From the West. Soviet Union invaded from the East, two weeks later. Then the Polish plan of defence was nullified. (Polish military intended to keep front farther from German border to give time for French offensive.)
Posted on 12/01/2004 6:57:33 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Polish war crimes prosecutors have opened an investigation into the 1940 massacre in the Katyn forest of more than 21,000 Polish officers and intellectuals by the Soviet secret police, authorities said Wednesday.
Leon Kieres, the head of Poland's National Remembrance Institute, told a news conference that the investigation by 16 of his specialized prosecutors will attempt to add names to the fragmentary records of the Soviet officials and secret police agents who issued, passed on, or carried out the orders to kill the Polish prisoners.
Deputy Justice Minister Andrzej Kalwas said the investigation was an act of "delayed redress and justice toward the innocent victims and to their living relatives."
Until the fall of communism in 1989, any mention of the massacre was forbidden in Poland. The following year, the Soviet government accepted responsibility for the World War II murders.
Soviet agents killed 21,768 Polish military officers, intellectuals and priests in the forests of Katyn and other places. They had taken them prisoner when the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939.
The massacre is still an irritant to relations between Poland and Russia, and topped the agenda when Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.
After that meeting, Kwasniewski said Russian authorities promised to hand over 96 volumes of documents related to the massacre, which would help the Polish Remembrance Institute conduct its own investigation into the killings.
Though a recent Russian investigation into the massacre failed to produce any new names of suspects, Kieres said he was still hopeful of success because the Polish probe would include interviews with thousands of relatives of the victims, as well as a reexamination of the files.
That was Germany that invaded poland in 1939.
The Soviets invaded Poland shortly after the Germans..a nice agreement between Germany and the USSR. The divided Poland up between them.
Where Have YOU Been
Yes I just googled the title line and there is quite a large volume on the Soviet side of that nasty little deal. Thanks
In the Navy ... ;)
The value of public education.
You're most welcome.
From the West. Soviet Union invaded from the East, two weeks later. Then the Polish plan of defence was nullified. (Polish military intended to keep front farther from German border to give time for French offensive.)
I hate to say this, but Poland was doomed whether the Soviets came in or not. And as for the French coming to the aid of Poland via an offensive -- I've never seen any evidence that this was even considered. The French wouldn't even bomb the Ruhr. Poland was treated horribly during WWII by all concerned.
The Germans invaded from the West on September 1st, 1939 and the Russians from the East on September 17th, 1939.
The division of Poland was a part of the agreement between Ribbentropp and Molotov.
Right before Germany invaded Norway in early 1940, there was a contingent of French and British troops getting ready to go to Finland to help Finland fight the Soviets. When the German invasion of Norway happened these troops were diverted to Narvik Norway to fight the Germans.
They have already declared war on Germany. Declaring war on Soviet Union two weeks later would not help much.
Frnce declared the war on Germany and was very well armed. Poles could keep the front on Vistula river or even more to the east where the bad roads and worsening weather could give time for the French offensive. The western border of Germany had very few troops.
Yes, it was considered and we do not know if the French would keep their word or not. After the Soviet attack and the collapse/evacuation of Polish military this question became moot.
Britain, France and South Africa all declared war on Germany before the Soviet invasion of Poland.
The French were so shellshocked from World War I they never had any intention of attacking.
The big chance was in 1938. They in combo with the Czechs (large, well armed army) would have beaten the Germans easily were it not for Munich.
The French delayed declaring war until late on the 3rd. The delay embarassed Prime Minister Chamberlain and upset the House of Commons. The Russians did not move in until the 17th. During the intervening two weeks, the French didn't even drop a bomb on Germany. They sat on their sorry asses until May 10, 1940, whereupon the Germans rolled through them in six weeks. They even refused the plan of Winston Churchill's to float mines in the Rhine! If Poland had managed to hold out until today, you'd still be waiting for the French to fight.
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