Katyn, where the Polish officers alighted and were then transported 
      in a prisoners motor van to Katyn Wood and were not seen again; 
      the commission further took cognisance of the discoveries and 
      facts thus far established and inspected objects of circumstantial 
      evidence. Accordingly, up to the 30th April, 1943, 982 bodies 
      were exhumed, of which approximately 70 per cent have been identified, 
      while papers found on others must first be subjected to careful 
      preliminary treatment before they can be used for identification. 
      Bodies exhumed prior to the commission's arrival were all inspected, 
      and a considerable number of bodies were dissected by Professor 
      Buhty and his assistants. Up to to-day seven mass graves have 
      been opened, the biggest of which is estimated to contain the 
      bodies of 2,000 Polish officers. Members of the commission personally 
      dissected nine corpses and submitted numerous specially selected 
      cases to post-mortem. It was confirmed that all those so far 
      exhumed died from bullets in their heads. In all cases, bullets 
      entered the nape. In the majority of' cases only one bullet was 
      fired. Two bullets were fired only rarely and only one case was 
      found where three bullets had been fired into the nape. All the 
      bullets were fired from pistols of less than eight mm. calibre. 
      The spot where the bullets penetrated leads to the assumption 
      that the shot was fired with the muzzle pressed against the nape 
      or from the closest range.
 
      
 
 
The surprising regularity of the wounds… permits the 
      assumption that the shots were fired by experienced hands. Numerous 
      bodies revealed a similar method of tying the hands, and in some 
      cases stabs from four-edged bayonets were found on bodies and 
      clothes. The method of tying is similar to that found on the 
      bodies of Russian civilians that were earlier exhumed in Katyn 
      Forest. The assumption is justified that a ricochetted bullet 
      first killed one officer, then went into the body of one already 
      dead in the pit-- the shootings apparently being made in ditches 
      to  %avoid having the bodies transported to graves. The mass graves 
      are situated in clearings in the forest, the ground being completely 
      levelled off and planted with young pines. The mass graves were 
      dug in undulating terrain which consists of pure sand in terraces, 
      the lowest going down as far as the ground water. Bodies lay, 
      practically without exception, face down, closely side by side 
      and in layers one above the other, clearly ledged methodically 
      at the sides of pits and more irregularly in the centre. The 
      uniforms of the exhumed bodies, according to the unanimous opinion 
      of the commission, were, especially with regard to buttons, rank 
      insignia, decorations, form of boots, etc. undoubtedly Polish. 
      They had winter wear. Frequently furs, leather coats, knitted 
      vests and typical Polish officers' caps have been found. Only 
      a few bodies were those of other ranks. One body was that of 
      a priest. The measurements of the clothes correspond with the 
      measurements of the wearer. No watches or rings were found on 
      the bodies, although from the exact date and time found in entries 
      in several diaries, the owners must have had these objects up 
      to their last days, even hours.
 
      
 
 
Comments found on bodies--diaries, correspondence, newspapers--are 
      from the period of the autumn of 1939 to March and April 1940. 
      The latest hitherto established date is that of a Russian newspaper 
      of the 22nd April, 1940. There were varying degrees of decomposition 
      of the bodies, differing according to the position of the bodies 
      within the grave and their juxtaposition to each other. A large 
      number of skulls were examined for changes which, according to 
      the experiences of Professor Orsoa, are of great importance for 
      the determination of the time of death. These changes consist 
      of various layers of calcareous tuft-like incrustation on the 
      surface of the already loamy brain matter. Such changes are not 
      to be observed on bodies that have been interred for less than 
      three years. But this change was observed to a marked degree 
      on the skull of the body No. 526, which was found with a surface 
      layer in one big mass grave.