The Rape of Poland: Pattern of Soviet Aggression

by Stanislaw Mikolajczyk

This is a new release of the original 1948 edition.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Poland

334 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 1972

Reviews

[Leszek Strzelecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who spent his first 30 years of life in the communist Poland it goes without saying that the history of this country, particularly its recent past, is one of the most important subjects to study and understand. Arguably, the most dramatic, turbulent, periods in that history are the years of the Nazi occupation (1939-1945) and the immediately following the end of World War II years of the Communist takeover (1945-1956).

The author, Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, was a very prominent player in the political events shaping the fate of Poland in those years. Already one of the leaders of the Polish People's Party (PSL) in the pre-war years, following the defeat of Poland in September 1939 he managed to make his way to France and was immediately asked to join the Polish government in exile (led by General Wladyslaw Sikorski). In 1941 he was appointed Minister of the Interior and became Deputy Prime Minister. After the tragic death of Sikorski in the airplane crash in June 1943 (Gibraltar), Mikolajczyk himself became the Prime Minister of the London Government.

Poland was liberated not by the Western Allies, as Poles had hoped, but by the Soviet Red Army which in September 1939 itself invaded and occupied eastern half of the country. Stalin had no intent to accept the legal and internationally recognized London based government. He intended to install a communist government filled with his own appointed people (the so called "Lublin Poles", many of whom were NKVD agents). Furthermore, Stalin wanted to incorporate into the Soviet Union eastern territories of Poland he captured in 1939, nearly half of the prewar Polish territory.

Facing pressure from Roosevelt and Churchill, Stalin agreed to form a coalition provisional government with participation of Mikolajczyk as one of the deputy prime ministers. After he resigned from the London Government, Mikolajczyk returned to Poland to take part in this newly formed government. While unsuccessful in his government capacity in Poland (he was, after all, in the minority), Mikolajczyk nevertheless managed to revive his People's Party and enjoyed broad support of the vast majority of ordinary Poles. This of course did not sit well with the Communists who resorted to policy of massive terror to gain the upper hand. All activists of the People's Party were persecuted, thousands of them were arrested, many simply murdered, and others imprisoned, thus stripping the only independent party of its leaders. Knowing that the Communists stood no chance of winning truly free elections they falsified the voting results, first of the Referendum, later of the parliamentary elections (censorship as well as staffing electoral committees with own agents helped tremendously in this effort). Aware of this patent fraud and facing immediate arrest Mikolajczyk left the country in April 1948. He could do no more.

From the above it is easy to see that his account is of tremendous interest to understanding this particular chapter of Poland's history. The extraordinary value of this book thus lies in the fact that Mikolajczyk gives here a first-hand eyewitness account of what was happening on the political arena during his tenure as the prime minister of Polish Government in Exile as well as during his time in Poland in the period shortly after the war.

There are two parts to this book, as I see it. First, the time when he was active in London as the head of Polish government; the second, the time when he tried to defend democracy and rule of law during the formation of a new regime in Poland.

This is not exactly a history work, this is his personal take on what he had done, what he saw and how he interpreted events relative to the fate of Poland after the war. And his case is very unsettling. He is very critical about the politics practiced by the Allies towards The Soviet Union in regard to "Polish Question". He labeled it as a policy of appeasement. From the point of view of Polish interests this was indeed a blanket sellout. Churchill frequently complained that Poles were not reasonable enough under the circumstances, took a much too rigid stand towards Soviet demands thus jeopardizing Soviet cooperation. But from his perspective what could have he done? Remain silent about the Katyn murder, clearly perpetrated by the Soviets? Gladly accept cessation of nearly half the Polish territory to Stalin, even if compensated with the gains in the West from previously German provinces? What about continuing persecution of all who did not unconditionally accept the Communist rule in Poland, what about the continuing presence of the Soviet army and NKVD in Poland? What about massive arrests, imprisonments and brutal murders of the Home Army veterans and members of his own, officially recognized party? He gives a damning account of many events, citing specific instances, dates, names, circumstances.

In addition to being a first hand, eyewitness account of events, including his many direct talks with Churchill, Eden, Roosevelt, Stalin himself, Molotov, then with all so called "Lublin Poles", Bierut Gomulka, Osobka-Morawski and others and including (as already mentioned) detailed accounts of many atrocities, this book is very well written. The narrative is crisp, fast paced and very to the point. It captures attention of the reader to the point it is difficult to set the book aside. There are many very touching moments, for instance when he reminisces his thoughts when flying over Poland en-route to Moscow to meet with Stalin, his deputies, "Lublin Poles" and the Western Allies to negotiate the formation of the provisional government. There are some lighter moments as well, funny in themselves, like when the Communist agitators staged a demonstration against him displaying big banners with photographs of Mikolajczyk in the company of Winston Churchill. This was supposed to spark outrage that he was a traitor selling Poland out to the imperialists, except - what the Communists didn't realize - that Churchill enjoyed great popularity among ordinary Poles and in lieu of outrage and condemnation, the crowds cheered Mikolajczyk enthusiastically.

There are a fair number of newer works (this book was first published in 1948) that deal with this important chapter of Polish history - most notably Anne Applebaum's: "Iron Curtain, The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956". They are perhaps more comprehensive, containing larger factual material, more objective but - again - the special value of this book is that this is in "first person", an eyewitness account of what this man had experienced, what he had done and what he had been thinking. For any reader genuinely interested in the fate of Poland during, and especially, after the Second World War this is a must reading.

[Maria Hoysick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title alone already tells you how Mikolajczyk feels about the USSR. It might not be the most objective history, but it’s a fascinating read from a first person perspective of someone within Poland during the initial rise of communism.

[Joseph Washkevich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obscure book written by a prominent 20th Century Polish politician talking about the Allied Powers and their treatment of Poland throughout the Second World War. Mikolajczyk begins the book with a chapter describing VE Day as a lie and further describes Franklin Roosevelt’s empty promises about guaranteeing an independent Poland in spite of clear pro-Soviet bias in major conferences, the Soviets lying about the Katyn Massacre for two years, and Stalinist Bolshevism running roughshod over Poland following the war. Mikolajczyk also notes Churchill’s sorrow about essentially being shoved off to the side during major Allies conferences and the loss of Poland to Stalin; Mikolajczyk is no fan of Hitler, either, and likens Communism to “Red Fascism”.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prezes (Stanislaw Mikolajczyk) was my godfather's father so I have a personal connection to this book and this portion of Poland's history. It is always fascinating to read history written by a key player in creating that history. I believe that this book is by and large faithful to reality but the book does reveal the author's prejudices which are not pretty. He was rightfully angry when he wrote it but his expectations of what should have been and could have been are skewed by those prejudices. Nonetheless, Prezes was able to create a story (which is what history really is but rarely written as such) that is readable and enlightening.