Katyn in the assessments and policies of the American leadership (1940–1953)

Identificator

EDN: GVMYAJ ; УДК: 94(438)"1940/1953"

Authors

Nemchaninov Daniil Grigorievich, PhD in Historical Sciences, senior lecturer of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kirov State Medical University. Russia, Kirov. ResearcherID: AHB-7155-2022. ORCID: 0000-0001-6115-6349. E-mail: nemchaninovdg@gmail.com

Journal

HERALD OF HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION №4 (40), 2025

Section

GENERAL HISTORY

Pages

50-63

Abstract

This article considers the American policy regarding the shooting of Polish servicemen in Katyn in the spring of 1940. The main determinants and stages of evolution of foreign policy decisions of the United States leadership on this issue are highlighted. Conclusions were made about the influence of American interest during World War II in the preservation of the anti-Hitler coalition and, as a result, Washington's reluctance to publicize the details of this event. In the post-war period, there is a weakening of state regulation of assessments of these events and increasing the interest of the American public in the topic of Katyn. Representatives of the Polish diaspora played a major role in the popularization, who actively collected and disseminated information about the events in Katyn. Of particular interest are the actions of the United States delegation at the Nuremberg Trials, which did not support the position of the USSR on this issue. At the third stage, a special committee is formed in the Congress of the United States to investigate all the circumstances of the death of Polish servicemen in Katyn, the published results of which caused a wide public response. The 1952 election campaign in the United States was of significant importance, during which representatives of the Republican Party used the silence of the available facts about the events in Katyn by the F. D. Roosevelt’s administration to defeat the Democrats. This contributed to attracting a large group of voters from Eastern European countries to the side of the Republicans. After the end of the Korean War, interest in this topic decreased and intensified only periodically as an element of psychological war within the framework of bipolar confrontation.

Keywords

Cold War Poland Katyn Department of State Soviet-American relations

Recieved

17.11.2025

Published

19.02.2026

References

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