A presentation of our new book - Poczet katów katyńskich by Nikita Petrov during XXIV Histrical Book Fair.
The author talked about Polish-Soviet relations, the Katyń Massacre, examples of how the security apparatus in the Soviet system functioned, and provided an insight into the workshop of a historian who finds out information in... inaccessible Russian archives. The meeting, which was also attended by Izabella Sariusz-Skąpska, president of the Federation of Katyń Families was led by Dr. Sławomir Dębski - Director of the Centre.
The execution of Polish POWs, officers and civilians in 1940, was the bloodiest crime since the end of the Great Terror. Nikita Petrov, a Russian historian and human rights activist, outlined specifically for the Polish reader a group portrait of the Katyń executioners. Starting from the members of the Politburo, whose signatures appeared under Beria's note dated 5 March, ending with "personnel operating the machine of death".
The author looks for patterns in the fates of the NKVD officers, trying to indicate what kind of motivations and course of life led these people to the participation in the Katyń Massacre. He also attempts to answer the question whether the participation in this crime and in the "secret circle" of people knowing a secret hidden for years left any trace on their psyche. Through the prism of these life stories we get to know the mechanisms of the security apparatus and the whole Soviet oppression system. Nikita Petrov does not avoid the bitter truth about the course of the Katyń investigation and that both the Russian government and society are not ready for an honest reckoning with the totalitarian Soviet past.
The publication is supplemented by an annex containing over 120 detailed biographies of the state security apparatus officers of various levels, who were involved in the Katyń Massacre. The biographies are, in most cases enriched with photographs.
