On 13 April we observe the national Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Katyń Massacre — a holiday established in tribute to Polish citizens murdered in spring 1940 by the Soviet NKVD. Among them were many aviation professionals — officers of the Polish Armed Forces, instructors, engineers and lecturers — who constituted the elite of the interwar air force corps.
The Katyń Massacre claimed the lives of over 21,000 people. Nearly 350 of them were connected with Polish aviation — not only as frontline soldiers, but also as lecturers at aviation schools, technicians and pioneers of aircraft design. Many of them had been participants in the 1920 war and experienced officers with high qualifications. Their presence in the prisoner-of-war camps at Kozelsk, Starobelsk and Ostashkov was a consequence of mobilisation and the evacuation of aviation bases and training centres eastward, in accordance with the assumptions of the pre-war defence plan.
They were murdered without trial, solely for who they were — for their uniform, their education, their service to the Republic of Poland. Their sacrifice was an attempt to annihilate the intellectual and military potential of a resurgent Poland. The Katyń massacre had not only a military but also a symbolic dimension — it was a blow aimed at the future and identity of our country.
At the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, we remember those who, in addition to fighting in the air, became victims of one of the greatest acts of terror of the 20th century. Today we commemorate the aviators whose lives were cut short on inhuman soil — Katyń, Kharkiv, Mednoye — and other sites of Soviet execution.
We pay them tribute. Their names, achievements and tragic fates are part of our heritage. It is precisely thanks to the memory of them that we can cultivate today the values they represented — courage, loyalty and faith in Poland’s independence.
A special place in the history of aviation and in the memory of the Katyń Massacre is held by Janina Lewandowska — the only woman among those murdered in spring 1940. She was a glider and aeroplane pilot, a member of the Poznań Aeroclub, and a radio communications instructor. The outbreak of war found her as a volunteer at Air Base No. 3.
After her capture by the Soviets, she was sent to the camp at Ostashkov, and subsequently — as the only female officer — was transferred to Kozelsk. Although held in isolation, she actively supported her fellow prisoners and participated in organising religious life. She most likely died on her 32nd birthday, in April 1940, murdered by the NKVD in the Katyń forest.
The collection of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków includes a precious memento associated with Janina Lewandowska, which recalls her extraordinary story and tragic fate — her bronze bust by the sculptor Wiktoria Jacyna. It is an honour for us to preserve the memory of this exceptional figure — an aviatrix, patriot, a woman of courage and ideals.
On this special day — 13 April — we encourage you to visit our Museum and explore the exhibitions dedicated to Polish aviators of World War II — including those who never returned from captivity.
