Officials condemn 1939 Soviet-German pact that aimed to carve up Poland, Europe

Officials and historians have condemned a secret agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that more than eight decades ago opened the door to those countries invading Poland in 1939 and paved the way to the horrors of World War II.

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signs the infamous non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR in Moscow on Aug. 23, 1939. Standing (L-R): German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop; Soviet leader Josef Stalin; his interpreter Vladimir Pavlov; and the chief assistant to Ribbentrop, Friedrich Gauss.

Photo: Reproduction by Nikolai Akimov/TASS via PAP/ITAR-TASS

Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) noted on Wednesday that the day marked exactly 84 years since the communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a Treaty of Non-Aggression, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, that sought to divide Europe between the two totalitarian regimes.

#OTD in 1939 German Minister of Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop and his Soviet counterpart Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression pact and a secret protocol dividing Europe.

For Poland, it meant a double invasion and war.

For the world, it meant world war. pic.twitter.com/L8X07u2Dh5

— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) August 23, 2023

The Polish Prime Minister's Office said that August 23 is commemorated across the continent as European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.

#OTD in 1939, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact containing a protocol that enabled those powers to divide much of Europe and oppress the citizens of the conquered areas.

On #BlackRibbonDay we honour the victims of totalitarian regimes. pic.twitter.com/FkFMPe8Tjg

— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) August 23, 2023

The Polish foreign ministry in a tweet paid tribute to all "those who perished under the two most ruthless totalitarian regimes of the 20th century."

On August 23 we commemorate the #BlackRibbonDay.

It was set on the anniversary of the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Today, we honour those who perished under the two most ruthless totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. pic.twitter.com/ovfbW44pNY

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) August 23, 2023

The European Parliament in 2019 passed a resolution that recounted how World War II broke out more than eight decades ago and stressed that Poland was attacked by not only Nazi Germany, but also the USSR at the time, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

The resolution said that on August 23, 1939, “the communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a Treaty of Non-Aggression, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and its secret protocols, dividing Europe and the territories of independent states between the two totalitarian regimes and grouping them into spheres of interest, which paved the way for the outbreak of the Second World War.”

Condemning the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the resolution said that in its aftermath “Poland was invaded first by Hitler and two weeks later by Stalin – which stripped the country of its independence and was an unprecedented tragedy for the Polish people.”

The resolution adopted by MEPs in September 2019 also called on the European Commission to decisively counteract “efforts by the current Russian leadership to distort historical facts and whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime.”

It added that such attempts were “a dangerous component of the information war waged against democratic Europe that aims to divide Europe.”

The resolution was drawn up as the international community commemorated the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.

MFA statement on the anniversary of the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ⤵️https://t.co/uqFJfUPMlC

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) August 23, 2023

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP