Katyn: Stalin’s Massacre and the Triumph of Truth Paperback by Allen Paul (Northern Illinois University Press)

 It is not often that a book is written by a non-Pole that clearly shows a simpatico toward the Polish people, as well as a careful factual understanding of their history.

Until the death of Lech Kaczynski and his entourage, the world still knew very little about the Katyn Massacre, and there was not that much available in the popular press for people who wanted to learn more. The Katyn massacre is a harsh reminder of what the Soviet Union and its supporters and sympathizers were all about. It is but another reason why the Poles detest the Soviets, and why when Kaczynski's plane crashed their immediate default position was that the Russians must have had something to do with the tragedy. Read this and Norman Davies' books and the Poles position looks a bit less paranoid.

Unlike the Jewish Holocaust the Katyn Massacre, the deportation and extermination of Poles, and the Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 - another of Stalin's gifts to the world -- far too little information has been brought to light on the atrocities perpetuated by the Soviets.

Paul not only discusses the genocidal Katyn massacre itself, but he also gives a thorough review of Polish history in WWII and the immediate aftermath. I was delighted to see him dispel Nazi propaganda that has been widely and uncritically repeated by U.S. historians. One such is that Polish cavalry charged German tanks. Not true, and simply floated out there by the Nazis to make Poles look stupid. Likewise, he dispels the myth that the Polish Air Force was destroyed during the first few days of the war. And, bless him, he gives due credit to "the greatest Ally" and their tremendous and unacknowledged contributions to the war.

So effective were Soviet propaganda and lies that until recently, many people believed that the Katyn massacre had been committed by the Germans. Today we know the truth. The Katyn massacres were not just a cold-blooded shooting of captive enemy officers, but part of a systematic destruction of the cream of Polish society within the context of the plan to exterminate all of Polish intelligentsia. This continued into the days after WW II when the cream that was left was hounded and persecuted, jailed and tortured. No wonder my father refused to go back until Solidarnosæ tossed the bums out on their collective (no pun intended) butts.

He provides a graphic description of the massacres and the discovery of the mass graves by the Nazis, reconstruction of forensic evidence, and the subsequent lies by the Soviets denying their involvement and the cover up by the Brits and the U.S.

Paul provides a fantastic personal portrait of the courtly and patriotic General W³adys³aw ikorski and his valiant efforts on behalf of his people, as well as the shabby and disrespectful treatment he received at the hands of the Brits. He also raises old and lingering questions about ikorski's "airplane accident" on July 4, 1943: "Coming when it did, only weeks after the discoveries at Katyn, ikorski's death seemed too convenient." ikorski was pushing the Brits and Americans to make public the Katyn massacres and was an inconvenient thorn in their side when it was in their interest to ignore the fact that all evidence pointed to the fact that they had made a pact with the devil - i.e. Stalin. Roosevelt comes under withering criticism by Paul, insofar as he portrays him as barely cognizant or caring about the fate of Eastern Europe. Another reason - once again - for my ongoing contempt of this celebrated American president.

Paul suggests that the Polish government-in-exile should have been more flexible, and more willing to compromise with Stalin. This is where I take issue with him. There is no evidence that Poland's fate would have been any different if they had been more cooperative or "realistic" - in fact, given the fact that Stalin was a sociopathic mass murderer of HIS OWN PEOPLE, there was no reasoning with this guy. And the Poles knew it. There is a great photo in the book of the two great generals of Poland, ikorski and my godfather General W³adys³aw Anders, with Stalin looking like the cat that swallowed the canary, and the two generals gazing at him in utter mistrust and loathing. The photo says it all.

I also take issue with him for his less than well informed contention regarding the Kresy borderlands. Paul says that Poland and Russia had equal right to these lands. This is the problem when a journalist takes on a project that should have been taken on by (ok even with) a historian. The Kresy were always part of Poland over the centuries, except during the brutal partitions. So, I am surprised that all the Poles who gave Mr. Paul his awards in the past did not disabuse him of this error in previous editions so that he could make it right in this one.

All I can conclude is that Poles are so happy to have someone pay attention to their history that they become uncritical and endorse everything, poor or good, factual or less. Not everything written about Poland or by a Pole deserves 5 stars!

Paul also discusses many of the horrors faced by the Poles who were released from Soviet captivity as part of the Sikorski-Maisky pact. My grandparents and aunts were among those joining Anders army in Iran. Sadly, my grandparents were too emaciated by starvation and the harsh hospitality of the workers' paradise and they died shortly after they joined my father who was with Anders in the middle east.

At the time of this book's publication, the Soviet Union had finally acknowledged blame for the Katyn Massacre. Yet not ONE person has been put on trial, nor punished for the systematic murder of 22,000 Polish officers, nor the slow murder of untold hundreds of thousands of Poles who were shipped to Soviet lands simply because they had an education.

"Katyn" is a must read for those who want to understand the brutality of the former Soviet Union. More needs to be done and more needs to be written as an entire generation has no idea (certainly my kids never learned it in school) that the Soviets were as - if not more - brutal than the Nazis. At least the Nazis were put on trial for their crimes.