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Katyn MemorialPrint Page Print this page

15-July-2017
15-July-2017

Photographs supplied by Mary Beaven

The monument commemorates Polish military personnel who died in service or were killed in action during World War Two, and the victims of Katyn Massacre.

Katyn Forest is a wooded area near Gneizdovo village, a short distance from Smolensk in Russia where, in 1940 on Stalin`s orders, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), the Soviet secret police shot and buried over 4000 Polish service personnel that had been taken prisoner. The government of Nazi Germany announced the discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest in 1943.

When the London-based Polish government-in-exile asked for an investigation by the International Red Cross, Stalin immediately severed diplomatic relations with it. The Soviet Union claimed the victims had been murdered by the Nazis, and continued to deny responsibility for the massacres until 1990, when it officially acknowledged and condemned the perpetration of the killings by the NKVD, as well as the subsequent cover-up by the Soviet government.

Location

Address:232 Angus Street, Dom Polski Centre, Adelaide , 5000
State:SA
Area:Foreign
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.929568
Long: 138.609427
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Actual Event Start Date:03-September-1939
Actual Event End Date:15-August-1945
Designer:Stan Ostoja Kotkowski

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 17th September, 1977
Front Inscription

Katyn
1940

"For your freedom and ours."

"Za nasza i wasz a wolnosc."

Plaque :

In memory of Polish Officers murdered by the Soviet N.K.V.D.

W Holdzie Oficerom Polskim Pomodowanym Przez
Sowieckie N.K.W.D.

Left Side Inscription

In memory of Polish soldiers sailors and airmen who gave their lives during the Second World War
1939 - 1945.

Zolnierzom Rzeczyospolitej Polskiej
Ktorzy Oddali Swe Zycie
W Drugiej Wojnie Swiatowej 1939 - 1945.

Back Inscription

The conscience of the world cries for truth to be witnessed in remembrance of 14,500 Polish Prisoners of War who disappeared in 1940 from Camps at Kozielsk, Starobielsk and Ostaszkow of whom 4,500 were later identified in mass graves at Katyn near Smolensk

Sumienie Swiata Wola O Swiadectwo Prawdzie
Pamieci 14,500 Polskich Jencow, Ktorzy Znikneli W 1940 Z Obozow
W Kozielsku, Starobielsku I Ostaszkowie, A Z Ktorrych
4,500 Znaleziono Pozniej W Zbiorowych Mogilach
W Katyniu Kolo Smolenska 

Right Side Inscription

This monument was erected by the Polish Ex-Servicemen`s Association in Australia with the support of the Polish community and their Australian friends.

Unveiled by the President of the World Federation of Polish Ex-combatants` Assocation, Major Stefan Soboniewski.

Blessed by His Lordship Bishop Szczepan Wesoly on the 17th September, 1977.

Pomnik Ten Zbudowany Zostal Przez Stowarzyszenie Polskich
Kombatantow W Australii Wraz Ze Spoleczenstwem Polskim
I Przyjaciolmi Australiskimi
Odsloniecia Pomnika Dokonal Prezes Federacji
Swiatowej Stowarzyszenia Polskich Kombatantow 
Kol. Stefan Soboniewski.
Pomnik Poswiecil J. E. Ks. Bp. Szczepan Wesoly Dnia 17 Wrzesnia 1977 Roku.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au