Evening star., 1952-01-06
BY Mortin S. Hayden
North American Newspaper AIlionee

in Moscow, aided in 1914 Rus
sian propaganda effort to duck
blame for the murder of 1000
Polish officers and clerics within
the next two weeks will feature
; reopened Congressional hearings
on the Katyn Forest massacre.
Hitting Mr.. Hartman, new boss
Of the foreign-aid program, who is
recognized generally as the first
top administration official to be-
come anti-Russian, the story is
regarded as fresh ammunition for
critics of alleged United States ap-
peasement of Russia.
One Priest in Moscow.
Author of the charge is the Rev.
Leopold Braun. for many years
the only Roman Catholic priest in
Moscow. and now New York pas
tor. ....
While verifying Father Braun's
details of what happened when
Miss Kathleen Hartman (noW
Mrs. Stanley c. Mortimer, jr.. of
, New York; accompanied them on
a an-sponsored tour to the
murder scene. former Moscow
news correspondents, now in
Washington, generally disagreed
today with the priests interpre-
tation of events which occurred
when World War II fighting was
on, and Russia was an ally of
the United States. +
The Katyn story is one of the
most controversial incidents of
World War II According to an
official Nazi report, the cream of
Polish troops were murdered by
the Russians in March 1910. and
their bodies, piled like cordwood, |
In massed graves, were uncovered
by the German Army, which took
the Smolensk area the following
July. The Russians, in report
written by Count Alexei Tolstoi,
insist that NaziS committed the
VI ll1IC lAl nus Oo0 Ao1A'
Report Still Secret. /
A key to Father Brauns story
is a Still-Secret report. writtent
by Miss Hartman, and submitted
to the State Department, though
she had no official status. Num- |
bered "27," and dated February
%, 1914. it states that the Rus
sian thesis seems convincing" Al
report alEegedly less favorable to
the Russian viewpoint at the same
time as forwarded by John
Melby. then third secretary in MI.
Harriman's embassy, and another
member of the tour group.
when this whole Hartman
story is told" Father Braun COM
mented today, lit will cause
real smell. propose to testify be-
fore the committee, and tell what
I know
The ow-controverted trip had
It's beginnings in mid-January,
1914, when the Russian foreign
office decided to take American
newsmen to the Katyn grave
scene. William H. Lawrence, then
the Moscow. and now a Washing
ton. correspondent for the New
York Times, told of the trip re-
Gently.
Visiting in Embassy.
"a group of u.s." he said, were
visiting Mr.. Hartman at the En-
bassy when the Foreign Office
phoned to direct us to be ready
at am. the following morning
to go by car to the Katyn Forest.
We were told to bring our own
food for three days. Kathleen
Hartman, who was there, said
that she, too, would like to go, and
her father approved. and notified
the Foreign Office of the request.
THE presence of the Amrican
Ambassador daughter appar-
entity changed the Russian plan
ming. The trip was put off for two
days, and, instead of going by car,
we went in the special Foreign
Office train, which I recall as one
of the most plush outfits I saw in
Russia. 1t had top accommoda-
tons, including an excellent diner
that ran "a hours a day. The
neWSpapermen were delighted
with the results of Miss Harri-
mans presence
Mr.. Lawrence said that, at the
murder scene, the neWsmen heard
q highly technical lecture from
surgeons diSsecting bodies. who
claimed that their condition
proved that the deaths could not
have occurred during the Russian
control of the area. They also
heard the stories of half dozen
witnesses, stories generally dis
counted, because the same wit
nesses had told exactly tn oppo-
site when produced at the earlier
German inquiry into the deaths.
Evidence IncOnclusive.
1.-THE evidence was inconclusive
either way" Mr.. Lawrence said.
1--WE were impressed that most OF
the men still had on excellent
boots. That the Russians, who
desperately needed shoes, would
bury 1000 pairs of good boots,
seemed hard to believe. On the
other side of the ledger. most OF
the bodies were clothed in Tver-
coats, which seemed contrary to-
the Russian theory that the Ger
mans shot them in August"
Mr.. Lawrences version of the
Russian evidence as "inconclusive"
and confusing" was verified to-
day by Henry Cassidy. Moscow
Associated Press correspondent
when he made the trip, and now
q National Broadcasting Corp.
news editor in New York. Both
insisted that Miss Hartman acted
only as an observer, with no ap-
parent convictions in the dispute.
CI,;af Vob yVoS ConS0r