Death in the Forest: The Story of the Katyn Forest Massacre

by Janusz Kazimierz Zawodny

Book by Zawodny, Janusz Kazimierz

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Poland

Paperback

First published November 28, 1980

Reviews

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The United States Department of State seems to have been more inclined to rely on Miss Harriman’s account than on the reports of its two ambassadors, one minister, two lieutenant colonels, the results of a study by a presidential research team, and the information supplied by the British and Polish intelligence agencies.”

4.5 stars

This work was published in 1962, over two decades before the world would receive confirmation Stalin ordered the massacre and Gorbachev confirmed the NKVD had perpetrated the executions. Even more information came to light as recently as 2010.

Considering the dearth of clarity and information at the time, Zawodny produced a wonderfully comprehensive work. He is clearly biased toward faulting the Soviets, but correctly so, based on both evidence and what we now know to be the truth.

I have studied the massacre extensively, but did not have an opportunity to acquire this book until much more recently. Zawodny does an excellent job telling all angles of the story, including the seemingly endless back and forth among the Allies and the opposing attempts to bring truth (or “truth”) to light by the Soviets and Germans.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the massacre, which persists like a black cloud to this day, is how the Americans and Brits (albeit with slightly more skepticism) were so willing to play right into Stalin’s narrative and cover up his atrocities. Even as proof from multiple investigations with no German involvement clearly indicated Soviet culpability, the Allies knew it was in their favor to continuously point to the Nazis' horrific treatment of the Poles than to suggest the Soviets may have actually committed the eliticide.

Death in the Forest gives strong insight into opinions of the time - when much had been uncovered but still no official admittance had come, nor would for many years. I would be interested to read later updated versions to see what changes were made to reflect the 1989 and 1990 revelations.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

German occupied forces discovered the mass graves of Polish by the thousands in Katyn Forest not far from Smolensk in 1943. Having been previously taken over by Russia’s armed forces, Poland appealed to know who the executioners were. Soviet officials provided no answers to the inquiring families of the 15,000 POWs missing from Russian prison camps. A forensic investigation from international sources concluded the massacre had occurred during Soviet occupation. Pressure to keep Russia, England, and the United States prohibited proper prosecution of the crimes and when Russia reclaimed the area; their own investigation was made stating that it was during the summer of German occupation that the men were killed. Zawodny focuses the majority of his attention to making the compelling argument against Soviet Russia’s claimed innocence and overall naiveté to the massacre in Katyn Forest. From a Polish perspective, Zawodny offers what many would expect- the search for answers. Following the discovery, investigations, controversies of the Nuremberg trials, the repercussions following World War II, and overall Polish struggle for definite answers from both the Allies and Germany, Zawodny offers brilliant insight to an otherwise scarcely tapped subject. The elements of mystery, discovery, and rising pressure to see a concluding justice served made Zawodny’s findings tantalizing. This is one of the best historical texts of this nature I’ve read that makes the reader invested to see the end.

[Mannie Liscum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1962, nearly 30 years before definitive proof for Soviet guilt was known, ‘Death in the Forest’ by Janusz Zawodny is a magnificent and clear headed analysis of the events and evidence then known about the Katyn Forest massacre. As Zawodny concludes (he was not the first nor only but his is a full account post Second World War), and we now know, in the Spring of 1940 the Soviet secret police, the NKVD (НКВД, Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел: Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del), murdered ~22,000 Polish POWs at three sites in the Western Soviet Union. Though Katyn is just one of these sites - ~4,500 Poles were killed and buried in mass graves in this region about 10km from Smolensk, the entire action is referred to by this location. Even though it was 1990 before the Beria order for the murders, which was approved and countersigned by Stalin and the Politburo, was made public, and 2010 before the Russian Federation laid blame for the murders on Stalin and the Soviet state, Zawodny gets the pieces of this murder mystery remarkably correct. As gripping as it is thoroughly disturbing, ‘Death in the Forest’ will leave you with seeing how this now 80+ year old mass murder still remains unpunished, or how it can ever be properly atoned for. 5 stars

[JEAN-PHILIPPE PEROL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1962 - when all the URSS files were still secret -, Death in the Forest is still one of the most serious and documented book on the terrible Katyn assassination of 5000 Polish officers. 60 years later, when the heirs of the Soviet Union are involved in a new war, Zawodny conclusions about this crime against humanity have been confirmed by the documents found in former government NKVD files. But acting for memory and reconciliation is still a long road for Poland, Russia and all the involved countries.

[Jonathan K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, from 1962, is written before Russia admitted they were responsible for the Katyn massacre of the 1940s. This gives it an interesting Cold War perspective yet Zawodny arrives at the right conclusion by using evidence, testimonies and logic. Another tragic example of the Polish experience during WW2 when the USSR deliberately removed its army officers and intelligentsia from any future post-war equation.

[Jayne Mottram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this because I've just typed some World War II memoirs for a client. Excellent as a reference book, to confirm details given in the manuscript. Gives a thorough account of the investigation into who was responsible for the Katyn Forest massacre.