Article

2004-08-03 Europe

Putin Praises 1944 Warsaw Uprising

President Vladimir Putin praised Poles who fought Nazi occupiers 60 years ago in the Warsaw Uprising, saying they made a major contribution to the Allied victory and calling for the two nations to put negative "stereotypes" about each other behind them. "In Russia, the courage and selflessness of the Polish fighters of the resistance have ~~never~~ always been highly praised," Putin said in a message to Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski. "Their feat is immortal, and the sacrifices that your people suffered will remain forever in our historical memory."

In a separate statement addressed to veterans of the uprising and all Polish citizens, Putin said the "courage and selflessness of millions of true sons and daughters of Poland who fought against Nazism will always remain in the memory of Russians."

Remind me, Vlad, was this always true?

The uprising has been one of many sources of animosity between Russia and Poland, because Josef Stalin's Soviet Army stood by on the east bank of the Vistula River while the Germans brutally crushed the uprising. Putin enthusiastically praised the Polish fighters and suggested that bad blood over the uprising should be relegated to the past. He called the uprising "a weighty contribution to the common victory over Nazism." "The heroism of the Warsaw residents, among whom there were people of various political convictions, became yet another glorious page in the chronicle of the Second World War," Putin said.

Okay, so what is it that the Poles have that Vlad wants?

He said relations between Poland and Russia should be "equal, oriented toward the future and free of stereotypes," apparently referring at least in part to Polish perceptions of Russia as an enemy or a domineering master -- the legacy of a history that has included wars and decades of Soviet-era subservience to Moscow. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Poland has drawn further from Moscow by joining NATO and the European Union. Putin has sought to shrug off that blow to Russia's pride, but he has warned that the eastward expansion of the Western organizations should not cast up new boundaries in Europe.

Posted by Steve White 2004-08-03 12:00:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [10 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Two words: Katyn Forest.

Posted by glenn 2004-08-03 12:41:50 AM|| 2004-08-03 12:41:50 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 This is a sore point amoungst Poles. The Red Army on the right bank of the Vistula in August 1944 and in contact with Polish resistance, according to the Poles, dithered and delayed and refused to help the uprising, and allowed it to be crushed by the Wehrmacht.

Some writers claim that the delay was deliberate since the Soviet Union wanted to eliminate any chance the Polish right could have a say in post war politics, and I have read some writings that the decision to help the uprising was up to the site commanders (albeit with commissar whispering what could happen if the Red Army did intervene)

Surely Putin is aware of this rather unsavory element of history.

Reading Russian literature and speaking/writing to some Russians/Ukrainians, you come away with the impression that in the Slavic world, there is a pecking order and the Russians are firm in the saddle. Poles and Ukrainians are near the bottom in some Russians' estimation.

Posted by badanov 2004-08-03 8:26:03 AM|| [http://www.rkka.org] 2004-08-03 8:26:03 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Not only did the Red Army stop, the Soviets did not allow allied air support nor air drops.(till way too late)

Posted by Shipman 2004-08-03 9:29:18 AM|| 2004-08-03 9:29:18 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 wow...a Russian rewriting history? I'm certainly surprised...

Posted by Frank G 2004-08-03 9:54:27 AM|| 2004-08-03 9:54:27 AM|| Front Page Top

#5
Okay, so what is it that the Poles have that Vlad wants? or more likely whats got Tov. Putin worried?

Thats easy, Nato Membeship, EU membeship, U.S. goodwill, and potentialy U.S. forces base(s), ABM's, and less potentialy a free trade agreement.

Posted by N Guard 2004-08-03 10:53:16 AM|| 2004-08-03 10:53:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Mr. Putin, perhaps if your started with an apology?

Posted by Atropanthe 2004-08-03 11:24:52 AM|| 2004-08-03 11:24:52 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 I have a toast for the wedding party! As our family members stood by and watched as your mother getting raped and murdered, we want you to know how impressed we were as we witnessed her brave struggle.

Posted by B 2004-08-03 12:22:46 PM|| 2004-08-03 12:22:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Okay, so what is it that the Poles have that Vlad wants?
Putin needs "right of way" through Poland for Russia's oil pipeline to Western Europe. Putin needs everything to stay "happy, happy" with Poland.
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nte21861.htm

Putin enthusiastically praised the Polish fighters and suggested that bad blood over the uprising should be relegated to the past.
I don't think that the Poles will ever forgive or forget what the Russians did. The pipeline is strictly a joint business venture.

The Poles were egged on to the Warsaw Uprising by the communist underground, who of course, did not participate in the uprising themselves. The brave Polish cavalry charged the German tanks on their horses holding lances as their paltry weapons. The Poles were slaughtered, while the Russian army stood by and watched. Eventually the Russians overwhelmed the battle weary Germans and the communist underground came out from under their rocks to greet them. Very sad.

And then there's the Russian slaughter and wholesale burial of Poles in Katyn Forest, which the Soviets denied until recently.

Moral of these 2 stories: America should never trust the Russians.

Posted by rex 2004-08-03 2:10:47 PM|| 2004-08-03 2:10:47 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 rex, don't forget the other moral:
the Polish are fierce fighters and it's just terrific that they're such a big part of our Coalition!

Posted by GreatestJeneration 2004-08-03 2:26:50 PM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com] 2004-08-03 2:26:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 There's another less pleasant moral for the Poles, which is unlikely to be forgotten and is responsible for most of the antagonism towards the west: just like the Russians, the Americans and British can't be trusted as well. Don't forget that Roosevelt and Churchill played a big role in this betrayal, even though it was the Russians that did most of the damage.

I keep telling you guys, Poles are not so pro-American as people seem to think. In a sense, I don't blame them.

Posted by Rafael 2004-08-03 2:49:03 PM|| 2004-08-03 2:49:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Good point, Rafael.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, we'll never know if FDR would have supported Churchill against Stalin at Yalta to keep Poland free.
Leaving Poland open to Soviet takeover was one of the worst outcomes of the WWII peace.

Posted by GreatestJeneration 2004-08-03 3:21:29 PM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com] 2004-08-03 3:21:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 The brave Polish cavalry charged the German tanks on their horses holding lances as their paltry weapons

Jeez..... the Poles had guerilla horses?

Posted by Shipman 2004-08-03 8:30:57 PM|| 2004-08-03 8:30:57 PM|| Front Page Top

11:22 M. Murcek
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