Thousands of Poles entered Great Britain immediately after WWII. On arrival, they were told by the British government never to discuss their experiences during the war with the British citizens; letters they wrote were censored. Meanwhile across the ocean, a bill endorsed by General Lee, Commanding General of American Forces in the Mediterranean was introduced in the U.S. Congress. The bill would have given special emigration rights to men General Lee referred to as “these gallant soldiers who can’t return to Poland.”
But the bill was quickly killed by Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Several years prior, the USS Hermitage arrived at a California port with over 700 Polish refugees on board; the arrival was kept secret. The refugees were not allowed to stay on American soil but quickly sent across the Mexican border. Who were these Poles?
Several weeks after Germany invaded Poland initiating World War II, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied the eastern half of Poland. The Soviet plan was to strip these lands of their identity and incorporate them into the Communist domain. The Soviet secret police systematically entered each Polish town and village and arrested anyone they thought would object to the new system. This included valuable members of society such as mayors, lawyers, policemen, bankers, priests, doctors, etc. The arrested were either killed or more frequently, exiled to Siberia.
Over one and a half million people were deported to Siberia and placed in labor camps where they were expected to perform slave labor until they died. This all changed when Germany invaded the Soviet Union; the Polish citizens were released to form an army that would fight the Nazis. In a tragic exodus, only several hundred thousand made it out alive. These survivors and their offspring are now scattered around the world.
It is incredible how few people know this history but this is no accident. A conscious decision was made by the Western powers to assign this history to oblivion. This history is also completely ignored by most Western historians, Norman Davies being a notable exception. Why would a story that involved the suffering of over one million individuals be first suppressed by the Western governments and then ignored by Western historians? Let them answer for themselves. But clearly the main reason was the fallacy that the Soviet Union was an ally of the West. How could an ally of Britain and the United States have committed atrocities such as the deportations to Siberia or the Katyn murders? How could the public be told this after the Western Allies had been calling the Soviets "our great Russian Allies?" It is incredible how few people, even historians, know of the existence of Anders' Army. The notable exceptions are the American, Canadian, Indian, Australian, and British World War II veterans who fought in Italy.
The truth of the Soviet monster became apparent to the public in Central and Western Europe as the Red Army made its way through Poland to Berlin and committed the biggest mass rape in history. The public of Britain and the United States would have to wait until the blockade of Berlin in 1948 to catch their first glimpse of the monster. What would the Western governments tell their public after the blockade of Berlin? Certainly they would not tell them that they ignored the Polish witnesses.
Copyright by Robert Ambros 2002. All rights reserved.