The collection of the Citizens’ Committee for the Construction of the Katyn Massacre Monument
The Historical Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union hold resources on the organizational structures of the Solidarity Trade Union, and records of citizens’ committees based on these structures. Among them you may find archival materials of the Social Committee for the Construction of the Monuments to December 1970 Victims in Gdynia (Fond No. 30), the Social Committee for the Construction of the Monument to the Shipyard Workers Killed in 1970 in Gdansk (Fond No. 31), the General Committee of the NSZZ “Solidarność” Medicines and Medical Equipment Bank (Fond No. 25), the Citizens’ Committee for the Construction of the Katyn Massacre Monument in Warsaw (Fond No. 29). Below there is a selection of scans from the latter collection, including correspondence, announcements, protocol and posters.
The samples of correspondence from 1981, related to the desecration and theft of the Katyn Massacre Monument from the Powązki Municipal Cemetry in Warsaw, include letters addressed to Lech Wałęsa, the Chairman of the National Coordinating Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union, to Zbigniew Bujak, the Chairman of the Solidarity Trade Union in Mazovia Region, and to Jerzy Majewski, the Mayor of Warsaw. The attached communication of the Committee informs about the support received from the Primate of Poland, Józef Glemp, and from the delegates of the Ist National Congress of the Solidarity Trade Union.
The below posters, dated 1981, refer to the Katyn Massacre of 1940. They contain such elements as the cross, crowned eagle, star, phrases: the 41st anniversary of the murder of Polish officers, The Poles! Remember, this is also their day!!! Katyn, Katyn Victims, Starobielsk, Ostaszkow, Kozielsk, the Katyn Massacre anniversary, April – the national remembrance month, Solidarity, and dates: March – May 1940, April 1940 (?) – April 1981.
Visit us at the in the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union
Those interested in the above described documents and in our other archival materials are kindly invited to see our holdings in our Reading Room of the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union at Wały Piastowskie 24. They are accessible from Monday to Friday between 9:00 and 15:30. As the number of users accepted daily is limited, please let us know in advance about your planned visit either by phone +48 (58) 308-43-92, +48 (58) 308-44-20, +48 (58) 308-43-83, or at . Due to the coronavirus pandemic all users are required to cover their nose and mouth!
/Łukasz Grochowski, the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union,
Iwona Flis, Stanisław Flis Foundation “Pomerania Archives”/
