Gen. Sikorski died an accidental death after all?
The preliminary results of the examination of the remains of General Władysław Sikorski, exhumed in Krakow last Monday, show no signs of an assassination.
There were injuries, say experts, in keeping with having died in an air accident found on his body, however.
So could have General Sikorski died from a simple accident and not from a plot by British, Soviet or any other agents as many have believed in Poland for decades?
An examination by the British in 1943 could not establish, for sure, the cause of death, but only that, “the aircraft became uncontrollable for reasons which cannot be established.”
But many have never accepted that this was simply an accident. Gen. Sikorski had become an obstacle to alliances forming between Moscow and London in 1943 and simply had to be got out of the way, they believe.
Only the final report including all the findings, to be issued in late January, will answer the question on the exact cause of the death in Gibraltar in 1943.
According to unofficial press information, one of Poland's most revered world war two generals - who was prime minister of the Polish Government- -in-exile in London - suffered multiple fractures of shin bones, ribs, thigh bone and a serious skull injury. These most likely came from an impact against the plane's cockpit.
This hypothesis is confirmed by Major Ludwik Lubienski, a Polish officer in Gibraltar in 1943 and the general's aide-de-camp, who witnessed the disaster: "The General had injuries on the right part of the forehead and on the skull," he said giving evidence at the time, adding two weeks later that Sikorski had an injury on his right temple, eye and nose."
Experts examining the remains were not able to tell whether any internal parts of the body were damaged. No traces of gunshot wounds were found neither on the skull, nor on other parts of the body. Strangling has also been ruled out, as there was no injury of the hyoid bone. Toxicological and histopathological examination results, which could prove that the general was poisoned, are still to come.
Will the mystery live on?
The Institute of National Remembrance in Katowice, southern Poland, responsible for the exhumation, is reluctant to confirm the findings: "If we have waited for 65 years, we can wait two months more, as there is no point in publishing incomplete information," the institute said in a statement.
According to the Institute of National Remembrance, the findings will not allow us to dispel all doubts concerning generals death. Even if the examination indicates death from a plane crash, it will not explain why the plane crashed in the first place.
Historian and journalist Dariusz Baliszewski, who has studied with mystery of Sikorski's death for almost 20 years, remains sceptical about the preliminary results. He claims that the general was not on board the plane during the crash, but was strangled earlier. But he will he be satisfied when all the results come through in January that he was wrong?
“I will not withdraw anything until the experts tell me what the cause of the death was," said Baliszewski, underlining that he still has no doubt that the general died before the crash.
General Sikorski died 4 July, 1943 in a plane crash in Gibraltar. Despite earlier lack of consent of the Institute of National Remembrance in Szczecin, north - western Poland, who claimed that the late Polish prime minister died as a result of a plane crash, the Institute of National Remembrance in Katowice launched an inquiry 3 September. Sikorski's body was exhumed 25 November. (is/pg)