You may wonder how the recent Polish plane crash in Russia is relevant to our lives in Western New York.

After all, the plane was on its way to the site of a massacre that took place 70 years ago and some 4,500 miles away from Buffalo.

That tragic event, a WWII-era massacre, was part of the Soviet invasion of Poland which included the forced deportation into labor camps of over 1 million Polish citizens, who then became displaced persons, wandering throughout the world looking for a new home.

Many of them finally found a home in places like Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, or New York, changing the face of our communities here and becoming productive citizens in their new homelands. That’s why there is a beautifully sculpted Katyn Memorial plaque in, of all places, Buffalo City Hall.

To learn more about the Katyn massacres and their impact on WNY, please join us in City Hall on Sunday, April 25 at 2 p.m. in front of the plaque. There you will meet descendants of the massacre victims as well as people who were deported to Soviet labor camps. The Oscar-nominated film Katyn will be shown at 4 p.m. in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre at 639 Main St.

Click for more information about Sunday’s event, including ticket ability and to RSVP.

Sunday will also be the last opportunity to sign the Book of Condolences that will be sent to the residents of Buffalo’s Sister Polish City Rzeszów on the occasion of the loss of life in the recentl plane crash.