Russian parliament: Stalin ordered Katyn massacre

Being of partial Polish descent, I learned about this from my late grandfather when I was younger, and read about it more lately. It was already a forgone conclusion that Stalin was behind the slaughter of unarmed Polish police and civilians, and it's about time they publicly ate some serious crow and stopped pushing it to the backburner. This is something that, out of respect for the victims, cannot afford to be forgotten or misplaced, or made foggy.

I have gained some serious respect for Russia for coming clean about this. Acknowledgement and apology can never bring back the lives lost, but it may start the healing, and bring two bitter enemies a little closer in the end.

Remember Katyn.

-J.

This was written about in secondary sources for years - official culpability does put the issue to rest. It's unfortuante that some still want this event revised for contemporary ideological reasons, but more evidence pushes them further to the fringe, where they belong.

As a polish descendant I wonder why you go on anti-immigrants rants. Hmmm...hypocrisy much?


Anyhow, Stalin was a beast, he was also responsible for ethnic cleansing of Koreans, Ukrainians, German Russians, Tatars, and Chuckchis.

At least it's good Russia came clean and formal about this. It takes class to apologise for past wrongs.

Stalin a beast? I suppose, but he was the right man at the right time. Never mind WWII without Stalin Russia would still be a simple agrarian backwater and not a world power.

That's hard to say. Maybe Russia today would be like Sweden or Norway without Stalin and communism in general. It's one of the great "what ifs" of history I guess.

Stalin was as bad as, worse in some ways, Hitler. Right man at the right time? I suppose Hitler and Mussolini were 'right men at the right time' too?

Really.

I'm *very* surprised

What???? Without him it would be better anyway, scientists, writers, heroes of wars, good people anyway were killed. Now they are not even agrarian, their settlement is divided in three groups:who pray, who drinks vodka and who tries to do something for the country but can't because the others are praying and drinking vodka. So I think that you're not right.

Half Polish, half German to be exact. And, to clarify something....I don't just rant about immigrants. I rant about whatever angers me at any given time, be it people on cell phones, immigrants, the government, rednecks that cut me off in their oversized pickups, etc. I have rants for nearly everything.

I don't discriminate, everything drives me nuts equally! LOL.

I agree with your point on Stalin. I rate him up there with Hitler. They were both sadistic murderers that held no regard for human beings as a whole. And yes, very classy of the current Russian government to admit to wrongs. Takes a lot of guts to own up to something as big as Katyn.

-J.

What???? Without him it would be better anyway, scientists, writers, heroes of wars, good people anyway were killed. Now they are not even agrarian, their settlement is divided in three groups:who pray, who drinks vodka and who tries to do something for the country but can't because the others are praying and drinking vodka. So I think that you're not right.

Well, without him there would be no Russia. It would have eneded up being several minor city states that would have been fodder for the German armies. Hitlers plan was to liquidate 90% of the Russian populace so yes, under Stalin the Russians stood a chance at least.

Also, there were more scientists, writers, heroes during Stalins time then any time preceeding it. I may not agree with how he drove the Russians to their industrial society but I dare say it was that or obliteration. Had there been no Stalin, nothing would have stopped Hitler and we would all be speaking German now.

A small man makes small mistakes but a great man makes great ones. The mistakes Stalin made were henious but his achivements made Russia great at the time when the world needed greatness.

Stalin murdered 22 million of his own people. I'll leave it at that.

What???? Without him it would be better anyway, scientists, writers, heroes of wars, good people anyway were killed. Now they are not even agrarian, their settlement is divided in three groups:who pray, who drinks vodka and who tries to do something for the country but can't because the others are praying and drinking vodka. So I think that you're not right.

Well, without him there would be no Russia. It would have eneded up being several minor city states that would have been fodder for the German armies. Hitlers plan was to liquidate 90% of the Russian populace so yes, under Stalin the Russians stood a chance at least.

Also, there were more scientists, writers, heroes during Stalins time then any time preceeding it. I may not agree with how he drove the Russians to their industrial society but I dare say it was that or obliteration. Had there been no Stalin, nothing would have stopped Hitler and we would all be speaking German now.

A small man makes small mistakes but a great man makes great ones. The mistakes Stalin made were henious but his achivements made Russia great at the time when the world needed greatness.

Russia will be, the Stalin is the mistake, the communism is the mistake at all. Russian won't be speaking, hitler wanted to kill 70 percent of them, the others - make slaves. The loses in 2 world war was began from that the Stalin wasn't listening when his generals were saying that Germans are moving to the border. He's the dumb, asshole and bloody spot in Russian history.

Without his 5 year plans and the NKVD holding a gun to peoples heads to makes sure they did them then there would be no Russia. 27 million Russians died in WWII but if Hitler won then it would have been 170 million and the world would be under the yoke of fascism.