News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Katyn Forest Commemoration

Date: April 12, 2001

"IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE KATYN FOREST MASSACRE -- HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ (Extensions of Remarks - April 05, 2001)


[Page: E560] GPO's PDF


HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ OF NEW JERSEY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, April 4, 2001


* Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre, sixty-one years after the horrible tragedy. Memorial Services will be held on April 7, 2001 at the Katyn Monument site in Jersey City, New Jersey.


* In September, 1939, Poland was invaded by Soviet troops, while boldly and courageously fighting the Nazi invasion in the West. The Polish army, which was hopelessly overextended fighting both the Germans and the Soviets, succumbed to those incredible odds.


* In April and May, 1940, in an area called the Katyn Forest, over four thousand Polish soldiers, army officers, intellectual leaders, prisoners of war , members of the intelligensia, and Polish civilians were executed by Soviet troops and the Soviet secret police on direct order from Joseph Stalin. An estimated 21,000 Polish citizens died in Katyn, Miednoye, and Kharkiv, as well as other areas. These horrendous crimes are commemorated as the Katyn Forest Massacre.


* On September 16, 2000, the Polish American Congress, the Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial Committee, and the Siberian Society of Florida sponsored a memorial service in honor of the victims.


* Today, I honor the victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre. I commend their courage and sacrifice. They fought against terrible aggression, and not only fought for their own freedom, for the world's freedom as well.


* I ask that my colleagues join me in remembering the victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre. And I ask that we honor their sacrifice for freedom. "