DISINFO: Polish politicians are editing the past and interpret it themselves
SUMMARY
Tonnes of grain, millet, vegetables, flour, clothes and medicines were sent to Poland urgently by order from Moscow after WWII. They do not like to remember this in Poland now, politicians are doing their utmost to edit the past and give their new assessments and interpretations.
RESPONSE
This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism. It accuses Poland of “the falsification and re-writing” of its history. According to this policy, the official Russian historiography is the only “true” way of interpreting the historical events of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. On January 9th, the Polish Parliament adopted a resolution “condemning the provocative and untrue statements by representatives of the highest authorities of the Russian Federation attempting to hold Poland liable for the Second World War”. The other part of the disinformation is about USSR's help to Poland after WWII. It aims to portray the USSR as a peacemaker and liberator. The statements about the “generous Soviet support for Poland” after Red Army’s entrance to this country go against historical facts, which prove that the Red Army carried out massive confiscations of all types of Polish property, sending it back to the USSR as “trophies”. The Polish historians note that throughout 1945, the robberies and violence realized by the Red Army soldiers on the territory of Poland against the local civilian population had a systemic character. After its entering to Poland, the Red Army established specialized units, which realized large-scale transportation of confiscated Polish property, values of culture, industrial equipment, food, livestock, etc. to the Soviet Union. This intense stealing of the Polish property by the USSR throughout 1945 worsened the socio-economic situation of the Poles even more. As a result of these actions, the attitude of the Poles towards the advancing Soviet troops dramatically changed. The Sovietisation of Poland and other countries of the so-called Eastern Bloc after WWII was accompanied by terror, massive repressions, nationalisation of industry, expropriation of privately owned land, destruction of market economy and restrictions of civil and political freedoms. The Warsaw Treaty Organisation (the Warsaw Pact) was the Soviet Union’s “external empire”, where people faced daily strife, including shortages of food and housing. Read more about life in Poland under the Communist rule. See similar cases connected to this issue such as "The Red Army liberated Poland and preserved the country’s economic power" and "It is thanks to Russia that Poland today exists as a country". Read similar examples of the Russian historical revisionism concerning Poland - Nazi Germany considered Poland its best ally and USSR was forced and reluctant to sign Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.