Uniformed Classes Students at the Katyn Museum
On 29 September 2026, the regional qualifying round of the 3rd National Drill Competition for Units and Classes with a Uniformed Profile was held at Gwardii Square in front of the South Pavilion of the Polish Army Museum. The students demonstrated their skills in both compulsory drill and the optional programme, putting to the test not only their training, but also their precision, discipline and ability to work as a team. Participants in the event also had the opportunity to see demonstrations of equipment and specialist gear used by the uniformed services and to meet Police officers from the Prevention Division, the Traffic Division, the Police Dog Unit and counter-terrorism units. The event concluded with a performance by the Representative Orchestra of the Police and an official awards ceremony.
Drill, discipline, training and the ability to work as part of a team are important elements of preparation for service. Yet service in a uniformed formation is about more than physical fitness and following orders. It also means responsibility for others, loyalty to one’s values, an awareness of history, and remembrance of those who, decades ago, faced the most difficult choices and the consequences of serving the Republic of Poland. That is why, after the ceremony, large numbers of students visited the Katyn Museum. Their visit was therefore not simply another item on the day’s programme. It was an opportunity to pause and reflect on the history of people for whom service was an integral part of life, and to consider the significance of the values that continue to underpin service in uniformed formations today.
The Katyn Museum makes it possible to view these values through the prism of individual human stories. The memorabilia, documents, photographs and personal belongings of the victims of the Katyn Massacre preserved in the Museum restore an individual dimension to historical events. Each object bears witness to the fate of a particular person – a soldier, police officer, other uniformed service officer, or member of another group within Polish society – who was murdered in 1940. For young people preparing to serve in uniformed formations, this is a particularly important lesson. The history of the victims of the Katyn Massacre reminds us that wearing a uniform entails not only specific duties and skills, but also service, responsibility, honour and remembrance. The visit to the Museum was therefore a natural complement to an event at which the students demonstrated their training and commitment. Encountering the material evidence of the lives of Polish Army officers, reserve officers and uniformed service personnel murdered pursuant to the so-called Katyn decision adopted by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) on 5 March 1940 also makes it possible to see that concepts such as ‘service’, ‘loyalty’ and ‘sacrifice’ are rooted in real human lives and biographies. In this context, the Katyn Museum serves not only as a place of remembrance, but also as an important centre of historical and civic education. Its collections and educational activities help preserve the memory of the victims and pass knowledge of the Katyn Massacre on to future generations.
The students’ visit to the Katyn Museum was therefore an important complement to the events at Gwardii Square – a transition from the presentation of skills and contemporary preparation for service to reflection on the history of the Polish uniformed services, the responsibility that comes with serving one’s country, and the need to preserve the memory of those who served before them.
Thank you for joining us in such large numbers.
