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Ever since 1943, when the Berlin radio charged that the Russians had murdered thousands of Polish officers in the Katyn (rhymes with sateen) Forest near Smolensk, all Communists and many non-Communists have dismissed the accusation as Nazi propaganda. Nine months ago, however, a special committee of the House of Representatives headed by Indiana's Democratic Ray Madden launched its own investigation of the Katyn massacres (TIME, Nov. 26). Last week, after questioning witnesses in the U.S., Britain, Germany and Italy, Madden's group announced its verdict: "This committee unanimously agrees . . . that the Soviet NKVD committed the massacre of Polish army officers in the Katyn Forest. . . not later than the spring of 1940." Total number of Polish officers, intellectuals and clergymen believed to have been slaughtered by the Russians at Katyn and similar mass executions: 15,000.