The publication presents correspondence that has received little wider attention, discovered during survey and exhumation work carried out at the burial sites of victims of the Katyn Massacre in Kharkiv and Mednoye. The letters and postcards reproduced here are exceptional sources for learning about the fate of Polish prisoners of war and NKVD prisoners, as well as that of their families, in the period preceding the crime of spring 1940. Above all, they express the families’ concern for their loved ones. In addition to asking for letters and news, relatives write, among other things, about where they are staying, their state of health, and their supplies of fuel, food and winter clothing. At times, they mention being moved further into the Soviet Union, thereby conveying news of deportation. Most often, however, they do not describe their own situation as difficult. On the contrary, they ask the addressee not to worry and to take care of themselves. They express hope that the prisoners will soon be released from captivity and reunited with their loved ones. The camp correspondence presented here, however, has remained largely unknown. The publication now placed in the hands of readers is intended as the first step towards filling this gap through further works currently being prepared for publication by the Katyn Museum.
The uniqueness of this publication lies above all in the fact that it brings together historical sources of extraordinary importance that were deciphered only through painstaking work: postcards and letters recovered from the Katyn death pits during Polish exhumations at cemeteries in the East. The condition of these archival materials, including their extremely poor legibility, posed a serious and seemingly insurmountable problem for researchers for many years.
Of particular significance is the fact that some of this correspondence was found on the bodies of those who had been murdered. The postcards and letters, kept by the prisoners through successive months of captivity, became objects that accompanied them until their deaths. Among the documents discovered are also two postcards written in captivity but, for unknown reasons, never sent. They were buried together with their authors.
The publication includes 43 postcards, envelopes and letters found in the death pits at Mednoye and 14 at Kharkiv. There are 17 letters and 34 postcards. Some of the letters were found inside envelopes; six envelopes were recovered in total.
The deciphering of these sources was made possible through cooperation between staff of the Katyn Museum and the Central Forensic Laboratory of the Police. In 2015, using non-destructive methods of document examination, it was possible to reveal inscriptions that had previously been invisible or impossible to read. This made it possible to identify, among the archival materials recovered from the graves at Kharkiv and Mednoye, a collection of correspondence that became the basis for this publication.
The second edition of the publication is bilingual, in Polish and English. This format is particularly significant in the context of the subsequent fate of the families of the victims of the Katyn Massacre. As a result of Soviet repression, particularly the deportations deep into the Soviet Union, many family members were forced to leave their homeland. Some managed to leave the Soviet Union with the Polish Army under the command of General Władysław Anders. Not all were able to return to their homeland; many remained in exile, and their descendants still live outside Poland today. Making the publication available in English allows these surviving testimonies to reach these dispersed families as well as an international community of researchers. This is particularly important in the case of correspondence which, in itself, bears witness to family ties and the hope of reunion, while its authors and recipients were separated by the war and Soviet repression, often forever.
The publication adds the personal perspective of the victims’ families to our knowledge of the fate of the victims of the Katyn Massacre. The words that have survived reveal the everyday reality of waiting, the uncertainty and concern of those closest to them, while also documenting the hope of their return that accompanied the families of Polish prisoners of war until the spring of 1940.

Product details

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Editing of correspondence: Sebastian Karwat
Introduction and historical commentary: Ewa Kowalska
Compiling biographical notes: Joanna Kurczab
Translation: Alinqua
Language: Polish, English
Publisher: “Golgota Wschodu” Foundation; Polish Army Museum
ISBN: 978-83-9483332-9
Format: A4, softback
Extent: 217, [2] pages
Year of publication: 2017
This publication is not available for sale