Between two totalitarianisms.Poland in the World War II

Paweł Ukielski Ph.D.

Soviet Minister of Int. Affairs, Molotov, is signing the German-Soviet Non-

Aggression Pact, Moscow, August 23, 1939.

Secret Protocol

Map of divided Poland attached to the Hitler – Stalin Pact. Thick black line in the middle marks the German - Soviet border.

German (Sept. 1, 1939) and Soviet invasion of Poland (Sept. 17, 1939). Black and red arrows

mark the main axes of attack

The fourth partition of

Poland

Polish 303 Fighter Squadron during Battle of Britain achieved the highest numbers of kills of any allied squadron

German occupation of Poland – one of thousands of street executions, Warsaw 1941.

German concetration camp in Auschwitz

Victims of the Soviets, Eastern Poland, 1940.

5 March 1940.The protocol sentencing to death more the 20.000 Polish officers

The Katyń Massacre

Teheran Conference, Nov. 28, 1943-Dec. 1, 1943 (from the left: Stalin, F.D.Roosevelt, W.Churchill)

Warsaw Insurgents, August 1944.

German heavy mortar ”Karl’’ shelling Warsaw, August 1944.

Genocide• On 1st August Hitler gave an order to kill all inhabitants of Warsaw• the „Slaughter of Wola district” – ca. 40.000 victims of mass executions within 3 days• Numerous mass killings after withdrawal of the order

Democratic State

• Over 150 titles of insurgent press – issued by all political movements• Laws issued by authorities• Sovereign state attributes• Civil society – organizing everyday life in the city

1586 Polish Special Duties Flight , Brinidsi, Italy, August 1944.

“Further, having familiarized myself more closely with the Warsaw adventure, I am convinced that the Warsaw action represents a reckless adventure...”

Joseph Stalin to Winston Churchill, August 16, 1944.

‘’Poland is our oldest ally in this war…Poland is a country which I, as an Englishmen, am proud to call an ally…I would like to make an appeal to the British Nation…HELP FOR WARSAW!’’

Lt John Ward, a British war correspondent, despatch sent from Warsaw on September 6, 1944.

Warsaw Rising death toll: 18.000 Home Army soldiers, 180.000 civilians

Death of the city – Warsaw after the Rising…

Two uprisings – a comparison…

Paris – August 1944 Warsaw – January 1945

The Yalta Conference

Territorial change – post-war Poland marked in pink, pre-war Poland marked with red line

Political persecutions

The trial of Sixteen Cavalry Capt. Witold Pilecki

SUMMARY

THREE LEVELS OF WARSAW RISING’S SIGNIFICANCE:

• LOCAL – identity of the city of Warsaw

• NATIONAL – Warsaw Rising as an independent Poland

• GLOBAL – understanding of XX century as a century of totalitarian regimes