Prime Minister Vladimir Putin"s speech was...

For the first time since Russian was dropped from the curriculum of Polish schools and universities in 1992, Russian speakers were worth their weight in gold in Poland. People listened intently to Putin"s every word and scrutinized his every move: "Putin bowed his head to the Poles murdered at Katyn"; "Putin said that the crimes of totalitarianism cannot be justified."

Will some Poles be dissatisfied with Putin"s speech? Absolutely. You can"t please everyone when it comes to Katyn. It is important to understand that for the Poles, Katyn is not just a symbol of Stalin"s crimes. In his speech today, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accurately called the old Soviet version blaming the Germans for the murder of the Polish officers a "cornerstone" myth of the Polish People"s Republic (PPR). Poles only dared whisper their doubts about the official version in the PPR, and the collapse of this myth in 1989-1990 became a symbol of Polish liberation from totalitarianism. If the official

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