Legia Warsaw banner

[Bearman 9]

Supporters marked the 73rd anniversary of the Warsaw uprising.

 

AMAZING!!!!!

 

 

Hope they didn't scrunch the paper up and throw it onto pitch during the game!

[JFK-1 1,693]

There is actually some controversy over that display. Notice they stress that 'GERMANS KILLED 160,000 PEOPLE' rather than saying Nazis. This is due to the fact that a significant percentage of the followers of Legia Warsaw are neo Nazis and would have no interest in labeling the mass slaughter a Nazi atrocity.

[MacK1950 2,358]

Still a "political" banner is it not especially as it shows weaponry and using English instead of Polish it is meant to provoke.

[der Berliner 3,719]

Poland is going all nationalistic these days and this banner very much fits the bill, not least as it targets Germans and not Nazis. The way they currently dismantle their democracy into something Erdogan might be proud of is a stark warning how quickly things can change in a country you were thinking being an integral part of NATO and Western Europe ("against" Russia). And then think of Scotland ...

[26th of foot 6,054]

There is a car crash of a thread on another Bears website on this subject. It's generational, all hitting Google to find out about the Warsaw uprising. The Red Army sat outside, deliberately offering no support because Stalin was a pragmatist. He allowed the Germans to destroy the uprising, to avoid his troops having to do it further down the line.

 

Further, the neo-Nazis in the Legia support, appear to have forgotten an earlier Warsaw uprising by the Jewish Ghetto. It went unsupported by the Poles, they allowed it to be crushed.

[colinstein 294]

reckon this is government inspired propaganda. Poland are demanding war reparations from Germany at the moment

[JFK-1 1,693]

Poland is going all nationalistic these days and this banner very much fits the bill, not least as it targets Germans and not Nazis. The way they currently dismantle their democracy into something Erdogan might be proud of is a stark warning how quickly things can change in a country you were thinking being an integral part of NATO and Western Europe ("against" Russia). And then think of Scotland ...

 

I recently watched a film called 'The Zookeepers Wife' which is a true story of a zookeeper and his wife hiding Jews in their zoo for the duration of the war at great personal risk. Poland was the only occupied country in which the Nazis imposed a law which meant execution for anyone caught hiding Jews and not only the individual but his entire family too.

 

Poles per head of population saved more Jews by hiding them than any other nation. There are more Poles on Israels 'righteous among the nations' list than any other nationality. An estimated 50,000 poles were executed for hiding Jews which makes it all the sadder they're going down this Nazi path. This wiki link gives a good description of how hard Poles worked to save Jews during the occupation plus how many people had to be involved at great risk to do this.

 

Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_of_Jews_by_Poles_during_the_Holocaust

[der Berliner 3,719]

Dunno why you cited my JFK-1? We're living 70-odd years after that and the Poles of now utilize it to have a go at modern day Germany. Which by no means belittles the actions done by those Poles back then.

 

On a similar note to the Poles and the Jewish Ghetto revolt or the Warsaw revolt where the Soviets where looking on (which I find hard to believe, but would have to read it in more detail), there are some strange perceptions out there in the public.

 

For example, over here in Germany "we" celebrate the 1944 attempt on Hitler done by some Wehrmacht officers under the guidance of Major Stauffenberg, annually honoring those brave men who wanted to turn over Hitler & Co.. Only if you read the fine print or the history as such in more detail, it will start to dawn upon you that Stauffenberg did indeed wanted to end the Hitler regime and end the war with the West. What he sure did not want to end was the war with the Soviets (and Communism) to the East though. And you won't hear a whisper on that when the festivities are about. Half-truths, half-facts all being neatly wielded according to the whim of the current political system. Hence my reservations about the Soviets watching on, at least for the time being.

 

EDIT: read about the Soviets now, both the German and English versions, and debate will sure go on about it, given the "facts". The point of view from the Polish side is pretty clear, as is the - as per usual - distrust in anything that the Soviets have said about it.

Edited August 3, 2017 by der Berliner

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

Regardless of the politics this is a fantastic display. European clubs like this always put on a great show.