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In order to better understand the events related to the Soviet aggression against Poland on September 17, 1939 and their aftermath, it’s worth recalling what the Polish-Soviet borderland – “the border of civilization” – looked like in the interwar period. Strictly guarded on both sides, it was also the site of enormous traffic of goods and people.
Polish soldiers caught the smuggler…
Continue reading “Smugglers on the “frontier of civilization””
In the deliberations of Polish historians and journalists, the topic of Grodno in September 1939 and the lonely struggle of its inhabitants against the Soviet invasion returns every year. This is because it was the longest defensive fight during the aggression of the Red Army against Poland.
Parade of the 81st Regiment of King Stefan Batory’s Grodno Riflemen
We hear: on September 1, 1939, Poland was invaded by the Germans, and on September 17, the Soviets “entered” eastern Poland. Meanwhile, this “encroachment” was also an act of aggression, with battles and crimes committed by this aggressor, which ended with the annexation of this part of the territory of the Republic of Poland. We are irritated when stories appear rom the German side that the aggressors were some nationally undefined “Nazis”. it is taken as obvious the that in the case of the second aggressor we were dealing only with some “Soviets”. We have also come across the opinion that the Soviets were a conglomerate of various ethnicities in which the Russians did not in fact play the main role. It is overlooked that these “other ethnicities” were indeed Russified people, and therefore Russians; Stalin – himself a “Georgian” – was a Russian imperialist, the “Pole” Dzerzhinsky (Dzierżyński in Polish) is still a model for the Russian, and not Polish, secret services. The orders launched on September 17 for the “Soviet” troops, issued by Stalin (who is still revered by the Russians) were in Russian, and that language was used by the aggressor from the east.
On September 1, 1939, “brown” Germany invaded Poland, and on September 17, “red” Russia invaded Poland.
Soviet-German parade in Brześć nad Bugiem (Brest)
After September 17, 1939, the USSR took over the areas inhabited by Belarusians and Ukrainians, who, according to Soviet declarations, were oppressed by Poland. Meanwhile, in Bialystok Voivodeship (province), which was almost fully incorporated into the Soviet Union (Suwałki was taken by Germany), as much as 72% of the population were Poles, 12.5% Belarusians, and 12% Jews. That is perhaps why Białystok was intended to be the capital of the new Polish Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) – eventually, however, it became the seat of government of the so-called West Belarus.
Soviet Army entering Białystok. Photo – public domain
The Soviet occupation of Bialystok began on September 22. The NKVD installed itself in the Voivodeship Office building at Mickiewicza Street and began to spread terror without delay. Arrests and repressions targeted state officials, policemen, foresters, veterans of the Polish–Soviet War of 1920, people known for their patriotic activities, entrepreneurs and owners of factories and land estates.
Michael Jabara Carley, professor of history at the Université de Montréal, has written about Poland’s guilt in unleashing World War II. Only, he “forgot” some facts and simply distorted others. Here are excerpts from his article “What Poland Has to Hide About the Origins of World War II”, with comments from “Kresy 1939”.
Soviet poster
After Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said that it was Poland that contributed to the outbreak of World War II, new accusations appeared from Russia. The Russian ambassador in Bern, Sergei Garmonin, blamed Poland for concluding a secret protocol with Germany in the German–Polish Non-aggression Pact of 1934. According to the protocol Poland was obliged to support Nazism. In turn, Moscow revealed documents alleging that during the 1944 uprising Warsaw insurgents murdered Jews and Ukrainians.
Garmonin’s letter was in response to an article in the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger about the Polish–Russian dispute caused by the speeches of Vladimir Putin. The Russian diplomat protested against the condemnation of the Molotov–Ribbentropp Pact, which in his opinion was a necessity.
Ambassador Sergei Garmonin
