Before this the Polish-Soviet relations were icy. There was history of Polish-Soviet war in 1920-1 and in Poland new Soviet Russia had very bad image in which traditional anti-Russia feelings now accompanied with anti-Bolshevism. Red terror rampaged in Russia, and new Soviet country fell in almost total isolation... and then this weird-bird outcast country eventually was to find itÂ’s partner in another powerful country which felt humiliation, Germany. Then, after the Soviet invasion to East Poland in September of 1939 there was practically no contacts.
Nazi-Germany and Soviet Union both started to conduct anti-Polish policies (and anti-Jewish policies, I would say also by the Soviets since one out of every three persons deported from East Poland in 1939-41 was Jewish, of which many were refugees from the West, and, ironically, many of their lives were saved by being deported to the East by the NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del. – the powerful Soviet political police) so they never fell into the hands of Nazis), which included elimination of Polish intelligencia. Katyn is one example of this kind in which 20-thousand Polish reservist officers were shot to death by NKVD after their capitulation, crime that could have been done by the Nazis, as they did many, and as Soviet propaganda blamed after the Katyn findings in 1943, but which was done by Soviet hands; by doing Katyn killings they wanted to eliminate the potential leaders for opposition and resistance in the area. Case of Katyn remains as open wound in Polish-Russian relations till today.
Following to occupations, Polish government flew to France, and then to Britain, but also prominent Underground state was organized in Nazi occupied Poland (in Soviet occupied half the attempts to arrange this type of organization grew vain, largely cause of Poles made only one part of areas nationalities and, for example, Ukrainians and Belarusians had different objectives they wanted to achieve). The Polish Underground state was to come highly important source of information about Nazi plans for the Allies, it is said that 40% of all significant intelligence information that the Allied leadership received was gathered by Polish underground working in Poland risking their life.
Hitler’s attack on Soviet Union changed international situation and Stalin started to look for friends from countries and forces that opposed Hitler. In this point Anthony Eden, Foreign Secretary of Britain, persuaded Polish Prime Minister Wladyslaw Sikorski to open negotiations with Soviet Union. 5th of July 1941 Sikorski opened negotiations with Soviet Union’s ambassador in London, Ivan Maisky, and in 30th of same month agreement was signed. A further military alliance was signed soon in Moscow in 14th of August. Soviet Union agreed to declare previous pacts with Germany now null and void, however, one of the most painful issues for the Poles, Soviet occupation in Eastern part of the country in 1939-41, was out of the desk (although theoretically invalidated as part of German-Soviet treaties). Stalin granted “amnesty” to thousands of Poles who had been deported into the depths of Soviet Union, often to Kazakhstan, and released tens of thousands Polish POW’s from Soviet prison camps, thus was so-called Anders Army created under the command of Polish general Wladyslaw Anders, it was 40-thousand strong fighting force which first moved to Iran (with some significant amount, 70-thousand Polish civilians), then Iraq (now that Poland is one of the countries fighting in Bush’ Coalition in Iraq, some Iraqis still remembered Polish presence from World War II, and were having positive disposition towards Poles) and Palestine to fight alongside with Western Allies forces against German and Italian forces in Egypt and finally in Italy. Fate of some 20-thousand missing Polish officers remained still in shadows until 1943.
In January 1942 Polish Communist Party is formed, by parachute-dropping forces from the Soviet Union, Polish communists trained in Moscow, to join with local factions. They set up Krajowa Rada Narodowa, led by Boleslaw Bierut, which was nucleosis for the coming Communist government. Then when Red Army marched over Curzon-line in the July of 1944 they declared Communist government (so-called “Lublin Poland”). On 21th July Moscow radio announces the establishment of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN).
On first of August 1944 Polish Home Army starts uprising at Warsaw, as a part of nationwide rebellion “Operation Tempest” against German occupation. Result to this, Home Army liberated many towns and also significant part of Warsaw. Objectives for Home Army action were naturally the liberation of Polish areas from German control, but also they had planned to establish Polish governing on the liberated towns before the Red Army would come. In many places so was done, but Soviets simply didn’t respect this and Polish officials were arrested by the NKVD. What happened in Warsaw was that Red Army didn’t simply take action to help the rising Poles, even when it was standing in the other side of Vistula, stopped from Moscow, waiting the Poles 63-day fight to be over, then watching the Germans obtilerate the city, and only then marching in as “liberators”. Only small help was given from the Soviet side to the Poles in Warsaw during the rising when troops from Stalin’s Polish 2nd Army crossed Vistula only to meet with German machine-gunfire when they got across. More than this, Stalin did not agree to let Allied planes to land on Soviet controlled zone when trying to drop aids to the Poles in Warsaw, so the pilots had to operate from Italy and fly to Poland and back over hostile enemy-held territories. Members of Home Army were hunted and arrested by Soviet officials, who then were, in the best case, annexed to Polish Communist army, or in worst case killed, as was destiny for the Home Army command which fell into Soviet hands. After the war was over Poland was basically in state of civil war, which had only one way to end.
