Defending the Honor of Poland

(Disclaimer:  This has nothing to do with Catholic Legal Theory.  But my honor as a Polack occasionally compels me  to risk the penalty for irrelevant posting to share things like this.)

How many of  us have heard, or even laughed about, the foolhardy gallantry of the Polish officers who tried to defend themselves against the invading Nazi tanks with a charge on horseback?  But, as this recent piece in "The Guardian" points out, that story is a myth, propagated first by the occupying Germans, then by the occupying Soviets, then even by the Allies:

 

In fact, as the war historian and Times columnist Ben Macintyre recently wrote: "The Polish contribution to allied victory in the Second World War was extraordinary, perhaps even decisive, but for many years it was disgracefully played down, obscured by the politics of the Cold War."

Macintyre points out that one in 12 Battle of Britain pilots was a Pole, and some 250,000 Polish troops served with British forces, while a huge, largely forgotten role was also played by the Polish resistance.

The Home Army, as it was called, is thought to have been about 400,000-strong, and inflicted serious damage on German occupying forces throughout the war. The French resistance only grew to that size after D-Day, when the tide had already turned. But while the French were able to lead the liberation parade into Paris, the Polish Home Army and its memory were crushed by the country's new Soviet occupiers, with western acquiescence.

To appease Stalin, the Poles were not even invited to Britain's 1946 victory parade.

Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła!