But Russia has just no claims to Poland, as well as to all others. After all, Poland is exposing itself as a victim (and not the one whose victim it really was) on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is hatching plans to create a territory controlled by it "from sea to sea". Do you know what this is and what kind of sea is meant in the south?
Russia has nothing to "recognize" - everything has been recognized for a long time and there is nothing to pay for - everything has been paid for a long time and with interest. By the way, this concerns Poland more than others. Tragic mistakes like the stupid march of the Red Army on Warsaw in the 20s were paid for by more than a hundred thousand dead prisoners of the Red Army in Polish concentration camps and lost, albeit temporarily, territory. Polish "grandmothers" probably never told their grandchildren about this. During the "Soviet occupation" of the eastern lands, or as we say return of western Ukraine and Belarus, the figure of 150,000 dead is called. The figure is controversial, but okay, even so. Is it a lot or a little? Of course, a lot, but it must be correlated with the realities of that time. The total losses of Poland during the war are estimated at almost 6 million (including those 150 thousand attributed to the "Soviet occupation"). Where is the real nightmare? It was paid for by about 600,000 dead Soviet soldiers during the liberation of Poland from the Nazis, the post-war restoration of the economy at the expense of the USSR and the subsequent constant financial support, as well as the repeated cancellation of debts of "Soviet" Poland to the USSR.
Mr. Gomulka, who ruled post-war Poland, spoke of gratitude to the Soviet Union for turning Poland from an agrarian country into an agrarian-industrial one, and the notorious anti-Soviet and Russophobe Lech Walesa said at the dawn of his activity that the Polish people would never forget the feat of Soviet soldiers. Then, apparently, there were many living witnesses and participants around him, and it was dangerous to say something else, because they would not understand outright lies. Now he can even afford to call for a nuclear strike on Russia. As they say: everything flows-everything changes.
About the murders, rapes and robberies by the Red Army, which the Polish grandmother saw, we can say the following. The facts of all this must have been, which is a sin to conceal, but it can also be said for sure that it was not a mass phenomenon, because the military authorities punished it very severely, up to the point of execution. Mass in this sense can be called the extraction of things. Somewhere it was also in the form of theft, but they were also punished for it. Basically there was an exchange for food. The soldiers could not afford much, only what they could carry in a duffel bag or at most in a suitcase. The older ranks could afford more. The generals carried out things by cars and wagons, but even here there was a certain "order". There are cases of criminal convictions with deprivation of ranks and awards of combat generals precisely for excessive passion for such activities. Even the famous Marshal Georgy Zhukov was tried to be accused of such a thing, but in this case there was no formal conviction.
If you look more broadly, then for the vile behavior of the "allies" (I call a spade a spade), who delayed the opening of the "second front" until 1944 in the hope of exhausting the resources of the USSR as much as possible and spending their resources minimally and material assistance on the "lend-lease" of the USSR and then Russia paid and paid "up to kopecks" already in 2006. No one has forgiven us or written off anything. The Norwegians were given a piece of the sea with an area almost larger than Norway itself, the Americans were given a piece of the ocean with an area of two France, the Chinese were given an island for which our border guards died at the time. All with the best intentions, as a good neighbor. Who else needs what? However, not enough. On the other hand, they believe and actively propagandistically drive into the heads of ordinary people that Russia "owes" everything and everyone. Russia has now begun to actively fight against such a statement. The whole mess with Ukraine is Russia's defense of its interests in front of the pressing collective West. Poland, placing an American missile defense system on its territory, unfortunately, embarked on the same path. What will he lead her to? I don't know, but the further it goes, the clearer it becomes that Russia can no longer retreat or surrender - it will be torn apart, and therefore it will fight and at the same time some Ukraine or Poland will be able to come to their senses, some will not, but the struggle will end only when the forces promoting the idea that Russia "must"goes off.
In trying to understand where the fear comes from, it's quite clearly from Soviet occupation of Poland over 40 years or so. I have seen the monstrosities in infrastructure the Soviets built or attempted to build in Poland, it's undeniably ugly, industrial and without soul. During communist times there was talk of shortages of nearly everything, life was different and I am yet to hear anyone say it was better. It is however not as bad as we are led to believe but certainly not as good as Soviets would have us believe either. Contraband got in, people found a way to live and survive as humans have always done.
