WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Embassy of Poland in the United States said on its Twitter account on Monday that thousands of people, including American military personnel stationed in Poland, took part in memorial runs across the country to honor anti-communist Polish resistance movements in the 1940's.
During the period of Nazi German occupation, the Polish Resistance maintained the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), which was loyal to the Polish government-in-exile. However, when the Red Army advanced into the country, the Armia Krajowa officially disbanded. However, may resistance forces saw the Soviets as a new wave of occupiers and continued to fight; in this respect they were different from German-backed anti-Soviet partisans in Ukraine. These resistance fighters became known as "cursed soldiers."
American military personnel stationed in #Poland also joined in the runs commemorating #CursedSoldiers. Thank you! @usarmyeurope pic.twitter.com/sw9Ycc3kwq
— Embassy of Poland US (@PolishEmbassyUS) February 27, 2017
"US Army Europe routinely support allies in commemorative events and Poland is an ally," the spokesperson explained.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, advised the US military in Poland to commemorate their allies under the anti-Hitler coalition who gave their lives to defeat the "brown plague" (fascism) instead of participating in such events. Zakharova also said the event was clearly anti-Russian; such events are often accompanied by anti-Russian scaremongering.
In the past decade, Russia has taken steps to distance itself from the Soviet Union's activities against Poland in World War Two; in April 2010, Vladimir Putin admitted that the crimes of Stalin's regime, such as the 1940 Katyn Massacre, could not be justified. However, Moscow has also stressed that the Soviet Union no longer exists, and that thousands of Russians gave their lives in the liberation of Poland from Nazi occupation in 1944 and 1945.
While the Soviets, for better or worse, envisioned (and helped establish) a communist Poland, Germany had intended to destroy the Polish nation completely, clearing it of ethnic Poles and repopulating it with German colonists within 10-20 years. Warsaw, however, in its telling of 20th century history, often chooses to paint Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia with the same broad brush-strokes. Last year Poland drafted plans for the elimination of 500 monuments across the country dedicated to the Red Army's liberation of the country.
