DISINFO: Poland falsifies history destroying Soviet monuments and allowing publication of Mein Kampf
SUMMARY
The war against the Soviet monuments carried out by the authorities of many countries is the example of falsification of history through erasure and distortion. Unfortunately, this process takes place in Poland. The Polish Government spits on bilateral relations with Russia and international agreements on memorial sites, destroying the material evidence of the fact that their nation was saved by Soviet soldiers (tens of monuments, memorials, documents are liquidated by Poland every year). At the same time, the Polish authorities do not find a legal basis to ban the Mein Kampf from distribution in their country. This book justified the need for extermination of many peoples, including the Poles. This situation is the falsification of history.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative casting Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States as countries which do not respect the history of WWII and its heroes (often, accusing them of supporting the Nazi ideology).
In January 2021, a large Polish publishing house “Bellona” published the book “Mein Kampf. Critical Edition”. This book was written and translated by a Polish historian and political scientist Dr. Eugeniusz Król, a specialist on the history of National-Socialist propaganda in Germany. The book presents a scientific overview of the Mein Kampf, containing its Polish translation with numerous historical comments. According to the words of Dr. Król, at the present moment, the book is a warning to next generations about the risk of a quick dismantling of a democratic system and emergence of totalitarianism, as it happened in Germany in 1930s. The editors and the author of the book underline the anti-Nazi and anti-totalitarian character of their publication. In other words, the publication of the Critical Edition of the Mein Kampf in Poland has purely scientific, historical and anti-Nazi character.
In 2017, Poland introduced new laws to ban totalitarian propaganda. According to this Law, up to 230 Soviet monuments may be replaced, a decision to be made by Polish local authorities. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlines that the Red Army's burial places and cemeteries located in Poland will be carefully protected. It is possible to dismantle and remove only symbolic monuments to the Red Army. The Polish Government does not implement the centralised policy of replacement of the Red Army monuments, such decisions are taken by the local authorities.
Read similar cases connected to the issue of the Red Army monuments - Monuments to Soviet soldiers are massively demolished and damaged in Ukraine, Poland and Baltic countries; Polish “war” against Red Army monuments compares to the actions of the Islamic State and Red Army monuments and cemeteries are methodologically destroyed in Poland.