Waffen SS trivia

[Davey Boy]

Just read an interesting article about a guy name Pawel Szandruk in the Polish weekly Polityka. Initially, this guy was a talented officer in the Polish army and distinguished himself in battle during the Nazi invasion of Poland. He was then held as a POW, but, because of his Ukrainian descent, the Germans were always trying to talk him into joining the SS Galizien. And he actually did this towards the end of the war. When defeat was imminent, he led his men into Austria where they surrendered to western forces, thus escaping certain death at the hands of the Soviets. These men, including Szandruk, were then accepted as refugees by the British, but only because they held Polish passports. Now here comes the really bizarre twist to the story. In 1965, Szandruk was awarded the highest Polish military honor, the Virtuti Militari, for his part in the defence of the nation in '39. This award was handed to him by none other than General Wladyslaw Anders.

Full story:

http://polityka.onet.pl/artykul.asp?DB= ... 32835&MP=1

[tyskaorden]

The paths of history is strange indeed. Obviously the time Szandruk served in the Waffen-SS was not seen as a discalification for reciving the Vituti Militari.

Best regards,
Marcus Karlsson

[Thorfinn]

"General Anders", don't you know that you are one of the very few people here that can read Polish?

I liked the pictures in the article, though. I assume that the below photo is that of the average Polish home; very nice.



I do not know the details, but Pawel Szandruk seems like a traitor to me.


"General Anders", do you know what race the real Wladyslaw Anders was? I used to think that he was Germanic because of his last name, but when I learned more about him, I found out that he was really a Lithuanian. His original name was Andriejauskas. I read that most people that knew him were under the impression that his father was German.

[Richard Murphy]

Hitler was an Austrian deserter (Oops, sorry, draft dodger).

Poland struggled for it's existance before the Germans and Russians decided to squabble over it (Though I have never heard of the Lancers that Napoleon recruited from the region in the early 1800's as anything other as Polish.), it was recognised as an independent state after Russia collapsed into virtual anarchy (And STILL lost against a resurgent Polish inpendence movement, despite the promise of a "Workers Paradise") and Germany lost a war that it (Germany) had played a major role in provoking.

Aside from being a sore loser (Several times over-Germany has yet to win a war!)- what is the point?

Regards,

Rich

[rkoy]

but it usually takes the combined effort of several countries to beat her...

[Brian Von Stauffenberg]

There was a documentary recently on UK regarding Ukranian SS Volunteers and apparently they were linked to attrocities in Poland and Slovakia, a bit of an embarrasment for the UK government if any of this is proved.

[Davey Boy]

"General Anders", don't you know that you are one of the very few people here that can read Polish?

I liked the pictures in the article, though. I assume that the below photo is that of the average Polish home; very nice.



I do not know the details, but Pawel Szandruk seems like a traitor to me.


"General Anders", do you know what race the real Wladyslaw Anders was? I used to think that he was Germanic because of his last name, but when I learned more about him, I found out that he was really a Lithuanian. His original name was Andriejauskas. I read that most people that knew him were under the impression that his father was German.

That picture is of a home in the Ukraine. Having said that, I've seen plenty of crap like that in Germany as well.

In regards to General Anders, I haven't been able to find out what "race" he was. There is an article on the web claiming he was Lithuanian, but that hasn't been confirmed by anything else I've seen. Not that it matters what his ethnic backgound was. He was still Polish. Also, many Poles have German names and German blood, but they're still Poles and very patriotic. I know that concept is hard for you to grasp, but please, try to get your head around it.

[Gwynn Compton]

And is that a Lada in the yard? Yuk

[mike262752]

nothing wrong with that house, could use a yard though. Myabe im just used to shitty, small American homes...

Anyway, why wouldnt Poland consider him a traitor?

[Davey Boy]

I don't know why Poland wouldn't consider him a traitor. That's what I'm tryig to figure out. This Polish article claims he wasn't involved in any war crimes. And apparently, one of his main motives for joining the SS was to help the Ukrainian divison to safety in Austria.

And yeh, that house looks ok. But it looks like it's being renovated after years of neglect (note the paint canisters standing there). Thorfinn is just being a dick.