For several weeks now, residents of Moscow have been confronted with an outdoor exhibition claiming that the Katyń massacre was, in fact, a Nazi German crime and that “the roots of contemporary neo-Nazism in Poland run deep into history.”
The exhibition, organised by the Russian Military-Historical Society (RWIOT), is titled “Ten Centuries of Polish Russophobia.” The title itself is misleading: a thousand years ago neither a Russian nation nor Moscow—founded only in the 12th century—yet existed.
Historically, the ancestors of today’s Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyns. Modern Russians trace their origins to the Muscovites (called Moskwicini in Old Polish), whose state was known as the Grand Duchy or Tsardom of Moscow. However, Muscovite rulers sought a political and historical link to Kyiv and Kievan Rus’, and accordingly appropriated the name Rus/Rusyns, transforming it into Russia/Russians. This renaming was formalised by Peter the Great in 1721—although this is a separate historical issue.
According to the society’s website, “Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Poland joined NATO, and in 2004 became a member of the European Union. This integration with Western structures was accompanied by a sudden rise in Polish nationalism. However, the roots of contemporary neo-Nazism in Poland extend deeply into history.”
The website further claims that the outdoor display presents “unique archival photographs and documents illustrating Russophobia in Poland, shown on 32 exhibition panels.”
The exhibition contains both less and more egregious lies and misleading content. Among the former is the opinion expressed by RWIOT’s scientific director, Mikhail Miagkov, that after the First World War Poland “occupied the western lands of Ukraine, Belarus, and part of Lithuania, which had previously been part of the Russian Empire.” This is not entirely accurate, as Eastern Galicia was never part of Russia, though this may simply reflect a lack of historical knowledge rather than deliberate deception. However, the claim that “the new Polish state was established on the bayonets of German occupiers” and the claim that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a purely defensive agreement are blatant lies.
One might have assumed that the issue of Katyń was no longer up for debate, especially since in 1990 the TASS news agency acknowledged that the NKVD was responsible for the executions, and in 1992 President Boris Yeltsin apologised to the Polish people for the Soviet crime. Yet, this narrative persists.
The exhibition text refers to “the allegedly executed Polish officers by the NKVD in 1940.” Such phrasing is also employed by Miagkov:
“We also address the Katyń issue in our exhibition. Today, every Polish politician curses Russia for Katyń. Naturally, the crime of Katyń is blamed solely on Russians and the Soviet Union. However, we present documents recently declassified by the FSB which clearly point to a German trail. It also points that the Nazi commission in 1943 falsified evidence. Even Poles themselves have stated that it was the Gestapo who took Polish soldiers in 1941, who later somehow appeared on the lists of those allegedly executed by the NKVD. These documents remain important today,” Miagkov lies.
One may well ask: What kind of Poles is this scientific director of the Russian Military-Historical Society referring to? He also. fails to explain why the exhibition contains a panel about the expulsion of Germans from Poland’s post war Recovered Territories? What relevance does this have to alleged “Polish Russophobia”?
The exhibition also carries clear political messaging:
“Poland’s changing leaders—Tusk, Morawiecki, Duda, and others—speak of Russia only negatively. If it is Russia, it is the enemy. Today they have surrendered their territory for NATO military infrastructure. A war against us is being prepared there, initiated by Poland itself. We must understand clearly: only our victory in the Special Military Operation [the official term for the invasion of Ukraine] can stop this Russophobic trend in Poland,” Miagkov said.
By Ih
В Москве открыта выставка РВИО «Десять веков польской русофобии»
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