History /
Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]
many people need these myths
Yes.
In my opinion the Poles like to believe in myths and Marchen,it is part of their psyche,so better leave them like that.
Not only Poles. Also Germans, Russians, Americans, British, French etc etc etc .
I'm reminded of the fight that took place in '68 in northern Bohemia, can you tell me about that?
Yeah, you know....Poles in tanks...leading the fight since WW2...
Also upholding myths which paints one side only totally rosy is not helpful for any reconciliation at all!
Reconciliation is a good word to describe Czech and Polish political relations today. Yes, Poles participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Polish communist leader Gomułka urged the harsh solutions with Prague Spring because he feared that free Czechoslovakia would fall prey to Germany, thus flanking Poland from the south, like in 1939 (German attack on Poland from 3 directions - north, west and south).
So, Poles became invaders and occupants. Like in Napoleonic times on San Domingo, they went without enthusiasm, but did their duty as it was expected of them.
Polish troops in Czechoslovakia. Poles "heroically defended" a few big towns against Czech patriots: Hradec Kralove, Pardubice, Olomunec, Trutnow.
Polish troops return to Poland after their mission.
Each Pole is a good soldier
The occupation was not too peaceful. Polish soldiers actively suppressed the Czech opposition, by tracking down illegal radio stations or printing houses. They also removed the anti-invasion graffiti on walls. They put pressure on local patriotic authorities which were reluctant to cooperate with true communists who started taking control thanks to the invasion.
Polish soldiers sometimes behaved like real occupants. When they went to local pubs and received unfriendly comments from Czechs, they could get really nasty and it often happened that they ordered a Czech man to drink beer from his shoes..... :(:(:(
The greatest tragedy happened when on 7 September, 1968, a drunk Polish soldier opened fire into the crowd of civilians, killing 2 and wounding 5 people on the spot, also trying to rape a wounded woman. The killer was sentenced to death, later changed to life, and finally left prison after 15 years.
Polish society`s opposition against the invasion was feeble. One must remember, though, that 3 months before the Polish authorities had cracked on restive students and intellectuals demanding greater freedom.
Nevertheless, during and after the invasion of Czechoslovakia the Polish secret police noticed many anti-government leaflets and graffiti on walls. Also a few intellectuals and writers sent a letter of protest to authorities. Some party members resigned from their membership.
The most spectacular act of protest against the invasion was the self-burning of Ryszard Siwiec.
Film showing Siwiec tragedy:
youtube.com/watch?v=JZZlrPQHDH0
All Polish democratic governments since 1990 apologised officially to our Slavic brothers for what we did to them. Even General Jaruzelski, then a Defence Minister, sent an apology to the Czech.radio.cz/en/article/69856
...Wojciech Jaruzelski has apologised for the role his country played in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. General Jaruzelski served as Defence Minister in August 1968, when 26,000 Polish troops joined the huge invasion force which crossed Czechoslovakia's borders.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4171966.stm
Better late than never.
Now, I know that Poles tend to justify the Polish participation by usual:
we were suppressed by communists, it wasn`t Polish decision etc etc.But did it really make any difference to Czechs who saw Polish troops in their cities and towns? Or the Czech family whose members were massacred by a mad Polish soldier?
Czechs just knew that Poles occupied them and that`s what counted.
That is why I support the official apologies issued by Polish governments to southern neighbours. It wasn`t only evil communists, unfortunately, who organised the invasion against the popular will and without consent of the nation. The historical sources prove that most Poles were glad the invasion took place, they considered it lesser evil. For them it was better to have suppressed Czechoslovakia than German Czechoslovakia. Let`s remember that by 1968 West Germany hadn`t settled its former lands issue with Poland.
The sources in Polish:
mowiawieki.pl/artykul.html?id_artykul=993
histmag.org/?id=1992
Already August 23, President Svoboda interrupted the unified opinion leadership team and suggested a way out of the impasse, agreeing to go to Moscow for talks. There he was greeted with full honors. In the delegations were also gen. Dzúr, Gustav Husak deputy (one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Slovakia) and Bil'ak together with representatives of their group. Svoboda activists demanded the release of the internees and their inclusion in the talks. Soviet Comrades agreed to this and a crew of Dubèek led from August 24 in Moscow serious talks. It turned out that both President Svoboda and Gustav Husak sided with Brezhnev. The first of them wanted to head off the risk of armed conflict and avoid bloodshed. The second, moderate until this time, has taken his game for the Communist Party leadership. 
