Norman Davies: Last week’s plane crash has brought an ignored nation and a harrowing episode in its history to world attention
...Nonetheless, several good things may come from the disaster. Poland, so often ignored, has found its way onto the lips of the world. The gathering of leaders at today’s funeral will do more than 20 years of dogged diplomacy. Its government, relatively unscathed, is functioning normally. And the meaning of Katyn will be pondered by millions who previously had never heard of it.
Katyn is the supreme symbol of honesty in European history. It is far from being the largest of European atrocities. But it is the test of whether people are prepared to face their denial, to bear the pain and to tell the truth. It is the archetype of all the many tragedies of the second world war that never reach the headlines but whose absence distorts our understanding.
Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7100800.ece
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