Probe into Poland WWII PM death

[justjohn]

BBC NEWS

Probe into Poland WWII PM death
By Adam Easton

BBC News, Warsaw

Prosecutors in Poland have announced they will exhume the body of the country's World War II prime minister.

Gen Wladyslaw Sikorski will be exhumed as part of a inquiry to decide whether his death in a plane crash in Gibraltar in 1943 was an accident or murder.



A British investigation ruled that it was an accident, but some historians in Poland believe Gen Sikorski died as a result of foul play.

Poland's president and prime minister are backing the current inquiry.

The general's body will be exhumed in two weeks from the crypt of Krakow Cathedral, where it lies next to Polish monarchs and national heroes.

Prosecutors say it may provide clues to help them determine whether Gen Sikorski was assassinated.

Theories

During the war the general was prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile in London.

In July 1943, the Liberator aircraft he was travelling on together with two British MPs, crashed into the sea just seconds after it took off from Gibraltar.

A British investigation at the time found the plane's controls had jammed. But a separate Polish investigation did not rule out he may been murdered.

The general's death has produced several colourful conspiracy theories despite a lack of evidence.

At the time Gen Sikorski had demanded an investigation into allegations that Poland's then ally, the former Soviet Union, had massacred more than 20,000 Polish officers in the forests of Katyn three years earlier.

Some even believe British Prime Minister Winston Churchill may have ordered his death to preserve good relations with Stalin.

However, prosecutors have said they are investigating a "communist crime", suggesting that the suspicion falls on the former Soviet Union.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7720293.stm

Published: 2008/11/10 16:18:20 GMT

[hollister]

So JJ,
What do you think they will find?

[karl]

J.J.

I remember this historical incident from history. It would be as a stand of wonder after these many years of what is to be gained by re-examination of this mans remains.

For then the question will still be a question. What caused the crash: The jambed controls or-Gen. Sikorski. For to give cause to intentual death to the crew with loss of a valued aircraft needed for the war effort, is a question of conjecture in self.

Whilst on the other side of the Roman coin, it would lay to rest any conjecture with the new medical processes that were not of access in previous.

Karl

[archivist]

In response to Karl,

Even in war time, a valuable asset can be sacrificed if the result is worth it. I know little of the politics behind this but can someone explain to me the simple advantages to be gained. Who would profit from Sikorski's death? Clearly he was an important, and valuable, man to the Poles.