DISINFO: Life in Stalinist Poland was fine – no one persecuted anyone
SUMMARY
Before 1948, things [in Poland] were fine. Indeed, there were various clashes and attacks on police stations. The authorities established the Internal Security Corps as a separate military formation, which became known for the resettlement of the Ukrainians within Operation Vistula. But if we talk about everyday life, particularly in villages, it was normal until the attempt of collectivisation. If someone compares this time with the occupation, it is nonsense.
It got worse later when the era of Stalinism began – it lasted until 1954 (when Bierut died). Although, no one was specifically persecuting anyone. It was a period of liquidation of various political forces and the construction of defence enterprises. If anyone wants to think that the liberation was a post-war “enslavement”, it is complete nonsense. Some people praised this period; others rebuked it. If a man did well and was promoted, he was satisfied, but if it did not happen – he remembered these times as the worst.
RESPONSE
This message is an example of Russian historical revisionism, portraying the Stalinist USSR as the peacemaker and liberator of Poland.
The claim that the “things in post-war Poland were fine” and “no one persecuted anyone” is an attempt to whitewash the totalitarian Stalinist regime and its Polish “puppet” authorities responsible for endless crimes against the Polish nation in post-war years.
Throughout the post-war decade, the Stalinist authorities of Poland carried out unprecedented political repressions against the Polish society. The most well-known examples of the post-war Communist violence against the Poles are the Augustów roundup and the long-lasting persecution of the Cursed Soldiers. Read more about the Communist crimes in Poland here.
The very fact that the Red Army captured Warsaw and pushed the German troops out of Poland in 1945 does not mean that the USSR brought freedom to the Polish people. According to the statements of the Polish MFA, Poland respects the sacrifice of the Soviet soldiers in the fight with Nazism, but in 1945, Stalin’s regime brought to Poland terror and atrocities. The Red Army liberated Warsaw from Nazi occupation, but it didn’t mean liberty for Poland as the Soviet Army stayed in Poland for 48 years, which resulted in decades of communist oppression.
According to mainstream Polish historians and views of the predominant part of Polish society, in 1944-1945, the USSR occupied Poland, establishing the undemocratic and repressive Communist Poland. De facto, Poland appeared under the Soviet military occupation until 1989, while the Russian troops were withdrawn from Poland only in 1993.
Read similar messages such as Stalin decided to establish the independent Polish state; It is thanks to Russia that Poland exists today as a country and Warsaw would not have been rebuilt without the decision of Stalin.