JERZY BUSEK, Polish president of the European Parliament, described Katyn as “a cursed place” when he heard that President Lech Kaczynski and 96 other Poles were killed in an air crash near the forest site where thousands of their countrymen were massacred on Stalin’s orders in 1940. The coincidence of these two tragedies has created an overwhelmingly emotional impact in Poland and a worldwide flow of sympathy for its citizens.
As President McAleese said: “The deep sadness being felt in Poland is shared by many in Ireland who hold the Polish people in high regard and with great affection.”
Mr Kaczynski’s visit was part of a joint Polish-Russian reconciliation effort over Katyn on its 70th anniversary. Last week Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, took part in a Warsaw commemorative ceremony, saying “we bow our heads to those who bravely met death there”. Although he stopped well short of an apology, his words and the showing of the film Katyn by the Polish director Andrzej Wajda on Russian television this month were important efforts to improve the frequently tense relations between the two countries.
Mr Kaczynski, a fierce critic of Russia throughout his career, led an official cross-party Polish delegation to recall the murder of 20,000 Poles in 1940. He is universally mourned as a patriot, including by many who did not share his conservative and controversial nationalist views. He also gained respect for his criticisms of the compromises made to ensure a transition from the communist regime in the 1990s. The Law and Justice party he led with his twin brother Jaroslav, who was prime minister from 2005-7, is devastated by the loss of so many leading figures.
It is very much to be hoped now that the two nations can be united in grief over this catastrophe, rather than freshly divided over why it happened. Mr Putin is in charge of the official inquiry. It needs to be scrupulously transparent and fully documented to avoid any suspicion of a cover-up or talk of a conspiracy. Already there are conflicting claims about whether the official Tupolev-154 aircraft was fit for purpose and unconfirmed stories that the pilot ignored advice to divert the flight to another airport because of foggy conditions. There is huge potential here for renewed tension if any of this disagreement is left unresolved or if the evidence from the aircraft black box is further contested in detail.
Polish-Russian relations have been tormented by a long history of conquest, partition and war. Stalin’s agreement with Hitler in 1939 to divide Poland between them was one of the most cynical geopolitical manoeuvres ever. It bought Stalin time to prepare for the German invasion of Russia in 1941 – and to eliminate a future Polish leadership which would oppose any subsequent Russian occupation. The exigencies of wartime alliances and post-war interests conspired to prevent the truth about Katyn emerging until the Cold War ended. Poland’s new security as an EU member-state should give it the confidence to overcome this tragedy in its own affairs and in its relations with Russia.