Temporary Exhibition Opening: “Evidence of crimes – documents excavated from mass graves in Mednoye, Kharkiv and Katyn”
On 10 April 2025, the Katyn Museum in Warsaw hosted commemorations marking the 85th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. The ceremony was attended by Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who officially opened the exhibition “Evidence of crimes – documents excavated from mass graves in Mednoye, Kharkiv and Katyn”.
Among the distinguished guests were representatives of the Polish government, including Barbara Nowacka, Minister of Education, and Dariusz Klimczak, Minister of Infrastructure. Visitors were guided through the outdoor exhibition by curator Dr Joanna Kurczab, accompanied by Professor Bogusław Pacek, Director of the Polish Army Museum, and Sebastian Karwat, Director of the Katyn Museum.
During the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz, Minister Nowacka and Minister Klimczak joined students from military-profile secondary school classes in lighting candles at the Katyn Epitaph memorial. The symbolic gesture paid tribute to the victims of the Katyn Massacre and highlighted the shared responsibility of preserving historical memory across generations.
The commemorations inaugurated a wider programme of events marking the 85th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. By resolution of the Polish Parliament, 2025 has been designated the Year of the Polish Heroes of the Katyn Massacre. Particular significance is also attached to the upcoming Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Katyn Massacre, observed annually on 13 April.
Now open to the public, the exhibition presents invaluable artefacts and documents excavated during the exhumations carried out in the 1990s from mass graves in Mednoye, Kharkiv and Katyn. Many of these archival materials are being displayed publicly for the first time. In 2024, the collection was inscribed on the Polish National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme as one of the most significant documentary heritage collections preserved in Poland.
Photo: Krzysztof Niedziela / Ministry of National Defence
