Execution of Russians who Killed 22,000 Poles: Katyn Massacre

Narrator: Marchand Steenkamp.
About the story: The Katyn massacre stands as one of the most devastating war crimes committed in Europe during the Second World War. In the spring of 1940, under direct orders from Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Politburo, the NKVD executed more than 22,000 Polish officers, intellectuals, policemen, and state officials. These men had been taken prisoner after the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland in September 1939—an invasion carried out under the secret terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which divided Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
The prisoners were transported from camps in Kozelsk, Starobelsk, Ostashkov, and several NKVD prisons to execution sites in the forests near Katyń, Kalinin (Tver), and Kharkiv. There, in soundproofed rooms or secluded woods, they were shot in the back of the head and buried in mass graves. Among the key figures behind the massacre were Lavrentiy Beria, head of the NKVD, and Vasily Blokhin, the chief executioner who personally killed thousands over several weeks. When German forces discovered the graves in 1943, Nazi propaganda attempted to exploit the crime for political gain. The Soviet Union responded with outright denial, blaming the killings on the Germans and suppressing the truth for nearly fifty years. Even during the Nuremberg Trials, the Soviet delegation insisted on this false version. Only in 1990 did the Soviet government officially admit responsibility, and in 1992 crucial Politburo documents were released. Today, the memory of Katyń is a solemn reminder of the countless Polish lives destroyed by totalitarian regimes and the importance of preserving historical truth.

Join World History channel and get access to benefits:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKKy_pNKZBX4KcCct8505HA/join

Disclaimer: All opinions and comments below are from members of the public and do not reflect the views of World History channel.
We do not accept promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes such as: race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation. World History has right to review the comments and delete them if they are deemed inappropriate.

► CLICK the SUBSCRIBE button for more interesting clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKKy_pNKZBX4KcCct8505HA/?sub_confirmation=1

#Katynmassacre #Katyńmassacre #Katyń #ww2 #worldwar2videos #worldhistory #beria #russia #stalin #worldwar2videos #documentary #europe #warcriminals #warcrime #collaborators #sovietunion #nkvd # #josephstalin #moscow

Katyn massacre, Katyń massacre, German invasion of Poland, Soviet invasion of Poland, Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Lavrentiy Beria, Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, Lavrentiy Beria death, Lavrentiy Beria crimes, What is the NKVD, NKVD meaning, Joseph Stalin, Nikolai Yezhov, Communist Party, Boris Rodos, Katyn massacre, Nazi Germany, Soviet war crimes, NKVD troika, Vsevolod Merkulov, Bogdan Kobulov, Leonid Bashtakov, Vasily Blokhin kill count, Vasily Blokhin and Katyn massacre, Poland during World War 2, Battle of Poland, Germany attacks Poland, When did Germany invade Poland, Poland WW2, Soviet occupation of Poland, Russian occupation of Poland, Soviet Union Poland, Katyn 1940, Soviet Union genocides, Soviet war crimes in Poland, Russian WW2 war crimes, Russian war crimes in WW2