DISINFO: Poland started World War II
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: Rossia 24 (archived)*
  • Date of publication: December 29, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 178
  • Countries / regions discussed: Poland
Tags:
WWII

DISINFO: Poland started World War II

SUMMARY

Using the enormous archive of trophy documents Putin has proved two crucial points: first, on the eve of the World War II Poland basically formed a military alliance with Hitler’s Germany and secondly, anti-antisemitism became a state ideology of Poland before the war. This means that Poland, together with Nazi Germany, is the culprit of starting World War II.

RESPONSE

Historical revisionism consistent with recurring disinformation pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Poland and the WWII. Poland did not start World War II, it was Nazi Germany, which attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, with Soviet troops entering Polish territory on September 17. By the early part of 1939 Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Secret negotiations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union led to the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in Moscow on August 23–24. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the Western part of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the USSR. Read more here. In September 2019 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the importance of European remembrance and expressed deep concern regarding the efforts of the current Russian leadership to distort historical facts and whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime. See previous pro-Kremlin disinformation cases alleging that Poland was the initiator of the WWII; that Poland was the organizer of the WWII and its main culprit.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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