An extremely controversial situation occurred during the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino. At issue is the conduct of the head of the Office for Veterans and Victims of Oppression.
During the 80th anniversary of the battle at the Polish War Cemetery in Monte Cassino, the head of UdSKiOP, Lech Parell, spoke. On the occasion of the victory of the Poles over the Germans, Parell talked about… Poles who had been incorporated into the German army and who had escaped to the Polish forces.
However, we also commemorate our compatriots from Greater Poland, Silesia and Kashubia, who were conscripted into the German army and, when the opportunity arose, fled to the Polish armed forces.
– he said.
However, other words were included in the Bureau’s official publication.
There were 90,000 such soldiers in our army, our grandparents of the Wehrmacht. Even more than those who managed to escape from the Soviet Union
– it was in the text of the speech. However, Parell didn’t say this part.
Prof. commented on the situation on Telewizja Republika. Slawomir Cenckiewicz.
What does it mean that these were grandparents of the Wehrmacht? That means that Minister Parel probably assumed that Prime Minister Tusk would be there, because his presence at Monte Casino had been announced for quite some time, and probably to please him he wanted to have a grandfather of the Speaking Wehrmacht. grandfathers of the Wehrmacht. […] This is a bit like spitting on these graves. That’s the problem with these celebrations. No one there, apart from the president, wanted to say with whom this battle was being waged
– said the historian.
Rack
Following Parell’s criticism, a statement appeared on the agency’s official website.
In addition to the information about the personnel of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, I would like to inform you that the practice of recruiting fugitives from the Wehrmacht and Polish prisoners of war was applied very consistently. The first two thousand prisoners of the Wehrmacht were conscripted into the PSZ from the North African front in 1943. Later there were many more refugees. In assessing the fugitives’ motivations, it must be clearly emphasized that the desertions took place even before the Allies landed on the continent – that is, before the fate of the war was finally decided. Our compatriots then fled from the German army to local partisan units. Especially in France, but also in Greece and Yugoslavia
– we are reading.
All soldiers who fought in the Polish Armed Forces are entitled to full veteran rights in modern Poland. Also to those who previously served in the Wehrmacht. There is no distinction here. I cannot accept Dr.’s lack of knowledge. Hab easy to understand. S. Cenckiewicz, but I am surprised by the opinion of J. Kurski, who seems to be a specialist in the field of the Wehrmacht, who has been intensively concerned with it since at least 2005. I hope that the information I have presented will also be useful to the editor
– writes Parell.
Cenckiewicz’s response
Prof. also commented on the statement of the head of UdSKiOP. Cenckiewicz.
This is a cool statement… although sad from the point of view of the Bureau and Polish affairs… And completely off-topic, Mr. Minister @Combatants! Because it is not about the complexity of Polish fate, which I know and always discuss in historical polemics. Also with Jacek Kurski! The point is that Monte Cassino – which has suddenly been moved to Krakow for some ministers – is not the place for your reflections on “grandfathers of the Wehrmacht”, on the traitor Berling, about which you wrote in the official brochure of the Bureau, distributed in PSZ’s place of glory, but at the same time you did not address the related accusation in your statement. The anniversary of the battle pays tribute to specific Polish soldiers, whose almost two graves – heroes killed by German bullets – lay behind the minister’s back. There is also a threat that you will organize Monte Cassino celebrations at the cemetery of the “defenders”, where many Poles from Silesia are also buried… You are the Polish minister and the guardian of POLISH veterans, not the guardian of veterans from the Wehrmacht and the Red Army! Your job is to serve Poland! And finally, I don’t understand who is the editor you anonymously write about in your very clumsy statement?
– he wrote on the website X.
READ ALSO: Television in Poland’s report of Monte Cassino. Moving statements from soldier families! “They know this fight made sense then.”
This year’s celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino would not be without controversy. At the festivities in Italy, the Polish government was represented by… one deputy minister. In turn, Prime Minister Tusk did not bother to mention who the Poles were fighting against during his speech in Kraków.
READ MORE: Tusk celebrates the anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino… in Krakow. He announced that he had taken out a loan for the construction of the so-called European dome
mly/X/kombatanci.gov.pl
Source: wPolityce