Writing in an article published in the American edition of Newsweek magazine on Monday, Poland’s PM stated that “The fewer the witnesses of those events among us, the more fragile our memory about wartime, and the greater responsibility we have to care about the truth.”
‘Stakes are greater than ever’
“Yet the stakes of that responsibility are nowadays greater than ever in post-war history,” he underlined.
Morawiecki added that “Prewar Europe fell into the trap of World War II because, for years, it was unable to understand and appropriately evaluate the threats of two totalitarian ideologies.”
He went on to say: “Soviet communism and German Nazism were completely incomprehensible to contemporary elites. Nazism in particular, and the mass fascination with Hitler among the Germans, was unimaginable to the Europeans. For years, Germany remained a model of highly developed culture unsusceptible to mass madness.”
The Polish PM pointed out that “Hitler often tempted the Poles with an offer of cooperation in return for a status of a subjected country, but none of those proposals were accepted. Therefore, there could be only one decision for Germany to make: an invasion.”
‘Two totalitarian regimes wished to destroy Polish state’
“At the same time, Hitler had two worries. One was the reaction of the West to an attack on its Polish ally. The other was the reaction of the Soviet Union, which was officially hostile to the Third Reich, “ Morawiecki wrote.
The PM stressed that “Despite their many differences, the two totalitarian countries shared a wish to destroy the Polish state.”
Morawiecki further stated: “Facing the truth about World War II is our duty not only with respect to the past, but also with respect to the future. The fact that post-war Germany was incorporated into the international community so soon, without thorough prosecution of war criminals, opened the gate for the relativization of evil.”
The Polish PM argued: “Politics offers little space for moralising, but when it comes to assessing totalitarianism, we cannot have any doubts: this was absolute evil, and the perpetrators excluded themselves from human community for good.”
Morawiecki cautioned: “Nevertheless, there are voices increasingly willing to blame victims, too. From there, it is just one step to flipping history entirely on its head. With respect to Poland, this step was made by none other than Vladimir Putin.”
Avoiding mistakes of the past
The PM noted that “Eighty-three years ago, Poland was the first to refuse submission. It chose to be faithful to freedom, faithful to the founding values of Western civilisation. And it was betrayed by its allies.”
“If we recall this history it is not just to remember it but to avoid the same mistakes again,” Morawiecki concluded.
The Polish PM’s article was simultaneously published in the Polish monthly Wszystko Co Najważniejsze as part of a project carried out with Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and the Polish National Foundation (PFN).
(mk/pm)
Source: newsweek.com, wszystkoconajwazniejsze.pl