Katyn forest

Katyn forest, site in the former USSR of a massacre of some 4,250 Polish officers in World War II. The mass grave was reported in 1943 by the Germans, who accused the Soviets, who in turn accused the Germans. Stalin refused a Red Cross inquiry, and the Polish government-in-exile in London took this as an admission of Soviet guilt. A U.S. congressional investigation in 1952 charged the Soviets with responsibility. In 1990 the Soviet government admitted responsibility for the massacre.

See also: World War II.