The Gen

[Moggy]

Fury as Russia presents 'evidence' Poland sided with Nazis before war

Russia today released secret documents from the archives of its foreign intelligence service that it said showed how Poland sided with the Nazis before the second world war and tried to destroy the Soviet Union.

Russia published 400 pages of documents gathered by undercover Soviet agents between 1935 and 1945, including telegrams, letters and reports intercepted from Polish missions abroad. Their release coincided with the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of war.

The declassified files from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service allegedly show that Poland was plotting against the Soviet Union in the years preceding the war, which began when Hitler invaded western Poland on 1 September 1939.

Seventeen days later, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland. But according to the SVR, Poland was not simply a victim of Soviet aggression, but had been actively pursuing an anti-Soviet foreign policy from the mid-1930s. This included supporting anti-Soviet national groups in Ukraine, the Caucasus and central Asia.

Lev Sotskov, a retired KGB major general who compiled the documents, said there was evidence Poland signed a secret protocol with Germany in 1934. Citing a report written by an unidentified Soviet agent, he said Poland had agreed to remain neutral if Germany attacked the Soviet Union.

His claims provoked uproar at a press conference in Moscow, with Polish journalists jumping to their feet and denouncing the document as a fake. There were also heated exchanges over the role played by Jozef Beck, Poland's foreign minister in 1939, amid unsubstantiated claims he was a German agent.

The "protocol" goes much further than the 1934 non-aggression pact between Poland and Nazi Germany, under which both sides agreed not to attack each other. Sotskov denied that the release of the protocol was a provocative gesture. "We should be glad these things are coming into the open," he said >>>>

Guardian
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Moggy
www.mogggy.org

[Moggy]

The current Russian Government must feel really guilty about the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact, the invasion of Poland in September, and the Katyn massacre to come up with this tosh.

This is a struggle for the support of the ignorant. No academic historical process is going on here. This is the Erich Von Daniken school of history.

The fact that is no evidence to support the existence of the alleged protocol doesn't mean of course that Poland wasn't working against the interests of the USSR. Only a few years before Poland had fought the Red Army for its independence and won, and neither thought that was finished business.

Of course no nation in Europe liked the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was actively working for the overthrow of all non-communist governments via the "Communist International" and its control and funding (as we now know) of all supposedly independent communist parties in all those other countries. What did the Soviet Government expect, that it would be loved? There were many who hoped Germany would take on the USSR and overthrow the Communists in their heartland.

But still the mystery. Why does the current Russian Government feel the need to defend Stalin? It is as if Chancellor Merkel felt the need to defend the Anschluss or the annexation of Czechoslovakia.
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Moggy
www.mogggy.org

[Moggy]

Struggle for the historic truth about September 1939
Friday, 25 September 2009

Poland vs. Germany and the Soviet Union

The Obama administration announced changes to the Missile Defense Shield program in Poland and the Czech Republic on September 17, 2009 -, the day marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, a date more traumatic for the Polish people than 9/11 for the Americans.

Although modifications to the American defense strategy were widely expected, the announcement was carried out in a very unfortunate manner that underscores the lack of understanding among American elites of the historical developments surrounding the outbreak of World War II, in particular the lack of knowledge about the role of the Soviet Union in destroying Poland and persecuting ethnic Poles.

The Invasion of Poland, September 1939

The complicated events leading up to the outbreak of World War II that most often are presented either from the German or the Soviet point of view are widely misinterpreted because they rarely consider the Polish point of view. However, to be accurate they must be viewed in the context of historical relations between Poland, Russia and Germany. 18th century partitions of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria brought about territorial expansions of autocratic empires at the expense of democratic Poland. For over a century the Polish people suffered the loss of their statehood, assault on their culture, language and national identity, as well as educational, professional and financial inequalities.

When Poland was finally reborn after WWI as a result of the relentless struggle of the Polish people, the defeated powers of Germany and Soviet Russia saw Poland as a bastard of the Versailles Treaty formed at the expense of their empires. There was no understanding or recognition of the harm done to the Polish people through violent partitions and decades of oppression but instead prevalent resentment for the lost territory.

In August of 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were able to overcome their fundamental differences because they found one overriding, uniting common ground – the destruction of Poland. In the infamous Ribbentrop Molotov Non-Aggression Pact from August 23, 1939, Stalin and Hitler agreed to cooperate and help each other in partitioning Poland and destroying the Polish nation. Once Poland fell as a result of the coordinated Nazi-Soviet attack on September 1 and September 17, respectively, the rest of Eastern and Central European fell as well.

Expansionistic and imperialistic motives of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were clearly on display in the official pronouncements of both countries. Germany’s doctrine of obtaining living space in the East was publicly formulated long before the invasion of Poland. The Soviet antagonistic attitude towards Poland was demonstrated in the protocols leading up to the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and in subsequent pronouncements fundamentally hostile towards Poland. Yet, today there are many strong pro-German and pro-Russian voices arguing that both Germany and the Soviet Union were forced to attack Poland as a result of Poland’s foreign policy. Let us then examine those voices vis-à-vis the Polish point of view.

German point of view

Most pro-German historians argue that Germany was treated too harshly by the Versailles Treaty. That anger over the war losses combined with the economic depression of 1933 brought about the fascist movement that led to war. Following this logical path, some pro-German historians and influential politicians like Pat Buchanan argue that German demands towards Poland were reasonable. These demands were twofold: a) territorial demands for the return of Danzig and Corridor, and b) political demands for alliance with Germany against the Soviet Union. They point to good Polish-German relations before the war and argue that these good relations were destroyed by Poland’s rejection of Hitler’s reasonable demands. In reality they argue for more appeasement towards Hitler at Poland’s expense.

Polish response

First, German territorial demands towards Poland may sound reasonable only to those who do not understand Polish-German relations over the centuries. From the time Poland was baptized in 966, her western neighbors attempted to block Poland’s access to the Baltic Sea in order to control the agricultural trade via Vistula River from Krakow and Warsaw. Throughout history, any time Poland would lose access to the sea, it would subsequently lose its economic strength, leading to the loss of independence. For Poland to give up the rights to Danzig was an equivalent to the loss of her independence.

Hitler not only was aware of it but he openly demanded Poland’s subordination. In demanding Danzig, he was very clear that he wanted to subordinate Poland like he did his other neighbors. From October 1939 to January 1939 German demands on Poland to settle the question of the “corridor” and Danzig began to take a more stringent form. Accompanied by renewed proposals that Warsaw join the Third Reich against the Soviet Union they aimed at subordination of Poland to Germany. So, for Poland to accept Hitler’s ultimatum meant to give up willingly just recently regained independence.

We shall keep in mind that already before the war the Nazis proclaimed themselves as the master race and declared Polish people as sub-humans. Hans Frank on the occasion of his appointment as Governor of the conquered Polish lands declared that “the Poles shall become the slaves of the German Reich.” Soon thereafter Himmler proclaimed that “all Poles will disappear from this earth. It is imperative that the great German nation considers the elimination of all Polish people as its chief task.” So anybody who argues that Poland should have surrendered without a fight has no understanding of the political climate at that time.

Also, it is dishonest to argue today that Hitler merely wanted Danzig and the Corridor, and therefore his demands were reasonable. There are official German documents from that era that clearly spell out the policy of world domination through territorial expansion. Also, lyrics of a popular German song from that time reflect the mood of the masses: “Today Germany belongs to us; tomorrow the world.” The subsequent events clearly prove these intentions. And yet, there are many who argue that Poland should have appeased Hitler. Leading among them is an influential pro-German American politician Patrick Buchanan.

Russian point of view

Russia was forced into signing the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact as a result of a lack of cooperation from Great Britain, France and Poland. Recently the Russian Federation advanced this argument further accusing Poland of conducing secret talks with Hitler against the Soviet Union. Russia also argues that a decision to join Hitler in partitioning Poland and Eastern Europe was vital to the security of the Soviet Union since it limited a growing German threat and built a buffer zone against Germany. An official argument for the invasion of Poland that was given to the Russian people and to the international community at the time of invasion stated that in view of the collapse of the Polish State, the Soviet Union had to intervene in order to protect Ukrainian and Belorussian minorities in Poland.

Polish response

Contrary to Russian assertions that Poland conducted secret talks with Hitler it was the Soviet Union that conducted secrets talks with Germans thorough their charge d’affair in Berlin Georgii Astahkov since 1934. The replacement of Foreign Affairs Minister Maxim Litvinov with Vyacheslav Molotov in May of 1939 indicated a final shift in the Soviet policy towards Germany. By the time the Franco-British delegation arrived in Moscow on August 12, 1939, Stalin already knew that Hitler was willing to give him everything he wanted. At that moment Hitler offered to conclude an agreement with Moscow which recognized Soviet sphere of influence in East and Central Europe, and in Poland in particular. So, the Soviet Russia simply chose a better deal that offered her significant territorial gains at the expense of Poland and other Eastern European countries >>>>

Polish News
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Moggy
www.mogggy.org

[Wudpecker]

An enlightening set of posts on Polish history and background.
I have commented on its value elsewhere in the "Intelligence" thread.