Poland in Libya

On 7 October 2022, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations voted to adopt a resolution on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation.

The outbreak of the Second World War, which began on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by the Nazi Third Reich, is one of the events annually commemorated throughout Europe. However, 17 September 1939, the date of the Soviet Union’s aggression against Poland, is not as widely known in the West. Therefore I believe this event needs to be remembered as it not only decided the fate of my Homeland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but it did so for the whole of the next half-century. If today we, Poles, and other peoples of our region, repeat that we know Russia and understand its imperial ambitions better than the West, we do so because of our historical experience symbolized by 17 September.

Mateusz Morawiecki's op-ed coincides with the publication in Poland of the Report on the losses suffered by Poland as a result of German aggression and occupation during World War II 1939-1945.

Every mention of war reparations brings an allergic reaction from Berlin. In turn, payment thereof would be a milestone and an opportunity for Germany to lead to complete Polish-German reconciliation.

With the outbreak of World War II, Germany started a coherent and deliberate campaign of erasing Poland from the map of Europe. The Polish nation was to be deprived of its intellectual elites, identity, and sovereignty. Destruction and plundering did not spare Polish culture. Literature, music, film, theatre, arts: all the cultural areas suffered irreparable losses that still can be felt today.

World War II started on September 1, 1939. The Third Reich, unprovoked and without any notice, started their invasion of Poland. One of the first acts of war involved the gunfire oriented at Polish ammunition warehouse at Westerplatte. The “Schleswig-Holstein” battleship that had arrived in Gdansk with an allegedly peaceful visit opened fire at the Polish soldiers.

The war in Ukraine has exposed the truth about Russia. Those who refused to see that Putin's state has imperialist tendencies today have to face the fact that in Russia, the demons of the 19th and 20th centuries were revived: nationalism, colonialism, and totalitarianism. But the war in Ukraine has also exposed the truth about Europe. Many European leaders allowed themselves to be lured by Vladimir Putin and today are in a shock.