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The reparations for Poland has been ongoing since the end of WW2, however since Poland went into the Iron Curtain, the reparations they did receive were given t

The reparations for Poland has been ongoing since the end of WW2, however since Poland went into the Iron Curtain, the reparations they did receive were given to the soviet union, who didn't provide them to Poland. And by now the memory of the 6 million dead Polish is distant or non-existent.

SapporoChris 4y ago
I was in Poland for eight months recently. I saw evidence all around that they very well remember their holocaust. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Poland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Poland There are plenty of crowded museums with long lines of people waiting to get in. There are plenty of monuments, and there is plenty of anger. However, please enlighten me. I would be interested in evidence of a distant or non-existent memory of 6 million dead Polish.
- 988747 4y ago
  I think they meant "in the West". Which makes sense: US and UK sold us to Stalin in Jalta, so they had to wipe the memory of Polish participation in WWII (or at least downplay it), so their societies could feel good about themselves.
  - jll29 4y ago
    Having lived in the UK for many years, the Polish contribution to winning WWII are not publicly acknowledged enough. For example, I have not heard mention of the Polish fighter pilots that helped the UK on (radio reports of) memorial occasions, and they are not officially invited. The one place where this was rectified is Bletchley Park, which after a major refurbishment/re-design now features a statue of codebreaking pioneer Marian Adam Rejewski - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Rejewski https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Rejewski It is unfortunate that the reparations paid to the USSR were not actually used to Poland's benefit; however, that is the USSR's fault, not Germany's, and many Poles acknowledge that. The present government had strong support by conservatives and by anti-communist people because they promised to rid public offices from leftover communists or their puppets (which - true to their word - they did, but in a very bad, anti-democratic way, which ended up breaking more glass than they could have saved). This past support is eroding, but going back to the previous, "communists & puppets" won't solve anything either... It is regretful that Poland's location in between two much larger, powerful countries made its people suffer as a "buffer zone" of sorts. Of course geography itself doesn't harm people, but people get harmed because of geography.

SapporoChris 4y ago

I was in Poland for eight months recently. I saw evidence all around that they very well remember their holocaust. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Poland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Poland There are plenty of crowded museums with long lines of people waiting to get in. There are plenty of monuments, and there is plenty of anger. However, please enlighten me. I would be interested in evidence of a distant or non-existent memory of 6 million dead Polish.

988747 4y ago
I think they meant "in the West". Which makes sense: US and UK sold us to Stalin in Jalta, so they had to wipe the memory of Polish participation in WWII (or at least downplay it), so their societies could feel good about themselves.
- jll29 4y ago
  Having lived in the UK for many years, the Polish contribution to winning WWII are not publicly acknowledged enough. For example, I have not heard mention of the Polish fighter pilots that helped the UK on (radio reports of) memorial occasions, and they are not officially invited. The one place where this was rectified is Bletchley Park, which after a major refurbishment/re-design now features a statue of codebreaking pioneer Marian Adam Rejewski - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Rejewski https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Rejewski It is unfortunate that the reparations paid to the USSR were not actually used to Poland's benefit; however, that is the USSR's fault, not Germany's, and many Poles acknowledge that. The present government had strong support by conservatives and by anti-communist people because they promised to rid public offices from leftover communists or their puppets (which - true to their word - they did, but in a very bad, anti-democratic way, which ended up breaking more glass than they could have saved). This past support is eroding, but going back to the previous, "communists & puppets" won't solve anything either... It is regretful that Poland's location in between two much larger, powerful countries made its people suffer as a "buffer zone" of sorts. Of course geography itself doesn't harm people, but people get harmed because of geography.