The Poles Who Fought For Freedom

Chronicle (Levin), 3 June 1949, Page 5

The Poles Who Fought For Freedom

Received Thursdav. 7 p.m. LONDON. June 2Tn twn books published almost siroultaneously in Dondon and Paris, Lieu-tenant-Geueral Y7ladislaw i^hders, who "ommanded th.e Second Polish Corps ir Ttalv, tells the story of a Polish armv built up from remnants of the Polish forces which escaped after the occupa tion of th.eir countrv by the Germans aud Russians, and also^wjiat is knowri of the story of the notorious massacre of Poles at Katvn, responsibility for which the Germans and Russians have each sought to place upon th.e other. Lieut.-General Anders makes no secret of his belief that the real guilt lies with the Russians thongh he arlmits flnal proof of this mav nevhr bf fqrthcoming heeause the men who execnted the Poles have long since been liquidated and the peasants who saw sompthine of what occurred, have been dispersed from the area. Lieut.-General Anders recalls that the Ttussian G-overnmeiit broke oif aU relations with the Polish Government 4n exile in London ,when this Government apoealed to the Tnternationa.l Red Cross to examine the graves of 4000 Poles discovered in the forest of Smolensk near Katyn. He also recalls that fhe" Nuremberg Tribunal, despitc the Soviet prosecutor's insistence in eharging the Germans with the crime. r.efused to-maiutairi the chaTge and bv silence at least lent weight to the accusations that the Russians were themsplves responsihlg. Thousands Die Tp Arctic Mines. Tn his history Qf Ihe Polish Armv in exile, Lieut.-General Anders records stories told to him by Polish oflficers who had escaped from Russian eustody. in rrhich thev deseribed conditions in the Kolvma region, north of the Arctic Gircle, where upwards of 500.000 prisoners were working in the gold mines. According to some estimates between 4.000,000" and 5,000,000 people had been sent to Kolyma between 1935 and 1940. of whom the majority died from overwork, slow starvation and exposure or were shot out of hand bv Russian guards. Among these millions were many thousands of Poles. British Commander's Tribute. Lieut.-General Anders' aceount of the Poles' campaigns in North Africa and Ttaly, where on a number of ocfasions they fought in close association with the Second New Zealand Division, is as befits their commander, obiective and modest. Their Allies ' opinion of them as .soldiers is to be found in the forword to the book, written bv the British Commander-in-Chi'ef in Africa and Ttalv, Field Marshal Viscount Alex ander, in which he says: "Oi all the battlefronts in the Second World War. none proved more exacting than the Italian. There we required all military virtues to overcome difiSculties o+' the terrain and the stubborness of the enemv. In this great campaign againsf the German armv, the Poles played a part which gained them the admiration of their comrades and the respect oi their enemies. They fought many a victorious battle alongside their Alljes but their greatest was. at Monte Cassino. .Qnly the finest troops could have taken that well prepared ancl long defended fortress. When the Polish Standard floated proudly 'from the ruiqs of the monastry, it signalled the march to Rome. "