Teacher Training Seminar: “The Katyn Massacre”
On 27 May 2023, the Katyn Museum hosted a training seminar entitled “The Katyn Massacre” for teachers of humanities subjects working with Years 7–8 in primary schools and with students in secondary schools. The event was co-organised with the National Education Office of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN).
Participants were welcomed by the Director Sławomir Frątczak, who outlined the broader historical context of the 1940 massacre. The programme included a lecture by Dr Bartłomiej Bydoń, Head of the Museum’s Research and Education Section, entitled “Issues Surrounding the Katyn Massacre”, which examined the course of the crime and its consequences. Participants also attended a presentation by Dr Dominika Siemińska from the IPN Search and Identification Office, who discussed archaeological methods used in the search for burial sites, drawing on the example of investigations conducted by the Office in its search for victims of the Katyn Massacre.
Dr Bydoń’s lecture was complemented by a guided tour of the Museum. The collections, including personal belongings recovered from the mass graves during exhumations carried out in the 1990s, made a profound impression on the participants. Teachers also had an opportunity to watch the feature film “20 40 20”, which forms part of the IPN multimedia exhibition of the same title.
During the workshop section of the seminar, participants explored educational materials prepared by the IPN while taking part in the workshop “The Katyn Investigation”, led by Karol Kasprzak and Michał Rybak from the National Education Office of the IPN. The seminar concluded with the preparation of lesson plans on the Katyn Massacre and a discussion on effective ways of presenting difficult historical topics to students of different ages and levels of sensitivity.
