Russia invades Poland! 70 years ago today, September 17 1939

[dobrepiwo]

Russia became a de facto Axis power when it attacked Poland 70 years ago today while Poland was fighting in the West against Germany. The two largest armies in Europe, with a land mass and population many times the size of the USA, attacked a country the size of Missouri simultaneously. In this two front war, Poland lasted only 11 more days...  The Russian attack is most remembered for the Katyn Massacre, were some 22,000 Poles were executed in the forest and dumped in mass graves: some 8,000 officers of the Polish army and the balance soldiers and civilians. This in addition to the thousands sent to gulags from the eastern portions of Poland. The church in my cousins village has a memorial to the thousands in that small area alone that were taken by Stalin and never seen again.



Of course, Comrad Putin says this never happened, and that Poland actually started WW ll.    yeah, gotcha!

[jumperwire]

Very interesting.    I am sure we can trust a former KGB op

[mosinnagantm9130]

The soviets postwar tried to blame the massacre on the germans. Shifting the blame, or denying the existence of the Katyn massacre seems to be a common strategy in Russia.

[Junk Yard Dog]

The Germans, and the Soviets have been playing the blame game since the war.  When the Germans overran the Katyn area after 1941 they made a big production of digging up the bodies, and doing an "investigation" for propaganda purposes, all the while killing millions in their own death camps.  There is no question that the Soviets murdered countless millions of people, the Katyn killings were a part of all that.  Here in the US we take responsibility for the actions of our ancestors in the massacers of the American Indians during the various Indian wars, but the Soviets seem unable to face up to what they are responsible for.  Maybe if our death toll was in the tens of millions we would feel the same way, nobody wants to think of their Grandfather, or father as being a mass murderer, but if you are Russian, and Granddaddy worked for the NKVD then chances are he was.  The 20th century was a time of mass death unprecedented in history for the sheer numbers involved.  Tens of millions in Russia, tens of millions more in China, uncounted millions more in southeast Asia, and the millions in Europe, Turkish Armenia, Africa, and South America.  Total losses due to politically, or religiously motivated murder during the 20th century most certainly tops 100 million people and that does not include the millions more killed as a result of war.  The sheer numbers are staggering, and spend enough time studying the subject and you will lose your faith in humanity.

[dobrepiwo]

Total losses due to politically, or religiously motivated murder during the 20th century most certainly tops 100 million people and that does not include the millions more killed as a result of war.  The sheer numbers are staggering, and spend enough time studying the subject and you will lose your faith in humanity.

The numbers are staggering, and they continue in huge numbers, unabated in parts of the world. OK, you've convinced me: people really are no damn good ...
 

The saying goes that children are the future, but in a world of increasingly disfunctional families and lifestyles, I can't see any tangible fixes in the near future. Raise them best you can and hope for the best.........

[smacneighill]

I believe this will be a sensitive issue amongst my family for many, many years. My Maternal family is from Poland. Some of the family were executed (for lack of a better term), by the Nazi's. I don't think any of them face the brutality of the Russians??

[dobrepiwo]

I believe this will be a sensitive issue amongst my family for many, many years. My Maternal family is from Poland. Some of the family were executed (for lack of a better term), by the Nazi's. I don't think any of them face the brutality of the Russians??

Just depends on what portion of the country you were from for a big part. My family is in the Northeast corner, and people there suffered equally at the hands of both. I asked my cousin's mom, (she has the same first name, and exactly the same age as my mother) was an 11 year old girl when the war started. The Russian's invaded their villages first and the only difference was the caliber of the rifle they carried: their conduct was the same. She said there was no difference: families executed, rapes murders... They hid in corn fields and in underground shelters when they could..  Not all in the family survived, and then the whole thing started over when Germany turned on Russia.

The so called nonaggression pact between Germany and Russia (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) was passed off as such for years. It also had an appendix for the annexation and division of Poland between Germany and Russia. Many historians believe it was the reason Poland was chosen as the launching point of military operations: the plans to divide Poland had already been agreed to by the "non aggression participants", and it would be easy pickings. In relative terms I guess it was, but it still took 28 days, so nothing for either army to crow about.

How Ironinc the st ragetic missile defense initiative in Poland was announced that it would be scrapped on the very anniversary of Russian's attack on Poland 70 years to the date. I'm sure it was just a coincidence. The Russians and Iranians were sure happy about it! 

[smacneighill]

Just depends on what portion of the country you were from for a big part.

Warsaw

Honestly, its a part of my family history that I've never looked into. I know that, when I was young, I remember my Grandparents talk about it but, I do not remember any details of their discussion. I've been so caught up with tracing my Paternal line that, I have yet to begin with my Maternal side.