KATYN FOREST MASSACRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00682R000300100001-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 11, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 1, 1956
• Content Type: OPEN

1956
Approved For Release 2001/08/09: CIA-RDP9.1-00682R000300100001-0
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE 6919
lected, their background, character and phil-
osophy where veterans are concerned, but we
are not convinced that it would have any
good results. As to paragraph- (c) It is be-
lieved that the VA staff activities are now
overrun with specialists in planning, analysis,
program reviewing, office managements,
etc., to such an extent that the VA is los-
ing, or has lost sight of the more important
functions such as rendering the best pos-
sible service to veterans and their depend-
ents, the sympathetic consideration of claims
on the basis of human problems, and the
proper professional attitude of all officers
and employees having the responsibility for
making decisions affecting veterans and their
dependents. There are some who believe
that the chief aims of the VA too often are
(1) public relations, (2) statistical and (3)
work-measurement or assembly-line tech-
niques. 404, 405)
Recommendation No. 67 (pp.
The proposal to make the Administrator of
Veterans' Affairs a member of the President's
Cabinet has appealing aspects but could very
well turn out to be a mirage, regardless of
the individuals involved. As a member of
the Cabinet the Administrator could be sub-
jected to statistical arguments of depressing
nature with possible intimation from higher
quarters that might well interfere with con-
clusions reached by him if made independ-
ently and without being in the higher
echelon atmosphere at the time. In addi-
tion, the Administrator, as a Cabinet mem-
ber, would undoubtedly be asked for his
opinion on a wide variety of -subjects only
indirectly affecting veterans or not at all and
it is hardly conceivable that he would de-
cline to express his views on political mat-
ters if requested to do so. As to establish-
ing a Cabinet Subcommittee on Veterans'
Affairs, with the Administrator as a special
member, the necessity for such another new
group at the high level indicated is not ap-
parent and is not endorsed as the matter
now stands. If the idea stated in paragraph
(c) means what we think it might mean
then the DAV can be recorded as opposed.
Recommendation No. 68 _(p. 406) : The
preceding recommendation would make the
Administrator a Cabinet member to enhance
his prestige and responsibility, whereas rec-
ommendation No. 68 would place additional
advance review by "appropriate agencies
the Government" whenever he issues rules
objectives. It is not very clear just wh
intended here, but from the descriptive
terial preceding this recommendation
would be opposed to the change.
made that the VA has been examined many
times by outside management experts and
Government bodies, also that it has been ad-
ministratively reorganized a number of times.
The Commission concludes that this had had
some salutary effect, but that the "shifting of
organization charts has long since been dis-
credited as a panacea for the ills of govern-
mental administration." It is hoped that the
officials in charge of the VA fully realize this
truism and will profit by it. The DAV is con-
cerned with the many surveys that have been
made of the VA, the too frequent internal
reorganizations that have been imposed, the
stress and strain upon the personnel, much
of it resulting from changes, experiments,
and generally ill-considered moves of one
kind or another, and the greatly impaired
morale that must inevitably accompany such
basic insecurity and feelings of frustration.
Nothing was very much wrong with the oper-
ation of the VA, but it certainly is now or will
be unless there is a cessation or let-up in the
investigatorial and critical activities that
have seemingly started on the false premise
that something is radically wrong with 'the
VA that can only be remedied by drastic sur-
gery and a prolonged and stormy convales-
cence. Perhaps these remarks are beside the
point of this hearing, but, in my judgment,
someone should make them publicly and as
we are all working toward the same end-the
welfare of the veterans and their families-I
thought you would not be averse to hearing
the truth as we see it.
I desire to express my sincere thanks for
your kindness and courtesy In hearing this
rather lengthy dissertation on the many
items covered in the Bradley Commission re-
port. It is hoped that our comments will be
helpful to you and in conclusion may I say
that we as an organization still support the
bills that were commented upon favorably by
KATYN FOREST MASSACRE
previous order of the House, the gentle-
man from Illinois [Mr. SHEEHAN] is rec-
ognized for 10 minutes.
Mr. SHEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, today I
sent a cablegram to Josef Cyrankiewicz,
Prime Minister of the Communist Polish
People's Republic. This cablegram read:
As the Congressman who introduced the
.original resolution in the House of Repre-
sentatives during the 82d Congress calling
for an investigation of the Katyn Forest mas-
sacre of thousands of Polish Army officers and
intellectual leaders, and who served as a
member of the select congressional commit-
tee which was established to conduct a full
and complete investigation of this interna-
tional crime, I should like to make available
to you and the special group which your Gov-
ernment is reported to have recently author-
ized to investigate the mass murders at
Katyn, all the evidence heard by and sub-
mitted to our committee in 1951 and 1952.
I would also be happy to come to Poland as a
witness to elaborate upon and substantiate
the facts and conclusions reported by our
investigating committee.
Recommendation No. 69 (p. 408) While
there may be some justification for this pro-
posal, it is wondered if the Commission had
any real comprehension as to the large
number of additional qualified employees
that wouiF be required and the very sub-
stantial increased cost involved to set up and
maintain such high-salaried reviewing of-
ficials thereby constituting an intermediate
step between decisions of the rating boards
and appellate determinations of"the Board
of Veterans' Appeals. If Congress, in its wis-
dom, desires to authorize the establishment
of what, in effect, would be intermediate
'Appeals Board, regardless of the many new
positions that would need to be created
and staffed at the great cost involved, then
this organization has nothing to say either
in favor or in opposition.
Recommendation No. 70 (p. 409) : It Is be
lieved that this recommendation if carried
into effect would be helpful and this organ.
ization, generally, will be found favorable to
any codification or reasonable simplification
of the laws affecting veterans and the relat-
ed regulations.
I have been prompted to send this
cablegram because of the recent news
developments in both Russia and Poland.
The new look in Russia is seen in de-
nouncements of the late Dictator Stalin
by the present leaders in Russia, wherein
they are now criticizing him for his purge
In the conclusion on page 410 of the" of 5,000 Soviet officers before World War
Bradley Commission report the statement is _IL
The present Communist-dominated
Polish Government and its press and
radio are following the same line.
Recent developments in Poland reveal
the Polish Government is planning to
free over 30,000 political prisoners, is
planning to make payments to compen-
sate people unjustly sent to jail, has
promised restoration of pensions and
honors to the survivors of the heroic
non-Communist Polish home army, and
most recently has been reported to have
begun a new investigation of the Katyn
Forest massacre.
I hope this new investigation by the
Russian-.dominated Polish Government
will be as unbiased, fair, and complete
as was the investigation by our select
committee in the 82d Congress.
When the German armies occupied
the Smolensk area in 1943 they discov-
ered the mass graves of Polish Army offi-
cers and blamed the Russians for this
massacre. When the Russian Army re-
captured this area in 1944 it set up a
commission to reinvestigate these mass
murders and blamed it on the German
Army. No complete and thorough inves-
tigation of this matter occurred until the
82d Congress authorized a special com-
mittee to investigate the facts. This
select committee, after complete hear-
ings, revealed authoritatively the infor-
mation we had in our State Department
files and in Army Intelligence files,
which, with all the other supporting evi-
dence gathered both in America and in
Europe, caused the select committee to
come to the unanimous conclusion that
the mass murder of Polish Army officers
and intellectuals was decreed by the Rus-
sian Communist rules and carried out
by the Soviet NKVD-People's Commis-
sariat of Internal Affair.
It is my hope that this Polish commit-
tee will invite all interested witnesses to
be heard, similar to the practice adopted
by our select committee. Our committee
had extended an invitation to the Rus-
sian Government to present its evidence,
which invitation was not accepted.
I feel certain that an unbiased inves-
tigation will confirm the findings of our
congressional committee, in that the or-
ders to perpetrate this heinous crime on
the Polish people came directly from
Dictator Stalin and the bosses in the
higher echelon of the Communist Party.
In presenting the facts of the Katyn
massacre to the Polish people, I hope the
Communist Polish People's Republic will
denounce Stalin and all top Russian offi-
cials who aided or abetted this crime
against humanity.
I, and I assume the rest of the mem-
bers of the Select Committee To Inves-
tigate the Facts and Circumstances Sur-
rounding the Katyn Forest Massacre,
would be more than willing to present
and elaborate on the evidence heard by
our committee.
Mrs. CHURCH. Mr. Speaker, will the
gentleman yield?
Mr, SHEEHAN. I yield.
Mrs. CHURCH. I would like to ex-
press my complete sympathy with the
aims of the gentleman, but I rise particu-
larly to commend him for his own efforts
on behalf of the Poles behind the Iron
Curtain. I have followed with interest
and carefully for some time the efforts
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6920 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE May 8
of the gentleman to bring out the true
facts In the case of the Katyn Forest
massacre. I am certainly sure that the
people of the gentleman's district should
applaud him for his zeal and for his con-
secration and for his continued interest.
Mr. SHEEHAN. I thank the gentle-
woman.
Mr. MACHROWICZ. Mr. Speaker,
will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SHEEHAN. I yield.
Mr. MACHROWICZ. I wish also to
commend the gentleman on his fine
statement. I would like to point out to
him that the gentleman from Indiana
[Mr. MADDEN] and I have already offered
resolutions which would ask the Depart-
ment of State to make available the rec-
ords of the Katyn committee, of which
the gentleman from Illinois and I were
members. I sincerely trust that the De-
partment of State will avail themselves
of the opportunity and present to the so-
called Polish Government, the Commu-
nist regime In Poland the evidence which
will undoubtedly prove to them, as It has
proven to the rest of the world that the
Communists were guilty of the murder
at the Katyn Forest.
Mr. SHEEHAN. I thank the gentle-
man for his observation. I want to let
the gentleman know that the Republi-
can members on the committee, Mr.
O'KoNsKI, Mr. DONDERO, and myself have
joined with you and Mr. MADDEN in sub-
mitting a similar resolution.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
By unanimous consent, leave of ab-
sence was granted as follows to Mr. DE-
ROUNIAN (at the request of Mr. MARTIN).
through May 11, 1956, on account of
'illness.
SPECIAL ORDERS GRANTED
By unanimous consent, permission to
address the House, following the legisla-
tive program and any special orders
heretofore entered, was granted to Mr.
THoMI ssox of New Jersey, for 1 hour, on
tomorrow.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
By unanimous consent, permission to
extend remarks in the Appendix of the
RECORD, or to revise and extend remarks,
was granted to:
Mr. BOGGS and to Include an address
delivered by Mr. MILLS, of Arkansas, not-
withstanding it excees two pages of the
RECORD and is estimated by the Public
Printer to cost $187.
Mr. PRICE in three instances and to
include extraneous matter.
Mr. RocERS of Colorado and to include
a petition.
Mr. FLOOD and to include an editorial.
Mrs. GREEN of Oregon in two instances
and to include extraneous matter.
Mr. FENTQN and to include an edi-
torial.
Mr. COLE In two instances and that
the remarks of Mr. O'BRIEN of New York
Immediately follow his remarks, both to
appear, in the Appendix of the RECORD.
Mr. SCRrVNER in seven instances on
consecutive days, and to include extra-
neous matter in each.
Mr. DAGUE.
Mr. YOUNGER and to include extra-
neous matter.
Mr. WESTLAND and to Include an edi-
torial.
Mr. UDALL in three instances and to
include extraneous matter.
Mr. QUIGLEY in three instances.
Mr. Boyxlw (at the request of Mr.
SEI.DEN) and to Include extraneous mat-
ter.
Mr. BUDGE.
Mr. FASC#LL (at the request of
SIKES) and to include a letter.
Mr. Bow (at the request of
ARENDS).
Mr. SHEEHAN.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr. ROOSEVELT to include in his re-
marks on the public library services bill
certain documents and communications.
Mr. BOLAND to extend his remarks on
the library services bill following the re-
marks of Mr. SISK.
Mr. REES of Kansas (at the request of
Mr. RHODES of Arizona) and to include
extraneous matter.
Mr. FRELINGHVYSEN and to include ex-
traneous matter.
Mr. IfAILLIARD and to include extra-
neous matter.
Mr. GWINN to revise and extend his re-
marks made today.
Mr. THOMPSON of New Jersey in five
Instances and to include extraneous re-
marks.
Mr. METCALF in three instances and to
include extraneous remarks.
Mr. ANFUSO at the request of Mr. AL-
BERT) and to include extraneous matter.
Mr. DAVIDSON (at the request of Mr.
ALBERT) in three instances and to include
extraneous matter.
Mr. RoDINO (at the request of Mr. AL-
BERT) in three instances and to Include
extraneous matter.
Mr. FLOOD (at the request of Mr. AL-
BERT) in four instances and to Include
extraneous matter.
Mr. AVERY and to include extraneous
matter.
Mr. CHRISTOPHER and to include extra-
neous matter.
Mr. RIVERS (at the request of Mr. AL-
BERT) and to include extraneous matter.
Mr. RICHARDS in three instances and In
each to include extraneous matter.
Mr. GAVIN in two instances.
the Bureau of Mines for the calendar year
January 1, 1955, through December 31, 1955,
pursuant to the Federal Coal Mine Safety
Act, Public Law 552, 82d Congress; to the
Committee on Education and Labor.
1825. A letter from the Acting Secretary
of the Navy, transmitting a draft of proposed
legislation entitled "A bill to validate cer-
tain payments made to members and former
members of the naval service"; to the Com-
mittee on Government Operations.
1826. A letter from the Administrator,
General Services Administration, transmit-
ting a draft of proposed legislation entitled
"A bill to adjust the application of section
322-or the so-called Economy Act of 1932 to
premises leased for Government purposes";
to the Committee on Government Opera-
tions.
1827. A letter from the clerk, United States
Court of Claims, transmitting copies of the
court's opinion relative to the claim of
Frank C. Torts v. The United States (Congres-
sional No. 4-52). pursuant to sections 1402
and 2609 of title 28, United States Code, and
pursuant to House Resolution 559, 82d Con-
gress; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
1828. A letter from the Board of Trus-
tees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
Insurance Trust Fund, transmitting the 16th
Annual Report, pursuant to section 201 (b)
of the Social Security Act, as amended; to
the Committee on Ways and Means.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. ON PUB-
LIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
Under clause 2 of rule XIII, reports of
committees were delivered to the Clerk
for printing andreference to the proper
calendar, as follows:
Mr. BURLESON: Committee on House Ad-
ministration. House Resolution 426. Reso-
lution providing for the printing of certain
proceedings in the House Committee on Ag-
riculture; without amendment (Rept. No.
2113). Ordered to be printed.
Mr. BURLESON: Committee on House Ad-
ministration. House Concurrent Resolution
280. Concurrent resolution authorizing the
printing of additional copies of the hearings
on if. R. 5550 for the use of the Committee
on Ways and Means; without amendment
(Rept. No. 2114). Ordered to be printed.
Mr. BURLESON; Committee on House Ad-
ministration. House Resolution 456. Reso-
lution authorizing the printing as a House
document of material relating to the Central
Valley project of California, and additional
copies for the use of the Committee on Inte-
rior and Insular Affairs; without amendment
(Rept. No. 2115). Ordered to be -printed.
Mr. BURLESON: Committee on House Ad-
ministration. House Resolution 454. Reso-
lution to provide funds for the expenses of
conducting studies, investigations, and in-
quiries incurred by the Select Committee on
the Baltiq States and by the Special Com-
mittee mittee To Investi
ate Tax-Exem
t Fo
nd
g
p
u
a-
tions; without amendment (Rept. No. 2116).
Mr. ALBERT. Mr. Speaker, I move Ordered to be printed.
that the House do now adjourn. Mr. BURLESON: Committee on House Ad-
The otion was agreed to; accord- ministration. House Resolution 468. Reso-
ingiy (at- 3 o'clock and 44 minutes p. m.) lution authorizing the Committee on Ways
em-
the House adjourned until tomorrow, and Means to employ one additional em-
Wednesday, May 9, 1956, at 12 o'clock ployee; without amendment (Kept. No.
2117). Ordered to be printed.
noon. Mr. BURLESON: Committee on House Ad-
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, ETC.
Under clause 2 of rule XXIV, executive
communications were taken from the
Speaker's table and referred as follows:
1824. A letter from the Acting Secretary
of the Interior, transmitting a report by
ministration. House Resolution 448. Reso-
lution providing for the `employment of 15
additional privates, Capitol Police force, office
of the Sergeant at Arms; without amend-
ment (Rept. No. 2118). Ordered to be
printed.
Mr. BURLESON: Committee on House Ad-
ministration. House Resolution 465. Reso-
lution to provide for the adjustment of the
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