'I saw Polish war heroes hanged by Russians'

[emad]

May 03, 2005

'I saw Polish war heroes hanged by Russians'
Times


“IT MAKES me angry — the memory loss sweeping across Europe,” Maciej Tuszkiewicz, 86, a veteran of the partisan Polish Home Army, said. “For Poland, it was not victory. The Nazis occupied Poland for five years, the Soviets occupied Poland for forty-five years.”
She added: “Germany invaded western Poland in 1939. The USSR invaded eastern Poland in 1939. Why did Britain forget that?

“When the Russians came to Poland towards the end of the war, they were telling us that they were liberators. But you know what they did? They hunted down Polish partisan leaders and put a bullet in the back of their heads. I saw my comrades hanging from trees. These were Polish war heroes who fought against Hitler in alliance with Britain . . . my comrades were hanged by Russian liberators, Russian killers, who planned to control Poland after the war.

Now is the time for a Russian apology, not a Russian victory parade. Putin should not be going back to the days of Stalin. He should say sorry and look forward, like the Germans do.

“In May 1945 there was cheering in the streets of London. In Poland, there were tears. We finally had our victory in 1989 when we kicked the Russians out.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-1595464,00.html

[PurityOfEssence]

1. Poland was torn apart like no other country in Europe

Barely surviving the 1922 Soviet attacks, they built themselves into a viable country, but lurking beneath the surface was much ethnic strife. Those of German affiliation chafed at the separation of East Prussia, and always bubbling beneath the nationalistic fervor was hatred of the Jews.

The Russians hacked off the Eastern half of Poland, and killed many officers and men at the Katyn forest as they took advantage of their pact with Hitler to carve up Moldavia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and try to take Finland. The occupation of Poland was brutal and ugly, but far too many Poles need to take responsibility for actively helping exterminate the Jews. Once again, religious hatred was easily channeled through society for the purposes of domination.

Hounded, beleaguered and subjugated, the Poles who managed to escape fought admirably for the Allies, but in the same breath, the national collusion with the Nazis in exterminating the Jews cannot be dismissed. It was truly a evisceration of a people, and the national consciousness still hasn't recovered.