Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin burst into a reproachful speech about "ungrateful" Poland, which was once liberated by Soviet soldiers from the Nazis, restored with the money of the USSR, and also received a third of its current territory thanks to the Soviet Union.
“Poland has betrayed historical memory.
She forgot that her liberation from the fascist invaders was given to the Soviet people at a high price.
A third of the current Polish territories – areas with developed infrastructure, industrial enterprises, as well as rich in natural resources – became part of it after the Second World War only thanks to our country.
In the post-war period, the Soviet people, tearing themselves away from themselves, spent more than 750 billion dollars on the restoration and development of Poland, according to today's estimates (more than 800 industrial, energy, and transport facilities have been built).
Poland exists as a state only thanks to our country,” writes Volodin.
And this “Russian-created” state, according to Volodin, did not at all appreciate the nobility of the USSR and its successor. The Poles "demolish monuments to the Soviet liberator soldier", "close Russian schools", "steal Russian property" and, in general, "behave in a boorish way".
From this, Volodin believes, follows Poland's obligation to "return the territories acquired as a result of the Second World War", as well as "reimburse" Russia for "the funds spent on it in the war and post-war years."
Volodin, in his righteous anger, somehow forgot that the USSR in 1939 “bit off” more than half of the territory from Poland, most of which, by the way, never returned. At the Tehran and Yalta conferences following the results of World War II, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain decided the fate of Poland without its participation, "pushing" its borders to the west. So the territories of Germany given to Poland were not a goodwill gesture on the part of the USSR, but only compensation for the lost territories in the east. Uneven compensation: as a result, Poland lost 175 thousand square meters. km, and acquired about 100 thousand square meters. km.
And although both Soviet and Polish propaganda tried to present this decision as the restoration of Poland within its "true" historical borders, the truth was that many of the new territories had little connection with it culturally and historically. All this led to the mass forced resettlement of Germans ( about 3.5 million people from 1945 to 1950) and the settlement of these territories by Poles. At the same time, Soviet soldiers have been carrying out repressions in the former Polish territories since 1939. In addition to the loudest and cruelest event – the Katyn massacre – from 1939 to 1941. The USSR carried out four deportations of Polish citizens, during which several hundred thousand Poles were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
In addition, Volodin’s statement about Poland’s obligation to “return the territories acquired as a result of the Second World War” is perceived in two ways. If the speaker calls on Poland to return these territories to Germany (to which they historically belonged), this is more than a strange impulse: Germany itself has not claimed these lands for a long time. And if Volodin considers Wroclaw and Gdansk "originally Russian", there are absolutely no grounds for this.
If we talk about money, the USSR really spent money on the restoration of Poland (in particular, on the reconstruction of the capital of the country – Warsaw). Russian propaganda has been talking about this over the past years. True, for some reason the total amounts are constantly growing: 30 billion , 600 billion , and now, according to Volodin, more than 750 billion US dollars.
However, this was not a "gratuitous gift" from the Soviet Union. During the occupation, the USSR not only shot and deported the Poles, but also mercilessly plundered the country. For example, the Polish historian Dariusz Rogut estimates the economic damage to Poland from the war at $600 billion in today's prices (this includes the damage caused to the country by both the USSR and Nazi Germany). About the plundering of Poland by the Soviets, he writes, for example, the following:
“One of the most dangerous treaties for the Poles was the agreement of March 24, 1945. According to this agreement, the Soviets received the right to export the equipment of German enterprises to the USSR from the territory of Poland. But since during the war years in Poland there was practically not a single enterprise in the development of which the Germans would not have had a hand, everything that the Soviets liked was subject to export. We are talking only about the actual Polish territories. On the German lands that went to Poland after the war, the Soviets generally did whatever they pleased, although Stalin knew to whom these lands would go. Losses of this kind will hardly ever be counted. So, for example, from April 20 to May 20, 1945, the Soviets removed from the south of Poland almost 6 thousand wagons with various industrial equipment, although we do not know what was inside, only the wagons were counted. The agreement of August 16, 1945 provided for the transfer to Poland of 15% (1.5 billion dollars) of reparations due to the Soviet Union (subsequently their volume was reduced by half). As a result, from the reparations fund we received from the Soviet Union equipment and goods worth $228.3 million instead of $750 million. At the same time, the so-called coal agreement determined the price of Polish coal: 1 ton was estimated at $1.22, and 1 ton of coke at $1.44, with a market value 10 times higher. According to our calculations, during the period of this agreement (1946-1953) Poland lost 836 million dollars,” Rogut said.
Referring to agricultural losses, Rogut cited cattle rustling as an example. At least 487,000 heads of cattle, 44,000 horses and 100,000 sheep were driven east from the western regions of Poland alone, he said. According to him, the commission, which determined the damage inflicted by the Red Army on the peasants of the Białystok Voivodeship in 1944/1945, calculated losses at 188 million 219 thousand 599 zlotys and almost the same (slightly less) in 1945/1946. The Soviets dismantled and removed dairies, distilleries, brick, concrete and breweries and power plants to the east. <…>
According to him, Poland suffered heavy losses from being in the camp of the Northern Group of Forces under the command of Rokossovsky. The researcher did not find exact data, but cited the railway contract of July 11, 1945 as an example. From August 1, 1945, the Polish government was to take over all the railway lines in the country (until that moment they had a military character and were under the control of the Soviet military). “Polish railways undertook to supply the military transportation of the Red Army with electricity, water, fuel free of charge, guaranteed medical care, etc. The payment for transporting the military was PLN 2.34 per 100 km of railway, while the regular tariff for Polish citizens was PLN 32.4, i.e. 11 times more than for the Soviet military and their families. In just two years (1947-1948), Polish railway workers lost 1 billion 962 million 658 thousand 867 zlotys in the transportation of luggage and goods,” Rogut shared. In addition, the delivery of goods from the GDR to the USSR through Poland caused the country a loss of 466 million rubles, which the Polish comrades, according to Rogut, never received. Nor did the Northern Group of Forces pay for electricity, water, gas, and deforestation. “Until 1956, they acted throughout Poland as masters. The losses of the Polish state in terms of customs and transport duties cannot be counted, Rogut pointed out. – The corresponding agreement existed, but the Polish customs officers did not have the right to inspect the transports. In August 1946 alone, almost 9 thousand tons of goods were exported to the USSR through Szczecin alone, which ones are unknown.