Victims

Slide 1

Cemetery Memorial Book
 

Victims’ biographies
 

Database of Victims
 

Katyn Families Portal
 

Those Who Died in the Camps

Following the Soviet invasion of 17 September 1939, units of the Red Army entered the territory of the Second Polish Republic, implementing the provisions of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Central and Eastern Europe fell under occupation and was divided into “spheres of influence” by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
In September 1939, during Poland’s defensive war, and alongside ongoing military operations, more than 250,000 Polish citizens were taken into Soviet captivity in the eastern regions of the country. Officers of the Polish Army, police officers, members of the Border Protection Corps (KOP), and other uniformed services were interned in three main P.O.W. camps: Kozelsk, Starobilsk, and Ostashkov.
Due to poor sanitary and hygienic conditions, disease, insufficient nutrition, and isolation, some POWs died while in Soviet captivity. Those who died in the Kozelsk camp were buried in the municipal cemetery in Kozelsk. The deceased from the Starobilsk P.O.W. camp were buried in the municipal cemetery in Starobilsk. Prisoners who died in the Ostashkov camp were buried in the cemetery of the Glubochitsy rural council near the village of Svetlitsa, or in other locations.
Below is the most complete available list of prisoners of war who died in the camps prior to the Katyn massacre (at least 74 individuals).

Survivors

In the spring of 1940, the NKVD executed nearly 22,000 Polish citizens — including Polish Army officers, police officers, members of other uniformed services, and civilians. However, a small group managed to survive.
In his book In the Shadow of Katyn, Stanisław Swianiewicz wrote that the reasons why around 3% of prisoners of war survived were as mysterious as the motives behind the execution of the remaining 97%. Swianiewicz himself was the only known survivor who was transported to the vicinity of the execution site — he reached the Gnezdovo station near Smolensk — but was turned back at the last moment by the Soviet authorities. It is widely believed that his extensive knowledge of the German economy was considered valuable by the Soviets.
Similarly, expertise and education may have saved Lieutenant Colonel Tadeusz Felsztyn, a specialist in weaponry and ballistics, although chance likely also played a role. Another survivor, Józef Czapski, later stated that “the only criterion was complete arbitrariness, giving the impression of pure chance.” Czapski most likely survived thanks to his family’s connections within Western European aristocratic circles, and the intervention of the German embassy.
Prisoners of war from Starobilsk, Kozelsk, and Ostashkov were subjected to thorough interrogations by the NKVD, which sought individuals who might prove useful to the Soviet authorities. One such figure was Lieutenant Colonel Zygmunt Berling, later commander of the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division. It is known that he declared his willingness to remain in the Soviet Union and cooperate with the NKVD, which contributed to his survival.
Of the thousands of Polish citizens taken prisoner by the Soviets and held in the special P.O.W. camps of Kozelsk, Ostashkov, and Starobilsk, more than 440 individuals survived. Below is the most comprehensive alphabetical list of those who survived the Katyn massacre.