Posted on 05/12/2015 9:53:59 PM PDT by Cronos
WHEN Hitler’s forces marched into Warsaw in September 1939, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski’s parents told him not to panic. They had experienced German occupation during the last war. There would be inconvenience, disorder and even looting. He should be careful. But it would not be too bad—the Germans were, after all, west Europeans—and by next year, the British and French would arrive.
The Bartoszewskis could hardly have given their teenage son worse advice. The Western allies never came; instead the Soviets joined in the Nazi attack. Hitler not only wiped Poland off the map, but aimed to obliterate its language, culture and people. Wladyslaw, caught in a random round-up, was sent to Auschwitz.
He showed that kindness to Poland’s Jews. Through Zegota, a part of the Polish underground state set up for the purpose, he helped provide them with food, shelter, medical care and, during the doomed Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943, arms. All this was punished by death, but Mr Bartoszewski—Zegota’s last survivor—scoffed at the idea that it was romantic or heroic. Those involved would have thought such talk “crazy”. He, and they, simply believed that Hitler should not dictate what was right or wrong. His lifelong motto was “Be decent”. It didn’t always pay, but it was always worth it; whereas bad behaviour often paid off, but wasn’t worth it.
Many years later he would become “Righteous among Nations” at the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel. But like many valiant Poles, his post-war fate was persecution. Prison under the new communist authorities was no better than Auschwitz, he recalled grimly.
> ..Post-war Germans, unlike Russians, were in general sorry for what they had done, he insisted. As a Catholic it was his duty to forgive.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
ping. “Crass national stereotyping” — it’s easy to do this, but we need to combat this with the truth
Interesting. Thanks for posting that.
RIP.
RIP, thanks for posting this. I’d never heard of this man before.
OT: How is this Andzej Duda guy that beat Komorowski in the first round of the election, as I don’t know much about him.
And wow, Kukiz got over 20%!
IMHO: I'm no historian, but when Stalin and Hitler were no longer pals, we should have let that sob hang out to dry. Taking him on was a bad move...
God bless all those who suffered in the camps. I believe there's a special place in Heaven for those who live through a hell on earth-especially those who try not to hate.
Neither had I — its sad that we know of evil so well but good doesn’t get any publicity....
The Poles didn't trust the Russians and lesser still the Soviets. That's why in 1920 (read Adam Zamoyski's "Warsaw 1920 - Lenins Failed conquest of Europe" -- the soviets would have conquered most of Europe (including the West in the 20ds if not for Poland standing in the way and crushing the Soviet armies. The communists had already set up Soviets in Hungary and were mobilising forces in germany and England as well (England and France stopped sending armanents to Poland because the unions were "stop helping capitalist Poles against our communist brethren")
That's why in 1939 Poland hated both the Russians and the Germans -- stuck between two tyrannies, BOTH of which wanted to wipe Poland off the map. I've gone through the scenarios in my head continually but from the Munich compromise onwards, Poland had only one option to survive (somewhat), which was to give up 95% of its land and retreat the entire military to the Carpathian mountains. Even then, that would not help much because the Germans had allies on the other side of the Carpathians -- Poland was doomed in nearly every scenario bar help from Mars
Stalin brought hell to eastern Poland in 17-1920 and then the Soviets returned in 1945 to do it again.
Unfortunately in the grander scheme of things, if the West had not helped the Soviets from 1941 onwards, then the Nazis would have been in control of much of Europe for longer -- the Soviets were the only ones with the manpower and the sheer disregard for their soldiers' lives to defeat the Germans.
Duda is anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and mildly anti-EU.
My wife voted for Kukiz -- no one believed that he would, not even him.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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What is Kukiz’s position (or was, as he is eliminated from the final poll)?
From what I know he is Euroskeptic and is against the Euro specifically
Interesting! In that case more than 55% of the voters chose candidates that were clearly eurosceptics. The Polish love affair with the EU is cooling down.
And wow, Kukiz got over 20%!
Andrzej Duda, a staunch conservative, my choice :)
Pawel Kukiz, a staunch anticommunist, a hero of my youth :)
His record of 1985, which was inspired by George Orwell's “1984” was simply a cult one. Up till now I can't understand how the communist censorship let them release it. Just beyond belief!
Listen to the song “The Wall”, imho one of the most powerful of all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQXkWcRIFA
(lyrics in English)
I’m pushing a wall with my hand yet it still persists.
One last touch with my finger tips.
I succumb and go away, yet I’ll be back here not alone...
(and meanwhile…)
From people vain like fame, separate us.
From hatred, the ideology of Mars, separate us.
From a void, separate us.
From vicious slogans and words, separate us tightly.
We’ll even make you stronger, so you go in front of us,
We’ll even support you if you start to collide.
Oh! Oh, when the time comes, we will trample it in dust.
And! And we will erect the most beautiful palace, the one from our dreams.
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