Publications of the Katyn Museum
The Katyn Museum publishes books and other materials that promote knowledge of the Katyn massacre, its victims and the history of Poland during the Second World War, particularly under Soviet occupation. These publications include guides to the permanent exhibition, catalogues of temporary exhibitions, editions of historical sources, scholarly monographs and popular academic publications. Drawing extensively on the Museum’s unique collections and prepared in cooperation with recognised scholars, they combine the highest academic standards with excellent editorial and graphic quality, bringing readers the latest research findings and first-hand historical evidence.
Guides and catalogues of temporary exhibitions
The guide provides a comprehensive introduction to the Katyn Museum, its mission and history, as well as its permanent exhibition and the objects displayed there. It includes descriptions of the key elements of the exhibition and the exhibits on display, as well as accounts of events connected with the Katyn massacre, the fate of its victims and the efforts to uncover the truth about the Soviet crime. The guide has been designed both for first-time visitors and for those wishing to deepen their knowledge after visiting the Museum.
The publication is available from the Katyn Museum ticket office during opening hours. Price: just PLN 14.
We warmly invite you to visit the Museum and purchase the guide, which will help you gain a deeper understanding of the history and significance of one of the most important memorial sites dedicated to the victims of the Katyn massacre. Richly illustrated, the guide can also serve as a lasting memento of a memorable visit to the Museum.
The guide is available in both Polish and English.
We also invite you to explore the catalogues of the Museum’s temporary exhibitions:
„Świadectwa zbrodni. Dokumenty wydobyte z masowych mogił w Miednoje, Charkowie i Katyniu” (in English: Testimonies of Crime – Documents Recovered from the Mass Graves at Mednoye, Kharkiv and Katyn) by Dr Joanna Kurczab (2025)
„Zdzisław Peszkowski : harcerz – żołnierz – duchowny – działacz społeczny. Katalog wystawy” (in English: Zdzisław Peszkowski: Scout – Soldier – Clergyman – Social Activist. Exhibition Catalogue) by Dr Tomasz Szczepański (2017).
Editions of historical sources
The Katyn Museum is the publisher of the bilingual source publication “Katyn Forest Massacre 1940. A Selection of Declassified U.S. Government Documents / Zbrodnia w Lesie Katyńskim 1940 roku. Wybór odtajnionych dokumentów rządu Stanów Zjednoczonych”, edited by David A. Stewart. The publication includes a foreword by Lt Col John H. Van Vliet Jr and David A. Stewart, as well as by Sebastian Karwat, Head of the Katyn Museum and publisher of the volume, and Dr Bartłomiej Bydoń, Head of the Museum’s Research Section, which supported the editorial work.
The publication is dedicated to the memory of the Polish Army officers murdered in the Katyn Forest, as well as Capt Donald B. Stewart, Lt Col John H. Van Vliet Jr and Lt Col Henry I. Szymanski – officers of the United States Army who, following their visit to Katyn in 1943 during the ongoing exhumations, sent reports to Washington identifying the Soviet Union as the perpetrator of the crime.
Volumes I and II have been published to date. Work is currently under way on the third volume.
Biographical dictionaries
Biographical dictionaries devoted to the victims of the Katyn massacre hold a special place in the Katyn Museum’s publishing programme. These publications restore the victims’ identities and the individual dimension of their stories, presenting the lives of people murdered by the Soviet authorities and documenting their personal lives, military and professional service, family histories, as well as the circumstances of their arrest, captivity and death. They help preserve the memory of people whose lives were cut short as a result of Soviet repression. By bringing together and organising information scattered across different sources, the biographical dictionaries provide a valuable resource both for researchers and for the victims’ families.
The biographical dictionaries are based on archival materials, documents, photographs and personal mementoes held in the collections of the Katyn Museum, as well as sources from other archives and institutions. They are an important means of promoting knowledge about the victims of the Katyn massacre, allowing the events of 1940 to be viewed not merely through statistics and collective categories, but above all through the stories of individual people.
The biographical research is carried out by members of the Museum’s Promotion and Education Section. In 2024, Dr Tomasz Szczepański’s publication “Funkcjonariusze i pracownicy więziennictwa RP zabici w zbrodni katyńskiej” (in English: Polish Prison Service Officers and Employees Murdered in the Katyn Massacre) was published. Work is also ongoing on biographies of the victims, which are published in the Profiles of the Victims of the Katyn Massacre application.
The Museum is also currently working on the publication of the monumental “Polski Cmentarz Wojenny Kijów-Bykownia. Księga Cmentarna” (in English: Polish War Cemetery in Kyiv-Bykivnia). Cemetery Register, Vols II–IV, which will bring to completion the project initiated by the Council for the Protection of the Memory of Combat and Martyrdom (ROPWiM) in 2012.
Scholarly monographs
An important part of the Katyn Museum’s publishing activity consists of monographs devoted to the history of the Katyn massacre, its victims and witnesses, and the remembrance of the events of 1940.
The published monographs are the result of scholarly research, archival investigations and documentary work carried out by Katyn Museum staff and researchers specialising in the Katyn massacre, who draw on the Museum’s collections in their work.
The aim of the Museum’s publishing programme is not only to deepen knowledge of the massacre and its consequences, but also to restore the individual dimension of history by presenting the stories of particular people, families and communities affected by Soviet repression. The Museum’s publications include scholarly studies and biographies, as well as works devoted to the material evidence of the Katyn massacre and to the formation and preservation of the memory of its victims. They constitute an important complement to the Museum’s exhibition, educational and scholarly activities.
The monographs published by the Katyn Museum are intended both for the academic community and those specialising in twentieth-century history, and for anyone interested in the history of Poland, the Second World War, and the fate of Polish prisoners of war and prisoners murdered by the Soviet authorities.
