Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Katyn Epitaph by the Polish Prison Service
On the 85th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, tribute was paid at the Katyn Epitaph within the Katyn Museum in Warsaw to prison officers, chaplains, and prison staff of the Second Polish Republic — one of the most overlooked groups among the victims of Soviet genocide.
The ceremony, organised by the Polish Prison Service and attended by Deputy Minister of Justice Maria Ejchart, was both formal and deeply symbolic in character. Following the official report and a historical introduction, participants recalled the tragic fate of prison service personnel of pre-war Poland who became victims of the crimes committed by the NKVD in the spring of 1940 in Katyn, Kharkiv, Mednoye, Bykivnia, and other execution sites that remain unknown to this day.
Wreaths were laid at the memorial plaques on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and the leadership of the Polish Prison Service. Officers from Warsaw penitentiary units lit memorial candles, while the sound of the military bugle call “Śpij kolego” (in English: Sleep, My Comrade) echoed through the silence of the memorial site.
The delegation then proceeded along the symbolic Avenue of the Absent, where the first pedestal bears the inscription Prison Officer. Lighting a candle at this place concluded the ceremony — a gesture of remembrance for those officers who paid the ultimate price for their loyalty to the Polish State.
