Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Poland right vs. Hitler
Buzz up!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Sign up now!
In his column "Did Hitler want war?" (Sept. 2 and TribLIVE.com), Pat Buchanan continues his old argument that peace-loving Hitler was forced into war. It is sad when an otherwise intelligent man repeats the staples of Joseph Goebbels' propaganda.
He states that Poland should have obeyed Hitler's request to give him the town of Gdansk/Danzig to avert the war. Sadly, he forgets to mention that Gdansk was only a part of the package.
Its other elements were to join the military pact with Germany, Italy and Japan, and grant Hitler a "corridor" to Gdansk. This would have cut off a part of Polish territory from the rest of the country. It also would have cut Poland off from the Baltic, leaving it surrounded by Third Reich-controlled territories and Soviet Russia. For Poland, this would have meant the end of independent existence.
Poland declined and decided to fight for its borders, citizens and values. Yes, this started the war. A year earlier, Czechoslovakia gave in without a fight. That postponed the war only for one year, and for the next six years Czech-made guns were used by Nazis against the Allied forces all over Europe.
Poland giving in in September 1939 would have meant the Polish military fighting in 1940 with the Nazis against Allied forces rather than with them.
Way to go, Pat! The way for evil to triumph is for all the good people to do nothing.