Katyn Forest

Katyn Forest is an international memorial complex in a forest area located 15 kilometers west of Smolensk. A large tract of mixed forest spreads along the left bank of the Dnieper River between Katyn and Gnezdovo. These places are known as the sites of horrific mass shootings carried out in the 1920s and 1940s. There are many group graves in the forest, where about 10,000 Soviet citizens and 4,421 officers of the Polish Army are buried. Russians and Poles view the Katyn Forest as a symbol of the martyrdom of peoples forced to live under the rule of a totalitarian government.

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History of Katyn Forest

The Katyn Forest is spread over small hills and marshy lowlands. The place where the mass executions were carried out was the tract of Goat Mountains. In its southern part, near the bank of the Dnieper River, there was a two-story house belonging to the NKVD. From here there was a dirt road leading from Smolensk to Vitebsk, and many paths went off to the sides. On the winding road, closer to the highway and the terrible shootings took place.

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Locals said that executions in the Katyn Forest began soon after the arrival of Soviet power. Then the NKVD dacha was built on the Goat Mountains. It served as a rest house, where the employees of this organization liked to spend time. In the same period, the forest was fenced with barbed wire, and outsiders were not allowed into it. Since 1940, the security regime was strengthened – the forest was guarded by armed soldiers with dogs.

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In the winter of 1943, the Germans began to excavate in the Katyn forest and interrogate the inhabitants of Smolensk. German soldiers and employees of the Polish branch of the international organization Red Cross found eight group graves with 4,143 corpses of Polish Army officers, as well as many remains of Soviet citizens with varying degrees of decomposition. Almost all of the dead were bound. By the nature of the wounds it was clear that they had all been killed by shots in the back of the head. The exhumation work was supervised by Gerhardt Butz.

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When Smolenshchina was liberated, two commissions of the USSR worked here. They re-opened the old graves and blamed the massacres on Nazi troops.

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In 1978, the place of executions in the Katyn Forest was fenced off, and later a memorial sign and memorial cross were erected on it. In the mid-1990s the graves were investigated by experts from Poland, and a few years later construction of the memorial complex began.

Katyn Forest today

Nowadays, there is a memorial complex at the site of the tragedy. It contains the burial places of Polish officers who were shot by NKVD officers in the spring of 1940. Nearby are the mass graves of Soviet citizens killed in the 1930s, as well as the burial sites of Soviet Army prisoners of war who died during the occupation of Smolensk.

Visitors approach the memorial through a pavilion resembling two grave mounds. They are connected by a glass gate – a symbol of the fragility of all life on Earth. An alley from the entrance leads to the grave of 500 Soviet prisoners of war. Nearby stands a historical reconstruction with a freight car. The same wagons were used to transport Gulag prisoners.

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The Russian part of the cemetery is marked by a high Orthodox cross. In this part of the memorial you can see nine group burials. Beyond its borders is the Valley of Death, where there are more than two hundred as yet unorganized group graves.

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The Polish part of the cemetery consists of six group and two individual graves, in which lie Generals B. Bogatyrevich and M. Smorowinski. They are complemented by a Catholic cross and a wall with the names of all imprisoned Poles. The two parts of the cemetery are united by the mournful Alley of Remembrance. As a tribute to those who died in the Katyn Forest, a memorial bell has been installed.

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Information about the work of the memorial

For visitors the memorial in Katyn Forest is open any day: in winter from 9.00 to 19.00, and in summer from 9.00 to 21.00. Entrance is free. Exhibitions and expositions arranged in the premises are open from 9.00 to 17.00.

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To visit the museum complex and the pavilion at the main entrance you need to buy tickets. For children under 16 years of age, admission is free. Amateur photography and videography is paid 50 rubles each. Excursion service costs from 800 to 1500 rubles. Tickets are sold at the ticket office, which is located in front of the entrance to the memorial. A souvenir shop is open next to it.

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In the pavilion at the main entrance you can see materials about the totalitarian past of the Smolensk region and the hard fate of the children of enemies of the people. The museum and exhibition center exhibits documents about the events of the Great Terror and the history of the region in the 20th century.

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How to get there

Katyn Forest is located 15 kilometers west of the city of Smolensk. The memorial is reached by car via the Vitebsk highway and highway R-120. From Smolensk to Katyn Forest there are regular buses and shuttle buses. You should go to the stop “Memorial.”