GalleryPOLISH OFFICER EXPOSES TREACHERY
LIEUT. COLONEL Zigmund Berling,1 former chief of staff of the 5th Division of the Polish Army in the U.S.S.R., refused to take part in the evacuation of Polish armed forces to Persia. In an article appearing in "Free Poland" (May 5), published in Moscow, he exposes the true purposes of the Polish Government-in-Exile in forming this army:
"We were all overjoyed at the fact that finally there would be formed a democratic Polish army. . . . Unfortunately bitter disillusionment awaited us. The plans of the Polish Government in London regarding the organization of the Polish army in the U.S.S.R. were of an entirely different nature. When choosing the territory of the Middle Volga for the purpose (of training), General Anders in conversation with Polish officers expressed himself as follows:
"'I am highly satisfied since this territory as yet is distant enough from the front and military operations won't hinder us during the training period. And when the Red Army collapses under German blows, which will be no later than within a few months, we will be able to break through to Iran via the Caspian Sea. Since we will be the only armed power on this territory, we will be in a position to do as we please.'"
Lieut. Col. Berling further related how anti-Semitism and hatred for the Ukrainians and Byelorussians were systematically inculcated in the Polish armed forces, while sabotage and espionage against the U.S.S.R. were carried out by the Polish Government agents. A secret anti-Soviet organization was permitted to exist within the Polish army which carried out execution of Poles suspected of being friendly to the U.S.S.R.2
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| 1 | According to an A.A.P. press report dated London, May 14, 1943 (Sydney Morning Herald): "Moscow message states that Colonel Zigmund Berling, the commander of the Kosciusko Division of Polish troops now being formed in Russia, was Chief-of-Staff of the Polish Army in Russia, but disagreed with the Polish Command, and refused to go to the Near East. He is a graduate of the Polish General Staff Academy." The NKVD arrested Berling in 1939 in Vilna; Berling subsequently agreed to cooperate with the Soviets, joining the Red Army in 1943 and rising to commander of the (Soviet) Polish Army from July to October, 1944, at which point his forces suffered defeat with heavy losses at the Vistula and he was recalled to Moscow for officer training. Berling returned to Poland after the war to head the Academy of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, retiring in 1953. |
| 2 | As with all good propaganda, it almost seems plausible until it culminates in the outlandish. The Poles were also early victims of Soviets parroting German propaganda for their own purposes, e.g., German allegations of massive armament manufacture including poison gas. "Here is what the German Allgemeine Zeitung for Jan. 16th has to say on this subject. 'Poland’s war industry has a hundred factories which produce two-thirds of Poland’s military supplies. The other third, which is largely composed of heavy guns, big tanks, etc., Poland gets from abroad. Poland produces every month 18,000 rifles, 500 field guns, 20 heavy guns, 40 aeroplanes, 20,000,000 cartridges, 60,000 shells. The output of these factories may be increased five times that amount at a moment’s notice. Besides these, there are two large new poison gas plants built in 1930 at the city of Tarnoba. During 1929 Poland’s entire field artillery was replenished by 75 mm. French guns. At present there are 540 aeroplanes in Poland instead of 160 which she had in 1923.'" viz. Russia Today. |
Additional information
- Zigmund Berling, biography at Wikipedia (retrieved January 6, 2021)
