As the 86th anniversary of the Katyn massacre approaches, the Pilecki Institute joins the social and educational campaign “I Remember. Katyń 1940.”
The symbol of the campaign is a commemorative pin—a replica of a military uniform button that references Zbigniew Herbert’s poem “Buttons.” It serves as a sign of remembrance for the victims of the Katyn massacre and as an expression of opposition to the falsification of one of the most tragic chapters in Polish history.
The campaign is organized by the National Centre for Culture, the Katyn Museum, the Pilecki Institute, and the Institute of National Remembrance.
As part of the “Wear the Button of Remembrance” initiative, the pins will be available at the Pilecki Institute, 92 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006.
• on April 9-10, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• on April 11, 2026 from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM
They will also be distributed to the public on Friday, April 10, 2026
• on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint from 9:30 AM to 11:30 PM
• the Krakus Senior Center, 176 Java Street from 11:30 AM to 12:00PM
• in the World Trade Center area from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
The Pilecki Institute also invites the public to a screening of the film Katyń, directed by Andrzej Wajda, on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 5:00 PM at 92 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006. The film will be presented in Polish with English subtitles. Admission is free. Seats may be reserved at contact@pileckiusa.com.
The Katyn Massacre
In the spring of 1940, on the orders of the highest authorities of the USSR, the Soviets carried out a genocide of more than 22,000 Polish citizens. Among the victims were professional officers of the Polish Army, police officers, reserve officers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, civil servants, and academics. The graves of the victims were discovered in Katyn, Kharkiv, Mednoye, and Bykivnia. The truth about these events was suppressed in the Polish People’s Republic. Although the USSR admitted responsibility for the Katyn massacre in 1990, Russia has since returned to propagating the Katyn lie. Those responsible for the crime were never brought to justice before an international tribunal.
The Katyn Button: campaign and public initiative
The Katyn Button is an element of the social and educational campaign “I Remember. Katyn 1940”, initiated in April 2007 by the National Center for Culture. This coincided with the period preceding the premiere of Andrzej Wajda’s film Katyn.
“The Katyn Button, in the form of a pin, is a replica of an artifact recovered from the mass graves – a silent witness to the crime that today connects generations”, said Michał Kosiorek, Deputy Director of the National Center for Culture. “We encourage everyone to collect the pins at designated locations across Poland and abroad. We invite historical reenactment groups and local remembrance institutions to join the campaign and distribute these symbolic buttons. Anyone who wears the Katyn Button becomes an ambassador of remembrance for the victims of the Katyn massacre”, he stressed.
The continuation of this long-standing campaign has taken on particular significance in recent years, in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the spread of anti-Polish rhetoric.
As Dr. Rafał Kościański, spokesperson for the Institute of National Remembrance, explains: “We are currently witnessing a return of the Kremlin’s imperial policy, including a revival of Russian propaganda claiming that the Katyn massacre was committed by the Germans.”
“A symbol of this process was the removal by the Russian authorities in 2025 of Polish military symbols from cemeteries in Mednoye and Katyn: the War Order of Virtuti Militari, with which Poland commemorated its victory over Russian forces in 1792, and the September Campaign Cross, which recalls the German-Soviet invasion of 1939”, added Dr. Rafał Kościański.
In light of restricted access to remembrance sites, the need to cultivate symbolic space and restore memory through representative gestures has become especially urgent.
“For several years now, we have had no access to the forests in Katyn, Mednoye, and Kuropaty, and access to the cemeteries in Bykivnia and Kharkiv is severely limited”, said Sebastian Karwat, Head of the Katyn Museum. “We are unable to pay proper tribute at the place where the bodies of our heroes are laid to rest. In a symbolic sense, this role is now fulfilled by the Katyn Museum as a place where the memory of the victims of the Soviet murder committed 86 years ago remains alive,” he added.
Victims of the Soviet Crime
The symbolic pins will be accompanied by badges featuring the silhouettes of 20 selected victims of the Katyn massacre, whose stories will be recalled as part of an informational campaign conducted on social media and other platforms. One button represents one human story cut short and, for many years, falsified.
“From the very beginning of its existence, the Pilecki Institute has been tasked with commemorating the victims of totalitarian regimes. Our involvement in the ‘Wear the Katyn Button’ initiative, which forms part of the social and educational campaign ‘I Remember. Katyn 1940’, is therefore a natural step in fulfilling this mission,” said Karol Madaj, Acting Director of the Pilecki Institute. “In this way, we want to emphasize the memory of a specific individual, their passions, their family, and their service to the Republic of Poland. By distributing replicas of the buttons in Warsaw, Berlin, and New York, we remind audiences that behind each of the 22,000 victims lies a personal tragedy. The internationalization of this memory is our duty, especially now, as Russian imperialism once again threatens Europe. The crimes committed in Bucha demonstrate that totalitarian mechanisms have not disappeared, which is why the voices of the victims of Katyn must resonate with particular emphasis today,” he added.
“Wear the Button of Remembrance” initiative
As part of the “Wear the Button of Remembrance” initiative, the pins will be available on April 9-10, 2026 at the Pilecki Institute, 92 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006.
They will be available at the Katyn Museum in Warsaw, at Kordegarda – the National Center for Culture gallery on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, at branches and regional offices of the Institute of National Remembrance across Poland, as well as at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw and its branches in Augustów (the Augustów Roundup Memorial House), and Berlin.
Educational package
An important component of the project is an educational package aimed at schools, prepared jointly by the campaign partners. It will include the mini-series “Sztafeta” (“Relay”), which tells the story of a young person searching for traces of a great-grandfather murdered in Katyn; the audiovisual material “Widziałem na własne oczy” (“I Saw It with My Own Eyes”), being Józef Mackiewicz’s account illustrated with photographs from the Katyn Museum’s collections; as well as the virtual exhibition “Niepamięci” (“Non-Memories”), an artistic narrative about the fate of Poles imprisoned in Soviet labor camps.
The “I Remember. Katyn 1940” campaign is an expression of concern for historical memory and responsibility for truth. In the face of contemporary attempts to undermine it, the campaign constitutes an important element in building a conscious civic community both in Poland and abroad.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
“I Remember. Katyn 1940” Campaign
Workshops entitled “Śledztwo katyńskie” (“The Katyn Investigation”) at the National Education Offices and regional branches of the Institute of National Remembrance | Białystok | Częstochowa | Gdańsk | Gorzów Wielkopolski | Katowice | Kielce | Koszalin | Kraków | Lublin | Łódź | Olsztyn | Opole | Poznań | Rzeszów | Szczecin | Warsaw | Wrocław (organizer: the Institute of National Remembrance)
Warsaw, April 10-20: a mini-exhibition of Katyn artifacts, including the original copy of W. Wasilewska’s book “Prawda o Katyniu” (“The Truth about Katyn”) (organizer: the Pilecki Institute)
Warsaw, April 12: anniversary commemorations at the Katyn Museum, with the participation of the Families of the Victims of the Katyn massacre, combined with the opening of a new temporary exhibition
Warsaw, April 12: the Katyn Shadow March through the streets of Warsaw (organizer: the “Zgrupowanie Radosław” Historical Group Association)
Warsaw, April 13: distribution of Katyn buttons at the Kordegarda gallery (15 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street) – an accompanying event to the exhibition “Południk 21” (“21st Meridian”), opened on 9 April, inspired by the work of Józef Czapski – a prisoner of the Starobilsk camp who escaped death in Katyn. Czapski left the USSR with Anders’ Army and devoted a significant part of his later life to uncovering the truth about the Katyn massacre and commemorating its victims (organizer: the National Center for Culture)
Augustów, April 13: educational initiative in the form of lessons and meetings in partner educational institutions (organizer: the Pilecki Institute)
Berlin, April 13: lecture and debate devoted to the discovery of the Katyn graves, led by a German researcher (organizer: the Pilecki Institute)
New York, April 9-10: outreach and informational campaign at the Pilecki Institute in New York in Greenpoint and World Trade Center.
New York, April 11: screening of “Katyń” directed by Andrzej Wajda
Warsaw, April 13-20: educational week at Dom Bez Kantów, including “Śledztwo katyńskie” (“The Katyn Investigation”) workshops for upper-secondary school students and eighth-grade primary school pupils – 11 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street (organizer: the Pilecki Institute)
Warsaw, April 15: historical debate on the Katyn lie at the “Przystanek Historia” educational center in Warsaw, 107 Marszałkowska Street (organizer: the Institute of National Remembrance)
Media Contact:
National Center for Culture
Małgorzata Feusette-Czyżewska
Head of Communications
tel. +48 500 670 23
media@nck.pl
mfeusette-czyzewska@nck.pl
Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor
Lukrecja Jaszewska
Head of Press Office / Spokesperson
tel. +48 538 625 050
l.jaszewska@instytutpileckiego.pl
Katyn Museum in Warsaw
Warsaw Citadel
Kacper Ciesielski
Section Head
tel. +48 261 877 239
kciesielski@muzeumkatynskie.pl
Institute of National Remembrance
Dr Rafał Kościański – Spokesperson
Director of the Spokesperson’s Office
tel. +48 735 205 793
rzecznik@ipn.gov.pl
The Pilecki Institute
92 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10006
Aleksandra Slabisz
Director of PR and Communication
908.612.2328
o.slabisz@pilecki.us