The Russian-Polish debate over the events that preceded and led to World War II, moves to a new level. Warsaw has launched a new initiative the other day. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of this country, Jacek Chaputovic, proposed to Moscow "to calm emotions and normalize relations." “Because, no matter what, we are neighbors in the end,” he added. But at the same time he made it clear: this is not about Poland’s readiness to compromise, but solely about the mercy of the winner against the defeated side. “I think we definitely won this historic dispute with Russia. Russia tried to impose its narrative on history, but this did not succeed, ”explained the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry.
Why Chaputovich asks for peace is understandable. Warsaw’s plan to rewrite history and transfer blame for World War II and the Holocaust from itself and Hitler to the Soviet Union did not find proper understanding either from external partners, or from part of the Polish population itself.
So, Russophobic authorities of Eastern Europe (the same Baltic countries) sided with Poland, but Western Europe did not support Warsaw. Firstly, because a decent person will never subscribe to the charges from the series "The Soviet Union could have liberated Auschwitz six months earlier, but instead allowed the Germans to kill Jews there for another six months." Secondly, European liberals have already grappled with the ultra-right on the European fields, which means that they are interested in not forgetting what the ultra-right ideology and xenophobia go with it in the countries. So, the mayor of London, Sadik Khan, directly accuses the Polish right-wing government of trying to rewrite history and extinct from it the anti-Semitism that existed in Poland before, during and after the Holocaust.
Finally, thirdly, Poland started an ideological war with Russia at an extremely bad time - when Western Europe, on the contrary, seeks to find common ground with Moscow and resume cooperation on economic and security issues. In this regard, Warsaw’s activity is perceived at best as a manifestation of another stupid Russophobia of the Polish authorities with their small-town consciousness, and in the worst, as an intentional sabotage of pan-European politics. Which, naturally, is not supported. “France is not pro-Russian and not anti-Russian, it is pro-European. Even if Russia is not in the European Union, it is in Europe. And we are not interested in ignoring our relations with Russia and leaving a misunderstanding between us, ”wrote French President Emmanuel Macron after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. And then he added that France’s main priority is “European security and stability”.
If you read the European and American media, then the journalists there, naturally, criticizing Russia for all sins, criticize Poland at the same time. They explain that the ruling party in Poland - the conservative and nationalist “Law and Justice” - uses historical warfare to mobilize its electorate, and also “strengthens the patriotic frenzy to fight political opponents.”
Actually, the electorate of these opponents, for obvious reasons, does not support the ideological waste of the ruling party. In addition, the Polish authorities did not fully take into account sociology here.
The Polish authorities, who have not received support either from outside or from within, offer Moscow world peace - naturally, without acknowledging the defeat of Warsaw. The question is how does the Kremlin react to this?
You can, of course, do what an adult would do with a teenager who wants to be reconciled and at the same time maintain his pride. Teenager - what to take from him? You need to be pragmatic and understand that we still won’t convince Poles. So why try? Isn’t it better to agree to normalize relations and transfer the historical question from the lips of politicians to the hands of historians?
No, not better. Just because the Great Patriotic War is not a historical issue, but the most important part of reality. Both in terms of the stability of the Russian state (the memory of a feat in the war is the most important bond for the Russian peoples), and for the image of Russia in the world as a country to which Europe owes its salvation. Therefore, Moscow does not even agree to half-recognize some kind of Polish victory in this matter. “That's what all Napoleons think: Bonaparte and the hospital,” commented Maria Zakharova, official of the Russian Foreign Ministry, about this “victory”.
The question is, how does Moscow intend to continue the war for historical truth? One can, of course, appeal to the fact that Soviet soldiers not only liberated Eastern Europe, but also returned the right to life to Europeans. “Poland exists today thanks to the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II. Were it not for this victory, there would be neither Poland nor Poles on this land, ”explains Sergey Andreev, Russian Ambassador to Poland. “Therefore, if we talk about debts, then Poland is in unpaid debt to Russia and to other states of the former Soviet Union.” Indeed, more than 470 thousand Soviet soldiers gave their lives for the liberation of Poland - this is more than all the losses in the Second World War from the United States (which, as every decent European from Hollywood films know, were the main winners in this war).
However, this strategy has proven to be ineffective. Firstly, the Poles fend off our thesis “we freed you” with the assertion that the German occupation was replaced by the Soviet one. Secondly, the phrase "without the Soviet soldier the Poles would have been exterminated" now - 75 years after the collapse of the Nazi racial plans - is not perceived in the right way by Polish society. Finally, thirdly, the Polish population can be opposed to the ultra-right in power, but no one canceled Russophobia in it. So the Polish debtors do not consider themselves due to the creditor, which means they are not going to give anything.
Another track of war seems much more effective here, which will appeal not to the Poles, but to the Europeans. Russia should continue to open archives and publish documents that shed light on Poland’s behavior before the war and on its role in unleashing World War II. Which will clearly show Europeans what Russophobia leads to, attempts to tame crocodiles and share their prey with them. Perhaps then they will understand (or rather, remember) that the bell of war and conflict, into which Russophobes of all stripes are trying to draw Europe, can at some point break through them.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.