Katyń Memorial Plaque

Thank you to all who donated towards the replacement of the little display case containing soil and a pinecone from the Katyń forest. The case and its contents disappeared from the Katyń memorial plaque in Auckland’s cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph in Wyndham Street.

Fr. Chris Denham, Dean of the Cathedral, said that it was unclear what had happened to the display case, or when the damage occurred, but thanks to donations from the Auckland Polish community, the $800 cost of replacing the case was quickly reached, and the plaque restored in time for the annual memorial ceremony on Saturday, 20 April 2024. The balance of the donations has gone towards the cathedral, which was the only institution in 1991 that accepted the Polish story that the Soviet Secret Police, the NKVD, had executed the Polish prisoners of war. In 1990, the 50th anniversary of the massacre, that figure was 14,600, but it was later revised to closer to 22,000.

The original case had soil and a pinecone from the Katyń forest given to the late Wisia Schwieters by her friend, priest prelate Zdzisław Peszkowski, who was one of the few former prisoners who escaped the massacre.

Pani Wisia kept the balance of the soil, and collected her own pinecone during a trip to Katyń in 1992, which was part of a box of memorabilia that the her estate gave to the APA, and which Jacek Drecki used to replace the original. The new military emblem of the white eagle, the Orzeł Biały, also came from Pani Wisia’s box.

Anyone wanting to know more about the Katyń massacre can do so through the website Polish History New Zealand: https://polishhistorynewzealand.org/katyn-the-unspeakable-crime/

Above: At the Katyń memorial service this year, from left: Przemek Dawidowski, past president of the Auckland Polish Association; Piotr Biegański, president of the Polish-New Zealand Business Association; Nina Tomaszyk, president of the Auckland Polish Association; Fr Chris Denham, Dean of Auckland Cathedral; Teresa Miotk, niece of one of the Katyń victims; Bogusław Nowak, honorary Polish consul in Auckland; and historian Jacek Drecki.

Wisia Schwieters, who died in February 2022, with then president of the Auckland Polish Association, Przemek Dawidowski, in front of the original display case.

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Top two photographs by Anna Biegańska.