Global General
Russia posts Katyn massacre documents on Internet
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-28 22:58
 |
Large Medium Small |
For 50 years, the Soviet Union blamed the massacres on the Nazi German forces who invaded in 1941. This remained the official line until Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged Soviet responsibility in 1990, but Poles had always known the truth and the cover-up fed animosity toward Russia.
Documents that remain classified include materials from an investigation in the 1990s that are believed to include the names of those who carried out the executions. It was not clear whether Medvedev planned to release these materials.
Russia also has refused Polish requests to recognize the executed Poles as victims of political repression.
Polish historian Andrzej Kunert said although the documents posted Wednesday were known to historians, the decision to post them on the Internet was significant.
"We can surely call the decision a breakthrough, because it seems that for the first time a website that is generally accessible to everyone in the Russian Federation publishes three very important documents concerning the Katyn massacre," Kunert said on Polish TVN24. "It is certainly a very important step forward."
Many Russians still do not know the truth about Katyn, and the release of the documents may play a positive role in helping Russians come to terms with their own history under Stalin.
Within hours of the posting of the documents, nearly 700,000 Internet users tried to access the website, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, citing a spokesman for the state archives. The website responded slowly throughout the day due to the heavy traffic.
Kunert stressed that Poles were still waiting to see the results of the investigation by Russian prosecutors, and especially the classified reasons behind the discontinuation of the investigation in 2004.
Russia's Supreme Court took a small step in that direction last week by ordering the Moscow City Court to consider an appeal calling for the prosecutor's decision to drop the investigation to be declassified.
The Memorial rights organization, which brought the appeal, welcomed the posting of the documents on the government website, but said it was only a small step.
"The files of this criminal case must be disclosed and procedures observed, giving the Polish POWs executed in Katyn the status of victims of political repression," Alexander Guryanov of Memorial said, according to the Interfax news agency.
