14 Poland and the Vatican

The Second World War broke out when Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, only a few months after Czechoslovakia had disappeared. Poland fought bravely but hopelessly against the armored divisions of Germany, and after about forty days she lost her independence to two powerful countries: Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Throughout the Second World War Polish armies continued to fight Nazi Germany; while in the political field one disaster seemed to follow another in the internal as well as the external policy vis-a-vis several great Powers, especially Soviet Russia.

Poland,, the classic martyr-nation of Europe, was following her unenviable past. But behind all her heroism in defending herself against Nazi Germany, and in her struggle for independence, the situation at the outbreak of the Second World War was not so simple as it appeared. Long-range political, racial, and religious interests were shaping the policy of Poland, which eventually made her the easy victim of Hitler’s aggression. Only by glancing at the background against which Poland conducted her internal and external policy is it possible to understand, even superficially, the reasons for the disasters which overtook the nation.

Before proceeding farther we would like to stress the fact that this is not the place to enter into the complex social, racial, territorial, and political causes which molded Poland, especially in the period between the two world wars. We can only try to examine the Polish tragedy in that aspect of it which interests us here-namely, the religious. And, naturally, the Vatican enters the picture, for it must be remembered that Poland is an extremely Catholic country. In fact, one might even say that, in its blind fanaticism and piety, Poland, as a nation, is the most Catholic country in the whole of Europe.

In Northern Europe, for centuries, one country alone remained loyal to the Vatican-Catholic Poland. And from the time when her French King returned to France (1754), “taking with him the crown diamonds and leaving behind him the Jesuits, ” as Michelet says so picturesquely, Poland has remained a bulwark of Catholicism.

It has been said with reason that Catholic Poland was in the past the Ireland of Northern Europe. She resisted the brutal oppression of the Russian Czar and his attempts to eradicate the people’s love for their nation and their religion. Owing to her loss of national liberty, and to many other factors, Poland, on the eve of the First World War, was still a very backward country in all fields of human endeavor. All through this period, and in spite of persistent and cruel persecution, the Catholic Church was the dominant factor in the country. The Polish workers were the poorest paid and the worst-housed workers in the whole of Europe (see Spivak, Europe Under Terror).

Poland’s second characteristic was her piety. The Poles, in fact, were so intensely religious that their display of piety in the streets of their towns was greater than could be found even in the most backward villages of Chile and Peru (see Revue des deux Mondes” February 1, 1933). This latter characteristic of the Poles would not have been mentioned here if it stopped at that: we relate it in order to show how great must have been the influence of the Catholic Church over the population. Such piety was not found in any lesser degree amongst. the upper classes, who, since Poland recovered her political independence, have been the most devout followers of the Vatican in social as well as in political matters.

This was because the Polish upper classes consisted of the most reactionary elements (chiefly great landowners) to be found in that part of Europe. The interests of these reactionary sections were, of course, parallel to those of the Catholic Church. Their policy hung on one main hinge: intense hatred of Russia as a country and even more intense hatred of Russia as the centre of Bolshevism. In this the Polish reactionary elements and the Catholic Church were in complete accord. The Poles, therefore, as Poles and as Catholics shaped their policy on the persistent boycott of Soviet Russia, and although, as an independent nation, she had reason to fear a reawakened Germany, Poland nevertheless concentrated all her hatred on her other neighbor.

To carry out their mutual policy, the Catholic Poles and the Vatican had first to strengthen their position inside the country. For inside Poland there were problems to settle which, on a small scale, were the same great problems which Catholic Poland and, above all, the Vatican wanted to solve on the stage of European politics. This internal policy was that of maintaining the status quo of the rich landowners and the aristocracy in the social sphere, of “Polonizing” all foreign elements, and of converting to Catholicism all who did not belong to the true religion. The practical aims of this policy were to prevent the spread of Socialism and Communism and, if possible, to crush them both, to oppress all minorities, especially the Ukrainians, and make them all “Poles, ” at the same time eradicating the Orthodox religion and substituting for it the Catholic.

So far as the internal affairs of Poland were concerned, the Vatican, although having the same aims, had vaster goals, which it planned to achieve with the aid of Catholic Poland, one of its many partners. It planned to destroy the Atheist country of Soviet Russia, also to wipe out the Orthodox religion and supplant it by Catholicism. We shall see how the Vatican tried to carry out these plans with Lenin after the Russian Revolution-plans which were further enhanced by the desires of the Polish Nationalists, who were never tired of dreaming of territorial expansion at the expense of Soviet Russia. This dream had begun immediately after Poland was resurrected by the Treaty of Versailles, and in such a desire Poland had several allies who, like her, intensely hated Bolshevism.

Paderewski was sent to France, and with very little persuasion he induced the French to strengthen the enemy of Bolshevism-namely, the new Poland- by detaching two large provinces from Russia and giving them to Poland, and at the same time to weaken Germany by taking from her a slice of Silesia through a fraudulent plebiscite.

It is interesting that the Catholic Poles, who for centuries had been subjected to foreign servitude, once free, adopted the most undemocratic methods to satisfy their nationalistic as well as their religious aspirations. In the case of Silesia, part of that region was so essentially German that even those responsible for the Treaty of Versailles hesitated to give it to Poland: they decided that a plebiscite should be held. French and Italian troops were sent to the province to safeguard the liberty of the voters. But the Poles, and particularly the Catholic Hierarchy, began a most violent and widespread campaign of intimidation comparable only to that used later by Fascism and Nazism in their “free plebiscites.” (See the French Catholic writer, Rene Martel, in La France et la Pologne.) It is significant that at the head of this campaign of political terror there was a Catholic High Prelate, the Bishop of Posen. The Poles got what they wanted most-namely, five-sixths of the mines and several large towns which had voted for Germany. But that was not all. After having incorporated two provinces into their territory, they dreamed of something else-the extension of their boundaries at the expense of Soviet Russia.

Of course, the Poles were not alone in desiring the destruction of Bolshevism. Far from it. Powerful forces in the West had decided to annihilate the Reds by force of arms. The victorious Allies, in fact, went so far as to organize a military expedition in alliance with the White Russians in order to bring about the downfall of the Bolshevik regime. In this first anti-Red crusade the most enthusiastic who joined the venture were the Poles. It should be remembered that at that time the representative of the Vatican in Warsaw was Mgr. Ratti, the great enemy of Communism, who was later elected Pope Pius XI.

Pilsudski, in course of time, was swept back to the very gates of Warsaw under the impact of the Red armies, while (what must have seemed very strange to the super-Catholic Poles) the Pope was courting Lenin. This courting, however, having failed, the Vatican’s hopes of furthering its plans in Soviet Russia went wrong. By 1925 the Soviet Government had forbidden the Vatican representative to enter the country. It was from then onwards that the real Catholic campaign against “Soviet Atrocities against Religion” began to flood the whole world. This campaign was substantiated by the fact that many Catholic priests were imprisoned and shot; but what Catholic propaganda never told was that practically all of them were sentenced, not because of their religious faith, but because they were political agents of the Polish Government, which never ceased to plot against its “Atheistic neighbor.” From that period the hatred of Soviet Russia, aroused by historical, national, and racial causes, was infinitely magnified by the religious incentive.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Poles, having been hampered in their plan to destroy the Soviet Union, began to exterminate all those elements inside the new Poland which might have the same ideas as the Reds. Democracy, Liberalism, Socialism, and Communism were all loathed by the Poles and the Church. Polish Socialists, during the first years of the Republic, were outraged at, the tyrannical behavior of the Government, and especially at the crimes against the minorities and at the religious persecution begun by the Catholic reactionaries. In 1923, after a large crowd had gathered before the Greek Cathedral, at Leopol in protest against religious persecution, Polish troops dispersed them with rifles and swords. The Socialist representatives in Parliament were so indignant about this outrage that they vociferously protested at the Sejm and Senate.

Both Catholic reactionaries and the Catholic Church grew alarmed lest their plans should go wrong because of the Socialist interference. Means of preventing this were studied by both, and one day Pilsudski, with the warmest support of the Vatican and the Polish Hierarchy, extinguished parliamentary government, imprisoned the Socialists, destroyed any vestige of democracy or freedom, and set himself up as a dictator. Thus Catholic Poland was one of the first countries in Europe, after the First World War, to become a dictator-ship. From that time the great plans of the nationalist and reactionary Catholic Poles and the Catholic Church advanced rapidly.

We have already said that after the First World War Poland cut oft’ large slices of Russia as well as Germany, to which in all justice she had no right. In these lands were large populations which were anything but Polish. There were over 1,000,000 Germans (almost all Protestants), and between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 White Russians and Ukrainians, of which about half belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church. There were also about 1,000,000 Catholic Poles, 1,000,000 Jews, 4,000,000 Greek Uniates (who, although practicing Greek rites, acknowledge the Pope), and over 4,000,000 anti-Papal Orthodox Catholics.

Before and after the annexation of these territories (which Russia was later to take back from Poland during the Second World War) the Poles gave solemn pledges to the Great Powers that they would respect the racial, social, political, and religious rights of these minorities. But from the very beginning the Catholic Poles carried out a ruthless double campaign, sponsored by intense nationalism and religious fanaticism, to “Polonize” the Ukrainians completely and to destroy the Orthodox Church. They began to take away from the Ukrainians their liberties, one by one, with brutal force; they tried to suppress their national habits and institutions, and even their language. Parallel with this, they tried to convert them to the only and true religion of God.” The Vatican instructed the Polish Hierarchy and the ultra- Catholic Polish Government that the “conversion” should be brought about, not so much by pressing it on the peasants, but by “eliminating” the clergy of the Orthodox Church. In a comparatively short time more than one thousand Orthodox priests had been arrested; in one jail alone 200 of them were crowded with 2,000 political prisoners (mostly democrats and Socialists).

The jailers received special instructions to maltreat the clergy. There were thousands of executions amongst the Ukrainians.”Whole villages were depopulated by massacre.” (See Les Atrocities Polonaises en Galicie Ukrainienne, by V. Tennytski and J. Bouratch). The Catholic Church approved. Indeed, one of its high dignitaries, a bishop, was appointed to the Council set up to accomplish this plan. In 1930 there were over 200,000 Ukrainians in jail. The most appalling tortures were employed by the Catholic Poles: tortures which would be not an iota less compared with those that occurred in Nazi concentration camps later on. When a military expedition was sent to punish the “rebel Ukrainians, ” Catholic priests accompanied every regiment of Polish soldiers, who, while being very pious, hearing Mass regularly, going to church frequently, and carrying holy images with them, did not hesitate to commit the hideous crimes of torturing and raping, of burning Orthodox churches and executing thousands upon thousands.”Most of the Greek churches are plundered by Polish soldiers and used as stables for their horses, and even as latrines.” (See Atrocities in the Ukraine, edited by Emil Revyuk).

These facts may be new to most readers and may cause them to raise their eyebrows. But in addition to many impartial documentary books there is also the testimony of well-known newspapers which related these horrors and persecutions, such as the Manchester Guardian, Chicago Daily News, New York Herald Tribune, as well as the impartial book written by a French Catholic, already quoted: La France et la Pologne (1931) by Rene Martel.

This persecution lasted for over fifteen years, and began to be relaxed only when Nazi Germany showed her aggressive intentions in Europe.

At this point it should be noted that the Polish Government accused the Ukrainians of being “rebels.” This is important in studying the religious side of the issue, in so far as these minorities were considered “rebels” not only because they refused to surrender their national institutions, but, above all, because they refused to abandon their Orthodox faith, the Polish Catholic authorities, and behind them the Vatican, pressing for the surrender of their religion more bitterly than the political and nationalistic forces had ever done.

The Polish bishops were the leaders of this religious persecution, and Polish lay Catholics and Catholic institutions organized campaigns and raised funds in order that it might be carried out as thoroughly as possible. In addition to this, dozens of official visitors from the Vatican came regularly to Poland to examine the progress made; ecclesiastical inspectors were constantly going to and coming from Rome, carrying full reports and statistics of the campaign. The Papal Nuncio in Warsaw, who was there from the very beginning, was closely connected with the Polish Hierarchy and worked hand in hand with it, besides being in close touch with certain Catholic French generals, particularly with General Weygand, who fought against Bolshevism for the Poles. We shall have occasion to mention him again, when dealing with France.

We have pictured the background of Polish political and religious activities in order to emphasize points which bear a close relation to the international events leading to the outbreak of the Second World War, especially with regard to the Vatican, which launched ‘a persistent campaign against Atheist Russia and Communism in general, flooding the world with innumerable stories of cruelty, horrors, and injustices perpetrated against religion, the object being to arouse the deep hatred of countries, especially Catholic countries, the world over against a regime which did not allow religious liberty. This was done while the Vatican knew what was going on in Poland; indeed, while the Vatican was the main agent behind all the religious persecution in that country.

To every impartial observer of her foreign policy, Poland’s position during the period between the two world wars was a very delicate one; in fact, so delicate that the object of her politicians should have been only to pursue a policy which would be in the interests of their country―a policy uninfluenced by any ideological or religious hatreds. When Nazism came to power, and when it was made obvious, by a colossal building up of military machinery, what the Nazis’ intentions were, it should have been the concern of Poland to make a close ally of Russia, for, owing to Poland’s geographical position only Russia would have been able to give her immediate help had she been attacked. Poland instead, pursued the entirely opposite policy of continued intense hatred towards Russia and always closer friendship with Nazism.

It is true that, in the first years of Nazism, Poland was the first country to ask France to intervene against Hitler on the occupation of the Rhineland. That was understandable, for Poland was a young nation who feared that Germany might renew claims Upon her. But, after that, Poland hitched herself to Hitler’s chariot. In internal affairs she became more and more Fascist and totalitarian in the strictest sense of the word, whilst in,. the foreign field she became a faithful ally of Nazi Germany. Indeed, she even helped Germany to carry out her aggression against Czechoslovakia. Not only did she support Nazi Germany throughout that crisis, but joined her voice with Hitler’s, and was one of the first nations to ask for a share of the Czechoslovak kill.

Even before Munich, Poland had become a real Nazi Germany in miniature. Besides following Hitler in his raping, she began to shout and agitate the sabre, in true Hitlerian fashion, repeating the very slogans of the Nazis. She began to talk of lebensraum for Poles, and if colonies were not given to her, she would get them all the same. Hitler, at that time, was shouting exactly the same words, and when Poland proclaimed that she would get colonies, she meant, of course, that she would get them after they had been conquered by Hitler. She sneered openly at democracy, and even menaced Soviet Russia on many occasions, hinting that in Russia, too, there was enough lebensraum for the surplus Poles and enough raw material for her industries.

In short, and as the Polish Foreign Minister said later, the Poles had struck a real alliance with Nazi Germany (Colonel Beek, January 1940). Whence had the inspiration come? In the internal field, from the causes already shown; in the international sphere, from the Western Powers and from the Vatican, all of whom hoped that Hider might turn against Russia.

We have already related the events preliminary to the break of the Second World War, with particular regard to the situation of the Vatican, Hitler, and Poland, the agreement reached by Pius XII and Hitler about the temporary character of the German occupation of that country, the grandiose plan which lay behind it all, and the grand strategy of the Vatican, having for its main goal the attack on Soviet Russia, in which Poland was seen as an instrument conducive to this ultimate goal. As we shall come across the subject when dealing with France and the Vatican, we shall content ourselves here with quoting the words of a man who knew, perhaps, more than any other the extent of the Vatican’s responsibility for the Polish tragedy-namely, Poland’s Foreign Secretary, Colonel Beek, at one time a great friend of Goering and Hitler, who led Polish foreign policy in the wake of Nazism in the years before the war. After Germany and Russia bad occupied his country, and Colonel Beek had to flee abroad, disillusioned and ill, he uttered the following significant words, which put in a nutshell the part played by the Catholic Church in steering the policy of that nation:

One of those mainly responsible for the tragedy of my country is the Vatican. Too late do I realize we have pursued a foreign policy for the Catholic Church’s own ends. We should have followed a policy of friendship with Soviet Russia, and not one of support of Hitler. (Excerpt from a letter addressed to Mussolini by the Fascist Ambassador in Bucharest (February 1940), who stated he was one of those to whom Colonel Beek spoke.)

Could there be a more striking indictment of the interference of the Catholic Church in the life of a modern nation? Yet those individuals and parties who, after Poland’s occupation, formed a Polish Government in London, owing to a sum of racial, social, political, and religious factors, continued to behave exactly. as their predecessors had behaved, so far as their relations with the Vatican and Soviet Russia, now Poland’s ally, were concerned. From 1940 until the very end of the war, in 1945, interminable intrigues with the Vatican and the Allies continued to be spun in London by the exiled Poles, who, while directing their main efforts to expelling the Nazis from Polish territory and raising armies to fight side by side with those of the Western Powers, never lost an opportunity to antagonize Soviet Russia. This policy culminated in the pitiful and tragic rising of Warsaw in 1944, when thousands of lives were sacrificed uselessly. The rising had been planned in order to prevent the Soviets, who were approaching the capital, from occupying it. The Catholic Poles thought that thus they would have the right to reject “any political interference from the Russians.”

At the beginning of 1945 Poland had her “fifth partition, ” as it was called, by which a certain portion of the former Poland was handed back to Russia. It is not for us to pass judgment on whether this partition was right or wrong, or on whether or not a victorious Soviet Russia imitated Hitler in dealing with smaller neighbors. The fact remains that Poland, after twenty years of relentless hostility, could not expect her Eastern neighbors-mainly thanks to whose exertions Poland was freed-not to take precautions to ensure that the past would not be repeated.

The disavowal, by Moscow, of the exiled Polish Government in London, and the formation of a new Left-Wing Government in battered Poland in the spring of 1945, were more than moves by Soviet Russia to ensure the future. Although meant to hamper the efforts of the reactionary elements which had ruled Poland between the two world wars, they were directed mainly against the great rival, the Vatican. For Moscow, as well as the Vatican, knows very well that, in the future, Poland is bound to become once again an instrument in the hands of whoever controls its domestic and foreign policy, to be employed in a wider battle whose prize is the conquest, not of a single country, but of a whole continent.

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