Poland’s population losses during World War II were proportionately by far the greatest of any nation participating in the war. Of its 35 million people before the war, Poland lost 6.5 million. An estimated 664,000 were battlefield deaths (this figure exceeds combined losses of the United States and Great Britain in WWII), and the remainder, or 90 percent, were civilians of all ages.
The Nazi German death machine in the Nazi-occupied half of Poland killed:
3 million of the 3.3 million Jews who lived in Poland before World War II, or 90 percent of the Jewish population.
More than 2 million Polish Catholics, with special emphasis on eliminating the national elites.
One out of four (25 percent) of Catholic clergy.
One out of four (25 percent) of all Polish scientists.
One out of five (20 percent) of all Polish schoolteachers.
200,000 Polish children were deported to Germany for purposes of Germanization. 150,000, or 75 percent, never returned to their families in Poland.
The Soviet death machine in the Soviet-occupied half of Poland killed:
21,000 Polish officers murdered by the NKVD in the Katyn Forest and elsewhere.
Between 1.6 million and 1.25 million Poles (the lowest estimate) were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan between 1939-1941 as a result of Soviet “ethnic cleansing”. An estimated four-fifths died either directly or as a result of privations incurred during the deportations.
State Security in Soviet-occupied Poland between 1945-1955 murdered tens of thousands of political, military and intellectual leaders. Exact figures are still unavailable owing to the impossibility to conduct research in this area in Soviet-occupied Poland.
Moscow’s policies designed to debilitate the Polish nation included, among others, the following instruction: “While rebuilding the [Polish] industry and building new industry, make sure that industrial waste is directed to rivers which will be used as reservoirs of drinking water.”
Accurate. I agree with a post here that said that Poland suffered more than any nation during and after WWII. It’s been less than two decades that Poland is free and the people are not forgetting yet. My Dad (WWII Vet) said that when Russia/Soviet army freed Poland from Nazi Germany, the people felt they went from bad (Nazi) to worse (Soviets). Poland, the people, hoped/prayed that the US or Britain would be the military that freed them from the Nazis. They suffered under Soviet rule more than they did under Nazi Germany. History shows that, too.
This isn’t about reparations, imo. They fought too long and too hard for many decades after WWII. The people of this country never surrendered (and they got screwed with Yalta) even when the war was long over for Europe. The Soviet Union was able to pacify, to an extent, all of the countries they controlled, but never Poland. I have such respect for Poland and tend to side with them on this.
So should tiny Austria be given many more votes, including all of Hungary's? (rhetorical).
Between 1.6 million and 1.25 million Poles (the lowest estimate) were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan between 1939-1941 as a result of Soviet “ethnic cleansing”.==
Total nonsense.
No doubt about it—between the reich on one hand and the Soviet Union on the other-—Poland is lucky to be around at all!
For that Poles and other nations especially in Eastern Europe need to congratulated for their Christian faith.