A few weeks ago Poland made an official demand of Germany for the reparations for damages incurred during WWII. That, despite the fact that all reparations had already been settled after the War.
At the same time Poland had the audaciousness to say that they are considering a similar claim for reparations from Russia. That, despite Poland being one of the main benefactors from the USSR in the Soviet block.
In her highly-current report URGENT INTEL & SHOCKING RUMORS! Something Major is About to Change in Russia & Ukraine!! (BIG REPORT 6) Lada Ray wrote something that I thought resonated with this topic:
So I do hope Russians won’t try to whitewash the truth, when and if it comes out! Russians in the past whitewashed the crimes of others to keep peace in the family, so to speak, including the Poles, as well as Latvian, Finnish and German Nazis, and Bandera ukro-nazis after WWII. This led to the current situation! Better painful truth right away than a major problem years from now.
And indeed, Poland enjoyed Russian leniency and whitewashing of the “brotherly nation” after the war to a great extent. Just how great, and who should pay reparations to whom is explored in the article that I want to translate today. It was published on the 29th of September in “Argumenty i Fakty”:
The Hamburg Bill for Pan Duda. How much does Poland owe Russia?
The word “reparations” in Poland is gradually acquiring the character of a national sacrament. This time, President Andrzej Duda decided to talk about the reparations from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly. The object of the claim this time was Russia.
You’ll have to pay
“Russia owes Ukraine war reparations, which it will have to pay. There is no justice without compensation,” Duda said.
There are, of course, several strange nuances here, all at once. The first is that before claiming reparations, you need at least to win a military victory over the one from whom you demand them. Mr. Duda could defeat Russia only in his night dreams. By the way, in this regard, the Poles’ demands to Russia following the results of the Second World War are also ridiculous. But more on that below.
Second, why on earth is Poland starting a conversation on behalf of Ukraine? Perhaps we missed something, and another union took place, within the framework of which Zelensky was moved from the status of a president to the position of a Polish governor in the Ukrainian lands?
But let’s return exclusively to the Soviet-Polish relations. Wouldn’t Warsaw first want to pay the bills that it had accumulated in front of our country?
For 20 years of occupation and extermination of prisoners of war of the Red Army
As part of the Soviet-Polish War of 1919-1921, Poland illegally seized the territories of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, which were located behind the “Curzon Line” recognized by the Entente. For twenty years, the Polish authorities have pursued a discriminatory policy aimed at forcibly assimilating the local population. Relatives of survivors of these criminal practices have every right to file a class action against Warsaw — especially since the ideologists of such a policy, led by Jozef Pilsudski, are now elevated to the rank of national heroes of Poland.
As a result of that war, up to 80,000 Red Army soldiers died from disease, hunger, and bullying in Polish captivity. Undoubtedly, the Polish Government should pay financial compensation to the descendants of the victims of this monstrous crime.
For money spent on Anders’ deserters
Let’s move on to the events of the Second World War. In 1941-1942, the Polish army of General Anders was created, trained, and armed on the territory of the USSR. By January 1942 alone, the Soviet Union had spent 69 million roubles on Anders’ army, transferring thousands of weapons and tens of thousands of sets of uniforms. (Translator note: I had a separate article touching upon this: Polish People’s Republic… Or Not? A Historical Review)
However, this army retreated to the Middle East at the height of the war, avoiding participation in decisive battles with fascism. It seems that the current Polish authorities should pay all the costs incurred by the USSR in connection with the “Anders’ army” in terms of the current exchange rate.
For the sacrifices during the liberation
Operations to liberate Poland were carried out by units of the Red Army and the Polish Army formed on the territory of the USSR after the desertion of Anders’ army. About 600,000 Soviet servicemen died in the battles for the liberation of Poland. Taking into account the fact that Warsaw is now massively demolishing monuments to them, and also in view of Poland’s desire to transfer everything to the monetary plane, President Duda needs to start paying compensation to relatives of fallen Soviet soldiers.
For the “Returned lands”
According to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference, followed by the Soviet-Polish Treaty of 1945, the eastern regions of Germany located east of the Oder/Neisse line were annexed to independent Poland: part of West Prussia, part of Silesia, Eastern Pomerania and Eastern Brandenburg, the former Free City of Danzig, as well as the Szczecin district west of the river.
According to the results of the Second World War, approximately 25 percent of the territory of Germany within the borders of 1937 joined Poland.
If we started talking about the Hamburg bill, then you can deduct from the approximate estimate of the value of these industrially developed lands in dollar terms the value of the agricultural areas lost by Poland in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus — let Warsaw deign to transfer the difference to the accounts of the Central Bank of Russia.
For post-war reconstruction
In 1944-1946 alone, the gratuitous assistance provided to Poland amounted to about 250 million roubles at the internal prices of the Soviet Union. In 1947, when the USSR itself was experiencing hunger, it supplied Poland with hundreds of thousands of tons of grain, tearing it away from own citizens.
The USSR’s gratuitous aid alone for the restoration of Poland destroyed by the war amounted to the equivalent of 500 tons of gold.
The unparalleled restoration of the historical centre of Warsaw, destroyed by the Nazis by 85 percent, was half paid for with the money of the Soviet Union. In addition, specialists from the Soviet Union participated in these works.
For capital investments and hundreds of enterprises built
The history of the Polish People’s Republic is the history of endless loans that Warsaw took from the Soviet Union. In 1956, Moscow recorded that “Poland is represented by almost as many loans as all other countries of people’s democracy combined.” At the same time, Warsaw has overdue the return of 2.3 billion roubles. This debt was written off to the Poles and new loans were given.
The Soviet Union built about 800 industrial, energy, transport, and shipbuilding facilities on the territory of Poland. By the way, the defence industry enterprises built with the help of the USSR are now being used by Warsaw to supply equipment to the Ukrainian Nazis.
For decades, Poland, as a member of the socialist bloc, received gas, oil, and electricity for pennies. The USSR’s capital investments in Poland at current prices are measured in hundreds of billions of dollars.
“You need to get a kick in the butt with knee, oh, it’s so needed!”
As Professor Preobrazhensky used to say to Polygraph Polygraphych Sharikov, take the trouble cough up.
That’s just where something else from the Soviet film classics comes in: “You are totally living in this world by proxy. The car in my wife’s name, the cottage is in my name… You have nothing! You’re a starving bastard!… Still, you need to get a kick in the butt with the knee, oh, it’s so needed!”.
Translator note: The final quote is from the film “Beware of the car!”:
It’s amazing to me how many contemporary (and historical) Western villains exhibit such
an astounding attitude of entitlement. As the article aptly points out, Russia owes
nothing to Poland by way of “reparations”. Yet Duda apparently expects them, based
solely on Polish chutzpah!
My own rogue state — the US — of course tops the list for sheer arrogance by insisting it
should “own” the entire planet. Sickening!
Thanks very much for this excellent translation, Stanislav.
Stanislav: I’ve been meaning to send you this link every since my query about the German-American Bund, which you covered previously. It’s quite a remarkable story, where it’s difficult to sympathise with either faction involved. Nevertheless, it appears that at least a semblance of justice was achieved. And the Bund certainly deserved some form of retribution for its own history of thuggery. Good photos, too. Enjoy:
“Jewish gangsters once took on Nazis in the streets of NYC”
https://nypost.com/2022/05/07/jewish-gangsters-once-took-on-nazis-in-the-streets-of-nyc/