Russia and Poland: The Skeletons of the Past
By: Oleg Savkin
Tags: Revolution, Russia, History, War, Poland

At the Nurenberg Trials, the German generals confirmed that towards the end of the campaign in Poland, Germany had been running low on fuel and ammunition supplies, and the military defeat of Germany would have been inevitable had French and British divisions attacked Germany on the western front where the Germans had no troops deployed to offer substantial resistance.

Why did France and Britain betray Poland and why did they fail to fulfill their treaty commitments? Had they done so, say, by September 10th, 1939, the Soviet Union would not have dared to interfere in the process. The Red Army crossed Polan’s borders on 17 September 1939, after the Government of Poland and the Commanders of the Polish Army had fled and deserted their country and their heroic soldiers; in other words, the politicians and generals betrayed their nation in order to save themselves.

Had France and Britain delivered on their promises to defend and protect Poland in accordance with their agreements to that effect, Germany would have been inevitably defeated on the battlefield in September 1939.

Subsequently, the Soviet Union reclaimed the territories lost to Poland during the Polish-Soviet war, 1919–1921.

In Russia, the Katyn massacre is still debated as to who had actually the crime committed. The Germans raised the Katyn massacre issue after two years of occupation during the war when they had already brought into operation their genocide and extermination machinery; hence are the doubts. Nevertheless, the killing fields are to be found across the entire country whereas ordinary people found themselves caught between hammer and anvil over the period lasting 20–30 years. Presuming, Joseph Stalin may have given an order to do so, Why? One may call him anything except for one thing, he was not stupid and every measure or action must have been calculated.

Polish-Soviet war erupted in 1919; the Battle of Warsaw also known as the Miracle on the Vistula is still celebrated in Poland. Tens of thousands of the Red Army soldiers were captured as POWs and many died in captivity as a result of maltreatment. There is a Katyn Monument in Russia; there is no monument to the Red Army soldiers who died in POW camps in Poland, and where the authorities are refusing to discuss the issue even today, one hundred years after.

Today, due to the lack of sufficient information, it is difficult to prove whether those deaths were caused by negligence on the part of the administration of the POW camps in Poland, or whether it was intentional: the desire to destroy Red Army soldiers who were captured in Poland as a result of the hostilities. During the period from January 28, 1919, to March 18, 1921, in the Soviet-Polish war, at least 207, 000 Red Army soldiers were captured as POWs. Most of them (from 130,000 to 157,000 people) were kept in POW camps. Red Army POWs were kept in the following camps: Stszałkowo, Dąbe, Pikulica, Tuchola, Dęblin, Brest-Litowsk, and Wadowice, which were created under order №17000/IV issued by the Supreme Command of the Polish Army.

During that period from 28,000 to 80,000 Red Army’s soldiers died in POW camps in Poland due to starvation, torture, and unbearable conditions. As to Stalin, he was also involved in that war; therefore, he had first-hand knowledge of what was happening there. I can only guess that he may have taken a decision to pay back in kind. Though, I would not buy such a story. It is HIGHLY LIKELY, that those Polish officers were victims of German Blitzkrieg and the then-current political agenda. I do not believe Dr. Goebels and I would not take for granted anything coming from or straight through Gorby’s mouth.