IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1323 

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2010 

Mr. MCCOTTER (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SMITH

of New Jersey, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 

FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. DINGELL, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. WOLF) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. 

Whereas following the August 24, 1939, signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, a secret agreement to divide Poland between 

the two countries, Germany and the Soviet Union invaded the Republic of Poland; 

Whereas more than 200,000 members of the Polish military 

became prisoners of war at the hands of their Soviet aggressors; 

Whereas, on March 5, 1940, the Soviet secret police, the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) was directed by Joseph Stalin and other members of the Politburo to carry out a systematic murder of approximately 


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•HRES 1323 IH 

22,000 Polish military officers, doctors, lawmakers, professors, police officers, and other intelligentsia; 

Whereas between April and May 1940, Polish prisoners of 

war were transported from internment camps in the Soviet Union to three execution sites in and around the 

Katyn Forest; 

Whereas, on April 11, 1943, radio stations in Nazi Germany 

announced the discovery of mass graves of over 4,000 

Polish officers in the Katyn Forest who were murdered 

by a bullet shot in the back of the head; 

Whereas upon learning of this massacre, the Polish government in exile requested the International Red Cross be 

allowed to investigate this discovery; 

Whereas the Soviet Union refused to allow such an investigation and subsequently broke off diplomatic relations with 

the Polish government in exile; 

Whereas the Soviet Union repeatedly and deliberately used 

film footage and other propaganda methods to suppress 

the truth and accused the Nazis of the massacre; 

Whereas, on September 18, 1951, the House of Representatives established the Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence, and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre; 

Whereas, on July 2, 1952, the Committee recommended the 

Soviets be tried before the International World Court of 

Justice ‘‘for committing a crime at Katyn which was in 

violation of the general principles of law recognized by 

civilized nations’’; 

Whereas, on December 22, 1952, the Committee unanimously 

concluded in its final report that the Soviet NKVD committed the mass murders of the Polish officers and intelVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:56 May 05, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1323.IH HR1323

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lectual leaders in the Katyn Forest stating, ‘‘there has 

not been a scintilla of proof or even any remote circumstantial evidence presented that could indict any 

other nation in this international crime’’; 

Whereas the Soviet Union did not admit responsibility for 

this atrocity until President Mikhail Gorbachev’s statement on April 13, 1990; 

Whereas since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government of the Russian Federation has refused to declassify 

and disclose all of its official records pertaining to the 

massacre; 

Whereas, on November 30, 2004, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance—Departmental Commission for the 

Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation initiated 

its own investigation into the Katyn massacre; 

Whereas the year 2010 marks the 70th anniversary of the 

Katyn massacre; 

Whereas, on April 7, 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir 

Putin became the first Russian or Soviet leader to join 

Polish officials in commemorating the anniversary of the 

murders; and 

Whereas despite the suppression of Polish freedoms by the 

Soviet Union during the Cold War, the United States and 

the Republic of Poland have preserved a strong and important friendship based on shared history and sacrifice: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) honors the lives and legacies of the approxi3 mately 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and intelli4 gentsia who were massacred by the Soviet People’s 


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1 Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) in and 

2 around the Katyn Forest 70 years ago; 

3 (2) expresses its deepest sympathies to the fam4 ilies of the Katyn victims for their profound loss; 

5 (3) expresses continued solidarity and unwaver6 ing support for the Polish people as they continue to 

7 investigate crimes committed against them; 

8 (4) urges the Government of the Russian Fed9 eration to fully declassify and disclose all official 

10 records pertaining to the Katyn massacre; and 

11 (5) urges the Government of the Russian Fed12 eration to fully cooperate with any pending inves13 tigation or inquiry pertaining to the massacre of 

14 Polish prisoners by the Soviet authorities. 

Æ 


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