In the ceremony, which was to start tomorrow, the names of around 14 thousand of the officers were to be read out, and the murdered soldiers posthumously promoted. The initiative to hold the ceremony before the October 21st general elections met with accusations that the event had become politicised. Some of the family members of the massacred officers refused to participate. Criticism also came from Oscar-winning film director Andrzej Wajda, whose father was one of the victims of the massacre, and whose film "Katyń" recently premiered.

The ceremony will now be held on Independence Day on November 11th.