Customer Reviews

Katyn

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Andrzej Wajda's masterpiece, KATYN, was recently nominated for the Oscar. This book contains numerous photos from the movie. It also includes a valuable chronology of events related to the Katyn Massacre. The cover of the book includes the Russian word Delo, which means "The Deed". The movie and book include photos taken from the actual Katyn site, as well as photos of actual mementos that had belonged to the victims.

The movie and book begin with the German-Soviet conquest of Poland. The book includes a Soviet propaganda leaflet dropped on eastern Poland during the Soviet invasion in 1939.

Both enemies of Poland begin their genocide of Poles with the cream of Polish society. The Germans invite some professors to the university, only to promptly arrest them (for shooting, or slow deaths in concentration camps). The Soviets hold the captured officers and intellectuals at places such as Kozielsk, where the prisoners sing Christmas carols in December 1939. It will be their last Christmas. By spring 1940, the Soviets decide to shoot nearly all of the captive Polish officers.

The movie and book also show the life of relatives of the Soviet-held men. First there are the letters, and hope for a speedy reunion. Then...silence. Finally, the Germans break the news of their discovery of the Katyn graves, and exploit it for propaganda purposes. The relatives face the fact that their men will never return.

After the war, the suffering of the Katyn relatives continues. Information about the exact fate of the missing men is skimpy. The Soviet puppet state, using the UB, tries to force the grieving relatives to sign a statement blaming the Germans for the crime. The relatives also face pressure from others to "accept reality" that Poland will never again be free, and must align itself with Soviet dictates. They refuse. Then they have problems sending their son to the university because they won't bow to the Soviet lie about Katyn.

WARNING: Polish movies tell it like it was, and often don't have a happy ending. This movie has graphic scenes of the Polish officers being shot and blood being spilled. The book contains these photographs. They come near the end of the movie, and also near the end of the book.

A superb movie and a superb book! I only wish that the movie was translated into English.