Hello Michael: I am sorry for having been delayed, I genuinely had some matters that needed urgently dealing with.
Partly for length, and partly for time - This will be a 2 part reply to two specific issues you note (in Michael Meeropol Mar 19 #29557). This the first part, and the second part I likely can only do tomorrow. You write: "ME: I may have castigated the Soviets for massacring the Polish Officer Corps at Katyn but every one of their "steps" to move the front towards the west gave them some (though not much) time to resist the Nazi invasion --- so I'm not sure how my "castigation" showed up in previous writings ---- maybe I was too flip and criticized the Soviets for doing what I now believe (on reflection) was almost forced on them. I have always believed that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was a necessity once the west had so thoroughly betrayed Czechoslovakia ." On Katyn it does seem pretty clear (At least to me) that this was an extremely very well executed propaganda coup by the Germans. the Polish London representatives joined a major provocation launched by that Nazi arch-enemy of the truth - Joseph Goebbels. The mass graves interred ten thousand Polish officers. Nazi Germany claimed they had been murdered in February and March 1940, by the Soviets, before Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941. That this was intended as a frame-up by the German authorities and by Joseph Goebbels – is quite likely from his “Diary”: ““The Katyn incident is developing into a gigantic political affair which may have wide repercussions. We are exploiting it in every manner possible. So long as ten to twelve thousand Polish victims have sacrificed their lives anyway - probably not entirely without their fault, for they were the real instigators of this war - they might as well now serve to open the eyes of the peoples of Europe about Bolshevism.” Joseph Goebbels, “The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943”; Edited, Translated Louis P. Lochner; New York 1948; p.328; Most credible authorities, saw the German lie as an obvious attempt to divide the Allied forces. Many were therefore surprised when the Polish Government quickly echoed the German lies. The London Poles insisted upon an international investigation by the Red Cross. Their motives in doing so were to denigrate and weaken the USSR, to enable Polish claims to Ukraine and Byelorussia. Yet even in their statement to the press, April 17, 1943, the Polish Cabinet, referring to German crimes against Polish officers, among other things declared: “The Polish Government recalls such facts as: The removal of Polish officers from prisoner-of-war camps in the Reich and the subsequent shooting of them for political offences alleged to have been committed before the war; mass… “ arrests of reserve officers subsequently deported to concentration camps, to die a slow death. From Cracow and the neighbouring district alone 6,000 were deported in June 1942.” The Times, January 15th, 1943; Cited W.P and Zelda K. Coates; “Six Centuries of Russo-Polish Relations”; London 1948, p.151 Despite this the Polish Government-in-exile completely bought into the Goebbels lie. Goebbels commented on April 17, 1943: “In the evening a Globe Reuter report reached us containing a declaration by the Polish Government-in-exile. This declaration changes the whole Katyn affair fundamentally in that the Polish Government-in-exile now demands that the International Red Cross take part in the investigation. That suits us perfectly. I immediately contacted the Fuehrer, who gave me permission to send a telegram to the International Red Cross, requesting it to collaborate to the greatest extent possible in identifying the corpses. This telegram is signed by the Duke of Coburg and Gotha, whose name is well known in England and who has many family connections there. In that way, in my opinion, something has been started the repercussions of which we simply can’t imagine as yet. [Duke Charles Edward of Coburg-Gotha was a grandson of Queen Victoria of England and father-in-law of the Swedish Crown Prince's son.]” Joseph Goebbels, “Ibid; p. 332 On 30th April 1943, Churchill wrote in reply to Stalin, defending Sikorski as a “helpful man.. for the purposes of the common cause”: “Mr. Eden and I have pointed out to the Polish Government that no resumption of friendly or working relations with the Soviets is possible while they make charges of an insulting character against the Soviet Government and thus seem to countenance the atrocious Nazi propaganda. Still more would it be impossible for any of us to tolerate inquiries by the International Red Cross held under Nazi auspices and dominated by Nazi terrorism…. So far this business has been Goebbels' triumph." Churchill to Stalin, 30th April, 1943; Message No.154; at https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/correspondence/01/43.htm The graves were supposed to date from the period in 1940 when the Smolensk region had been administered by the USSR. The significance therefore of the finding of German munitions, bullets and spent cartridges in the graves – was not lost on Goebbels: “Unfortunately German munitions were found in the graves of Katyn. The question of how they got there needs clarification. It is either a case of munitions sold by us during the period of our friendly arrangement with the Soviet Russians, or of the Soviets themselves throwing these munitions into the graves. In any case it is essential that this incident be kept top secret. If it were to come to the knowledge of the enemy the whole Katyn affair would have to be dropped.” The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943”; Ibid; p.354 By September 23, 1943 Goebbels was getting more anxious as: “Unfortunately we (i.e Nazi Germany) have had to give up Katyn. The Bolsheviks undoubtedly will soon “find" that we shot the 12,000 Polish officers. That episode is one that is going to cause us quite a little trouble in the future. The Soviets are undoubtedly going to make it their business to discover as many mass graves as possible and then blame them on us.” The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943”; Ibid; p.487 There is of course a very bitter controversy around the details of this massacre. Most of the forensic details of the munitions finds, and insgnia of the officers clothings etc; and their significance (which hinges on timing of the deaths) can be found at Grover Furr, “The Mystery of the Katyn Massacre: The Evidence, The Solution“; Ohio 2018. An attempt at a point-by-point rebutal is to to be found at Sergey Romanov; “Debunking Grover Furr's Katyn screed”; February 14, 2023; https://holocaustcontroversies.blogspot.com/2023/02/debunking-grover-furrs-katyn-screed.html Sorry Michael but I will return to the other question in this note likely tomorrow. Cheers Hari -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29621): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29621 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/105034294/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
