Katyn - WWII's Forgotten Massacre
The disturbing story of the Soviet massacre of thousands of Polish officers and intelligentsia at Katyn, Russia in 1940 and the subsequent cover-up and German investigation of the crime scene.
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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its forgotten by the world, not by the polish people
I've known about Katyn for many years and I've no Polish connection.
It's not forgotten by all means. I was really surprised by the title. Greeting from Canada!
Forgotten maybe by folk that get their "knowledge" from Hollywood movies but anyone that actually knows about war crimes of WW2 beyond holocaust should know Katyn.
not as forgotten as they want us to believe
Not forgotten by your southern brothers, Croatians. We know who really did it, well at least some of us do. Some still believe it was the "Russians".
It makes me sick, that people on the internet call Stalin their "daddy" and are fans of him.
That's because they are a bunch of kids who have been easily indoctrinated because young people are naive, gullible and will swallow anything you tell them as truth. This is why Political Parties favour the youth. They don't have the wisdom that comes with age so make stupid decisions that they regret later. If they really knew what he and Communism is like then they would drop them quicker than a used condom.
Young men need leadership - today we have none, so they look to History for strength, identity, inspiration; many unfortunately find those qualities in tyrants, viewed through rose coloured glass I suspect if those people were in 1940's Soviet Union, they might think differently about "daddy" Lucky them...
There are also fans of Hitler.
Fate loves irony
There is always stupid people around unfortunately. Not said from an position of arrogance. A lot of misinformation from politicians, etc., that think it's in their benefit to constantly lie to people. And the "stupid" part is just accepting things blindly, to keep listening to the same "information" sources that lie to you, and not believing your own eyes when you see the truth..
My Great Grandfather, Jozef Bielinski was murdered by the Soviet NKVD at Katyn. He was an army officer in the Polish Army along with his son, my grandpa (dziadek) Adam Bielinksi, who was also an officer in the Polish army, sent to Siberia and later escaped and is the reason why I am here today. My grandpa, very hesitantly made deathbed confessions to my oldest sister, who is fluent in Polish, and wrote down everything my grandpa was saying about the war, Russians and his experience in the gulags. He said two NVKD Officers showed up at his house and took his dad away...he never saw him again and went to his grave not knowing what happened to him. Thank you for sharing this practically unknown war crime in the western world (especially Canada and the US). This means a lot to me and my family.
Sounds more Jewish then polish
@@ggromio6703? What does? Man's surname is Bielinski, as Polish as it gets. Not that a native Pole with Polish surname couldn't be Jewish but for the most part, Polish Jews had their own identity and culture including surnames, many of which survived to today in western world (Blumsztajn, Goldblum etc). After all Poland was a safe haven for Jewish refugees from western terror since like 12th century, but point is Jewish religion came from migrants, not "from within" and conversions were very rare so you could usually easily say ones religion by surname.
@@ggromio6703 Are you some kind of neonazi? Because you sound like one. Why would anyones surname instantly tell you their religion?
Escaped, no nobody escape Siberia, probably he was released (many people say this to sound brave)
@@ggromio6703good lord that's an ignorant comment.
Trust me. Those of us in the West who know our history have not "forgotten " Katyn.
@@SPY1987you sound jealous
FOR REAL neva FORGOTTEN.........
also remembered by east, i am from China.
The Polish saved the world no less than twice. The hussars live on.
I'm not even a Pole I'm an American. And proud , but I will tell you I'm a proud ally of the Poles. Some of the best war fighters that ever lived..I have utmost respect for them boys.
My grandfather was a Polish officer murdered at Katyn. His widow and her daughter, my mother, were held in a Siberian camp for over a year. Eventually, Catholic missionaries were able to move hundreds of of these Polish citizens to safety in Africa. After the war, they both came to Montreal. My mother married an Irish Montrealer, and I was born. My mother and grandmother are both gone now, but I still live in Montreal, as do my children and two granddaughters. That, my friends, is the circle of life.
Please make sure your daughters and granddaughters know their polish roots and history. It may inoculate them to the new post-modernist/Marxist ideas that grow rampant now in the west...
I hope you can say that your life today is a positive outcome from this tragedy.
How did the missionaries get the from a work camp to Africa?
Canada badly needed lots of immigration. Almost everyone I'm on boards with are from either Germany, Poland, Ukraine, or what was then known as Yugoslavia. All have their stories. All my Commonwealth relations were in infantry in the war years and YEARS before the USA even thought of getting going!!! All survived.
Hope you are passing on the history of your family and Polish ancestors to kids and grandkids.
A friend of mine's grandfather was murdered at Katyn. Evil like this leaves scars for generations.
My family member was shot there
@SuperDave Miorgan you better just be trolling or God help you cuz I won't waste my breath anymore on stupid.
@SuperDave Miorgan You don’t know how old the people making the comment are so be smart
@SuperDave Miorgan we still have wwII vets alive. They are in their late 80's and 90's. That is in the range to have grandchildren now alive. Even my kids have a grandfather that fought in the war. You really need to learn your history and try to learn just even a little math.
@@patrickdoran7474 you are not talking so how are you wasting your breath
Man, Poland and it's people suffered so much through history... really a miracle how Poles still exist, such a brave and durable nation Respect from Croatia
hvala ti kao bratu
China:Cute
@@cursed-hm2jnexcept China is not one people like the poles are. China is the unification of many different cultures and people that were mostly ruled by one emperor at a time. China is actually an example of the opposite of Poland, where native cultures are being stamped out and silenced, even massacred by the Han chinese.
Bromberg.....research.
@@pete5516and what do you think the polish are...
I meet a polish who was 12 years old when her and her family were captured by the russian. They were in one of those work camp. They escaped during a snow storm to increase their chance of not been capture. They end up in Tanzania for a while before she came to Canada. She often said "I survived Hitler, I survived Stalin" She passed not that long ago from COVID, R.I.P. Stella
From COVID or from another Nazi/US vaccine?
@@shamane67 🤦♂️
Russian ? You mean Soviet ! Stalin was Georgian and Bary was Jude No Russian on the top in this moment of Soviet Union R.I.P. for all victimes of comunist regime😢😢😢
@@62nevioYes, this is often forgotten. The Russians held a few top positions while other ethnic groups made up the vast bulk of the Soviet command structure.
Well she didn't escape Zion
I'm Polish and this mean a lot to me! Thank You Mark!
Warriors... ZAWSZE 😰🇵🇱🙏
Katyn is the biggest one, a lot of polish PoW were killed in others places all over western Red Russia colonies. I know there was Bykivnia near Kyiv in Ukraine with estimated 200 000 murdered by russian communists, most of executed were civilian Ukrainians, but about 6000 were Polish PoW. NKVD sent the very same "group of specialists" to Bykivnia like it was made to Katyn in 1941. And again Red Russia claimed for dozens years that Bykovnia like Katyn was German Nazi, anyway it was proved it was russian communists and their political police AKA NKVD(later KGB), russians occupants initiated executions and created this massive grave in 30th in Ukraine and years before WWII started, and there were a lot of Ukrainian witnesses who could prove that, including my grandmother... under pressure of evidences Moscow confirmed Bykovnia was their responsibilities, not Nazi.
Full support to Polish brothers from Croatia.
@@dovlacro6382 ironic since you did the same things to Serbs...well
@@denisoko8494 You mean Soviets. Russians suffered all the same from the Soviet government of the time (where the two main guys were not Russians at all).
As a Pole, I thank You for this video. I probably can't even comprehend how history is distorted in other countries due to war propaganda.
Churchills complicity in keeping this hidden should not be forgotten too.
@@graemelake657 agreed !
@@graemelake657 well, consider the options at the time. Yes, the allies could have started calling out the Soviets but war was already on the horizon even after the horrors of WW2. Was it nice that this was swept under the rug? No. But there were real world military and political reasons as to why. As always, it's complicated.
@@robertborie8479 I don't disagree at all. But it is a fact.
that plane crash was fuckedup. coincedence?
In case anyone didn't know - any time the Poles were *inconvenient* to the Allies, they were abandoned by them. Britain and France did so in 1939, and they got no respect throughout the War. People who have *NOT* forgotten Katyn: Poles Polish-Americans Military Historians I fit two of those categories.
My neighbour was one of the Polish troops captured by the Russians. He spent time in a Gulag until he was released after the German invasion of the USSR. He and his friends hitched south until they reached Persia where they enlisted in the British army. He eventually arrived in England and trained as a paratrooper. He took part in the Arnhem battle and was one of the few to escape back to Allied lines. In the 1990's, his suicide capsule was dug up by roadworkers in the town and returned to him (empty of course).
Wow. 😮
Lol. He was "in the Gulag" as a soldier of Anders' army, armed and supplied by the Soviet government in hard days, when the Nazis was near Moscow. But this army was completely unwilling to go to the Soviet front against Nazis. Therefore, they were eventually sent to Iran, under allies command. Yes, they fought a little bit for allies at WW2, but not very much. That time, in the USSR, the second Polish army was formed. Berling's army liberated Poland, and stormed Berlin, among other things. Bloody soviets formed two field armies from polish "prisoners of war, tortured in the Gulag", interned in 1939 soldiers, in fact. Some of them were killed near Katyn at 1940. Or maybe at 1941. By bloody commies. Or by bloody nazis.
My wife's grandfather was a general, murdered at Katyn.
I guess most of the likes above are condolences and not "I like this"......;)
My wife's grandfather was imprisoned at Dachau and died after the war from illness caused by medical experimentation on him by the germans. Every Polish family has a similar history as 20% of Poles died during the war. By comparison my home country, the UK, was hardly touched.
Could you please tell his surname?
My wife is Polish. One of her great aunts was made a widow by Katyn. It's a massacre that certainly hasn't been forgotten in Poland.
What was his name?
There's a statue in Jersey City commemorating this massacre. The mayor actually tried to have it removed when they were redoing the waterfront area and it caused such an uproar that the statue stayed.
@Nineleven Treason Himmel
What the hell was he thinking?
@Nineleven Treason Steve Fulop he still holds office today
@@christianpethukov8155 That's what a lot of people were wondering. The excuse given was that since the statue was somewhat macabre it shouldn't there on the redeveloped waterfront where it might disturb people. You can't make this stuff up.
Where is it in J.C.?
The US National Katyn Memorial is located here in my home city of Baltimore, Maryland. Although it is sited in a very prominent location, very few of our city's residents are aware of the full scope of what it commemorates. Thank you for sharing this chapter in history.
My father was a Polish cavalry officer in Sept 1939 - his unit was pulling artillery when the Stuka's attacked & destroyed everything. They wandered the woods for days (many went AWOL) and after the Panzers roared past them, they were fortunate enough to surrender to the Germans (rather than Soviets) who treated them well. Eventually he was released from prison camp & escaped to Austria & eventually came over to the American side after the war. That's why I'm here.
How was he fortunate to surrender to the Germans? They treated their prisoners even worse.
You’re lucky he wasn’t slavic
Or jewish or whatever
Bruh. You expect me to believe that bro just got "treated well" by the Germans.
@@U_Go_Boom Officers WERE treated better in POW camps and because the Germans, believe it or not, actually followed the Geneva Convention
Well, having lived in Krakow, I can tell you Katyn ain't forgotten in *Poland*. Thanks to Mark for helping remind the wider world about it.
When Solidarity was born in 1980, Time magazine intimated that the massacre was well-known in Poland, despite communist attempts to suppress it.
@@exchequerguy4037 Absolutely.
The communists signed the order, along with Anti-Polish deportations and executions throughout Soviet Ukraine, where there were many Polish people. Now there are next to none, which should indicate what happened.
There is memorial to this in my hometown in Pennsylvania. At a large Polish Catholic church.
Hey what city if you don’t mind me asking?
Really ?
It's in Doylestown PA outside of Philadelphia. Baltimore also has one
Lots of Polish descendants in our fair Commonwealth. Great people with excellent food.
Same in Jersey City, NJ right on the waterfront. Giant statue of a polish offer being bayoneted in the back
I read about Katyn as a Swiss teenager in a German book, „Geheime Kommandosache“. Never forgot this.
My grandfather escaped from Poland and my grandmother shared what had happened with my ancestors who were captured by Russia and Murdered. I became a soldier and Army chaplain. RIP🙏🏻
So sad how the Poles were treated after WW2, even in Britain. Banned from the victory parade, and couldn't return to Communist Poland. Even generals like Sosabowski and Anders ended up working menial jobs.
Well for the allies everyone who surrender to the Germans and their country seize to exist after an german invasion was considered a loser of the war
@@apo5895 France surrender to the Germans. Even more, after capitulation part of France, so called Vishy, actively supported III Reich during war. Yet France took part in the parade among winners...
@@apo5895 what a stupid comment
@@apo5895 Poland never signed any capitulation with Germany
Couldn't return?! Many of them, including the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain, were forceably deported back to Soviet occupied Poland! A condemnation by another name. In my opinion, it is one of Britain's greatest shames that, having entered WWII in protest of the invasion of Poland, it then went on to use Poland's men for its own defense from the Germans, only to then feed those brave few back to the Soviets in a disgusting show of appeasment, and never having fullfilled its promise to free Poland.
The Germans got one thing right, the Soviets would try to blame them on the massacre.
Stalin General order #0428
lol you act like Germans weren’t genocidal maniacs.
No he's not ''acting'' like Germans weren't genocidal he's stating the obvious that the germans conducted a real investigation and proved that soviets were behind this.
@@Void_Wars - “Not literally praying to Stalin means that you’re a Nazi apologist”
The Germans even notified Polish government in Uk when they were advancing into Russia and discovered all this massacre in Katyn, all tho no one believed them until after the war
I was raised with this horror story. My father was taken by the Soviets and served as a translator when they occupied eastern Europe. He witnessed the aftermath of this massacre when the Soviet army scrambled to bury the bodies in the woods in an attempt to cover it up. It was very hush hush and all were told not to never to say anything. When i lived in Germany in the 80s nobody I talked to had ever heard of this including war veterans and teachers. When the iron curtain came down, it all came out.
Mark, you should get a Pulitzer for this kind of superb investigative reporting. What I find so very disturbing, is the flippant disregard for human life, that people possess. Where these psychopaths delude themselves into believing it's okay and even their legal right, to murder others and not just another person, but millions upon millions of people. This kind of history should be convincing us all, that the consolidation of power into the hands of the few, is fatal for the many.
Pulitzer prize? Don't overdo it. None of this is new.
Superb investigative reporting? The massacre at Katyn is common knowledge freely available. Amazon lists immediately 12 books upon searching the subject 'Katyn'. Just because you've never heard of it before doesn't make it a forgotten or repressed mystery to anyone else. Although British, Katyn has never been forgotten by many people of my generation.
what we should find disturbing as well is the flipping disregard for billions of animal lives every year that end up in concentration camps of modern farms and then get executed in death camps, the slaughterhouses. they are persons too but most of us do not see this with their limitted vision. this massacre is totally forgotten and rarely has been reported. (your comment triggered me... i will repost this) One of the karmic reasons why eastern europe might have suffered so much is due to their farming culture. if we accept the simple concepts of eternity of our consciousness (the soul), it's transition in many lifeforms that can accommodate it's presence and in karma that is the result of it's mental impressions comming from actions, killing of others as one of them... then we might have less wars...
Believe it or not, several SOBs died in 1990-1995. Well-known by the russians who they are. Never answered for it. It is the reason for our russoreality, not the russophobia.
@@ksd593what are we supposed to do then, dont eat meat and live off a vegan or vegetarian diet ??? Get real
My grandfather, a war veteran of 1920 (war against Soviet Union), who was enlisted to Polish Army as an officer in communication unit in September 1939 - was kept in Katyn as POW. He avoided being murdered by Russians due to his hobby. A little known fact about the NKWD selection of POWs. Obviously, at first the uniform and distinctions mattered. But later the NKWD realized that some of officers were exchanging their uniforms with privates and NCOs (in Polish Army, the officer's field uniform differed from private's, so removing distinctions was not a solution). So NKWD used additional parameter of selection - appearance of hands. In Polish Army, same as in others european armies, officers were from so called 'good families' mostly: belonging to middle and high class, well educated, mental working, like it was stated in video: teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers etc. - their hands were smooth and manicured. There was a saying, that 'an officer has hands smooth like a lady'. In contrast, privates and NCOs, who were from lower class, with hands marked with hard physical work. At the commision, my grandfather, in his officer's uniform, was ordered to show his hands. His hobby, wood carving and wicker weaving which made his hands tough, chunky and scarred, saved his life. Despite of his uniform, Russians classified him as a nonofficer and assigned him to the transport to Syberian labor camps. He escaped the transport with some companions soon after and returned to family.
Very interesting
Amazing story.
My grandmother's two of elder brothers didn't have that luck (one was teacher, second one police officer). They were officially missing. NKWD had capture them. All that left, were one family picture. Rest of the pictures were burnt. My grandmother always loud says a prayer for them, when we gather on Christmas Eve so I know the story. I've showed that story to my grandmother, while she is still alive. She was deeply touched, and she said a prayer for You Mark Felton. Thanks Mark Felton for telling the truth on YT, and for your astonishing historical work.
I have met a polish officer that was hit by lightning in 1938 and spent the war in the hospital. Otherwise he would have probably died in Katyn. On the same trip I met the Orthodox military chaplain who was later to become bishop and died in the plane crash at Smolensk. He showed us his picture in polish uniform, that was printed in the media after the desaster. That's the way I heard about it and could tell his godson in time for the funeral.
@@Jacus1968 9
I’m glad people are talking about this, it’s history that deserves to be remembered.
lol to quote the history guy haha
No it’s nazi propaganda
@@Void_Wars go to north korea. that's the right place for u. 😂😂😂
@@Void_Wars The scariest part is that there are people like you, that believe it's just propaganda.
@@Eire_Aontaithe Yes, it's true. This is propaganda. The Soviets started offensive only after the Polish government was on the Romanian border and it became clear that Polish had been defeated. The territories that were returned to Soviet union were captured by Poland in 1919-21 when Russia was weakened by the civil war. These territories were inhabited mainly by Ukrainians and Belorusians. Even Great Britain and France didn't object. So Soviet union just got its own back.
My grandfather was captured & on the train to Katyn . When the train stopped to take in water, some of the railway workers opened his car to see what was inside. My grandfather & others escaped, and he went back to his village. When I was a child, my father told me one of the ways the Red Cross identified the Soviets as the perpetrators was that, although shot with German guns, they had all been tied up with Russian rope. I still have my grandfather’s medal in my desk.
My Grandad lies in the forest at Miednoje, may God rest his soul. Thank you Mark for what you do.
Skill issue
Poland receiving the the short end of the stick during WW2 is an understatement.
They didn't get the short end of the stick , they got the shaft plain and simple .
Even after ww2 this was the case, as the soviets got away with not just half of poland but the entire country after ww2
My mother, whose famly escaped from Soviet Ukraine commented Ukraine and Poland are islands that only emerge when Russia and Germany are weakened."
@@M167A1 Wow, that sounds completely true. I've read somewhere that Ukraine says that it has been what makes democracy possible for the rest of Europe.
They have more reason than most to be nationalistic.
I am glad you have not left out the role of Sikorski and his *extremely convenient* death, even though you’re British. It just goes to show how impartial your work is. Thanks a lot.
matheoo41. Yeah: 'extremely convenient': like Fritz Todd, Glen Miller, Toivo Antikainen, et alia. All subjects of 'conspiracy theory' B*llshi**ers.
the pilot of that aircraft was the only survivor of the crash though. If it had been an assassination the perpetrators surely would not have allowed him to live.
@@lucas82 how is the premise of the first sentence a logical justification for the conclusion in the latter? That's the logical fallacy of 'begging the question' (not-with-standing the absence of evidence for an assassination), isn't it?
@@lucas82 Most likely the plane was sabotaged by a pro-Soviet agent.
@@elrjames7799 What does the data show? It's not 'conspiracy theory' , it's conjecture. My parents were big fans of Glen Miller and it's such a tragedy that he, along with multi millions of other humans died in that truly global conflict.
Wow! Mark Felden… you are amazing. Great job! ❤ And God Bless the Polish people!
Absolutely terrible man. Never heard of his story. Brutal. So much needless death brushed under the rug it's insane. Thanks for sharing there story Mark.
Did you not learn any history in your school?😢
I've learned about this in Hungary. Two Hungarian officers were shot too, who were serving in the Polish Army at the time. Emánuel Aladár Korompay was at reserve captain, and lector of the Hungarology section of the Warsaw University, writer of the first Polish-Hungarian dictionary. The other person was Oskar Rudolf Kuehnel, a German-Hungarian who served as a artillery officer who was captured at the beginning of the Soviet offensive. May they rest in peace beside their brothers... Béke poraikra...
Moja Mama ur 1933.2018 otrzymala obnizone zachowanie za powiedzenie kto zrobil i wezwano rodzicuw pozdrawiam Wegirskiego Przyjaciela
There shall be no peace. The cultures around this planet are in shambles! There is no core to people who have been subjected to the crap from Hollywood in the United States! We have exported trash for over 100 years! There is no peace by the hand of man. Only God has the power to influence. We are not going to have a lasting peace within ourselves or in our countries with out the creator of the universe, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ first of all, made everything that is in existence, John 1: 1-3 and Colossians 1: 15-17.
Q1qqq11q
NKVD is responsible. Stalin ordered them to purge everyone who disagreed with him. NKVD is Stalin's puppets.
That is interesting. I didn't know about this. By being a lecturer at a University, the poor man signed his own death warrant. An intelligent human being - there was no room for those in Stalins world! :(
It frustrates me when many historians and documentaries forget about the Soviets involvement in the invasion of Poland, let alone thier atrocities. Great work Mark.
They are not just "forgetting" my dude. Communists intentionally down played this kind of stuff throughout the entire cold war and still try and do it now.
@typo pit By "negotiations" you mean giving up Danzig to Germany with all the benefits Poland was given in the Free City of Danzig in the Versailles Treaty, allowing Germans to build an exterritorial highway, and all of this in exchange for a mere promise of giving up on claims on the region of Greater Poland? You expect Polish government not only to accept such an unfair "agreement", but also to believe Hitler who broke his promises one after another? Not only that, German "ultimatum" was not even an "ultimatum". Germany did not send to Poland any ultimatum that would meet the definition of a diplomatic act. Polish government was left with nothing to answer to. It was made in such a way it wont be accepted. Hitler wanted war. He needed war. You cannot deny it.
Do not forget also the massacre of Poles by the soviet and Nazi Ukranian forces, I met one (now deceased) who had to leave Ukraine after 1945, who came here and was still receiving a pension from the Germans, in the 1990',having served as a Policeman of some kind in ww2.
@@johndoe-ss9bz they didn't because they knew they couldn't win war against a unified Russia and Germany and the guarantee of independence was only against Germany so they didn't have to nor want too
@@Dman3827 Aww you little history revisionist. Let me educate you my friend. Lets see, in the late 1930s during the spanish civil war, the Condor legion (luftwaffe) terror bombed spanish towns and cities with their ol mate Franco. In 1939, the nazi germans terror bombed Warsaw and many other Polish towns and cities, along with Russia also terror bombing Poland after 17th September 1939. In 1940 during the invasion of France, the luftwaffe would terror bomb and machine gun French civilians fleeing the fighting therefore impeding French military reinforcements from getting to the fight in a timely manner. The german nazis also terror bombed Amsterdam and many other European towns and cities during their invasion including in 1940 in Norway, Belgium, Netherlands and others. The luftwaffe also terror bombed London, Coventary and many other towns and cities in the UK. The nazi germans massacred whole towns and villages in Europe, including the famous few in France, Poland, Russia and Ukraine as so called 'reprisals' for resistance. And who was on the sidelines cheering on these terror bombings ? Why the german civilians of course. I had access to the original SIGNAL magazines in High School that was put out by the German ministry of News. The german nazi civilians cheered on the terror bombing of others even before WW2, yet you now spout bullshit at how the german nazi civilians were victims ? Oh and dont forget WW1 where German zeppelins and later the Goeathe ? Bombers would terror bomb London during WW1, a tactic they refined and used to a greater extent in WW2.
I've always questioned why the French and British declared war on Germany because of the German invasion of Poland but did not declare war on the Soviet Union for their simultaneous invasion of Poland. And then after hundreds of thousands of Poles escaped occupation and came to fight alongside the western allies, those same allies allowed the USSR to occupy Poland and make it part of the USSR.
It’s because WW1 and WW2 were engineered to enable the conquest of Europe by the Anglo American empire. It’s still happening now
Banker's wars buddy.
I lost five close cousins in Katyń, and several further ones more... Thank you for this video, you are one of the most honest and valuable history creators on YT, and I salute you.
As a Pole, I thank you for highlighting this massacre to rest of the world.
I'm not Polish, but I'd describe what the Soviets did to the Poles a sort of mini-genocide. All decent people should condemn the hammer and sickle similar to the way we condemn the swastika.
@ozymandias nullifidian Than you would also have to include the Union Jack!
@ozymandias nullifidian An infantile comparison. Also, you're confusing the use of symbol to represent a country, vs. the use of a symbol to represent an ideology that explicitly called for mass violence.
Uh oh, the commie sympathizers are in a tizzy. The Union Jack isn't used to represent a violent ideology, so the comparison is a stretch at best. And while many nations have committed crimes, I don't recall the British mowing down thousands of humans for being "enemies" of an ideology (as the Stalinists most certainly did) in the modern era.
@@ThisCanNotBTheFuture Hammer and sickle represents an ideology that, in its core and theory, doesn't represent anything evil. Communism and socialism are ideas based on equality of all people, meanwhile the Nazi ideology is based on racism and hate. Most people who call themselves communists and socialists today (there are many) condemn the Soviet crimes. Hammer and sickle should be allowed for use.
Many Poles made their way to Canada and Toronto has a large population. In the West end of the north of the Garner expressway, there is a lovely little park with a large granite boulder slashed down the center. The park and boulder are dedicated to those slain in the Katyn forest.
It's called the "Gardiner" Expressway, not Garner. And the memorial is in the Beaty Boulevard Parkette.
You beat me to it!! How long has it been there? I first saw it on the back of Triumph’s Allied Forces album, 1980 (I believe Rik Emmett is at least part Polish). It is just south of Toronto’s Little Poland neighborhood
@@TreatzTMA I am a retired police officer and I patroled the Parkdale area in the early 90s. It was there then.
Fergus, I have not been to the park, but I looked it up on the internet and the monument I saw was not a boulder, but a bronze block. Have they changed it since you last saw it ?
@@tazman5722 I have not seen it in a very long time so what you saw is probably correct. I think I will visit it the next nice day. It will get me out of the house and be a reminder of all the horror that still exists in the world
High quality as always. Thank you Dr. Felton for what you proved with your videos and books. Please keep it up. 👍 SEMPER FI !
I first learned of the Katyn massacre after seeing the Katyn Memorial in Jersey City, NJ. The statue is of a well dressed Polish officer, hands bound behind him, pierced in the back by a bayonet attached to a floating rifle. It's disturbing to see.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is one of the most dangerous lies we’ve ever told ourselves.
The enemy of my enemy is just another enemy!
Well that what Patton told Gen. Ike and the President but they would not listen to him. Strange how he died in that auto accident?@@michaelsuerth1448
My Grandfather (father of my Father) was imprisoned in Starobielsk POW camp, because he served in the Polish air force as an officer. He survived the massacre - he was released due to intervention of Lithuanian embassy in Moscow, because he was Lithuanian descent. He was one of a very few ever saved from Katyn massacre. During the stay in the camp, one of the fellow military chaplains predicted that my Grandfather would survive as the only one from their circle. Only 395 Polish officers (out of 22 000) were not murdered by NKVD in Katyn, Kharkov and Mednoye. He later served in the Soviet air force and survived the war. I had this fortune that I have met him and spent with him my childhood. He never wanted to speak about anything from the war. He passed away 14 years ago. In the name of him and his murdered colleagues I want to thank you.
Your grand father served the people that actually wanted to kill him and all his friends and colleagues. He was probably forced, not having a choice.
@@mirola73 he was forced, as well as 100 000 drafted into Red Army. Well, it was still better than shot in the head, don't you think?
@@KapitanGzehotnik I agree . Look at how many others were forced into similar situations . (I don't mean like Katyn) I mean being forced into service , Denmark, Sweden ,Norway , even if they were not forced to fight they were forced labor ... I am Glad your Grand father survived .
If you start to be interested in historical materials, compare different points of view,you will understand that there was no NKVD there.And this video is pure politics.
@@user-pretender77 I believe his grand fathers point of view because he was there!
Excellent and informative piece Mark, my only slight issue would be I don't think it's a forgotten massacre. It's particularly not forgotten in Poland.
Good point
Mark, I'm sure that one day soon you will be Knighted for your epic knowledge and for informing a world that knows little of what actually happened in that war.People like you are priceless.
In the mid 1980’s, during his retirement in Florida, I met the highest ranking American POW who had been captured in the North African campaign. He was taken by the Germans to witness the exhumation under the Nazis to prove the prisoners had been killed early on in the war by the Soviets contrary to what the Stalin had said. Just like in this video, he mentioned that there was no wear on their boots and the uniforms were basically new. A career Army officer, he was pulled out of combat in the Korean War and brought before Congress where he was sworn to secrecy. Because I was familiar with the massacre (I had read about it it in the book "Khrushchev Remembers”), he was more than willing to open up and talk to me. We knew for so long yet the truth was repressed for political reasons.
To my understanding it has been established twice in court that the germans were reponsible for Katyn. What is your source on that the uk and US judges dismissed the charges at the nuermberg trials? It`s my understanding that they just didn`t speak about it at the sentencing which in itself was framed more universal. I`f i`m informed right it`s even illegal in france to claim that the sowjets are responsible for the Katyn massacre like the russians said in 1990 and 2010. It`s the Gassot Act. If i remember right at the trial in russia there was a lot of evidence, eye witness reports and even a confession or confessions by germans who then were hung. What does this and other things tells us on the track record of the sowjet trials. As for the nuermberg trials: International military tribunal charter Article 19 "the tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence..." Article 21 "The tribunal shall not require proof of facts of common knowledge but shall take judicial notice thereof" It is known by now that prisoners and defendents have been tortured to get confessions. How is it that you risk jail in european countries for things that israeli history prof Yehuda Bauer states since atleast 1992 ? There are a lot more problems with this trials and there is a lot more in general.
I take what you say as correct. In the UK it was published in the late 1960s (Purnells Second World War) that the Soviets were responsible for Katyn. The Editor was Barrie Pitt who stood up to the then (as now) clamour of denial with proof which was verified by the Red Cross who had inspected the bodies of murdered men. What I do not understand is why Truman & then Eisenhower said nothing? Politically they had everything to gain during the fevered Macarthyism when most US politicians (with a few honourable exceptions) supported or at best stayed silent during the witch hunt. Not Americas finest hour.
@@roddyteague6246 Eisenhower is easy. He isn`t as clean as you think. You can find a clear distinction between the areas where Eisenhower took german POWs and occupied germany and other US generals did the same (Patton as probably the most prominent example. It has even been alledged that Eisenhower had his fingers in the death of Patton). If you are interested in such things just look at the rhine medow camps for which Eisenhower is mainly responsible. If i`m informed right it is still illegal for germany to prosecute or even investigate warcrimes that the allies committed between 1939-1949. That includes but is not limmited to the rhine medow camps. It`s also worth to take a deeper look at the liberation of Dachau and Buchenwald as well as Mauthausen and what surrounds it. Especially crimes ant the trials that followed and what the staff there as well as historians and politicans today say about them. Especially the allied warcrimes that tend to get blacked out (if it`s mentioned at all then only a very small part of them).
@@beyondalpha1072 Agreed. I think it has to do with germanophobie. It`s all over. Try to find a english speaking movie where a german is the good guy/with the good guys if he isn`t acting against other germans. It`s even hard to find in german movies.
@@beyondalpha1072 Mark Felton is a WWII Historian and in WWII, Germany WAS one of the bad guys. If you don’t think they were evil in what they did and what they had planned, then I don’t know what else to say.😟😒
It’s incredible that a polish nation still exists
Mr. Incredible • and that a Polish Nation-state was established after forced Peaceagreement (Brest-Litovsk) on the demand of the German Kaiser, after defeating Russia in WW1.
I get it... incredible
Incredible it is that they dont hate English to, since they used and betrayed Poles most. Looked the other way at the start of the war, used Poles as cannon foder and at the end of the war left them to the Soviets.
There were 4 incidents when Poland was attacked by its neighbours in this kind of fashion. The longest period Poland wasn't on Europe's map was about 200 years!
@@ljubomirculibrk4097 As an englishman i have a great respect for the polish nation and am embarrassed that my country has not, or not to my knowledge, apologised to Poland.
New people will not forget this tragedy, thanks to Mark!
Thank You Mark for all your work and history videos. You are doing a great work.
Yah, he could do Volhynia massacre of Poles next
Katyn massacre is said to be the Polish people’s “rape of Nanjing” described to me by a history teacher. It’s rather saddening that still people try to deny such atrocities.
The post-communist Duma has officially admitted that Stalin was responsible. I already had a comment-tussle about this with commie-boos on another channel. Why the deniers persist is a puzzle indeed.
With the little difference that the Nanking Massacre was enormous...
Because the deniers are funded by the Russian government. They don't teach this stuff at schools in Russia. Just that they saved Europe from Hitler and "liberated" Eastern-Europe.
I think that a better equivalent of "Rape of Nanking" in Poland, would be the Wola Genocide, where the Germans exterminated 90,000 civilians during the Warsaw uprising in 1944. Or another one, the Volhynia Genocide, where Ukrainian Insuregents massacred 100,000 Poles in 1943-44.
@@manumainio3451 thats actually completely false... only an american would think russians are still communist. Putin himself has admitted that Stalin was a tiran and warcriminal
Here in Poland we remember. And we never forget about that tragedy.
God bless Poland from USA, it’s honestly sickening seeing all the genocide that happened in your country, and they still don’t even talk about what the Soviets had done to it
When the German troops discovered the mass graves of Polish officers near Smolensk (Katyn massacre) in April 1943, Sikorski turned to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Switzerland with a request for a neutral investigation on the spot. This gave Stalin the pretext to break off relations with the Polish government-in-exile at the beginning of May 1943, even before Sikorski withdrew the inquiry on May 4th under British pressure.
@@davecopp9356 And the world remembers how your people murdered over eleven million people systematically in konzentrationslagers.
@@davecopp9356 Stop lying.
And till today Lukashenko’s govt is still trying to erase the proof of the crimes committed by USSR.
This was an absolutely fanatastic video. Thank you, Dr. Felton. 👍
Thank you for this! We will never forget! Cześć i chwała bohaterom!
The polish are tough people, they’ve been through a lot. Nothing but respect.
pfff
The world loves a winner - so, sorry.
Poland was three times divided between Czarists,Austro-hungarians and germans,last time betrayed by long time allies Britain,and borders moved away... and still exist !! RESPECT !!
@@erich3071 are you still a Waffen SS. commander Priebke ?
Well, the polish people have terrible country neighbors, even in history too.
When I was a kid (during early 80s), I remember visiting Cemeteries during All Hallows Eve. Traditionally it is the time of the year when Poles visit graves of their deceased loved ones. There was this wall there - every day someone would spray paint the word Katyn on it. The authorities would re-paint over it but we word would come back the next day. The area in front of the writing was always full of candles. This went on and on, year after year. Although it was officially suppressed knowledge and not a part of the school history curriculum since WW2, the people remembered. My great grandfather was murdered there (to be precise most likely in Ostaszkow)
What happened to the site after the Soviet fall?
Feb 2021 USA Military Purge by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
Sorry for your lost. I really don't see a difference between Nazism and Communism. I'm an American and I can tell you we Americans made a deal with the Devil during WW2. All we did was help defeat one dictatorship so another could take over. Not just in eastern Europe but also in China. We are probably going to have to fight against Communism in the near future.
Fascinating stuff Mark. I really appreciate and enjoy these videos.
My grandfather kpt. Ryszard Chojnacki has been killed in this massacre… unknown massacre. Thank you for restoring the memory of those times.
When I was a kid, I read about the Russian invasion of Poland in September 1939. A few weeks later; at school, we started learning about WW2 and the German invasion of Poland. I eagerly put up my hand so that I may tell my teacher what I had learned from my book about the Soviet invasion from the East. My teacher informed me that I was wrong, that my book was wrong, and that the invasion of Poland was by the Germans only. He then went on to humiliate me in front of the whole class when I insisted that my book was correct. I was eleven years old. I never forgot that
Welcome to the PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. Dumbing down students since 1812.
Where was the school?....in USA?.....see my commennt above of the one-sided use of Hitler (only) as the 20th Century's only evil/murderist ruler...and never Stalin, our "Uncle Joe". One-sided indoctrination 'cause Stalin "was on our side".
Man that sucks, what a horrible teacher
@@TheWilferch There was a famous U.S. general who stated that the allies fought the wrong enemy such was his hatred towards the Soviet Union but he was killed in a strange car accident that was evidently never fully investigated.
@@paullewis2413 Both the Axis and The Soviets were the opponents of US. problem is The US should have reached Berlin Before Soviets did.
As a Pole I wanted to say simple but deep thank You Mark
Znasz prawde o II WS..!?
Best wishes to our polish friends from Romania !!❤💯👍🇵🇱🇷🇴
Stay strong, so it never happens again.
I'm glad that the Polish government is the way they are today!... God Bless from America!
The defenseless female victims of the Soviet hoards are still awaiting a Mark Felton episode telling their tragic tale. Millions of females aged 8 through 80 were sexually assaulted by our Communist "allies" as they pillaged Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Rumania.
I've learned a lot from this channel. Great details.
Thank you and greetings from Poland - your material are honest
As a russian dude, i am quite ashamed of what happened. There is a book called icebreaker by victor suvorov describing further collaborations between soviets and nazis. Its a good read.
@Bardia ghanbarzade ill give it a read. Thanks for the suggestion!
@Bardia ghanbarzade i'll certainly take a look
Russia should abandon soviet legacy, its not wealthy.
@@yaromirgusev2616 It's very sad. I suppose the NKVD had got used to shooting people a few years earlier during the Yezhovshina. At least they never did it again (so far as I know).
@@Wiktorino1984 bruh they have a mix soviet and russian empire legacy since 1991 and ever since then…
Thank you,....at last, a channel that actually does it's homework...... Subscribed.
Dr. Felton, There is a memorial statue for Katyń in Jersey City, NJ overlooking the Hudson River and Manhattan. Easy to visit 1 stop subway ride from the trade center. Thank you for your informative videos and keep up the great work.
The Polish film Katyn (2007) depicts this massacre in a horrifyingly accurate way. Recommend everyone watch the scenes of the shootings (at your own discretion), really shows how systematic and brutal it was
I will watch it this weekend. On Netflix perhaps?
For the NKVD it was another days work
That is, if you can find it. snoozetube has banned it. Too bad, it IS a good flick.
I did watch it. One of the most depressing films I’ve seen.
Yes I watched this about 11 years ago. The DVD of the film was given to us by a Polish family. It is a really shocking true story. It was the first time in years when after the film I had to have a double whisky. 'Least we forget'.
Thank you Mark, being a Polish citizen and knowing the history of Katyn, I really appreciate you making a video about this often forgotten episode of Soviet brutality.
NO Soviet!!!! German and Ukrajinian NAZI! Polish killed 28 000 soviet soldiers in 1921.
Stop lying. The Soviets killed Polish officers, not Germabs or Ukrainians. And stop spreading the Soviet propaganda about the mordering Soviet soldiers, because that's not true.
@@dariuszmokrzynski1492 German and Ukrainians nazi! Polish killed 28 000 soviets in 1921!
@@frantisekondrus52 You are crazy and or delusional
@@simeondunev4890 wow, WHO are you?
Thank you for your work.
Thank you, Mark for this episode. The quality of your films and skill to pack so much history to only several minutes is astounding. Please, don't stop making new films.
" the first casualty in a war is the truth" someone once said. Wonder how many truths got buried in WW2....? We will never know.
Most dont know remote controlled bomber planes and remote controlled tanks were VERY popular in world War II. Also most dont know that JFKs older brother Joe Kennedy Jr. Died while flying behind and remote controlling two bomber planes over Germany in WWII.
@@leemon908 Mark made a video on those bombers not so long ago
We will
We have to stop lies about wwii first that come from Russia for example.
“In war, truth is the first casualty.” ― Aeschylus
I’m from Poland and I’d like to thank you for making a video about this tragic, yet quite unknown in the west subject. It’s shocking for me to read sometimes comments of people (mainly Russians) who still deny these war crimes and atrocities of communists in general. Well what can you do against the power of propaganda... Still thanks for this (as always) well researched and informative video.
bro what? Russians dont deny it - brainwashed morons do. If you knew Russians you’d know that most of them don’t like communism
@@pk-sc8iz so there is not a single moron in russia?
I'm not a Russian and I think Stalin was Asian bloodthirsty butcher but nevertheless I understand his actions. That was revenge for torturing to death of about a hundred thousand of Soviet prisoners of war in Poland in 1919-1924.
@@pk-sc8iz I don't deny it but understand why Stalin did it
You see, my wife is Ukrainian and when I met her I had to teach her that Katyn had been a Soviet, not German killing. That's what she had been teached at school. This and much more. Fortunately she trusted me.
Thank you mr. Doctor, this tragic Polish story has been very well told by you. 👍
yo fantastic content. I've been watching all your vides this really reminds me of sitting with my grate grandfather talking to him about his time in WW2
Sure as hell not forgotten, here in Hungary we remember the atrocities the Soviets committed against our brothers
We also remember your uprising in 1956. In Poland hundreds donated blood, clothes and food for the victims of this soviet invasion. You are friends of Poland and our brotherhood will last. You are always welcome here.
Soviet made even more atrocities in Ukraine and now russia keeps tradition alive .
История помнит о ваших « подвигах» над пленными и мирным населением на территории ссср. Потому в плен венгров и не брали. Хотя это все в прошлом, нужно жить на земле в соответствии законами божьими.
@@Oldrebel да видели как московиты живут по законах Божих , Преднустровуе , две войны в Чечнe, две в Грузии , Украина " православыєн" куда дальше .
Also can't forgot all they did to German civilians, and German children as well the allies thought it was okay until the land disputes happened and the wall came up
We need more of this. Unspoken historical evidence
@Erika Wehr hellstorm is simple bullshit made by a man without proper education in history
This warcrime is known since 1945. Nothing new
We need more of this Felton fella
@@miroslavzember6761 *Yeah,the soviest didn't spil any inocent blood* Please quote where I have said something like this
@REMEMBER THE NAME where did I ton down soviet warcrimes? The massacre is widly known...btw.....since 1945
Thank you for your work
I am Italian, my grandmother was polish and lived in Suwalki. Late at night, soviet troops entered in the house, took her and her child (my uncle, now apolid in france), putted them on a train for siberia, that due to the policy of return of polish prisoners of war brought them to kenya (got photos there); they took also her husband, that finished in katyn. Long live the memory of such barbarism, still present in Russia due to the reasons, and the people, that you all know
In 1980s, in Polish schools, we wrote on the walls "We will avenge Katyn!" If caught, we risked an arrest....
Defiant displays of a chihuaha nation
"why is Hitler only up to his neck in blood?" "because he's standing on Stalin's shoulders."
It's a good joke 👌but some decisions made by Hitler and his buddies will surprise even Stalin and his buddies!
Added to this is the fact the the Soviets delayed their attack on Warsaw until the Nazis had defeated the ghetto uprising. This way they got rid of the Poles who were most likely to oppose them in the future.
Stalin surely the world,s most cynical human being.
@@mmiller4569 ghetto uprising was earlier. Soviets waited on eastern shore of Vistula till Germans murder rest of civilians through Warsaw uprising. Ghetto uprising and Warsaw Uprising are two different events in time.
@@mmiller4569 lern some history boy, that is no ghetto uprising, all Warsaw fight
Insane I never heard of Katyn, now I’ll make sure I never forget
I wish this dude was my history teacher. I’m all hooked on this channel
My grandpop was a polish officer that escaped from Poland in 1939 and wound up later in the R.A.F. Flying bombers with the 301 and 305 bomb group and received the “virtuti militari” from Gen. Sikorski in April of either 1941 or 1942, I can’t remember the exact year right now. But I learned of this tragedy from him.
Your grandpop was badass. The kind of guy they make movies about for sure
@@2x2is22 Thank you! Yes he was a great man and I miss him a lot! Unfortunately he passed away in 1982 in a car accident of all things after flying 75 bombing missions during the war and not being seriously wounded, go figure? But thank you again for the nice compliment!
I salute Grandpop.
@@CONTACTLIGHTTOMMY Thank you for the compliment sir! That was very kind of you!
@@2x2is22 Unfortunately, they don't make movies of these kind of guys.
The saddest thing about all this is most people don't even know this happened. The people responsible for this massacre should have been hunted down and brought to justice! What a disgrace!
Unfortunately, there was never going to be a hunt for Soviet war criminals, although Beria was executed shortly after Stalin died.
Agree. The NKVD deserved a post war Nuremberg trial.
@@aemrt5745 they were at Nuremberg trial. They were guards and judges. Alongside American, British and French allies of USSR.
True but on the other hand, how would this have been done. The NKVD was backed by the USSR. The USSR wouldn't have allowed the trial. And no one would risk a war over this after WWII.
@@KapitanGzehotnik Like the British, French and Americans didn't commit warcrimes. Everybody had blood on their hands.
This video rocks!, thanks for the post!!
As a polish Australian I thank you for the video
The allies turned a blind eye to this!
stalin killed just as many of his own officers, so how could they do anything?
so it turns out Poland was right to fear its former subjugators and neighbors, Germany and Russia. It seems to be common propaganda that Poland was an irrational player trying to unite other former slaves to said neighbors for defense. Why is the context and narrative around Polish foreign policy (pre-war) almost never painted as this "do or die" attitude to foreign policy because that was exactly what was on the table for them--ya know, because of how history actually went? queue the other Nazi sewn propaganda that Poles were so eager to ship out Jews--no other nation in the world had as much academic and institutional print in Hebrew as did Poland during this time, ya know, for actual historical context.
Once the war got going the Soviet Union needed to be seen as an ally so this, and the general nature of the socialist regime was not really spoken about until the end of the decade and the start of the cold war.
@@magnetmannenbannanen it's not a matter of what they could do, it's that the Communists were at least as bad as the nazis, yet got a pass at least until the start of the Cold War. this is reflected in the current positive Western attitude towards socialism, which is every single bit as bad as German national socialism.
As they did to the Soviet war crimes in the baltics, the genocide of Ingrian Finns, the fact that the Soviets participated in the attack on Poland - which they had given a guarantee to - and the attack on Finland.
I would never forgot the Katyn massacre
*or all the other massacres of innocent ppl during WW2 from both the allies and the axis
@@pk-sc8iz not all, but some. Cuz there's too many
@Marcus Milligan oh yeah, i forgot about that
@Marcus Milligan Remember the Polish & Romanians. They suffered the Holodomor in the same years.
@@ilyal5712 yes the massacre of Fântână Albă the romanian Katyn
In German we have a general saying in all sorts of contexts trying to express there is still a straw of hope in despair "noch ist Polen nicht verloren". Translation: Poland is not yet lost.
This is the fist sentence of the national anthem of Poland. First sentence of Ukrainian national anthem sounds almost the same...
Jersey City, NJ Never forgets. Memorial is directly across from lower Manhattan ….
No wonder Schopenhauer said : ‘The more I look at mankind, the more I like animals.’
Any decent person on evidence would be a misanthrope.
I like both
That just tells you Schopenhauer had no clue about animals. Always have to laugh about people romanticizing nature. Nature is win or die. Every second of it is a mass murder. A life is worth absolutely nothing and the cruelty of nature (victims get eaten alive often..etc) is there to see. It is a good thing we humans value life but in nature killing something is just everydays job and part of life.
@@listrahtes You're dumb, nature is kill or die yes, but not mass murder, not genocide, no ideologies.
@@niepowaznyczlowiek Well whole species get killed of all the time by other animals. What do you consider that? Have you ever seen a video of an ape tribe killing of annother tribe? Why do we value life only with mamals but not with insects? It makes no sense at all. The point is that killing and death is part of our universe. Whole star systems get destroyed all the time. Think about that level of violence. Its nothing only humankind involved. We want to believe that because we take ourselves way more serious than we are. Life is cheap. Its we who value ourselves so high and thats fine but nature doesnt think so at all.
"...extremely convenient Sikorski death" well said
Commander Crabb was involved in the search off the coast of Gibraltar, he also suffered a very unexplained ending. Ironic that only the Pilot survived from the Sikorski crash. People should also remember that General Sosabowski the polish parachute commander at Arnhem, a very capable and caring man, was dismissed and side-lined for standing up for his men.
@@robinloxley205 The pilot was badly injured though and proved later in life to be no commie lover. More intriguing is the fact Kim philby, a soviet agent within british intel, was serving at gibraltar at that time.
@@robinloxley205 Unfortunately, Polish leaders were always a "thorn in the flesh" with regard to the Allies' dealings with Stalin who was able to redraw the post-war map of Europe according to his wishes! The Allies should have supported the Soviets only to the extent necessary to defeat Hitler simultaneously bringing about the downfall of Stalin.
@ozymandias nullifidian there's a fine line in what could have reasonably been done, don't try to distort it
@@ZVDhunter861 He is obviously not the one who started distorting your "fine line". Or shall i draw another line? About what should have Allies done in 1939 or should not have done in 1938? Stop painting world in black and white - there is no one righteous.
Excellent video Mark. Very thorough and informative.
Mr Felton, thank yiu for sharing such a Brilliant Forensic Analysis. Jeremy Penrice. Forensic Engineer. New Zealand.
My uncle disappeared in 1940 and it was long believed by our family that he perished at Katyn. It was only in 2008, 68 years later, that his name was published by the Polish government in a list of verified victims of the massacre. No family should ever have to wait so long for confirmation of the fate of a loved one. Thank you for making this film.
My great grandmother’s brother was murdered in Katyń, for forty years after all his headstone could say was “died tragically.”
Do you disagree what his death was a tragic event?
@@PseudonymsAreGovno da Aleksiej, tragic events is slavic brothers murdering many Polish inteligentsia. My uncle was murdered there. We won't forget what is cost the russia betrayal. where soviet united with fascist and invaded small Poland. fascist comunism equal evil.
@@PseudonymsAreGovno Dying in a car accident is a "tragic event", Katyń was a genocide.
@@twojstarypijany8153 It wasn't really genocide. It was a politically motivated mass murder.
@@cool2martini It was a pretty awful event, I wouldn't argue where. Though It was the USSR who had confessed it. A lot of countries do pretty awful fings and try to sweep it under the rug. We had atleast confessed in 80-s.
Clearest presentation of this unspeakably deplorable event I know of. Am constantly surprised at how little coverage is given to the murder and suppression of intellectuals and artists by both Hitler and Stalin.
There is a large Polish community here in Southampton and a war memorial at Hollybrook cemetery.
I attend a high school in Hungary, where it has a monument remembering this massacre. A ceremony involving honour guards takes place there annual. Respect to the Poles!
I am not trolling or starting a fight, but did they talk to you about crimes Hungarian troops committed in Serbia and Yugoslavia in 1914/15 and 1941-45? I am just interested in what is thought to student these days.
Once again it appears, that Hungarians are the only nation we can count on.
@@jak00bspyr72 Read about the Intermarium. A good idea of cooperation between us and some others. Better then EU. Though I would refersh my countries leadership for some reason, but the oppisition is no match for them either.
@@p.b.5107 I know about Intermarium. I wish it would come true.
@Carl Von Finland crime is when you go to Serbia in 1914 and start hanging and shooting women and children, not to mention straling all the food and stuff. This was docunented by Red Cross and some Swiss people on the ground like Archibald Reis.. Or, when you go to the city of Novi Sad in 1941/1942 and theow 2500 civilians under ice on river Danube. Or when Germans organize 3 concentration camps in Belgrade alone, for example. Is that enough to be qualified as crime for you?
Listened to a audiobook recently. It states Poland has been in a state of survival for its very existence many times. Poland however still exists, it’s enemies went to the dustbin of history. Such is the perseverance and determination of the Polish!
Didn't the polish government change and go communist during the Cold War?
@@somewierdoonline2402 I don’t think they had much choice in those decisions after world war 2.
@@somewierdoonline2402 - not so much as change to a Soviet government, as provided a one party state as being their territory was taken from the Germans. Not much choice there. Democracy restored 1989.
Years ago, a guy did my ancestry, His conclusion was my family came from an area so contested back and forth between Poland/Germany that I could call myself either German or Polish. I stuck to Polish.
@@somewierdoonline2402 if you call being Forced into submission, then yeah, they went Commie, and they were also the leaders in forcing Communism out of their Country long before the Soviet Union fell. In fact their Solidarity movement led to other neighboring Countries rejecting Soviet domination, I guess they didn't teach you that in World History huh?
Thank you for making this video. This area of WWII, does not get enough exposure. It seems like everyone knows what the nazis did. But not nearly enough people are educated on the brutality and the atrocities committed by the Soviets.
Thank you for talking about this.
Oh believe me it is not forgotten in Poland, we speak about this with bitterness among families and in the gobvernment. We lost a huge chunk of people who were highly educated to be foundation of society. So many people were killed, almost all families I know lost somebody there. Such a horrid event.
YES. Both the Gestapo and the NKVD sought to eliminate the educated classes, professionals, and business leaders of Poland, to impose their systems on Poland - but this is not taught in the West.
@@pilsudski36 the same in Czech republic. Nazis arrested and killed educated people or artists, philosophers, and more, and the same did communists.
The thing is, there were no good guys in the war in the East, only varying degrees of evil.
@@tjb_6203 And it amazes me how the Hammer and sickle is not despised as the Swastika is in the West (Except Central Europe).
@@kubajcz This destroyed our countries, but only backfired for them. Imagine how different it would be for Germany if they made people in occupied countries willing to cooperate and if they didn't make everyone a human of lower class