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My Dad fought in the Liri Valley during the 4th assault on Cassino, May 1944. He had great admiration for the Polish soldiers who were fighting in Italy. I’m sure they hoped that the western alliance would keep Russia honest, but that they were not surprised by the Russia betrayal that came in August. Russia delayed its advance into Warsaw so that the Nazis could crush the Warsaw uprising,making it easier for them to subjugate the Poles. President Trump did not collide with Russia, but the Russian government is filled with corrupt murderous thugs led by a empire-building sociopath. Not unlike the Democratic Party. Never trust a Russian or a Democrat.

Well, never trust a so-called ex-KGB agent or a Democrat, anyway. I’m pretty sure that some of the Russians who arrived here who were explicit immigrants/refugees/defectors are alright.

And your dad did well. Such a shame we naïvely thought the Soviets would just leave the Poles alone. Oh well. At least now we don’t have to worry about making that mistake again, we’ll make sure of it.

And yeah, Trump definitely can’t have been colluding with Russia/Putin (I mean, for goodness sakes, assuming Putin DID want to interfere with the election, why would he pick Trump, a guy who wants to make America great again, especially knowing how Putin’s a massive Russian nationalist at least on the outside. That wouldn’t make a lick of sense especially when he’d more likely consider America a threat and would want to weaken it, not strengthen it. That’s like trying to use a rat trap to kill a Great Dane). If anything, Hillary and Obama were colluding with him.

I got to visit the Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino.

Red Poppies on Monte Cassino

Do you see the rubble on the summit?

There, like a rat, hides your foe!
You must, you must, you must
hurl him off the clouds by his neck!
And so, frantic and fierce, they went,
they went to kill and to avenge,
they went, as always, unyielding,
to fight as always for honour.

Red poppies on Monte Cassino
Instead of dew, Polish blood they drank.
O’er these poppies soldiers fought and died
but anger was fiercer than death.
Years will pass and centuries elapse,
traces of those days will remain
and poppies on Monte Cassino
will be redder, enriched by Polish blood.

The ‘lost men’ charged through the fire,
more than one was struck and fell,
like those mad horsemen from Somosierra,
like those from Rokitny years ago.
With a frantic force they charged,
and they made it. The attack came off.
Their white and red standard they raised
aloft in the rubble in the clouds.

Red poppies on Monte Cassino ...

Do you see this row of white crosses?
That’s where with honour the Poles pledged their all.
Go forward, the further, the higher you go
the more will you find at your feet.
This soil belongs to Poland,
though Poland be far from here
for freedom is measured in crosses.
That is history’s lesson dear.

Red poppies on Monte Cassino ...

A quarter-century has passed.
The dust of battle has settled.
The monastery resurrected with white walls
reaches up to the skies anew.
But memory of those ghastly nights
and of the blood that here was shed
echoes in the monastery bells
tolling the fallen to sleep...!

17 May 1944 Feliks Konarski