the Katyn Massacre continue to bear witness to history and have themselves been affected by the hostilities resulting from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022.
The “Light of Remembrance” project combines journeys to places associated with the Katyn Massacre with activities aimed at preserving the memory of its victims.
The visit to the Katyn Museum marked the final stop on this year’s journey, but not the end of the “Light of Remembrance” initiative itself. Its purpose remains to commemorate the victims of the Katyn Massacre, visit the sites where they are remembered, and pass on knowledge of their lives and fate to future generations.
Photo: Rafał Pyra, Olsztyn Katyn Family Association
