Katyn massacre and Audie Murphy: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Audie1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Audie Murphy, the most decorated combat soldier of World War II.]]'''Audie Leon Murphy''' ([[June 20]], [[1924]] to [[May 28]], [[1971]]), was the [[United States]]' most decorated combat soldier of [[World War II]]. He later became an [[actor]] and singer/songwriter. Among his thirty three awards and decorations was the [[Medal of Honor]], the highest military award for bravery that can be given to any individual in the [[United States of America]], for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Murphy received every decoration for valor that the U.S. had to offer, some of them more than once, and five decorations by [[France]] and [[Belgium]]. He served three years active service as a combat soldier in World War II. Murphy was released from the Army as an active member and reassigned to inactive status on [[September 21]] [[1945]].

The '''Katyń Massacre''', also known as the ''Katyn Forest Massacre'', was the mass [[execution]] of [[Polish]] [[citizen]]s (mostly [[military officer]]s [[POW]]s) by the [[Soviet Union]] during [[World War II]].

[[Image:Photo eddiemurphy pamelaarcher.jpg|thumb|left|Audie Murphy and his wife, Pamela Archer.]]Audie Murphy was the son of poor Texas sharecroppers, Emmett and Josie Bell Murphy. He was born near [[Kingston, Texas|Kingston]], [[Texas]] (Hunt County). He grew up in nearby [[Celeste, Texas|Celeste]], [[Texas]] (Hunt County). He went to school in Celeste until the eighth grade when he dropped out to help raise his family. He also lived in the rural area of [[Farmersville, Texas|Farmersville]] and later at [[Greenville, Texas|Greenville]], [[Texas]]. Murphy was the sixth of twelve children, only nine of whom survived to see their eighteenth birthday. Food was scarce and the Murphy family was very poor. Before his ninth birthday, he had become a decent shot, hunting rabbits and squirrels to help put food on the table. Sometimes he could only afford a single shell in his rifle to supply meat for his family of nine brothers and sisters. He became a very good shot, a skill which served him well later in life. In 1936, when Murphy was twelve, his father Emmett Murphy, deserted the family and never returned. At twelve, Murphy left school and was hired out as a farmer's helper, ploughing and picking cotton at a dollar a day to help make ends meet. He also went to work in a combination general store, garage and filling station in Greenville, Texas. At sixteen, Audie was working in a radio repair shop when tragedy struck again. He became an orphan when his mother, Josie Bell, died. He had to place the three youngest siblings in an orphanage according to his mother's last wish.

==Background==

Initially the expression referred to the [[massacre]] of the Polish military officers confined at the [[Kozielsk]] Prisoner of War ([[POW]]) camp in Katyn Forest near the village of Gnezdovo, a short distance from [[Smolensk]], [[Soviet Union]]. More recently the phrase also became associated with the murder of about 22,000 Polish citizens - POWs from [[Kozielsk]], [[Starobielsk]] and [[Ostashkov]] camps and inmates from West [[Belarus|Belarusian]] and West [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] prisons, shot on [[Stalin]]'s orders in Katyn forest and the prisons of [[Kalinin]] (Tver), [[Kharkov]] and other Soviet cities.

[[Image:Photo audiemurphy sons.jpg|thumb|right|Audie Murphy and his sons, Terry Michael Murphy and James Shannon Murphy.]]Murphy married actress, [[Wanda Hendrix]] in 1949. They were divorced in 1951. He did not have any children with Hendrix. He subsequently married Pamela Archer in 1951, with whom he had two children, Terry Michael Murphy (born 1952) and James Shannon Murphy (born 1954). Murphy was also a successful rancher and businessman. He bred and raised thoroughbred horses and owned several ranches in [[Texas]], [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], [[Arizona]] and [[Perris, California|Perris]], [[California]].

Many Poles had become [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] following the [[Polish September Campaign|invasion and defeat]] of [[Poland]] by the [[Nazi]]s and the [[Soviet Union]] in September [[1939]], one week after the signing of their secret [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]], or [[Hitler-Stalin Pact]]. Many POW camps were used for the internment of Polish captives, including camps [[Ostashkov]], [[Kozielsk]], and [[Starobielsk]]. Kozielsk and Starobielsk were used mainly for officers, while Ostashkov was mainly used for scouts, gendarmes, policemen and jailers. Contrary to a widespread misconception, only about 8,000 out of about 15,000 POWs in these camps were officers.

In 1955, Murphy became interested in [[Freemasonry]]. He was encouraged by his close friend, Texas theater owner Skipper Cherry, to petition and join the [[Masonic Order]] in California. He returned to Texas to conduct his thirty two degree work and to join the [[Shriners]]. Murphy remained active in various masonic events and was a member of good standing at the time of his death in 1971.

Since Poland's conscription system required every university graduate to become a reserve officer, the Soviets were thus able to round up much of the Polish, [[Jews|Jewish]] and Belarusian [[intelligentsia]].

Murphy ran into a streak of bad financial luck and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1968.

On [[March 5]], [[1940]], according to a note to Stalin prepared by [[Lavrenty Beria]], members of Soviet [[politburo]] – [[Stalin]], [[Vyacheslav Molotov]], [[Lazar Kaganovich]], [[Mikhail Kalinin]], [[Kliment Voroshilov]], and Beria – signed an order of execution of "nationalist and counterrevolutionary" activists kept in camps and prisons of the occupied Western parts of [[Ukraine]] and [[Belarus]]. This resulted in the murder of about 22,000 Polish citizens, including about 15,000 [[prisoners of war]]. The broad definition of the accused included significant numbers of Polish [[intelligentsia]] in addition to policemen, reservists, and active military officers.

==Military career==

The discovery of the massacre precipitated the severance of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the [[Polish government-in-exile]] in London in 1943. The Soviet Union denied the accusations until [[1990]], when the USSR acknowedged that [[NKVD]] was responsible for the massacre and coverup.

[[Image:Photo audiemurphy.jpg|thumb|left|Audie Murphy]]

Desperately needing money, Murphy tried to join military in order to earn enough to help support his family. Murphy had tried to enlist in the Army in his native Texas as soon as the U.S. declared war due to the Japanese bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]] in December of 1941, but was rejected because he was too young. He was accepted into the U.S. Army after being turned down by the Navy, Marines and Army Paratroopers because he was too short standing at only five feet, five inches, (165 cm) tall and 110 pounds. He signed the papers a few days after his eighteenth birthday and was sent through Basic Training at [[Fort Wolters]], [[Texas]]. During a training session of close order drill at Camp Wolters he fell flat on his face and passed out cold. The company commanders tried to have him transferred to cook and bakers' school because of his baby- faced youthfulness, but Murphy persisted in becoming a fighting soldier. There he received the nickname 'baby' where his commanding officers tried to keep him from being sent to combat. After thirteen weeks of basic training, he was sent to [[Fort Meade, Maryland|Fort Meade]], [[Maryland]] for advanced infantry training. Murphy had to fight to be able to go overseas to see combat. He was then attached to Company B, first Battalion, fiveteenth Regiment, [[U.S. third Infantry Division]] and shipped to [[Casablanca, Morocco|Casablanca]], [[Morocco]] (North Africa). After helping wipe up the last of the Axis resistance, he and his unit were sent to participate in the Invasion of Sicily. Upon arrival in Sicily, he had his first encounter with death. He killed two Italian soldiers as they tried to escape on their magnificent white horses. When questioned by his platoon leader why he did it, he replied, "It was my job". Murphy contracted malaria while in Sicily. It put him in the hospital for several days while in Salerno, and on an occasional basis during the remainder of the war.Next, Murphy was involved in the Invasion of Italy. Murphy distinguished himself as an effective soldier by fighting his way out of an enemy ambush. When he returned he was promoted to Sergeant. He also received a Bronze Star for his actions in Italy. Then the third Infantry Division invaded Southern France on [[August 15]] [[1944]]. Murphy's battalion was in an ambush in which a friend of his, Private Lattie Tipton, was killed as he tried to accept some surrendering German troops. Murphy decided to avenge Tipton's death by taking a German machine gun and his grenades and destroying the German position and several others nearby. For this action he received a Distinguished Service Cross. Just weeks later, he received two Silver Stars for twice saving his patrol from a German ambush. Soon after that, he was given a commission as a second Lieutenant and went back to command the platoon he had served in. He was wounded by a sniper bullet in the hip and spent three months recuperating. When he got back, he led his men in the action that earned him the Medal of Honor.

[[Image:Lifemagazine audiemurphy.jpg|thumb|right|Audie Murphy on the cover of Life Magazine on [[July 16]] [[1945]].]]

==Soviet preparations==

Audie Murphy fought in World War II with such courage that he received every decoration for valor that the United States had to offer, plus another five decorations that were presented to him by [[Belgium]] and [[France]]. He was the most decorated U.S. soldier during WWII. Part of Murphy's appeal to many people was that he hardly fit the "image" of a war hero. He was a slight, somewhat skinny, shy and soft-spoken young man, with a boyish appearance (something he never lost throughout his life). Beginning his service as an Army Private, Murphy quickly rose to the enlisted rank of Staff Sergeant, was given a [[battlefield commission]] as second Lieutenant, and company commander. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant prior to receiving his Medal of Honor. Murphy was credited with either killing over 240 of the enemy while wounding and capturing many others. Murphy became a legend within the third Infantry Division for his heroism. He was wounded three times and awarded the [[Purple Heart]] with Second [[Oak Leaf Cluster]]. Murphy served the rest of the war as a liaison officer and then returned to Texas after the War. After Murphy's discharge from the service, he went back to Texas to be welcomed to parades, banquets and speeches. He even had his photo hung at the Texas State Capitol in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]].

The Korean War broke out in June 1950. In July 1950, Audie returned to Dallas to join the 36th Infantry Division (Texas National Guard). If that division was re-activated, Murphy would have again found himself in a combat outfit. He had considered volunteering for direct military service, but the "police action" which the Korean War was called indicated that it would be a short term combat, and Murphy had little desire to pull a full-time hitch in a peace-time army. His final rank later was Major in the [[Texas National Guard]].

As early as [[September 19]], [[1939]], the First Rank Commissar of the State Security, Lavrentii Pavlovich Beria (the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs) called the Board of the [[Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del|NKVD]] of the USSR for Prisoners of War and the Interned (Head: State Security Captain, Pyotr K. Soprunenko) ordered to set up camps for Polish prisoners. These were: [[Jukhnovo]] (rail station of Babynino), [[Yuzhe]] (Talitsy), [[Kozelsk]], [[Kozelshchyna]], [[Oranki]], [[Ostashkov]] (Stolbnyi Island on Seliger Lake near Ostashkov), [[Putyvli]] (rail station of Tetkino), [[Starobielsk]], [[Vologod]] (rail station of Zaenikevo) and [[Gryazovets]] camps.

===Medal of Honor===

[[Image:Katyn.jpg|thumb|1943 exhumation]]

Here is the [[Medal of Honor]] citation that explains why Murphy was awarded the medal:

Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B 1 5th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Holtzwihr France, 26 January, 1945. Entered service at: Dallas, Texas. Birth: Hunt County, near Kingston, Texas, G.O. No. 65, 9 August 1945. Citation Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. Second Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. Second Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, Second Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate Second Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. Second Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.

In the period from [[April 3]] to [[May 19]] [[1940]] about 22,000 POWs and prisoners were murdered: about 6000 POWs from the Ostashkov camp, about 4,000 POWs from the Starobielsk camp, about 4500 POWs from the Kozielsk camp, and about 7000 prisoners in Western parts of Belarus and Ukraine.

===Post war illness===

A mere 395 prisoners were saved from the slaughter. They were taken to the Yukhnov camp and then to Gryazovets. They were the only ones who escaped death.

Murphy sufferred from [[Post Traumatic Stress Disorder]] (PTSD). His first wife, Wanda Hendrix claimed he had horrible nightmares and slept with a gun under his pillow. She claimed that he had at one time held her at gun point. He was plagued by insomnia and depression. During the mid-1960s he became dependent for a time on doctor prescribed sleeping pills called [[Placidyl]]. When he recognized that he had become addicted to this prescription drug, he locked himself in a motel room. He stopped taking the sleeping pills and went through withdrawal symptoms for a week. Always an advocate for the needs of veterans, he broke the taboo about discussing war related mental problems after this experience. In a effort to draw attention to the problems of returning Korean and [[Vietnam War]] veterans, Audie Murphy spoke-out candidly about his personal problems with PTSD, then known as "[[Battle Fatigue]]". He publicly called for United States government to give more consideration and study to the emotional impact war has on veterans and to extend health care benefits to address PTSD and other mental health problems of returning war veterans.

==Movie career==

==Technology of the massacre==

[[Image:Photo audiemurphy movie.jpg|thumb|right|Audie Murphy in 1967 Western movie, ''40 Guns to Apache Pass''.]]Actor James Cagney invited Murphy to Hollywood in September 1945, when he saw Murphy's photo on the cover of ''[[Life Magazine]]'' on [[July 16]] [[1945]]. The next couple of years in California were hard times for Murphy. He became disillusioned from lack of work. He was broke and slept on the gymnasium floor of his friend, Terry Hunt. He finally received token acting parts in his first two films, ''[[Beyond Glory]]'' and ''[[Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven]]'' but his roles were very minor in these movies. Murphy's third movie, ''[[Bad Boy (1949 film)|Bad Boy]]'', was Murphy's first starring role.

===First starring role===

Up to 99% of the remaining prisoners were subsequently murdered. People from [[Kozielsk]] were murdered in the usual mass murder site of [[Smolensk]] country, called [[Katyn]] forest; people from [[Starobielsk]] were murdered in the inner NKVD prison of Kharkov and the bodies were buried near Pyatikhatki; and police officers from [[Ostashkov]] were murdered in the inner NKVD prison of Kalinin (Tver) and buried in [[Miednoje]].

After returning home from World War II, Murphy bought a house in [[Farmersville, Texas|Farmersville]], [[Texas]] for his oldest sister Corinne, her husband Poland Burns, and their three children. The idea was that Audie's three siblings, Nadene, Billie, and Joe, who had been living in an orphanage since Murphy's mother's death, would also be able to live with Corinne and Poland and would become part of a family again. Unfortunately, six children under one roof created too much stress on everyone. The arrangement didn't work out as smoothly as expected, particularly with Nadene and Joe, so Murphy came and picked them up.

Joe and Nadene wanted to stay with Murphy, but he was having a hard time surviving. Despite a lot of post war publicity and James Cagney's help, Murphy's acting career had gone nowhere. He was broke and sleeping on the floor of his friend Terry Hunt's gymnasium. Murphy's oldest brother Buck and his wife agreed to take in Nadene but Murphy didn't know what to do with Joe.

Detailed information on the executions in Kalinin NKVD prison was given during the hearing by Dmitrii S. Tokarev, former head of the Board of the District [[NKVD]] in [[Kalinin]].

Murphy went to James "Skipper" Cherry, a Dallas theater owner whom he had previously befriended, and sought his advice. Cherry was a member of a consortium of Texas theater owners who were part of [[Variety Clubs International]] and was involved with the Variety Clubs International Boy's Ranch a 4,800 acre (19 km²) ranch near [[Copperas Cove, Texas|Copperas Cove]], [[Texas]]. Cherry arranged for the Boy's Ranch to take Joe in. Joe loved it there and Murphy was able to visit him, as well as Skipper Cherry frequently.

[[Image:Katyn2.gif|thumb|Polish money and military badges found in the mass graves]]

During one of these visits, Murphy confided to Cherry that even with Cagney's help and acting lessons, he wasn't getting anywhere in Hollywood. In a 1973 interview, Cherry recalled, "He was discouraged and somewhat despondent concerning his movie career." Variety Clubs was financing a film called ''Bad Boy'' to help promote the organization's work with troubled children. Cherry called Texas theater executive Paul Short, who was producing the film, and suggested they considered giving Murphy a significant role in the movie. Murphy looked good in the screen test, but the president of Allied Artists did not want to cast someone with so little acting experience as a major character. However, by this time, Cherry, Short, and the other Texas theater owners had decided that Audie Murphy was going to play the lead or they weren't financing the film. Their money talked and Murphy was cast as the lead. He turned in such a fine performance that the Hollywood powers that be finally recognized his talent. As a direct result of this film, [[Universal Studios]] signed Murphy to his first seven year studio contract.

According to Tokarev, the shooting started in the evening and ended at dawn. The first transport on [[April 4]], [[1940]], carried 390 people, and the executioners had a hard time killing so many people during one night. The following transports were no greater than 250 people. The executions were usually performed with [[Walther]]-type [[pistol]]s supplied by Moscow.

===Autobiography===

The executions were methodical. After the condemned's personal information was checked, he was then handcuffed and led to a cell insulated with a felt-lined door. The sounds of the execution were also masked by the operation of loud machines (perhaps fans) throughout the night. After being taken into the cell, the victim was immediately shot in the back of the head. His body was then taken out through the opposite door and laid in one of the five or six waiting trucks, whereupon the next condemned was taken inside. The procedure went on every night, except for the [[May Day]] holiday.

[[Image:Photo audiemurphy hellandback.jpg|thumb|left|1955 photo of Audie Murphy 955 photo that was taken for advertisement and art work purposes for the movie ''To Hell and Back''.]]

[[Image:Photo eddiemurphy pamelaarcher2.jpg|thumb|right|1955 photo of Audie Murphy and his wife, Pam Archer Murphy, as they arrived at the Los Angeles premiere of ''To Hell and Back'' at the Wiltern Theater on [[October 12]] [[1955]].]]

Murphy's 1949 autobiography ''[[To Hell and Back (book)|To Hell and Back]]'' became a national bestseller. The 1955 film, ''[[To Hell and Back (film)|To Hell and Back]]'' was based on his book. The film grossed almost ten million dollars during its initial theatrical release, and, at the time, became Universal's biggest hit movie in the 43-year history of the studio. It held the record as Universal's highest-grossing motion picture until 1975, when it was surpassed by [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[Jaws (movie)|Jaws]]''. This film would not be released until October, 1955, but Universal believed the movie would be a big hit, so the studio gave Murphy latitude in choosing roles as long as they required a lot of action. Terry Murphy, who played Joe Preston Murphy (at 4), is Murphy's oldest son. Corinne, Charles Emmett (Buck), Vernon, June, Oneta, J.W., Richard, Eugene, Nadene, Billie and Joseph Murphy were the names of Murphy's brothers and sisters in real life. Murphy starred as himself in this film biography.

===Hollywood Walk of Fame===

Near Smolensk, the Poles, with their hands tied behind their backs, were led to the graves and shot in the neck.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Audie Murphy has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1601 Vine Street. In the twenty five years that Murphy spent in Hollywood, he made a total of forty four feature films.

==DiscoveryMusic career==

In addition to acting in motion pictures, Murphy also became successful as a country music songwriter. He teamed up with talented artists and composers such as [[Guy Mitchell]], [[Jimmy Bryant]], [[Scott Turner]], [[Coy Ziegler]], [[Terri Eddleman]]. Many of Audie Murphy's songs were recorded and released by such great performers as [[Dean Martin]], [[Eddy Arnold]], [[Charley Pride]], [[Jimmy Bryant]], [[Porter Waggoner]], [[Jerry Wallace]], [[Roy Clark]], [[Harry Nilsson]]. His two biggest hits were ''Shutters and Boards'' and ''When the Wind Blows in Chicago''. [[Eddy Arnold]] recorded ''When the Wind Blows in Chicago'' for his 1993 album, ''Last of the Love Song Singers'' which is currently in release by [[RCA]].

==Death==

The fate of Polish POWs was first raised soon after the [[Operation Barbarossa|Germans invaded the Soviet Union]] in June 1941, when the Polish government-in-exile (located in London) and the Soviet government agreed to cooperate against Germany, and a Polish army on Soviet territory was to be formed. When Polish general [[Władysław Anders]] began organizing this army, he requested information about the Polish officers. Stalin assured him and Sikorski during a personal meeting that all the Poles had been freed, though some of them may have escaped (for example, to [[Manchuria]]).

While on a business trip on [[May 28]], [[1971]], ([[Memorial Day]] Weekend) he was killed at the age of 46. His private plane was flying in fog and rain. It crashed on the side of Brush Mountain near Catawba, [[Virginia]], some twenty miles west of [[Roanoke, Virginia]]. Five others including the pilot were also killed.

On [[June 7]],[[ 1971]], Audie Murphy was buried with full military honors in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. His gravesite, near the Amphitheater, is second most visited gravesite year round. President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s grave is the most visited. At Arlington Cemetery, the tombstones of Medal of Honor winners are normally decorated in gold leaf, but Murphy had requested that his tombstone remained plain and inconspicous. His engraved headstone reads as follows: Audie L. Murphy, Texas. Major Infantry, World War II, [[June 20]], [[1924]] to [[May 28]], [[1971]], Medal of Honor, DSC - SS & OLC; LM - BSM & OLC; PH & two OLC. (DSC-Distinguished Service Cross; SS-Silver Star; LM-Legion of Merit; BSM-Bronze Star Medal; OLC-Oak Leaf Cluster; PH-Purple Heart).

The fate of the missing prisoners remained a mystery until April [[1943]] when the German [[Wehrmacht]] discovered the mass grave of more than 4,000 Polish military reserve officers in the forest on Goat Hill near Katyn. Dr. [[Joseph Goebbels]], German Minister of [[Propaganda]], saw this discovery as an excellent tool to drive a wedge between Poland, Western Allies, and the Soviet Union. On [[April 13]] Berlin Radio announced this find to the world: ''"A great pit was found, 28 metres long and 16 metres wide, filled with twelve layers of bodies of Polish officers, numbering about 3,000. They were clad in full military uniform, and while many of them had their hands tied, all of them had wounds in the back of their necks caused by pistol shots. The identification of the bodies will not cause great difficulties because of the mummifying property of the soil and because the Bolsheviks had left on the bodies the identity documents of the victims. It has already been ascertained that among the murdered is [[Mieczysław Smorawiński|General Smorawiński]] from Lublin."''

In 1974, a large [[granite]] [http://www.audiemurphy.com/roanoke.htm memorial marker ] was erected near the crash site.

The Allies were aware that the Nazis had found a mass grave as the discovery transpired, via radio transmissions intercepted and decrypted by [[Bletchley Park]]. The Soviet government denied the German charges and claimed that the Poles, war prisoners, had been engaged in construction work west of Smolensk and consequently were captured and executed by invading German units in August 1941. Both German and an ensuing International Red Cross investigations of the Katyń corpses soon produced physical evidence that the massacre took place in early 1940, at a time when the area was still under Soviet control.

==Honors==

In April [[1943]], when [[Polish Government in Exile]] led by General [[Władysław Sikorski]] insisted on bringing this matter to the negotiation table with Soviets and on an investigation by the [[International Red Cross]]. Stalin used the Katyń Massacre ''unsupported allegiations'' as the pretext to withdraw recognition to Sikorski's government in Britain on [[April 26]], accuse it of collaborating with Nazi Germany, and start the campaign to get the Western Allies to recognize the Soviet puppet Polish government led by [[Wanda Wasilewska]]. Sikorski, whose uncompromising stance on that issue was beginning to create a rift between Western Allies and Soviets, died suddenly two months later. The cause of his death is still disputed.

On [[November 17]], [[1973]], the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio, Texas was dedicated to Murphy. A one-ton bronze, eight-foot statue of Audie is the fine work of sculptress, Jimilu Mason, who was one of Murphy's many admirers. He is dressed in battle fatigues holding a rifle with bayonet. Inside the hospital, is a museum that depicts Murphy's life and has items including a uniform, other clothing, books and pictures.

In 1996 the [[Texas Legislature]] officially declared his birthdate, [[June 20]], as "Audie Murphy Day". U.S. Highway 69 North, from North Greenville city limits to Fannin County line was renamed "The Audie Murphy Memorial Highway". In 1996, he was inducted posthumously into the [[Western Performers Hall of Fame]] at the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]].

==Attempts to cover up the massacre==

In 1999, Governor [[George W. Bush]], also made the same proclamation declaring [[June 20]] to officially be "Audie Murphy Day" in the state of Texas.

The Katyń Massacre was beneficial to Nazi Germany, whose propaganda machine used it to discredit the Soviet Union. Dr. Goebbels wrote in his diary: ''"Foreign commentators marvel at the extraordinary cleverness with which we have been able to convert the Katyn incident into a highly political question."'' The Germans had succeeded in discrediting the Soviet Government in the eyes of the world and briefly raised the spectre of a communist monster rampaging across the territories of Western civilisation; moreover they had forged the unwilling General Sikorski into a tool which could threaten to unravel the alliance between the Western Allies and Soviet Union.

In 2000, Audie Murphy was honored with his portrait on the thirty three cent [[List of people on stamps of the United States|United States postage stamp]]. There is also an Audie Murphy Middle School in Fort Hood, Texas, named in his honor.

To the Western Allies, the Katyń Massacre and the resulting Polish-Soviet crisis were beginning to threaten the vital alliance with the Soviet Union at a time when the Poles' importance to the Allies, essential in the first years of the war, was beginning to fade due to the entry into the conflict of the military and industrial giants, the Soviet Union and the United States. British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] and [[United States President]] [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] were increasingly torn between their commitments to their Polish ally, the uncompromising stance of Sikorski and the demands - often bordering on political [[blackmail]] - by Stalin and his diplomats, whose policies were evident in the comments of Soviet ambassador to London, [[Ivan Maisky]], who told Churchill that Poland's fate was sealed as ''"a country of 20 millions next door to a country of 200 millions."''

===Military awards===

Having retaken the Katyń area, in January [[1944]], the Soviet Union sent the ''"Special Commission for Determination and Investigation of the Shooting of Polish Prizoners of War by German-Fascist Invaders in Katyn Forest,"'' headed by [[Nikolai Burdenko]] to investigate the incidents again. Burdenko, the President of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, exhumed the bodies again and reached the conclusion that the shooting was done by Germans.

*[[Medal of Honor]]

*[[Distinguished Service Cross (USA)|Distinguished Service Cross]]

*[[Silver Star]] with First [[Oak Leaf Cluster]]

*[[Legion of Merit]]

*[[Bronze Star Medal]] with "V" Device and First Oak Leaf Cluster

*[[Purple Heart]] with Second Oak Leaf Cluster

*[[U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal]]

*[[Good Conduct Medal]]

*[[Presidential Unit Citation (US)]] with First Oak Leaf Cluster

*[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France)

*[[American Campaign Medal]]

*[[World War II Victory Medal]]

*[[Army of Occupation Medal]] with Germany Clasp

*[[Armed Forces Reserve Medal]]

*[[Combat Infantryman Badge]]

*[[Expert Badge]] with Bayonet Bar

*[[Marksman Badge]] with Rifle Bar

*[[Croix de guerre|French Fourragère in Colors of the Croix de guerre]]

*[[Légion d'honneur|French Legion of Honor]]

*[[Croix de guerre|French Croix de guerre with Palm]]

*[[Croix de guerre|French Croix de guerre with Silver Star]]

*[[French Liberation Medal]]

*[[Croix de guerre|Belgian Croix de guerre with Palm]]

==Filmography==

In private, British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] agreed that the atrocity was likely carried out by the Soviets. According to the note taken by Count Raczyński, Churchill admitted on [[April 15]] during a conversation with General Sikorski: ''"Alas, the German revelations are probably true. The Bolsheviks can be very cruel."'' However at the same time, on [[April 24]], Churchill assured the Russians: ''"We shall certainly oppose vigorously any ‘investigation’ by the International Red Cross or any other body in any territory under German authority. Such investigation would be a fraud and its conclusions reached by terrorism."'' Churchill's own post-war account of the Katyn affair is laconic. In his memoirs, he quotes the [[1944]] Russian inquiry into the massacre, which predictably proved that the Germans had committed the crime, and adds, ''"belief seems an act of faith."''

* A Time for Dying (1969)

* 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967)

* The Texican (1966) aka Texas Kid (Spain)

* Trunk to Cairo (1966) aka Cairo Campaign; aka Einer spielt falsch (West Germany); aka Mivtza Kahir (Israel: Hebrew title)

* Gunpoint (1966)

* Arizona Raiders (1965)

* Apache Rifles (1964)

* Bullet for a Badman (1964) aka Renegade Posse (USA)

* The Quick Gun (1964)

* Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) aka Gun Fight at Comanche Creek (USA: poster title)

* War Is Hell (1963)(Was the narrator)

* Showdown (1963)

* Six Black Horses (1962)

* Battle at Bloody Beach (1961) aka Battle on the Beach (UK)

* Whispering Smith (1961) TV Series

* Posse from Hell (1961)

* Seven Ways from Sundown (1960)

* The Unforgiven (1960)

* Hell Bent for Leather (1960)

* Cast a Long Shadow (1959)

* The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

* No Name on the Bullet (1959)

* The Gun Runners (1958) aka Gunrunners (International: English title)

* Ride a Crooked Trail (1958)

* The Quiet American (1958)

* Night Passage (1957)

* Joe Butterfly (1957)

* The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)

* Walk the Proud Land (1956) aka Apache Agent

* World in My Corner (1956)

* To Hell and Back (1955)

* Destry (1954)

* Drums Across the River (1954)

* Ride Clear of Diablo (1954) aka The Breckenridge Story (USA)

* Tumbleweed (1953) aka Three Were Renegades (USA)

* Column South (1953)

* Gunsmoke (1953) aka A Man's Country (USA); aka Roughshod (USA)

* The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) aka Claim Jumpers (USA)

* The Cimarron Kid (1952)

* The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

* Kansas Raiders (1950)

* The Kid from Texas (1950) aka Texas Kid, Outlaw (UK)

* Sierra (1950)

* Bad Boy (1949) aka The Story of Danny Lester

* Beyond Glory (1948)

* Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948) aka The Girl from Texas (UK)

''See also:'' [[Notable figures in Western films|Other notable figures in Western films]]

In 1944 [[President of the United States]] [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] assigned Army Captain [[George Earle]], his special emissary to the [[Balkans]], to compile information on Katyn. Earle did so, using contacts in [[Bulgaria]] and [[Romania]]. Earle, too, concluded that the Soviet Union was guilty. After consulting with [[Elmer Davis]], the director of the [[Office of War Information]], FDR rejected that conclusion, saying that he was convinced of Nazi Germany's responsibility, and ordered Earle's report suppressed. When Earle formally requested permission to publish his findings, the President gave him a written order to desist. Earle was reassigned and spent the rest of the war in [[American Samoa]].

==External links==

[[Image:Katyn3.jpg|thumb|Biggest of the mass graves at Katyń]]

* [http://www.audiemurphy.com/ Audie Murphy Memorial Web site]

After World War II, the Polish Communist authorities covered up the matter in concord with Soviet propaganda, deliberately censoring any sources that might shed some light on the Soviet crime. The truth was not publicly known until the fall of communism in [[1989]].

In November 1945, seven officers of the German Wehrmacht, K.H. Strueffling, H. Remlinger, E. Böhom, E. Sommerfeld, H. Jannike, E. Skotki and E. Geherer were tried by a court of the victorious allies: the Americans, the English, the French and the Russians. They were condemned to death for their role in the Katyń massacre and were subsequently hanged. Three more were tried on the same charges; E.P. Vogel, F. Wiese, A. Diere. They received sentences of 20 years of hard labor, were turned over to the Russians and never heard of again.

In [[1946]], the chief Soviet prosecutor at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] tried to indict Germany for the Katyn killings, stating that "one of the most important criminal acts for which the major war criminals are responsible was the mass execution of Polish prisoners of war shot in the Katyń forest near Smolensk by the German fascist invaders," but dropped the matter after the [[United States]] and the [[United Kingdom]] refused to support it and German lawyers mounted an embarrassing defense.

In 1951-52, a U.S. Congressional investigation charged that the Poles had been killed by Soviets.

The question of responsibility remained controversial in the West as well as behind the [[Iron Curtain]]. For example, in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, plans for a memorial to the victims bearing the date 1940 (rather than 1941) were condemned as provocative in the political climate of the [[Cold War]].

In [[1989]] Soviet scholars revealed that [[Joseph Stalin]] had indeed ordered the massacre, and in [[1990]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] admitted that the NKVD had executed the Poles, confirmed two other burial sites similar to the site at Katyń: Mednoje and Pyatikhatki. In [[1992]] the Russian officials released top-secret documents from the sealed package no. 1. Among them was [[Lavrenty Beria]]'s March [[1940]] [http://katyn.codis.ru/fberia.htm proposal] to shoot 25,700 Poles from Kozelsk, Ostashkov and Starobels camps, and from certain prisons of Western Ukraine and Belarus with the signature of Stalin (among others); an excerpt from the [[Politburo]] [http://katyn.codis.ru/fpolburo.htm shooting order] of [[March 5]] 1940; and [[Aleksandr Shelepin]]'s [[March 3]] [[1959]] [http://katyn.codis.ru/fshelep.htm note] to [[Nikita Khrushchev]], with information about the execution of 21,857 Poles and with the proposal to destroy their personal files.

The investigations that indicted the German state rather than the Soviet state for the killings are sometimes used to impeach the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in their entirety, often in support of [[Holocaust denial]], or to question the legitimacy and/or wisdom of using the criminal law to prohibit Holocaust denial. Still, there are some who deny Soviet guilt, call the released documents fakes and try to prove that Poles were shot by Germans in 1941.{{fact}}<!--we need more info on this alternate interpretation: what sort of logic and evidence do they use?-->

== Post-Soviet developments ==

During [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]]'s visit to Russia in September of [[2004]], Russian officials announced that they are willing to transfer all the information on the Katyń Massacre to the Polish authorities as soon as it is [[declassified]]. In March [[2005]] Russian authorities ended the decade-long investigation. Russian Chief Military Prosecutor [[Alexander Savenkov]] declared that the massacre was not a [[genocide]] - a [[war crime]] - or a [[crime against humanity]] and that ''there is absolutely no basis to talk about this in judicial terms.'' Despite earlier declarations, 116 out of 183 volumes of files gathered during the Russian investigation, as well as the decision to put an end to it, were classified.

Because of that, the Polish [[Institute of National Remembrance]] has decided to open its own probe. Prosecution team head [[Leon Kieres]] said they would try to identify those involved in ordering and carrying out the killings. In addition, on [[March 22]], [[2005]], the Polish [[Sejm]] unanimously passed an act, requesting the Russian archives to be declassified. The Sejm also requested Russia to classify the Katyń massacre as genocide.

== See also: ==

* [[Anti-Polonism]]

* [[Zbigniew Brzeziński]]

* [[Stefan Kaczmarz]]

* [[Józef Mackiewicz]]

* [[Józef Marcinkiewicz]]

* [[List of Polish Martyrology sites]]

* [[Polish operation of the NKVD]]

* [[Konstanty Plisowski]]

* [[Janus K. Zawodny]]

* [[Frank Fox]]

* [[Robert G. Poirier]]

==References==

* [[David Irving|Irving, David]], ''Accident -- The Death of General Sikorski'' (1967) ISBN 0718304209

==External links==

*[http://katyn.codis.ru/fpolburo.htm Original of Katyn order]

*[[Wikisource:Katyn Order of Execution by Stalin]] (English language translation)

*[http://www.mswia.gov.pl/mednoe.html Detail account of Soviet actions]

*http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/winter99-00/art6.html

*[http://www.electronicmuseum.ca/Poland-WW2/katyn_memorial_wall/kmw.html Katyn massacre victim list]

*http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27886543

*[http://www.katyn.org.au/ Polish deaths at Soviet hands - website about Katyn forest massacre]

*[http://www.katyn.org.au/naziphotos.html Pictures taken during the 1943 exhumation]

*[http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1049114089000 British reactions to the Katyn Massacre, 1943-2003]

*[http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1050510186860 The Katyn Massacre: A Special Operations Executive perspective]

*[http://p093.ezboard.com/frodohforumfrm12.showMessage?topicID=27.topic Goebbels' diary entries on Katyn]

*[http://nobsnews.blogspot.com/1994/12/katyn-in-nuremberg.html Katyn in Nuremberg]

*[http://www.focal.org/books/accident/1967.pdf The full text of David Irving's controversial 1967 book on the death of Sikorski, contains large chapter on the political consequences of Katyn]

[[Category:19401924 births|Murphy, Audie]]

[[Category:Acts1971 ofdeaths|Murphy, Soviet repressionAudie]]

[[Category:Anti-PolonismAmerican World War II veterans|Murphy, Audie]]

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[[Category:HistoryHollywood Walk of the Soviet Union and SovietFame|Murphy, RussiaAudie]]

[[Category:SovietLegion executionsof Honor recipients|Murphy, Audie]]

[[Category:WorldMedal Warof IIHonor crimesrecipients|Murphy, Audie]]

[[Category:People from Texas|Murphy, Audie]]

[[Category:U.S. Army officers|Murphy, Audie]]

[[Category:Irish-Americans|Murphy, Audie]]

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