The Centre in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Poland (MSZ), the Ministry of Defence of the Republic Poland (MON), the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic Poland (MKDiN) and the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom (Rada OPWiM) has worked jointly on a visit of the Families of the US witnesses to the Katyn Massacre in a project to commemorate Col. John H. Van Vliet Jr. and Col. Donald B. Stewart. 

These US Army officers were POWs in May 1943, and as such they were among the first neutral witnesses to this crime. Both sent coded letters in which they advised the US Army and Military Intelligence (G-2) about the Katyn Massacre, most specifically, their opinion that the Soviet Union was responsible for the crime. In the post-war period, they testified before the Special Committee of the US House of Representatives, contributing in this manner to the publicizing of the circumstances of the commission of this unprecedented war crime.

On April 8th, 2015 the President of the Republic of Poland posthumously awarded Colonels Donald. B. Stewart and John H. Van Vliet, Jr. the Officer’s Cross of Merit. At the same time, President Bronislaw Komorowski also awarded Krystyna Piórkowska, an American historian of Polish descent, author of a book documenting the history of the English-speaking witnesses to Katyn. Disclosure 

of this unknown fragment of the Katyn Massacre to the Polish and world-wide community in due to her research.

This project, including the first visit of the Families to Poland, falls during the 75th anniversary and was one of the most important aspect of this year’s observances.