Participation of Muzeum Katyńskie staff in the conference “Katyń – zbrodnia nierozliczona” in Sadowne
On 23 October 2025, a historical conference entitled “Katyń – zbrodnia nierozliczona” (in English: Katyn – an Unpunished Crime) was held at the parish church in Sadowne. The event provided an opportunity for joint prayer, reflection and paying tribute to the victims of one of the greatest tragedies in 20th-century Polish history.
The conference began with a Holy Mass offered for the Poles murdered by the NKVD. The Eucharist was presided over by Rev. Canon Dr Zenon Czumaj, Director of the Diocesan Archives in Drohiczyn, and concelebrated by the parish priest, Rev. Canon Antoni Kunicki.
Participants attended a series of historical presentations devoted to various aspects of the Katyn massacre. Among the speakers were representatives of the Katyn Muzeum. Kacper Ciesielski, Head of the Inventory and Photographic Documentation Department, delivered a lecture entitled “The History of the Katyn Massacre”, presenting the circumstances of the murder carried out by the Soviet authorities against Polish prisoners of war and political prisoners in the so-called Western Belarus and Ukraine in the spring of 1940. Dr Bartłomiej Bydoń, Head of the Research Section, discussed the issue of the Katyn lie, outlining the mechanisms of Soviet disinformation and the decades-long falsification of the truth concerning responsibility for the crime. The session also included a presentation devoted to the fate of inhabitants of the Ostrów region and chaplains of the Polish Army murdered by the NKVD.
The conference concluded with an artistic performance prepared by pupils of the Primary School in Sadowne. Participants were also able to view an exhibition dedicated to the exhumations carried out in the 1990s at the Miednoye cemetery, prepared by Marek Kowalik – grandson of State Police officer Stanisław Kowalik, who was murdered by the NKVD in Tver.
Photo: Rev. Piotr Pędzich
