POLAND REMEMBERS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE AGGRESSOR BLAMES ITS VICTIM
“We have very vivid memories of World War II here in Poland,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Warsaw Security Forum.
“We remember very well how Nazi propaganda tried to convince Europe and the world that it was Poland that was responsible for German aggression. Today, we hear exactly the same from Moscow—and, unfortunately, more and more often in some of our capitals.
Poland recognizes the pattern because it has lived through it before.
Before invading Poland on September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany presented itself as the injured party. German propaganda accused Poland of persecuting ethnic Germans and threatening German territory. The Nazis even staged attacks—including the infamous Gleiwitz radio-station incident—to manufacture “evidence” of Polish aggression.
Germany then invaded the country it had falsely accused of creating the crisis. Sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east under its own fabricated pretexts
Britain and France declared war on Germany, but their response was not enough to prevent Poland from being crushed, divided and occupied. The world knew Germany was the aggressor, yet hesitation, failed deterrence and years of appeasement left Poland exposed when the invasion came.
Tusk sees the same structure in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Moscow falsely claimed that Ukraine threatened Russia, invented stories about “genocide,” presented its invasion as “denazification” and now blames Kyiv for refusing peace while Russian missiles and drones continue striking Ukrainian cities.
Even Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself are repackaged as the problem. When Ukraine strikes the refineries fueling Russia’s military, Moscow portrays Ukraine as the escalator. When Ukraine refuses to surrender its territory, the Kremlin claims Kyiv is prolonging the war. When Ukraine asks for weapons, Russia accuses NATO of provoking the conflict Russia itself began.
“Anyone who tries to create symmetry here—anyone who suggests that Ukraine is responsible for the war—gives an extraordinarily valuable gift to the aggressor, Putin,” Tusk warned.
Poland will not allow the aggressor to rewrite the story before the war is even over. It remembers what happened when lies were allowed to prepare the ground for invasion—and when warnings were answered with too little, too late.
History made that mistake once. Poland intends to make certain it is not repeated with Ukraine.