"The ruling circles of Poland boasted quite a lot about the ‘stability’
of their state and the ‘might’ of their army. However, one swift blow to
Poland, first by the German Army and then by the Red Army, and nothing
was left of this ugly offspring of the Versailles Treaty which had
existed by oppressing non-Polish nationalities." - Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Foreign Minister in October 31, 1939 speech
80 years ago today in the early morning hours of September 17, 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the East. According to the History Channel, "the 'reason' given was that Russia had to come to the aid of its “blood
brothers,” the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who were trapped in
territory that had been illegally annexed by Poland."
On September 17, 1939 with "between 600–650,000 soldiers and over 5,000 thousand Red Army tanks [of the Soviet Union] invaded the Second Polish Republic, which had been fighting against German aggression since 1 September."
This invasion was in accordance with the secret protocols of the Hitler-Stalin Pact also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that divided up Central Europe between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Nazi and Soviet troops met in the middle of Poland and exchanged pleasantries on September 22, 1939 and held a joint military parade in Brest-Litovsk. Soviet troops paid their respects as the Swastika flag was lowered, and Germans moved west to their agreed upon line of partition.
About 230,000 [Polish] soldiers and officers and thousands of military service representatives were taken captive by the Bolsheviks."
The Soviet precursor to the KGB intelligence service was the NKVD. "From October 1939, the delegated NKVD officials from Moscow heard the prisoners, encouraged them to cooperate and collected data. Only a few of the prisoners agreed to collaborate. The commanding officers’ reports included opinions about hostile attitudes of the Poles and a minimal chance of them being useful to the USSR authorities."
The decision to shoot the prisoners was signed on March 5, 1940 by seven members of the All- Union
Communist Party (Bolsheviks) authorities: Joseph Stalin, Lavrentiy
Beria (proposer), Kliment Voroshilov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Anastas
Mikoyan, Mikhail Kalinin and Lazar Kaganovich.
The lists of those sent to death were to be prepared and signed by Piotr Soprunienko, commander-in-chief of the Prisoners of War Board of People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which was created by the order of Beria in September 1939
In the Spring of 1940 the Soviet secret police began to shoot the prisoners in the back of the head or in the neck and burying them in mass graves. This war crime became known as the Katyn massacre.
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| On September 17, 2019 the Soviet Union invaded Poland. |
On September 17, 1939 with "between 600–650,000 soldiers and over 5,000 thousand Red Army tanks [of the Soviet Union] invaded the Second Polish Republic, which had been fighting against German aggression since 1 September."
This invasion was in accordance with the secret protocols of the Hitler-Stalin Pact also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that divided up Central Europe between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Nazi and Soviet troops met in the middle of Poland and exchanged pleasantries on September 22, 1939 and held a joint military parade in Brest-Litovsk. Soviet troops paid their respects as the Swastika flag was lowered, and Germans moved west to their agreed upon line of partition.
About 230,000 [Polish] soldiers and officers and thousands of military service representatives were taken captive by the Bolsheviks."
The Soviet precursor to the KGB intelligence service was the NKVD. "From October 1939, the delegated NKVD officials from Moscow heard the prisoners, encouraged them to cooperate and collected data. Only a few of the prisoners agreed to collaborate. The commanding officers’ reports included opinions about hostile attitudes of the Poles and a minimal chance of them being useful to the USSR authorities."
 |
| Nazi and Soviet soldiers salute raising of the Nazi flag on September 22, 1939 in Poland |
The lists of those sent to death were to be prepared and signed by Piotr Soprunienko, commander-in-chief of the Prisoners of War Board of People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which was created by the order of Beria in September 1939
In the Spring of 1940 the Soviet secret police began to shoot the prisoners in the back of the head or in the neck and burying them in mass graves. This war crime became known as the Katyn massacre.
The secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact not only partitioned Poland but also divided up Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Romania into Nazi and Soviet "spheres of influence." The Soviet Union was an ally of the Third Reich during the first 18 months of World War Two.
17 September 1939 | The Soviet Union invaded Poland, assisting the Germans, as agreed in the #Ribbentrop-#Molotov Pact & its secret protocol that divided Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland & Romania into German and Soviet "spheres of influence." https://t.co/yxr87GBN03 pic.twitter.com/syabhoa5AL— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) September 17, 2019
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