CPT Adam Lukas, Polish citizen, was the son of Antoni and Maria née Janicka. During World War I Poland was still occupied by its three aggressive neighbours Russia, Prussia and Austria Hungary and had no official army of its own. However, several formations existed, among them the Polish Legions and Adam Lukas was one of its soldiers. He participated in the Carpathian and Wołyń campaigns. In the Polish Army he was, among others, commander of the sanitary park in Krakow. He became head of the 5th District Hospital Office in 1932. He was appointed captain on 19 March 1938. He was awarded the Cross of Valour, the Cross of Independence and the 1918-1921 Medal.

He was married to Józefa née Dietrich.

Tragically, Adam's younger brother 2LT Romuald Lukas was also murdered by the Soviets in Katyn!

THE KATYN MASSACRE

CPT Adam Lukas is one of the nearly 22,000 Polish military officers and policemen and intelligentsia reserve officers taken captive by the Soviet Union after its attack on Poland on 17 September 1939, made prisoners of war and then murdered in cold blood in April and May 1940 by the NKVD in a planned holocaust known collectively as the Katyn Massacre. According to the resolution of the Polish Lower House of Parliament or Sejm the Katyn Massacre has the hallmarks of genocide and is qualified as: A war crime; a crime against humanity; a crime against peace; a communist crime.

The Polish prisoners were held in three main camps by the NKVD:

1. in Kozielsk

2. in Ostaszków

3. in Starobielsk

in the Soviet Union.

Each of these places is related to a place of murder and a place of hiding the bodies mass graves.

1. The PoWs from Kozielsk were taken to a recreational centre of the NKVD in the Katyń forest near Smolensk and murdered there. Their bodies were hidden in mass graves in the Katyń forest – on findagrave: Katyn Forest Massacre Site of 1940. They numbered ca 4,400 people.

2. The PoWs held in Ostaszków were murdered in at the District Directorate of the NKVD in Kalinin (nowadays Tver). Their bodies were hidden in mass graves in the Mednoye – on findagrave: Mednoye Polish War Cemetery. They numbered ca 6,300 people.

3. The PoWs. held in Starobielsk were murdered at the District Directorate of the NKVD in Kharkov. Their bodies were hidden in mass graves in Piatikhatki near Kharkov - on findagrave: Kharkov Polish War Cemetery. They numbered ca 3,800 people.

Another place of execution and burial was Kiev. They numbered 3,435 people.

In all, the NKVD executed almost half the Polish officer corps.

All victims were shot in the head or neck from behind.

REFERENCES

For a list of "The Victims of the Katyń Massacre who were Murdered in Katyń", see:

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofiary_zbrodni_katyńskiej_–_zamordowani_w_Katyniu

For the biogram, see:

http://ksiegicmentarne.muzeumkatynskie.pl/wpis/2091

For a short documentary on the holocaust of the Polish officers and its historical background and its cover-up see:

"Katyn - WWII's Forgotten Massacre" by Mark Felton, 2021:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2djnWw751s

Written by Ivonna Nowicka, 2024