Just down the street from the hotel where I was busy with the 2019 Civil Air Patrol National Conference in Baltimore in August, a large monument stands in the center of a round-about. The monument is a reminder of yet another atrocity committed during World War II. The Katyń Massacre occurred in 1940. Originally blamed on the Germans, some 22,000 Polish prisoners of war, civilians and military personnel were executed. As it turned out, it wasn’t the Nazis, it was the NKVD, the predecessor to the Soviet Union’s KGB who was responsible for the massacre. The Soviets denied involvement in the atrocity until 1990 when they finally accepted responsibility and condemned the actions of Joseph Stalin and the Politburo.

The monument was created in Poland and its installation at the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore was completed in 2000. The round-about is located at the intersection of President and Aliceanna Streets.

About the photo: Captured with my Samsung S6 cell phone, the image reflects the height of the monument at 56 feet (17 m) which happens to be the tallest monument in Baltimore. This is the view looking to the east along Aliceanna Street. The exposure was 1/700 sec at f1.9, ISO-40. Most browsers will allow you to click on the image to get an enlarged view.

John Steiner