Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate a tragic episode during World War II that is very much alive in the memories of my constituents of Polish origin and the Polish communities throughout Canada: the murder of some 4,000 Polish officers, prisoners of war, in the former Soviet Gulag camps in the Katyn Forest.
Initially, during the Nuremberg trials, the Soviet government blamed the massacre on the Nazis. It took almost 50 years for the Soviets, under Gorbachev, to admit in 1989 that it was the work of the Stalin regime, allied with the Nazis.
With the help of the Canadian government, in 1980 a memorial to the massacred prisoners of war was erected in the heart of my riding. The annual commemoration gathers numerous veterans of Polish origin whose relatives and friends perished in Soviet camps.
The memories of the Katyn massacre serves as a living reminder of the importance of defending human rights wherever they are being violated. For the same reason, memories of Katyn strengthen our resolve to make human rights the cornerstone of our Canadian democracy.