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Disinfo: The Polish Institute of National Remembrance is a gang of spongers

Summary

Poland may not have sufficient funds to finance the entire “sponger gang” of the institutions similar to the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, which researches why Poland should not take part in the celebrations of the anniversary of the WWII victory.

Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism. It accuses the Polish authorities and state institutions of “falsification and re-writing” its history and the alleged information war against Russia. According to this policy, the official Russian historiography is the only “true” way of interpreting historical events for the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

The Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) is a Polish government institution in charge of the prosecution, archives, education and lustration, in relation to crimes against the Polish nation. The IPN investigates Nazi and communist crimes committed between 1917 and 1990, documents its findings and disseminates them to the public.

The Russian authorities often accuse the Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance of historical falsifications and anti-Russian activities. See a similar case on how Poland and Ukraine established institutions to lie about history.

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  • Reported in: Issue 183
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 07/02/2020
  • Language/target audience: Polish
  • Country: Russia, Poland
  • Keywords: Propaganda, Historical revisionism, WWII
  • Outlet: Spuntik Polska
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The West aims to undermine the post-war world order

The Western states are trying to question the status of Russia as a country which had won WWII. Western activities are aimed not only at the undermining the image and history of Russia, but also at the undermining the post-war world order, in which Russia has been the winner of WWII and a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

February 09, 2020
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and the Russian attempt to hide the “uncomfortable” facts of the Soviet history from 1939-1941 (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and partition of Eastern and Central Europe between Hitler and Stalin; occupation of the Baltic states; Soviet attack at Finland in 1939-1940, etc.).

The Western historians do not question the Soviet contribution to the victory in WWII and the status of the USSR as a country which had won in WWII – these facts are undeniable.

Poland is largely responsible for WWII

The pre-war period is much more complex and ambiguous than presented by Russia’s opponents. The responsibility of Poland and many other European countries for the outbreak of WWII is large. Russia puts this responsibility on the pre-war political elite of Poland. It was the first to sign the non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1934, it tried to impose its friendship with Germany at all cost, it took part in the partition of Czechoslovakia and it enjoyed territorial gains thanks to the Munich Agreement.

February 09, 2020
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to erode the disastrous role of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact by the statements that the USSR was forced to sign this pact; that other European countries signed various international agreements with Adolf Hitler, the Munich Agreement triggered WWII and various historical conspiracies saying that Western democracies wanted to inspire a war between Nazism and Communism.

The Munich Agreement (September 30, 1938), indeed, permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in Western Czechoslovakia. The policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler was heavily criticised in Europe and proved to be a disastrous move. World War II began in Europe one year later, on 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.

President Duda and President Zelensky promote propaganda

Polish President Andrzej Duda is involved in propaganda, whereby he uses history to undermines Russia’s current position. And he’s not the only one, president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has also joined him.

February 09, 2020
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism – it accuses Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states of “falsification and re-writing” of their history. According to this policy, the Russian official historiography is the only “true” way of interpretation of historical events for the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

The recent statements of President Duda and President Zelenskyy regarding WWII history are based on historical facts, shared by the majority of historians. First of all, it is a historical fact that both Nazi Germany and the Stalinist USSR were harsh totalitarian regimes, which directly caused the deaths of tens of millions of people. Secondly, these two regimes are mutually responsible for the outbreak of WWII. It is also a historical fact that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact contained the Secret Supplementary Protocol, which assumed the division of Poland and other Eastern European countries between the USSR and Germany. Thus, the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact enabled the German and Soviet military aggression against Poland in September 1939, which resulted in the occupation of this country by Germany and USSR, triggering the beginning of WWII.

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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.