Katyn Stalin’s Massacre and the Triumph of Truth / Allen Paul.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Paul, Allen (M. Allen), 1939-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Families--Poland--Biography.

Families.

Katyn Massacre, Katynʹ, Russia, 1940.

Polish people--Crimes against--Russia (Federation)--Katynʹ--History--20th century.

Polish people.

Prisoners of war--Crimes against--Russia (Federation)--Katynʹ--History--20th century.

Prisoners of war.

Victims of crimes--Poland--Biography.

Victims of crimes.

World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Poland.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (359 pages)

Edition:

[Updated ed.].

Place of Publication:

DeKalb, Ill. : Northern Illinois University Press, 2010.

Summary:

Twenty years ago, Allen Paul wrote the first post-communist account of one of the greatest but least-known tragedies of the twentieth century: Stalin's annihilation of Poland's officer corps and massive deportation of so-called "bourgeoisie elements" to Siberia. Today, these brutal events are symbolized by one word: Katyn, a crime that still bitterly divides Poles and Russians. Paul's richly updated account covers Russian attempts to recant their admission of guilt for the murders in Katyn Forest and includes recently translated documents from Russian military archives, eyewitness accounts of two perpetrators, and secret official minutes published here for the first time that confirm that U.S. government cover-up of the crime continued long after the war ended. Paul's masterful narrative recreates what daily life was like for three Polish families amid momentous events of World War II—from the treacherous Nazi-Soviet invasion in 1939 to a rigged election in 1947 that sealed Poland's doom. The patriarch of each family was among the Polish officers personally ordered by Stalin to be shot. One of the families suffered daily repression under the German General Government. Like thousands of other Poles, two of the families were deported to Siberia, where they nearly died from forced labor, starvation, and neglect. Through painstaking research, the author reconstructs the lives of these families including such stories as a miraculous escape on the last transport of Poles leaving Russia and a mother's daring ski trek over the Carpathian Mountains to rescue a daughter she had not seen in six years. At the heart of the drama is the Poles' uncommon belief in "victory in defeat"—that their struggles made them strong and that freedom and independence, inevitably, would be regained.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Note on Sources

Prologue

1—The Interlude

2—Hitler’s Command

3—A Failed Escape

4—Case White

5—Capture

6—Diabolical Schemes

7—Camp Life

8—House Calls

9—The Liquidations

10—Trains to the East

11—The Remnant

12—Life on the Steppes

13—Bad-Faith Agreements

14—Crumbling Hopes

15—Exodus

16—Wolf ’s Find

17—The Rupture

18—Death Knell

19—The Whitewash

20—Clandestine Designs

21—Moments of Truth

22—The Allies’ Blind Eye

23—Rescue

24—Echoes of O’Malley

25—The Quest for Truth

Epilogue

Appendix—Katyń Forest Execution Order

Notes

Bibliography

Chronology

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-5017-5720-2

1-60909-050-0

OCLC:

1132380445