- It is very difficult to convey in words the feelings, emotions that you experience after visiting the complex. More than 8 thousand Soviet citizens, victims of political repression, more than 4 thousand Polish officers who were victims of the totalitarian regime rest here next to each other. All of us bow our heads to them today. They passed away, but they did not leave our memory. The memory of the country, the memory of the people. The Memorial Complex "Katyn" keeps this memory, symbolizes our common pain, the common tragedy, the sorrow of Russia and Poland for those who are buried here. Today the memorial complex is a majestic structure. And in scale, and in architecture, and in the strongest emotional perception, the special atmosphere that you feel from the first minutes, the first steps, when you find yourself in this place, - Valentina Matvienko said.

She emphasized that today it is especially important to keep memory.

- No matter how bitter the truth about our past, our history is, we must remember and learn lessons. This is especially important today, when a number of states, political movements try to distort the truth about history, rewrite it for the sake of forcing Russophobic sentiments. This is a crime against our memory. Unfortunately, all these falsifiers do not stop at nothing, - Valentina Matvienko noted.

The Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Chairman of the RMHS Vladimir Medinsky told about the need to preserve the memory.

- History can not have different versions, history is woven from facts. It seems to us that it is right here, in the place of our common sorrow, it would be correct and appropriate to look back on the different pages of Russian-Polish relations, - he said.

The minister recalled that he was close to the topic of relations between the two countries, since his ancestors were from Poland.

- My ancestors - natives of Poland, in the XIX century they moved to Ukraine, then to Russia. Therefore, this subject is close to me, and I believe that our peoples are inextricably linked, like a tree that has common roots underground, - said Vladimir Medinsky.

He expressed the hope that the Polish authorities will respect the common historical memory.

- More than 600,000 Soviet soldiers died during the World War II, liberating Poland, and we hope that the attitude of the Polish government towards our burial places, our graves and monuments will be mirror, honest and responsible. This is our common history, which must be preserved, - the chairman of the RMHS added.

Reconstruction of previously built and creation of new museum-exhibition and memorial sites was carried out by the Russian Military Historical Society and the State Central Museum of Contemporary Russian History. The memorial complex now includes the Memorial Wall of Soviet citizens - victims of political repressions, the new museum and exhibition center "Russia and Poland. The twentieth century. Pages of History "(with display on the history of Russian-Polish relations in the 20th and early 21st centuries), renovated entrance group. The emotional center of the complex is a wall with the names of the repressed persons and the memorial "Shooting" (author - academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, sculptor Andrei Kovalchuk).

The opening ceremony was also attended by the Polish ambassador to Russia, representatives of local authorities, descendants of the repressed persons. Within the framework of the program "Roads of Victory. Travel for schoolchildren" the Memorial complex Katyn was visited by cadets and students from Moscow and Smolensk, among them a large group of future museum specialists from the Smolensk State Institute of Arts.

After the official part, the participants laid wreaths at the monument to the repressed Soviet citizens and the altar group of the Polish military cemetery. After that, the first tour around the museum complex took place.

 
Reference about the activities of The Russian Military Historical Society