Libmonster ID: UK-1572
Author(s) of the publication: Ch. MADAYCHIK

The annual celebration of Victory Day over Fascism is firmly established in the national traditions of the socialist countries of Europe. Increasingly, the disparate images of their liberation and participation in achieving victory are combined into a single whole, determining the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union and the role of its associated forces in the anti-Hitler coalition. The victory over Hitler's Germany was a victory for the forces fighting for a new reality, hardened in the struggle against fascism. This combination of the national content of the holiday with its international essence is especially close to the Poles, whose progressive circles have long proclaimed the slogan "For our and your freedom".

The role of the anti-Fascist tradition in the recent history of Poland cannot be overestimated, just as it is impossible to forget about fascism. It is no accident that the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1975, when celebrating the 30th anniversary of the victory over fascism, paid so much attention in its decision on the fascist danger to the world, describing fascism as a shameful stain on the civilization of the twentieth century, which the international labor movement does not lose sight of for a moment.

While European socialist countries, including the GDR, strongly emphasize the commonality of their victory over German fascism, in the West, the memory of the struggle against it is becoming burdensome for some official circles, especially within the framework of NATO. If this period of history is already evaluated differently today, then in the coming years the ideological struggle on this issue will undoubtedly expand and strengthen interest in it.

The purpose of this article is to show what contribution and what efforts Poland was capable of - a country that was the first to fall victim to the armed aggression of fascism and the extermination policy of the third Reich.

Poland's contribution to victory is not limited to participation in the war. Even before the outbreak of World War II, when the threat of fascism arose, Poland participated in exposing the guise of fascism and in opposing it. The Communists were at the forefront of this struggle, but along with them, among the several thousand Poles who fought in the international brigades in Spain, there were also many Democrats. After the end of the Second World War, it was necessary to consolidate the achieved victory. The struggle did not end when the guns were silenced and the engines of planes and tanks were silenced. It was necessary to ensure the democratic development of those countries in which fascism had dominated for many years, and to prevent its revival. The blood and suffering of the Poles during the Second World War, their anti-fascist struggle gave them the right to participate in solving post-war issues concerning Germany. Poland actively participated in the actions of world public opinion aimed at the complete eradication of fascism in Europe, and subsequently-

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In the past, it has also been exposed on other continents; the Polish public has shown solidarity with the forces fighting against fascism. Having noted this aspect of the anti-fascist activities of the Poles, we will focus on Poland's contribution to the military victory .1
Considering the Polish contribution to the victory over fascism, it should be clarified that it was the contribution of a country captured by the third Reich through military aggression, a country that was occupied for more than five years and was subjected to the extermination policy of Hitlerism on a scale comparable only to their criminal actions in the occupied Soviet territories and in Yugoslavia.

In September 1939, Poland's defensive war was a rebuff to Hitler's aggressors. It can be compared to the defense of a number of other countries that were subsequently attacked, but what distinguishes this war is that it was the first warning for Europe not to give in to the illusion that Berlin is seeking to resolve ethnic issues. On the part of the Poles, it was , as G. Yablonsky 2 noted at the time, a just war.

In the autumn of 1938, that is, during the Munich agreement, the then Polish authorities, blinded by hatred of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, did not notice the magnitude of the danger, did not support the forces that warned about it. Moreover, they sent troops to capture Zaolzhye, which was considered a disputed territory after the end of the First World War. In the summer of 1939, Poland's situation was even more difficult, and the balance of power was particularly unfavorable, but even then the Polish government did not accept the offer of Soviet assistance.

After the September defeat, the participation of Poles in the international struggle against fascism resulted in the Resistance movement, in the first secret experiments of organizing resistance and struggle, as well as in the continuation of the struggle by those Poles who found themselves outside their country. The first of the governments that emerged in exile as a result of German aggression was the Polish Government. The first were the Polish emigrant military formations. In occupied Poland, dissatisfaction with the continuation of the previous policy by the emigrant authorities and their representation in the country was growing. The underground struggle gradually acquired the character of a struggle for both national and social liberation.

The armed struggle of the Polish Resistance movement against the invaders, which unfolded on the lands lying on the main strategic East - West axis, in unfavorable local conditions and with a very high concentration of the invader's armed forces on the territory of Poland, was an integral part of the war of the anti-Hitler coalition against the third Reich. This struggle was very significant in 1941-1942, when the fate of the war was being decided, but at that time, despite the efforts of the Polish Workers ' Party (PPR), it did not acquire the dimensions that were already possible at that time. First of all, this was caused by the tactics used by the forces of the London camp to wait for a favorable moment for armed action in the country, as well as limited material assistance from the Allies. Internal document of the Home Army entitled " Forms of Resistance in the Occupation-

1 In the most general terms, these problems are addressed in the following works: "Polski ruch robotniczy w okresie wojny i okupacji hitlerowskiej. Wrzesien 1939 - styczen 1945". Warszawa. 1964; "Wojna wyzwolencza narodu polskiego w latach 1939- 1945". Warszawa. 1966; Cz. Madajczyk. Polityka III Rzeszy w okupowanej Polsce. Tt. 1 - 2. Warszawa. 1970; "Encyklopedia II wojny swiatowej"". Warszawa. 1976.

2 "Polityczna i militarna rola antyfaszystowskiego ruchu oporu, walki podziemnej i dzialan partyzanckich w Europie w czasie II wojny swiatowej". Referat plenarny pod kierownictwem nauk. H. Jablonskiego. Warszawa. 1965.

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In January 1943, the report contained the following assessment of the years 1940-1942: "The strength and symptoms of the Resistance movement in Poland are generally weak and manifest in limited areas." It can be assumed that such a pessimistic conclusion followed, on the one hand, from such actions of the occupiers as the extermination of the Jewish population, the eviction of the inhabitants of Zamoyshchyna and the brutal terror, and on the other - from comparison with information about the scale of Resistance in other countries and its success.

The concept of "limited" struggle was for a long time not only an expression of the Home Army commander's negative attitude towards an armed uprising against the occupiers, which would give them the opportunity, under the pretext of retribution, to exterminate the Polish population on an even larger scale than before, but also of the increasingly hostile attitude of political circles associated with the London camp to the The USSR, especially after its breakup. For these circles, who were focused on the victory of the Western Allies and their solution of the question of the post-war image of Central Europe, who pinned hopes that Soviet troops smashing Hitler's armies would not reach Polish lands, and who shared the reactionary concept of "two enemies", helping the success of the Soviet offensive and accelerating the defeat of the Nazis in the east less unacceptable.

Only in 1943-1944. under the growing influence of the PPR, its activity and its combat experience, the anti-fascist struggle of the Poles unfolded on such a scale that it played a significant role in disrupting the activities of the rear of the German army in the East 3 . With the liberation of the Polish land and the creation of a new, popular power, the country was involved in the final military efforts of the Allies, involving serious human and material potential in them. Such a contribution to the final phase of the war would not have been possible without the creation by the Polish masses of their own armed forces. They consisted of the Ludowa Army in the country and the regular Polish Army in the USSR, and then of the Polish Army that emerged as a result of their unification, numbering several hundred thousand people. It could not have emerged so quickly and successfully operated, and its participation in the storming of Berlin would not have been possible without the material and personnel assistance of the Soviet Union.

Poland's participation in the final phase of World War II is determined by the number of divisions, armies, and the length of their combat path. Comparing it with the contribution of other countries, especially those that did not know the painful trials of occupation, has a significant drawback, because it does not take into account that an army of several hundred thousand people was able to put up a country with a population of a little more than 20 million people, of which 300 thousand soldiers and officers, once captured, remained in Germany; 2 million people, mostly young people, were taken to forced labor in the Reich; 150-200 thousand were forcibly mobilized into the Wehrmacht; 6 million people were physically destroyed.

The role of the Polish Communists in the defensive war of 1939 was limited to participating in the defense of the motherland with weapons in their hands. Later, in the underground and in exile, their participation was already more significant, organizing, and at the end of the war they became a driving force.

Poland's contribution to the victory over fascism can also be viewed from another point of view. After the events of the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. it once again took part, together with the leading forces of the continent, in giving a new look to Europe. If it was a century and a half ago, then bok participated

3 See Cz. Madajczyk. Wklad Polski do antyhitlerowskiego ruchu oporu. "Histo-ria Najnowsza Polski". Warszawa. 1960, str. 297.

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if the battle with Napoleon was lost, then this last one, carried out side by side with a country that played a decisive role in the defeat of fascism and at the same time, despite military losses, stood at the head of world progress, is recorded in the annals of history as victorious. The new borders, regardless of the fact that they were a return to the borders that once existed in the past, should first of all guarantee strong security in Europe, prevent the possibility of aggression in the future.

*

In September 1939, Germany threw 1850 thousand soldiers, over 2 thousand aircraft and 2,800 tanks against Poland. The Polish army numbered 900 - 950 thousand soldiers at that time, of which only 70% were located in the areas defined by the command's plans at the time of the beginning of the aggression. Poland fought in isolation. Although the Western Powers declared war on Germany, there was no Allied offensive to ease Poland's war situation. Meanwhile, the German command had a small force in the West - 44 divisions, mainly reserve ones. The Polish army put up a stubborn resistance, an example of which is primarily the defense of the coast. In total, there were about a thousand fights and battles, the largest of which took place on the Bzura river. The resistance of the Polish formations fighting in isolation lasted until October 5, 4 .

A characteristic feature of defensive warfare was the widespread and spontaneous participation of the civilian population .5 Such manifestations as the defense of the Polish Post Office in Gdansk, the defense of Gdynia by the Red Kosiniers, the participation of the population, especially the Warsaw Workers ' Brigade created on the initiative of the socialist and Communist forces, in the defense of the capital, as well as the struggle of the former Silesian and Greater Poland rebels, have taken a strong place in the pages of history.

The losses of the Polish army suffered during the five weeks of military operations amounted to 200 thousand killed and wounded, about 400 thousand prisoners, about 285 thousand internees. Five units of the navy managed to leave for Great Britain, and later they participated in military operations in the West.

The aggression of the third Reich ended with the military defeat of Poland and its occupation, and from a political point of view - the collapse of the policy of the so-called rehabilitation camp. September 1939 showed that the bourgeois system of government in Poland did not save it from the expansion of German imperialism. However, the" no " that the Polish people said to Hitler at that time had the meaning of interrupting their tactic of isolating individual victims of their aggression and enslaving them with impunity; it did not come to a new Munich, and the Second World War broke out.

Despite the defeat suffered, the Polish people retained the will to fight and waged it in the occupied country. The struggle continued, as the Nazi occupiers did not intend to limit the fight to the following points:-

4 The course of defensive actions is described in the documentary edition "Wojna obronna Polski". Warszawa. 1968, as well as in the works of: T. Kutrzeba. Bitwa nad Bzura. 9 - 22 wrzesnia 1939 r. Warszawa. 1957; A. Rzepniewski. Obrona Wybrzeza w 1939 r. Warszawa. 1964; M. Porwit. Komentarze do historii polskich dziatan obronnych 1939 roku. Cz. 1, 2. Warszawa. 1969 - 1973.

5 The struggle of the civilian population is dedicated to: R. Dubiel. Wrzesien 1939 na Slasku. Katowice. 1960; "Cywilna obrona Warszawy we wrzesniu 1939 г.". Warszawa. 1964; M. Malinowski. Geneza PPR. Warszawa. 1972.

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After the battle, front-line battles were replaced by a struggle with the population, which they wanted to disarm and eliminate as a nation.

The political camp associated with the Polish emigrant government and internally heterogeneous, striving for national liberation, intended to return the country to bourgeois forms of government, but emphasized its negative attitude towards the dictatorship. The programs of this camp did not give a chance to solve the key problems of internal life and, moreover, brought the solution of the Polish question in 1943 to a hopeless impasse.

The Polish Workers ' Party, which emerged at the beginning of 1942, was able to gain the position of a political force that decides the fate of the country, and to form a second main political trend primarily due to a deep understanding of the connection between the struggle for solving social problems and the struggle for national liberation. However, for this to happen, huge difficulties had to be overcome. They were created both by the conditions of occupation, the terrorist activities of the occupation authorities, and the hostile attitude of political organizations associated with the emigrant government in London. The creation of the PPR took place already in the context of the establishment of the power of the invaders, while other communist parties appeared earlier and began illegal activities either before the beginning of the occupation (in Czechoslovakia, the Communist Party was outlawed on December 27, 1939; in France, immediately after the outbreak of war), or from the moment of occupation (in the occupied territory of the USSR, in Yugoslavia). The attacks of the invaders, who in 1942 attacked the PPR, causing heavy damage to the asset in some places, did not, however, interrupt the struggle with the enemy, which was expressed in all the more frequent acts of response to the terror of the Nazis.

At the turn of 1942-1943, the existence of Poles as a nation was under greater threat than that of other occupied countries. Under these circumstances, the PPR turned to groups associated with the Polish government in London with a proposal to join forces to fight the invaders. The PPR, observing the mutual assistance agreement concluded by General Sikorski in August 1941 with the USSR, considered that the task of the Polish Resistance movement was self-defense and interaction with the Eastern Front, with the Soviet Army in the fight against the common enemy by using sabotage, sabotage and organizing a partisan movement. However, the PPR proposal submitted by V. Gomulka was rejected. Poland was one of the few countries that did not see a broad consolidation of anti-Hitler forces , 6 despite the fact that it was here that the danger was greatest. The calculations of the London camp to seize power after liberation and restore the pre-war borders, that is, to re-include millions of Ukrainians and Belarusians in the Polish state, predetermined their rejection of the proposal to create an all-Polish national front.

The PPR advocated a just solution of the Polish question when, as a result of the policy of the London camp and its leadership, most of them blinded by hatred of the USSR, it found itself in a seemingly hopeless impasse. With the participation of the Union of Polish Patriots, the PPR developed a new political line, based on the belief that Poland's security is linked to relations with the ally that bears the brunt of the struggle against Hitler's invasion and is its neighbor, that is, with the USSR. From him, Poland received support in resolving the territorial issue in the post-war period. In its struggle against fascism, the PPR linked it with this

6 This problem is addressed in the monograph A. Przygonskt. "Z zagadnien" strategii frontu narodowego PPR 1942-1945. Warszawa. 1976.

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The struggle is the need to insure the country against a repeat of the situation of 1939 by changing the socio-economic and political system. The PPR demanded absolute separation from the forces of national reaction (its merit was, in particular, that the concept of "fascist" was firmly established in Poland by the organization "National Armed Forces"), the elimination of all remnants of the rehabilitation regime. This was especially true of the April 1935 Constitution and the rehabilitation workers, who often held leading and even key positions in the emigrant camp.

The role that the PPR took on was truly historic .7 The path of rapprochement with true friends led through brotherhood in arms, through instilling in the public the idea that it was time to put aside prejudices, overcome complexes and start thinking in terms of political responsibility for the fate of Poland and the people. In the country that the Nazi occupiers wanted to turn into a cemetery, the concept of its new appearance was maturing. It was developed by the PPR, the organizer of those forces that after the war were called upon to carry out the task of rebuilding the state and the socio - economic structure of the country with the participation of the front of left socialist groups and the left wing of the peasant movement. The paradox of history is that the youngest party that emerged in the country was destined to take on the greatest burden of tasks that might have seemed impossible to solve. These included the intensification of the armed struggle, the development of a new political concept, a new definition of Polish state interests, the involvement of the population of the liberated areas in the struggle against the invaders, and the preparation and implementation of the largest migration movements in the history of Poland - all in the course of a sharp class struggle.

During the war and occupation, more than 300 different political and military groups and organizations, including more than half a million Poles, carried out underground activities; more than 100 thousand Poles fought in the partisan ranks at home and abroad .8 Ludov's army fielded 14 brigades, 13 battalions, and about 200 smaller detachments. Khlopske battalions - 72 detachments. In the ranks of the Ludova Guard, the Ludova Army, 6,500 Soviet citizens fought, and in other detachments another 1,500. They were mostly prisoners who had escaped from Nazi concentration camps. By organizing a mass partisan movement in Poland, the PPR based it on the principles of national unity and international solidarity of anti-fascist forces.

The armed struggle on the territory of occupied Poland included attacks on the invaders ' vehicles (at least a thousand actions), on their administration and economic institutions (up to several thousand actions), and hundreds of various clashes and fights. Among them, special attention should be paid to the protection of residents of Zamoyshchyna from eviction by several underground organizations, 9 and the Warsaw Uprising. The first of them, which was received with dissatisfaction by the emigrant government, although it did not have a decisive impact on stopping the evictions, still had a restraining effect on their course. Later, in 1944, the action "Storm" taken by the Home Army with the help of military means directed against the Nazi occupiers was intended to ensure the realization of the political goals of the emigrant movement.

7 См. "Ksztaltowanie sie podstaw programowych Polskiej Partii Robotniczej w latach 1942 - 1945". Warszawa. 1958. In addition, see works about the journalism of the PPR and the Union of Polish Patriots, about the activities of the PPR and the actions of the Ludowa Guard-Ludowa Army in various areas.

8 For more information, see E. Duraczynski. Wojna i okupacja. Wrzesien 1939-kwiecien 1943. Warszawa. 1974.

9 See the publication "Zamojszczyzna-SS Sonderlaboratorium". Warszawa. 1976.

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governments that are very dangerous for the cause of cooperation of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, and give him the opportunity to take power in the eastern lands of the former Polish state. After the "Storm" campaign failed, an uprising was launched in Warsaw 10 . The decision of the Home Army high Command to start it without an agreement on this issue with the Soviet command was aimed at creating in Warsaw (by withdrawing from the underground apparatus operating there) another center of power, opposing the Polish Committee of National Liberation. The uprising, planned as a short-term action, as a result of the suspension of the Soviet offensive as a result of sudden counterattacks by the German-fascist troops, turned into a struggle of more than two months for the population of Warsaw against the return to a state of captivity, into a fierce confrontation with the hated Hitlerite invaders. Soldiers of the 1st Army of the People's Army of Poland tried to help the rebels, but they were unable to overcome the German defenses. Although the rebels inflicted significant damage to the Nazis in manpower (12-15 thousand people), the uprising led to serious losses on the Polish side (150-200 thousand people) and the barbaric destruction of the city.

Along with the armed struggle, work was carried out to strengthen the morale of the population and its resistance to the attacks of the invaders. An important role in this was played by the underground press, the system of secret school and university education, non-compliance with the orders of the occupation authorities, and economic sabotage. Cultural values and national monuments were also protected 11 . In the sphere of political resistance to the invaders in 1944, one should also take into account the activities of the underground Narodov Rada, organized by the PPR and the Home Rada Narodova, which emerged on the night of January 1, 1944. B. Berut took over the management of it.

There have long been some discrepancies among historians dealing with the Second World War in their assessment of the significance of the Resistance movement's activities during the war. This is not the place for discussion. It can only be argued that the contribution of the Resistance movement to the military victory over fascism was not decisive, but that it played a huge role in shaping the mood of the population during the occupation period and was a certain support for the front. This was also the case in Poland. There are many indications that without this assistance, the war would undoubtedly have lasted longer.

Many Poles participated in the Resistance movement of other nations. These were people from among the Poles who lived on the territory of the Soviet Union12, in the Balkans and in Western Europe, from those who fled from aggression, from captivity or imprisonment, from the Wehrmacht, being forcibly mobilized into it, despite their Polish origin. In the French Resistance movement in mid-1944, there were about 35 thousand Poles, of which about 20 thousand, who were politically subordinate to the Polish Committee for National Liberation in France, were in the ranks of the French Internal Armed Forces (FFI) and the patriotic militia, and about 15 thousand in the units of the Polish Organization for the Struggle for Independence, which under the leadership of-

10 For the circumstances of the beginning of the uprising, see the monograph A. Skarzynski. Polityczne przyczyny powstania warszawskiego. Warszawa. 1969; for the participation of the Ludowa Guard-Ludowa Army, see A. Przygonski. Op. cit.; for the course of the uprising, see J. Kirchmayer. Powstanie warszawskie. Warszawa. 1964; A. Borkiewicz. Powstanie warszawskie. 1944. Zaris dzialan natury wojskowej. Warszawa, 1967; for the situation of the civilian population, see Ludnosc cywilna w powstaniu warszaw-skim. Warszawa. 1974.

11 "Walka o dobra kultury". Tt. 1-2. Warszawa. 1972.

12 M. Juchniewicz. Polacy w radzieckim ruchu partyzanckim. Warszawa. 1975.

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repaired to the emigrant government 13 . G. Jablonski was active in the socialist underground in France, and E. Gerek was active in the communist underground in Belgium. Polish left-wing organizations operating in the occupied Soviet territory were most often associated with the Soviet underground and partisan movement led by the VKD(b). It is believed that about 12 thousand partisans of Polish nationality fought in this territory in the ranks of the Soviet partisan movement. In Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, and the Vilna region, a resistance movement linked to the Polish emigrant government has also developed. At the end of the war, this direction covered not only the extensive Home Army conspiracy network, but also partisan detachments. Poles living in the occupied territories of Latvia and Estonia also fought the invaders.

In Germany, Poles either formed their own organizations (for example, the Polish Underground Organization), or were part of German international underground anti-fascist groups (Sphinx), engaged in sabotage at workplaces, undertook small sabotage and conducted intelligence activities. More significant acts were committed on the territory of the third Reich by sabotage groups of the Home Army, in particular in 1942 they carried out bomb explosions at two railway stations in Berlin.

Polish citizens also joined the resistance movement organized in concentration camps. They were particularly active in Auschwitz, Majdanek, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen, Dachau and Treblinka. The most famous was the international organization of Resistance in Auschwitz - Brzezinke, in which Yuri Tsirankevich played a significant role. It emerged after the unification of the camp resistance movement into the Auschwitz battle group. In some concentration camps, there were armed actions of prisoners, for example, the sonderkommando mutiny at Auschwitz or the group escape of prisoners from Treblinka. Since 1942, the truth about the Belzec and Auschwitz camps reached the Polish population not only orally and through the underground anti-fascist press, but also through special illegal publications.

Soon after the occupation of Poland, the government that had emerged in exile began to create a Polish army there. It was the embryo of the Polish Armed Forces in the West (PVA), through which about 300 thousand soldiers passed during the war. The concept of using PVA in the West was closely linked to the aspirations of the emigrant government to restore the independence of Poland within the pre-war borders in the east and to expand it territorially in the north and west, a capitalist Poland closely associated with Western powers. Regardless of the political goals of their command and the emigrant government, the soldiers of this army, participating in the fighting of the allied armies on the Norwegian, western, North African and Italian fronts, fought primarily for the liberation of their native country, for the victory over fascism. Of the Polish commanders - in-chief - Generals V. Sikorsky, K. Sosnkovsky and T. Bur-Komorowski-only the second believed in a third World War, in which the Anglo-Saxons would fight the Soviet Union. But the course of events dashed his hopes, as well as the aspirations of some other reactionary politicians and military personnel.

Formed in France, the Polish army, numbering 70-80 thousand people, took part in battles with the advancing Nazi troops, and before that - in the defense of Norway 14 . After the military

13 J. Zamojski. Polacy w ruchu oporu we Francji. 1940 - 1945. Wroclaw, Л975.

14 W. Bieganski. Wojsko Polskie we Francji. "Warszawa, 1967.

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in France, only 15 thousand of them survived, who were evacuated to the UK, where together with the PVS there were 28 thousand people. Until mid-1941, these were cadre detachments (there were 3 to 4 soldiers per officer), and there were no sources of new recruits to them. After the attack of the third Reich on the Soviet Union and the conclusion of the treaty between Poland and the USSR, signed by Sikorsky and I. M. Maisky, most of the replenishment of the personnel of this army was recruited on Soviet territory. On August 14, a military agreement was signed, according to which the formation of the 100-thousandth Polish Army under the command of General W. Anders began in the USSR. At the suggestion of England and under the pressure of Anders, 75 thousand personnel of this army in March and August 1942 were withdrawn from the USSR to the Middle East and subordinated to the British command as the Polish Army in the East. This was the loss of the chance for a part of the Polish armed forces to participate in battles side by side with the Soviet Army precisely when the military situation of the ally (USSR) most required such participation .15 This was a departure from the shortest route to Poland, away from the places where the Polish population gathered, which made it possible to further replenish the army. Military historians note that the units deployed to the Middle East ended up in a secondary theater of operations and could not play a role commensurate with their strength.

The Air Defense Forces were deployed only in the last year of the war, being replenished at that time at the expense of captured Wehrmacht soldiers forcibly mobilized in the occupied Polish territory, as well as the Polish population of other countries.

In addition to the aforementioned defensive battles in France and Norway, the PVS soldiers took part in the air battle for England, writing glorious pages in it, in battles in Africa, Italy, and after the Allied landings in France, in battles in the West. Losses in killed, wounded and missing persons amounted to about 10%, the personnel of the PVS at the end of the war reached 195,000 soldiers, of which 85,000 fought on the fronts. In Italy, the 2nd Polish Corps participated in heavy battles, including at Monte Cassino, 16, the 1st Panzer Division 17 went through France and Belgium to Germany, and the 1st separate airborne brigade operated in Holland. Polish aviation in the West, numbering about 10 thousand soldiers, made a total of 85 thousand sorties, shot down and damaged about 1 thousand enemy aircraft, sank or damaged about 200 different floating units. Polish-flagged warships participated in combat operations in the Atlantic Ocean, the North, Norwegian and Mediterranean Seas, and in major amphibious operations in Africa and Normandy; seven of them sank 18 . The costs associated with equipping and arming the PVS in the West in the amount of 76 million pounds were covered by Great Britain.

Of fundamental importance for determining the contribution of Poland to the victory over fascism are the military actions of the Polish People's Army, formed in the USSR on the initiative of the Polish communists and Democrats who were there .19 I started it in May

15 W. Kowalski. Wielka koalicja 1941 - 1945. Tt. 1 - 3. Warszawa. 1972 - 1977.

16 W. Iwanowski. Bitwa о Monte Cassino. "Wojskowy Przeglgd Historyczny". 1958, NN 3, 4.

17 F. Skibinski. Pierwsza pancerna. Warszawa. 1959.

18 J. Pertek. Wielkie dni malej floty. Poznaii. 1967.

19 See, in particular,"Ludowe Wojsko Polskie". Tt.1-3, and "Szlak bojowy Ludowego Wojska Polskiego". Warszawa. 1953; F. Zbiniewicz. Armia Polska w ZSRR. Studia riad problematyka. pracy politycznej. Warszawa. 1963; "Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. 1943 - 194,5". Warszawa. 1974.

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1943 1st Infantry Division named after T. Kosciuszko. It entered combat on the main front of World War II. The Battle of Lenino marked a turning point in Polish-Soviet relations. Then came the 1st Corps, and then the Polish Army.

Revived in July 1944 thanks to the liberation mission of the Soviet Army, the Polish state immediately entered the war with Germany, which followed from the fact that there was a state of war between them since September 1, 1939 and from the declaration of the PCNO on Poland's participation in the anti-Hitler coalition. The liberation of the rest of the Polish territory from the invaders was a condition for the restoration of independence and further normal development of the country. In 1944-1945, three combined - arms operational formations were organized on the basis of the decree of the Home Rada of Narodova (July 21, 1944) on the unification of the Polish Army in the USSR with the Ludova Army, which operated underground, and the creation of a single Polish Army. Organizationally, it was subordinated to the Main command of the Polish Army, and operationally to the commanders of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts. It was the second army of a new type in Europe, the organ of the Polish People's State. Its commander was General M. Rolja-Zymerski, who was awarded the rank of Marshal of Poland on May 3, 1945. Among the leading leaders of the army were Generals 3. Berling and K. Sverchevsky, and the deputy commander of the 1st Army of the Polish Army was P. Yaroshevich. The Polish army adopted the progressive and revolutionary, patriotic and internationalist traditions of the people; its ideological leader was the PPR.

The command of the Polish Army planned to create a Polish front consisting of three armies. Two of them started being created after 1.5 months. Various difficulties made it impossible to form them in a timely manner, and consequently to create an independent front. At the end of the war, the Polish People's Army numbered about 400 thousand soldiers, of which almost half were in the Active Army. It took part in the liberation of the occupied country20, and then fought on the territory of the Third Reich21 . The culmination of his military actions was his participation in the final defeat of Hitler's army and the storming of Berlin, as well as in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. In the final period of the war, the Polish Army took part in the operations and battles of the winter-spring campaign on the Eastern Front. In the Berlin operation, the final stage of which was the storming of Berlin, the main forces of the Polish Army, numbering 185 thousand people, participated. Of the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition, only the Polish Army took part in the storming of the capital of the third Reich side by side with the Soviet Army. Parts of the Polish Army (including the 1st Infantry Division named after T. Kosciuszko) numbered 12,500 people .22
The operations and battles in which the Polish Army participated represented a real contribution of the young people's state to the common cause of defeating German fascism and at the same time participating in the liberation of the motherland from occupation and the elimination of Nazism from the eastern and northern regions of the Reich that became part of the Polish state. These great tasks were carried out in close alliance with the Soviet Army, relying on its help in forming and equipping Polish units with weapons and equipment. Total cost of material support

20 For more information, see K. Sobczak. Wyzwolenie Warszawy Warszawa. 1964.

21 E. Jadziak. Wyzwolenie Pomorza. Dzialania 1 Armii Wojska Polskiego w ope-racji pomorskiej Armii Radzieckiej. Warszawa. 1962.

22 Z. Stapo R. Bitwa about Berlin 1 Armii WP. IV-V. 1945. Tt. 1 - 2. Warszawa. 1973.

page 52

The Soviet Union's assistance to the Polish Army reached 724 million rubles and was written off in 1946. Personnel assistance covered the deployment of almost 17,000 officers (including 36 generals) to the Polish Army, among whom there were only 3,510 Poles. In March 1945, Soviet officers made up 53% of the total officers of the Polish Army. In addition, during the final period of the war, about 13,000 Soviet junior commanders and specialists served in the Polish Army .23
At the final stage of the war, about 600 thousand Polish soldiers participated in the fight against fascism in Poland and in emigration, that is, 2/3 of the personnel of the army with which Poland entered the war. If we take into account biological losses, expulsions from the country, the number of people who were captured, the size of disability, then the amount of recruitment in the army was the same as in pre-war Poland. In total, 1,500 thousand soldiers were on the fronts, and 600 thousand people were in the ranks of underground organizations and partisan detachments. From the point of view of the size of the involvement of its military forces in the battle against fascism, Poland was immediately behind the great powers. The fact that Poland was a founding member of the United Nations was a sign of recognition of the Polish contribution to the victory over fascism.

Along with the military, we should also take into account the economic contribution of Poland to the victory over fascism. At the end of the war (July 1944 - May 1945), the Polish lands played an important role as a rear area for Soviet and Polish troops advancing to the west. The economic efforts of the People's Poland at that time were focused on supplying the Polish Army, helping the partisan movement in the fascist rear, and on supplying the Soviet Army-. In the second half of 1944, about 2/3 of the country's budget was allocated to the needs of the defense Ministry. Along with financial resources, a significant role was played by food supplies, the size of which could not be calculated, the production of military products by factories, and transport services. In general, Poland's economic efforts were enormous, reaching the limits of the country's economic organism, exhausted by the occupation and looting of the retreating enemy.

Polish-Soviet economic problems were regulated by the agreement between the Government of the USSR and the PCNO of August 4, 1944. After the end of the war, both sides made settlements on Polish supplies for the maintenance of the Soviet Army.

Polish researchers also consider Poland's participation in the solution of the German question as a contribution to the victory over fascism. As a member of the anti-Hitler coalition, she influenced the solution of territorial problems (the return of the northern and western lands to Poland), supported the demands for complete demilitarization, broad denazification and democratization of Germany.?

23 "Braterstwo broni". Warszawa. 1975.

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