4,250 Polish soldiers were murdered and buried in Katyn Woods was one of the greatest atrocities of World War II. But this is not the whole story. The Polish army collapsed as Germany and Russia attacked from both the east and the west. even though the Russians had attacked them, the Poles let them in unharmed because they believed the Russians would help them. Once in, the Red Army conquered many Polish cities and began capturing soldiers and civilians to be imprisoned or executed, but probably both. Many nationalists were exiled for interrogation in other countries. It was in three particular Russian prisons that the massacre took place. Over 14,000 of these prisoners were kept behind barbed wire and walls. Soldiers, statesmen, police officers and civilians were held in the camps. The only thing they could do was await their fate. These camps were horrible. Bugs, lice and dirt were abundant. Barely edible food was all the prisoners received. There were daily interrogations, roll calls and training at all hours. We know much of this because from 1939 to 1940 there are documents from prisoners in the camps to their family members. After the spring of 1940 all contact with the prisoners was lost. They simply ceased to exist. Smolensk, one of the camps, had been in German hands since July 1941. Near Smolensk in 1943, some Polish workers had visited an elderly Polish man near the Katyn Forest and there learned about the huge burial site. where many Polish prisoners had been killed by the Russians. An international team of doctors was called to investigate the Katyn woods. At Goats Hill, doctors found layer upon layer of bodies of Polish soldiers. The corpses showed signs of execution with firearms and bayonets. Through forensic analysis, scientists discovered the caliber of weapons used in the executions, where the soldiers came from and the approximate time they were killed. Letters, vaccination certificates and other personal items were left on the bodies as they were thrown into mass graves, one on top of the other. Katyn soil had a mummifying effect on the bodies, so they were well preserved. Polish uniforms easily identified their rank and, in the case of the few high-ranking officers, said who these people were.