Z historii katyńskiej. Casus Ferdynanda Goetla
From the Katyń history. Casus of Ferdynand Goetel

Summary/Abstract: The gallows of Polish officers in Katyń near Smolensk Russia) was discovered in spring 1942. In exhumation works, organized by the Germans, Poles took part (socalled Technical Commission of the Polish Red Cross). As early as on 11 April 1943 stayed there-on German initiative- representatives of Polish intellectuals, among others a famous literary man Ferdynand Goetel (1890 – 1960). He was a president of pre-war Polish PEN Club, the Trade Union of Polish Writers and a member of the Polish Academy of Literature. In January 1945, after the Germans withdrawal from Warsaw and Cracow, the NKWD began to search for Goetel. Polish General Prosecutor`s Office commanded to arrest him, accusing of collaboration with the German (participation in a visit in Katyń, indicating the Russian as perpetrators of the tragedy). Hiding Goetel secretly left the country in December 1945 and reached Great Britain. In post-war Poland, his books (even the surname) were placed on a list of the censorship. The literary output of the writer became inaccessible and unknown for many generations of readers. Rehabilitation of Goetel`s good name took place in 1989 at the instance of the Polish PEN Club. In the declaration it was stated that the writer participated in the defence of Poland in 1939, in the years of German occupation he acted to defend and help Polish intellectuals, was a member of the Polish Underground, coordinated the visit in Katyń with the management (the Home Army), did not take part in propagandist presentation of the issue by the German , reported his stay to the management of the Polish Red Cross and management of the Home Army. New elements in appreciation of Goetel are described in the study family data (his partner in life was Halina Winowska, a relative of the Abłamowicz family). On the turn of January 1945, after the German withdrawal, in Cracow took place a family meeting. A possibility of escape to the West was considered. According to my father Aleksander`s recollections, Ferdynand Goetel stated that: 1) the German leaving Cracow offered him an evacuation which he refused, 2) each family member has to decide themselves whether to escape from Poland or not (himself he took a decision); even if the departure is involved, it, in any way should not be connected with the withdrawal of the German. Escaping from Poland, Goetel used false documents, drawn up for Franciszek Ćwikliński (a tutor of the young Halina Winowska, after her father`s death). In London he worked in organizations of Polish emigrants, writing until last moments, many times remembering Katyń. He has never come to Poland, never seen either Halina Winowska or the children (Halina got a passport but she was refused to get a British visa). The investigation about the collaboration was discontinued only in 1956.

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