At a press conference on 25 January 2021, the Speaker of the Seym, Elżbieta Witek, the initiator of the competition, announced the details of the event.

The press conference, which took place in the Seym, was also attended by: the Minister of Internal Affairs Mariusz Kamiński, Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, Minister of Education and Science Przemysław Czarnek and President of the Institute of National Remembrance Jarosław Szarek, Ph.D.

In his speech, Jarosław Szarek stressed that: "Katyn is not only a broken Polish heart, but also a blow to the Polish soul, to the Polish brain. That was the intention of the perpetrators: to liquidate the elite of the independent Polish state".

The President of the Institute of National Remembrance also referred to figures of Katyń victims unknown to a wider audience: a 16-year-old scout Stanisław Ozimek, who was murdered with his father,  or 30-year-old Józef Marcinkiewicz, an outstanding mathematician. He emphasized that the knowledge of Katyń survived thanks to passing on the memory of this terrible crime from generation to generation. It is our commitment to convey this message further.

"The next generation of young Poles wants to know Polish history," said the President of the IPN. “Katyń is a story about understanding the 20th century history. These people will one day become the elite of the independent Republic of Poland – I am very happy that they are so eager to learn about the history of Poland ”.

At the end of his speech, Jarosław Szarek emphasized that the Institute of National Remembrance, as during last year's edition, would provide support in the form of educational materials devoted to the Katyń massacre.

Read more about the Katyń Massacre