The Pittsburgh Press (October 20, 1945)
Trials may solve massacre in forest
Germans accused of killing Poles
BERLIN – One of the most bitterly disputed crimes of the war – the Katyn Forest massacre of 11,000 Polish officers – may be cleared up for history once and for all at the Nuernberg trials.
It was discovery of this slaughter of Polish prisoners of war which led to the May 1943 rupture of relations between Russia and Poland.
Officials of the London Polish government blamed the Russians for the atrocity; the Russians conducted an investigation to prove these charges baseless.
Twenty-four arch Nazi war criminals, who go on trial next month, now are formally charged with responsibility for this massacre.
The Russian prosecution staff will produce evidence to support these charges.
The Poles were killed and their bodies buried in a forest near Smolensk in September 1941.