Doubly Forgotten: Jewish Officers of the Polish Army Among the Victims of the Katyn Massacre

At the beginning of September, the educational exhibition Doubly Forgotten: Jewish Officers of the Polish Army Among the Victims of the Katyn Massacre arrived at Marshal Józef Piłsudski Primary School No. 2 in Kutno.

About the Exhibition

The exhibition was produced by the Foundation “Friends and Jewish Families of the City of Kutno” as part of the public initiative Zachor Means Remember!, made possible through financial support from the Mayor of Kutno.

The exhibition was authored by Luc Albinski, with graphic design by Jacqui Meyer and consultation by Andrzej Olewnik.

Comprising nine exhibition panels, it was displayed at educational institutions throughout Kutno from May to June, followed by a summer presentation at the Kutno Cultural Centre.

Since September, the exhibition has once again been touring primary and secondary schools in Kutno, spending five days at each institution, from Monday to Friday.

Exhibition Partners and Honorary Patrons

The exhibition’s partner is the Foundation of Katyn Families of Jewish Origin, founded by Luc Albinski.

Website: https://zydzikatynscy.pl/

The Katyn Museum has granted its Honorary Patronage to the exhibition, and in recent days, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews has also granted us its Honorary Patronage.

We are immensely proud to have these distinguished institutions as Honorary Patrons of our exhibition.

A Few Words About the Exhibition

In the spring of 1940, officers of the Soviet NKVD murdered nearly 22,000 citizens of the Second Polish Republic. Among the victims were officers of the Polish Army, police officers, civil servants and members of the intelligentsia. It was a premeditated crime directed against the elites of the Polish state.

Among those murdered were also Poles of Jewish origin. Historians estimate that more than 500 Jewish officers of the Polish Army were among the victims. The majority were reserve officers who, in civilian life, worked as doctors, pharmacists, engineers and lawyers.

The mobilisation system of the Second Polish Republic relied heavily on precisely such people: educated professionals who worked in their respective fields during peacetime and answered the call to military service when their country was threatened. This is why the Katyn lists contain so many names of members of the professions.

Following the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, thousands of Polish officers were taken prisoner. They were held primarily in NKVD camps at Kozelsk, Starobelsk and Ostashkov. In the spring of 1940, all of them were murdered.

The fate of the Jewish officers of the Polish Army forms part of the shared history of Poles and Jews and stands as testimony to the deliberate destruction of the elites of the Second Polish Republic.

Particular attention should be given to the exhibition panel dedicated to Jakub Landesberg, a doctor from Kutno who was murdered at Katyn.

Honorary Patronage and Project Partners

The public initiative Zachor Means Remember! is held under the Honorary Patronage of Mariusz Sikora, Mayor of Kutno, the Kutno Council for National Remembrance, and the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland.

The Kutno Cultural Centre is a partner in the initiative.

Exhibition Opening

The official opening of the educational exhibition Doubly Forgotten: Jewish Officers of the Polish Army Among the Victims of the Katyn Massacre took place on 21 May 2026 in the entrance hall of Władysław Jagiełło Primary School No. 9 in Kutno.

The exhibition was officially opened by Luc Albinski, President of the Foundation “Friends and Jewish Families of the City of Kutno”; Zbigniew Wdowiak, Deputy Mayor of Kutno; Wanda Albinska, Chair of the Foundation Council; and Andrzej Olewnik, a regional historian specialising in the Katyn Massacre.

We extend our sincere thanks to Iwona Pietrzak, Headteacher of Primary School No. 9, for inviting us to hold the exhibition opening at the school.

The exhibition has also been presented at Jan Kasprowicz Secondary School No. 2 in Kutno and Dr A. Troczewski Vocational School Complex No. 2 in Kutno.

Luc Albinski
President of the Management Board
Foundation “Friends and Jewish Families of the City of Kutno”