The Katyn Forest Massacre: Hearings Before the Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn ... of the Murder of Thousands of Polish

Excerpt from The Katyn Forest Massacre: Hearings Before the Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre, Eighty-Second Congress, First Session on Investigation of the Murder of Thousands of Polish Officers in the Katyn Fores

The committee met at 9:30 a.m., Hon. Ray J. Madden (chairman), presiding.

Present: Messrs. Machrowicz, Dondero, and Furcolo.

Also present: John J.Mitchell, chief counsel.

Mr. Madden. The meeting will come to order.

I might mention for the record that this special committee was authorized by Congress to make an investigation of the Katyn massacre but has not been completely organized as yet as far as the office personnel and office location is concerned.

The original intention of the committee was not to start formal hearings until after the Congress reconvened in January.

I wish at this time to state that a quorum is present, Mr. Machrowicz, Mr. Dondero, Mr. Furcolo, and myself, and owing to the fact that this hearing was rather impromptu, Congressman Flood and Congressman O'Konski were unable to be in the city this morning.

I might also state that the committee wishes to thank the Secretary of Defense and the Department counselor of the Army, Mr. Shackelford, and Mr. Pace, the Secretary of the Army, for their cooperation in making available our witness this morning.

The reason for the hearing being called this morning is that our witness, Lt. Col. Donald B. Stewart, was about to be assigned to Tokyo, was leaving in 2 weeks, and owing to the fact that it would cause considerable inconvenience to have the Army return Colonel Stewart next year, we decided to hold this hearing in order to obtain his testimony.

I might also state that Mr. Sheehan, a member of the committee, was also out of the city, and it is hoped that he may be here before the committee adjourns.

Without objection, I will submit for the record House Resolution 390, authorizing the Special Committee for the Investigation of Katvn.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.