ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 13, 1990                   TAG: 9004130556
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LONDON                                LENGTH: Short

SOVIETS ADMIT 1940 MASSACRE

The Soviet Union for the first time has admitted responsibility for the massacre of thousands of Polish prisoners in the Katyn forest during World War II, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.

Until now, the Soviet Union has blamed the 1940 massacre of 15,000 Polish Army officers and soldiers near the western town Smolensk on Nazi Germany.

The formal admission of guilt coincides with the three-day state visit of Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski, who is scheduled to visit Katyn on Saturday. The acknowledgement of responsibility for the slaying has been one of the conditions for improvement in relations between Poland and the Soviet Union.

A BBC World Service radio news bulletin quoted Radio Moscow as saying recently discovered documents determined the crime was carried out by the Soviet NKVD, predecessors of the KGB secret police. - Associated Press 


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