On August 22nd 1939 Hitler had authorised killing 'without pity or mercy all men, women and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need'....

The Soviets imprisoned 220000 Polish soldiers in concentration camps (most did not survive) and in 1940 murdered 27000 officers and reservists, and buried them in mass graves at Katyn and other sites.

Anders left Lubianka prison on crutches in August 1941 to begin assembling an army from survivors of the camps - their motto was 'fight until victory'. Unfortunately, more betrayal was to come....

The unremitting brutality of the Nazi and Soviet occupiers and their collaborators killed over 20% of Poland's population in WW2, while countless thousands were exiled to all corners of the globe....

Nearly all Poland's pre-war Jewish population was exterminated in the Shoah along with Jews from the whole of German-occupied Europe (a total of 6 million). Karski's words fell on deaf ears....

A Zionist socialist's survival in the Warsaw ghetto, the 1943 uprising and a secret life on the outside, his work for the post-war communist authorities, the brikha and emigration to Eretz Israel....

One of the most tragic and heroic struggles in Polish history led to the total devastation of Poland's capital city and the death of 250000 people in just 63 days....

Polish land, sea and air forces made the 4th largest contribution to the allied war effort in WW2, but the freedom and independence they helped to secure for others was not to be shared by Poland.

The full horror of Soviet occupation 1939-41, the mass deportations, Katyn, re-occupation in 1944 and the ruthless campaign to suppress anti-Soviet opposition and any hope of Polish independence.

Stalin is reputed to have said that trying to enforce communism on Poland was like trying to saddle a cow.

Orwellian double-think in the real world....

The great leap forward, and it started in Gdansk (I'm sure Mieszko would have approved)....