Excellent Anders Army Documentary Film

[George Lepre]

Hello Everyone (or should I say "cześć"?!) -

I subscribe to facets.org, which is a specialty film rental service in Chicago. Through facets I was able to rent a wonderful documentary film titled As Crosses are Measure of Freedom, which chronicles the Anders Army. While the film is intended as a tribute rather than a critical, postmodern-type examination, it is fascinating to watch. The best aspects of the production are the rare film footage, the fact that still photos are used rather than contemporary reeenactments, and, perhaps best of all, the coverage of the Anders Army's postwar experiences, particularly the difficulties faced by the men in exile.

I have two questions for our Polish friends who might be familiar with this production:

1. This film was released in 1989, yet it makes bold statements about topics like Katyn. This predates Mr. Gorbachev's official pronouncement regarding responsibility for the crime. When one considers the time necessary for research, interviews, scriptwriting, pre-production, etc., it seems that the filmmakers were taking something of a risk in presenting these views when the communist government was still in power. Was it indeed "risky" to produce a public medium like this and offer such blunt commentary about Katyn?

2. The film mentions that after the war, a certain number of Anders' men returned to Poland, a few with foreign brides. Some of these men were "repressed, persecuted, and some even executed." How many Anders men were actually executed? Who were they? Why did this occur?

Best regards,

George

[henryk]

I have two questions for our Polish friends who might be familiar with this production:

1. This film was released in 1989, yet it makes bold statements about topics like Katyn. This predates Mr. Gorbachev's official pronouncement regarding responsibility for the crime. When one considers the time necessary for research, interviews, scriptwriting, pre-production, etc., it seems that the filmmakers were taking something of a risk in presenting these views when the communist government was still in power. Was it indeed "risky" to produce a public medium like this and offer such blunt commentary about Katyn?
....................
George

It seems that 1989 is the start of production and 1990 is the release date.
http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/465174
Compare with these time lines:
4 June 1989: semi-free elections, in which government members are soundly defeated
17 Aug 1989: Tadeusz Mazowiecki selected as first democratic Prime Minister
29 Dec 1989: Polish Constitution amended to make Poland democratic.
7 months from dictatorship to codified democracy!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Mazowiecki

It is interesting to note the association of Anders with the lines: Bo wolność krzyżami się mierzy (As Crosses are Measure of Freedom). The reference is to the crosses in the Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Po ... te_Cassino

Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino (The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino) is one of the best-known and most beloved Polish military songs of World War II.[1] It was composed in May 1944 in Italy, during the Battle of Monte Cassino, on the eve of the Polish Army's capture of the German stronghold.
In early 1944 a German stronghold, dug in at the ancient Benedictine monastery atop Monte Cassino, had blocked the Allies' advance toward Rome. The forces of several Allied countries had attempted since mid-January to capture the German fortress. For a fourth major assault, which would begin on 11 May 1944, Polish troops were rotated in.

The song's melody was composed during the night of 17–18 May 1944 by Alfred Schütz, a composer, actor and member of the Polish Soldiers' Theater garrisoned at Campobasso in the shadow of Monte Cassino.[2] Two opening stanzas were written at that time by Feliks Konarski ("Ref-ren" — "Refrain"), a poet and song-writer and soldier of the Polish II Corps commanded by Major General Władysław Anders.[2] The third stanza would be written a few days later.[2]

The fourth and final stanza would be written a quarter-century later, in 1969, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the battle.[3] That final stanza is the least known and is sometimes omitted.[3]

On 18 May 1944, the day following the song's composition, the Poles stormed and captured the precincts of the Monte Cassino monastery. Later that day, the song was first performed at General Anders' headquarters to celebrate the Polish victory.[4] The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino won popularity with the troops and was soon published by a Polish-American newspaper in New York. It would later be published in Poland.[5] It was banned, however, during the Stalinist period in the People's Republic of Poland, when the government sought to minimize memory of the wartime Polish Armed Forces in the West.[6]
In English (Ed: * my translation)
Do you see the rubble at the top?
There, like a rat, lurks your foe!
You musn't stop, you musn't stop
But from the clouds the enemy throw!
And so, onward and upward they went;
They went to avenge and to kill,
On the enemy's destruction, bent;
*Like always, they fought in honour.

The red poppies on Monte Cassino
Drank Polish blood instead of dew...
O'er the poppies the soldiers did go
death, and to their anger stayed true!
Years will come and ages will go,
Enshrining their strivings and their toil!...
And the poppies on Monte Cassino
*Will be redder for they grow in Polish blood.

The forlorn hope charged through the fire!
More than one was struck and felled...
Yet like the horsemen at Samosierra,
They charged with a force unrepelled,
Like those at Rokitna years ago.
And they made it, and carried the day.
And they planted their red-and-white flag
In the rubble amid the clouds.

The red poppies on Monte Cassino...

Do you see the white crosses in a row?
That's where the Poles pledged their all.
The farther, the higher you go,
The more you'll find them fall.
This soil belongs to Poland,
Though Poland be far from here,
For 'tis crosses measure freedom's span —
*History's has this unique blunder.

The red poppies on Monte Cassino...

A quarter-century has passed,
The dusts of battle no longer rise,
And the monastery's walls at last
Once again climb, white, to the skies...
But memory of those nights terrible
And of the blood that once flowed here —
Echoes in the monastery bells
That toll the fallen to sleep!...

[henryk]

2. The film mentions that after the war, a certain number of Anders' men returned to Poland, a few with foreign brides. Some of these men were "repressed, persecuted, and some even executed." How many Anders men were actually executed? Who were they? Why did this occur?

http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/polisharmy/index.html
"To Return To Poland Or Not To Return" - The Dilemma Facing The Polish Armed Forces At The End Of The Second World War Thesis by Dr Mark Ostrowski
http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/polisharmy/chapter5.html

Of the 181 Polish Generals who ended the war in the West (including senior commanders later promoted by the Government-in-Exile) only 11 returned to Poland. [45]
Some senior officers did find a role in the Poland, however briefly. Paszkiewicz became the Commander of the Warsaw Military District, Colonel Mossor became the head of the Krakow District, General Szarecki became head of the Polish Medical Corps, Lt-Colonel Stefan Scibor became the Second in Command of a bomber squadron in Lodz. Colonel Jerzy Kirchmayer returned to Poland to join the Army, eventually to be promoted to General. This was also the case with Colonel Franciszek Skibinski, former CO of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade of the 1st (Polish) Armoured Division. That is not to say that General Anders' words did not come true for many of the returned senior officers.

The 'Trial of the Generals' that took place in August, 1950 and the following year rocked the Polish Military Establishment. The process of Polish Stalinisation led to the arrest of many of those who returned to Poland. General Tatar, Colonels Mossor, Kirchmayer, Skibinski and even Kuropieska found themselves in the dock on espionage and conspiracy charges with 129 other Polish officers. As well as long prison sentences there were 19 executions handed out. Even those who might be regarded as loyal to the regime fell victim to the process - Marian Spychalski was imprisoned in 1950 and three years later Marshal Zymierski met the same fate. Although in 1956 Gomulka rehabilitated those who fell victim to the regime (he too had fallen from grace in 1948), for many it was too late. [47]

I presume that ref. 47 has more details. Perhaps Dr Mark Ostrowski, who is a member of the Forum, can advise.

[George Lepre]

Hi Henryk -

Thank you for this information.

George

[Slick1]

One of my uncles who was in Anders army returned to Poland after the war.

He was sent to Siberia a second time.

...and survived it... a second time.

[henryk]

https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7789/Ar ... me-general

Italy to honour Polish wartime general
Polish Radio 21.01.2020 07:00
A monument paying tribute to Polish World War II General Władysław Anders and his soldiers will be erected in the Italian town of Cassino.
Władysław Anders (1892-1970)Photo: nac.gov.pl ( see source for photo).

The mayor of Cassino, Enzo Salera, has said: “We should be grateful to Poles, primarily to those soldiers who fought a heroic battle at Monte Cassino 76 years ago.” Addressing a press conference in Warsaw, he added: “Thanks to a monument commemorating General Anders and his 1,057 troops who fought for freedom under his command, their memory will be preserved for future generations.”

The monument is due to be unveiled on May 18 during events marking the 76th anniversary of the victorious Battle of Monte Cassino and the 50th anniversary of the Polish general’s death. The general’s daughter, Anna Maria Anders, who currently serves as Poland’s ambassador to Rome, told reporters she was delighted with the idea of the project. "It is very important that he and his soldiers will be honoured in this way,” she said.

Designed by Giacomo Bianchi, the memorial will feature the names of all Polish soldiers who died in the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino. They will be inscribed on a 19-metre-long wall of black granite. Stones brought from Poland will be placed over an area of 144 square metres as a token of remembrance of the young victims of the fighting. General Anders’ figure will be cast in bronze.

The idea of the memorial has been co-sponsored by the Monte Cassino Run, the brainchild of former Polish track-and-field athlete Bogusław Mamiński, a successful steeplechase runner who won world and European championship medals in the early 1980s. A 10-km run at Monte Cassino, whose first edition in 2014 attracted 998 runners, will be held again in May.

Born in 1892, Władysław Anders commanded a cavalry brigade at the start of World War II. He was wounded and taken prisoner by the Soviets in September 1939. He spent 22 months in the NKVD Lubyanka prison in Moscow. Tortured in countless interrogations, he was persuaded to join the Red Army, but he refused to meet any of the Soviet demands. He was freed after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war and appointed commander of the Polish army in the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1942, the Anders Army, together with over 20,000 Polish civilians freed from prisons and labour camps, was evacuated to Iran, Iraq and Palestine. There, Anders formed and led the 2nd Polish Corps, which fought in the Battle for Monte Cassino in the Italian Campaign.

General Anders was critical of the decisions of the Yalta Conference. In 1946, the communist authorities in Poland deprived him of his Polish citizenship and his military rank. As a political émigré in Britain, he continued his political activities aimed at preserving the constitutional continuity of the Polish government-in-exile in London. He took part in a campaign for the release of Poles still held in Soviet labour camps.
He died on May 12, 1970, the 26th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, and was buried, in accordance with his wish, at the Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino. After the collapse of communism in Poland in 1989, his citizenship and military rank were posthumously reinstated.
(mk/gs)