Memorial in honor of Polish military officers executed by NKVD in 1939-1940

Forest Park, Kharkov

Many Polish soldiers and officers looked for help from the Soviet Union after Germany occupied Poland in 1939. They had been hoping that the USSR would let them fight with the Soviet Army against the Fascists.  Polish officers and even their medical personnel were separated from the rest of the soldiers and executed in different NKVD camps, one of which was in the Kharkov area.  Later in the war, many Polish soldiers got the opportunity to fight along with the Soviet Army.  But for many years, the disappearance of several thousand Polish officers was kept a secret by the Communist government, which blamed the Germans for this disappearance.