Witomila Wolk-Jezierska

To Dad-Polish Officer Murdered in Katyn: Poems with Historical Essays Witomila Wolk-Jezierska

The poems To Dad have been inspired by the trauma of one of the most horrific crimes in human history, enhanced by repercussions that followed the annihilation of the Polish officers such as the perpetuation of the Katyn lie, international cover-up, impunity of the perpetrators, inability to recover the remains of the victims, ruthless persecution and coercion of the families, massive censorship, disinformation, and above all, the conspiracy of silence that lasted for generations. The poems sharpen our perception of the intensity and uniqueness of depth and length of agony experienced by the Katyn families. They give testimony to unbearable adversity of several generations of the Polish people deeply harmed and wounded by the Soviet Union and abandoned, marginalized, and ignored by the entire world for decades. The poems are supplemented by historical essays, which put the eradication of the Polish elites in Katyn in the historical context.