Soviets Admit Killing 15,000 Poles
The Soviet secret police carried out the Katyn killings, one of the most notorious massacres of World War II, Moscow officially admitted Thursday.
Moscow Radio, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp. and quoting the official news agency Tass, said the secret police, a predecessor of the KGB, was responsible for the deaths of more than 15,000 Polish officers and soldiers in the Katyn Forest in the western Soviet Union in 1940. Moscow had long insisted that the German Nazis carried out the killings. “The Soviet side expresses deep regret over the tragedy, and assesses it as one of the worst Stalinist crimes,” Moscow Radio said.
Last month, a similar admission was reported in the newspaper Moscow News. Its article was based on previously secret archives.
The official admission of guilt coincided with a three-day official visit to the Soviet Union by Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski, which the Communist Party daily Pravda said would “promote the development and consolidation of friendly relations” with Poland.
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