Forensic medical examination of the corpse of General Władysław Sikorski, a putative victim of assassination in 1943

Abstract The Krakow Department of Forensic Medicine was granted a unique opportunity to examine the body of a historical figure, i.e. General Wladyslaw Sikorski, the Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, deceased in 1943. General Sikorski died in the crash of a Liberator aircraft at Gibraltar, and the British commission investigating the crash decided it had been an accident. In the past several decades, doubts have been repeatedly expressed as to the circumstances of the General's death and the theory of assassination has become very popular. On November 25, 2008, the General's corpse buried in the cathedral of the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill in Krakow was exhumed and the body was thoroughly examined. The examinations demonstrated numerous fractures of the cranium, spine and extremities, the character of which corresponded to effects of an air crash. Based on corpse examination alone it was impossible to establish whether the air crash had been an effect of sabotage or an ill-fated accident. Although no typical evidence of intravitality was found, such as bruises or fat embolisms, yet the character of some fractures suggested that they had been incurred intravitally. These were represented by a spiral fracture of the femoral bone shaft, a fracture of the sustentaculum tali of the calcaneal bone and fractures of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae.