I wanted to quantify the extent of the overlap between the 1944 Soviet-Polish and 1945 Polish investigations of Treblinka, both in terms of "reports" by the organizational bodies and "primary sources" in terms of individual witnesses.
We can dispense with Poland's "independence" at the outset by mentioning the president from 1944-1952 was Bolesław Bierut, an NKVD agent/informer (first president of the Polish Committee of National Liberation, then president of the country).
Overlaps between the Soviet and Polish investigations are highlighted in yellow.
Organizations involved in 1944 Soviet investigations
- 65th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front
- Polish-Soviet Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes
- Information and Propaganda Department of the Polish Committee of National Liberation
- Military Council of the 2nd Belorussian Front
- SMERSH
- Extraordinary State Commission (ChGK)
Polish witnesses for 1945 Polish investigation
- Kon, Stanislaw
- Strawczynski, Oskar
- Turowski, Eugeniusz
- Raizman, Samuel
- Kon, Abe
- Poslowski, Henryk
- Brener, Hejnoch (Henryk)
- Warszawski, Szyja
- Kudlik, Aleksander
- Blumental, Nachman
- Czechowicz, Aron
- Reichman, Henryk (Romanowski)
- Wiernik, Jankiel
- Kuzminski, Jozef
- Wolosz, Waclaw
- Laskowski, Mieczyslaw
- Pogorzelski, Jozef
- Radoszynska, Ita
- Adamcszyk, Stanislaw
- Puchala, Lucjan
- Kucharek, Stalislaw
- Wlasdsylsaw, Chomka
- Lopuszynski, Marian
- Pomocy, Stanislaw
- Gawkowski, Kazimierz
- Socha, Karol
- Rudkowski, Tadeusz
- Kall...[?] Noj...[?] [illegible name]
- Zabecki, Franciszek
- Finkelsztein, Leon
There were a few other witnesses the Poles tried to interview but could not locate. Relevant ones are Genia Trach (Henia Tracz), Jacob Dab (Domb), Max Lewit (Maks), Mendel Korytnicki (Koritnicki/Kortinitsky), Pinkus Wajzman (Pinkhus Weissmann), Wolf Szejnberg (Wulf Szajnberg), and Szymon Cegiel.
Degree of overlap
In terms of
heads of state, there is a 100% overlap between the Soviet Union and Poland. I'm not sure how "independence from the USSR" is measured, but it's likely not "having an NKVD agent as president."
In terms of
organizations, there is a 33% overlap between the 1944 Soviet and 1945 Polish investigations. The Polish-Soviet Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes became the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. The Polish Committee of National Liberation were Soviet-backed communists and became the provisional government in late 1944.
In terms of
witnesses, there is a 30% overlap. Nine witnesses had a presence at the 1944 Soviet investigation who also had a presence at the 1945 Polish. Jankiel Wiernik wasn't physically present at the Soviet investigation, but their first August 1944 report references his book
A Year in Treblinka, which the Soviets had translated into Russian.
The majority of witnesses the Poles wanted to interview but could not locate were also interrogated at the Soviet investigation, so their goal was an even greater overlap of 40% or more.
Most of the overlapping witnesses gave sworn statements to the Soviets that were inconsistent with their unsworn statements to the Poles.
I'm not sure if any of these overlapping witnesses were ever directly questioned on why they abandoned their Soviet testimony.
Side note: neither investigation found mass graves. The Poles explicitly declared "no mass graves" ("no collective graves" in their official English translation). Regardless, in terms of
no mass graves, there is a 53% overlap between witnesses present at the Polish T-II site visit and the 1944 Soviet investigation.
Sources used for comparison:
1944 Soviet investigations
1945 Polish investigation