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Exhibition sheds light on 1939 Soviet-German pact that sought to carve up Poland, Europe

30.08.2023 11:30
A new exhibition at the European Parliament in Brussels aims to shed light on 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.
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

The display, entitled Pact of Criminals and put together by Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), marks 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, according to officials.

Opening the exhibition in the Belgian capital earlier this week, Polish conservative MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski said that the August 23, 1939 agreement between the two totalitarian powers "was one of the most dangerous and shameful deals in the history of the world."

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

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 has 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.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, wszystkoconajwazniejsze.pl