An investigation into the death of WWII prime minister General Wladyslaw Sikorski is nearing completion as Poland marks the 70th anniversary of his plane crash this week.
According to the Institute for National Remembrance (IPN), the state-backed body charged with investigating alleged crimes against Polish citizens, the probe will be the most comprehensive to date.
The Polish leader's death remains a riddle to many, in spite of an official wartime investigation that claimed the crash was an accident.
Sikorski, who headed the Polish government-in-exile in London, died on 4 July 1943 when his Liberator plane crashed into the sea shortly after take-off while returning to England from a reconnaissance trip to Gibraltar.
Although the pilot of the July 1943 flight survived with broken legs, all fourteen other people on board, including British MP and liaison officer to Sikorski Victor Cazalet, died in the accident.
All aboard apparently died immediately, although some bodies were never recovered, further fuelling conspiracy theorists.
Conspiracy theories flourished over the years, with the finger pointed at Russia, Britain and even a clique loyal to Polish military leader General Wladyslaw Anders, who had been at odds with Sikorski.
An official British military investigation blamed the crash on jammed controls in the cockpit.
As revealed in March this year by Piotr Dabrowski from IPN, besides archival work, two witnesses have been interviewed for the current probe in England and Spain.
The first was a radio operator who participated in the British navy's salvage operation, immediately after the plane went down. The second was a diver who helped extract bodies from the wreck.
Claims that Sikorski had been murdered prior to take off were largely dispelled following the exhumation of his remains in 2008 at Wawel Cathedral, Krakow.
Forensic tests ruled out that the general had been shot, stabbed or suffocated. The injuries were considered compatible with those suffered by victims of crashes.
However, noted historian Norman Davies has reflected that “no reputable historian” has ever insisted that sabotage took place.
Likewise, historian Adam Zamoyski, whose father served for a time as aide-de-camp to Sikorski, told the Krakow Post that the Polish leader was “simply not important enough to warrant being liquidated.”
Tuesday 2 July 2013
http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/140012,Probe-pending-into-WWII-leader-General-Sikorskis-death-
http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/139746,Vintage-beetles-commemorate-WWII-leader-Sikorski
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