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At least 3,870 Polish army officers were executed by Stalin`s NKVD secret police on the territory of Belarus, prominent Belarusian historian Ihar Kuznyatsow said at a round-table discussion in Minsk on Monday, disputing Alyaksandr Lukashenka`s claim that none had been massacred in the country in 1939 and 1940, BelaPAN said.
“As many as 5,772 of those executed in Minsk are known to have officially been exonerated. Twenty percent of them were Poles,” said Mr. Kuznyatsow. “The information comes from the KGB and the Supreme Court.”
While speaking at a news conference in Minsk on December 23, Mr. Lukashenka claimed that after studying the country`s entire archival records, authorities concluded that not a single Pole had been executed on the territory of Belarus in 1939 and 1940.
“Keeping silent about this now, 75 years later, means insulting those killed,” said Mr. Kuznyatsow. “It is now alleged that a Belarusian list has never existed, as no Poles were killed in the country. But it is impossible to hide the truth today. Ukraine, as well as Russia has a list. Finally, we made last year a documentary for Belsat TV, which refers to documents of [Russia’s] Federal Security Service, suggesting that there is a Belarusian list. It is not really important whether it is held by Moscow or has been destroyed. The fact just should be recognized.”
Shortly after the Belarusian leader`s news conference, a prominent Polish newspaper also disputed his claim that no Polish army officers had been executed by Stalin`s NKVD secret police on the territory of Belarus.
"NKVD executed 3,782 Poles staying in prisons on the territory of the BSSR [Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic] at that time. The names of these people, as well as the places where they were executed and buried remain unknown up to the present day," the newspaper Rzeczpospolita said.
Polish historian Wojciech Materski dismissed Mr. Lukashenka`s remarks as "not only lies but also boundless hypocrisy." "Lukashenka is using the Polish tragedy in the game with Moscow. When he quarreled with the Kremlin, he hinted that he would give the list [of the Poles executed in Belarus] to the Poles. Now that he has reached agreement with Moscow, he has forgotten about this list," the professor said in an interview with Rzeczpospolita.
Another Polish historian, Zbigniew Siemaszko, described Mr. Lukashenka`s claim as "complete nonsense" and referred to Soviet records proving that NKVD officers in Minsk had received orders from Moscow to execute arrested Polish army officers.
According to the paper, the Russian authorities have refused to hand over the list containing the names of the Poles killed in Belarus to Warsaw for 20 years. Historians suggest that a copy of the document could be found at archival record offices in Belarus. In particular, Poland has already received from Kyiv a copy of the list of the Poles executed in Ukraine. "Moreover, the Soviet NKVD documented its crimes very accurately, that is why Lukashenka`s remarks are not trustworthy," the paper said.
