I'm not sure if the Poles hate you so much more than other nations from the region...
I think you missed something somewhere. I am not Russian. My ancestors are not Russian. I live in Canada. My grandfathers were both from Scotland; my grandmothers were from Sweden and Northern England all came to Canada roughly 100 years ago. I have a degree in History, which involves learning to assess source documents, weed out opinion and assertion, and make objective conclusions on existing evidence. I aspire to avoid choosing one "side" over another.
The fact remains, of the many peoples in Central Europe which came under Soviet domination after the Second World War, Poles stand out as being the most bitter, the most vocal, and the most antagonistic people in their comments about Russians.
Stalin may have been born Georgian, but he was head of the Soviet Union, on that I do not disagree. He acted to protect his power, against Poles, against Russians, against Ukrainians, Chechens, Azeris, Armenians, even Georgians against anyone who he perceived as a threat. His victims were not selected upon racial or national criteria, but upon political ones. The Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland in 1939 must be seen in context, when at roughly the same time the Baltic States, Bessarabia and Moldovia were re-acquired by the USSR. These were all parts of the Russian Empire, which had been lost after 1918 in the chaos of the Great War and the post-war settlements. Stalin was understandably acting to restore territory that had been part of the Imperial Russian Empire to the USSR. He cannot be faulted in this. Germany was doing the same thing. Great Britain and France woud have done the same had it been neccessary. It is worth noting tha while the British and Frence made much ado about Germany's invasion of Poland, relatively little was said about the Soviet occupation of Galicia. For them, it was a return to the pre-1918 status quo, and they were prepared to accept that. They could do nothing more.
The time to stop Hitler was 1938, when a very weak Wehrmacht invaded Czechoslovakia. The Czech Army and Air Force could have stopped the Germans on it's own, with minimal guarantees from the West. But Bene was sold out by France and (especially) Britain, was assailed by the Poles and Hungarians as well as the Germans, and had no choice but succumb to German occupation. Czechoslovakia, another creation of Versailles, was erased in 1938. Poland was erased in 1939, under similar circumstances. Which bring us back to the question why is it that Poles are all over the Internet, expressing their hatred for all things Russian or Soviet, while Czechs and Slovaks are silent?? Is it because Poles have greater access to the WWW? Or is it because Poles are obsessed with the past, while Czechs and Slovaks are more concerned with the future, and are not willing to waste time and effort dredging up the past?
If Poland is to move on, it must move on let the past lie in the past, and look to the future. I may have said this before, but Poland is located at the crossroads between East and West. This has been the bane of Poland in the past it has been eaten by greater Powers from the East (Russia) and the West (Germany/Austria) in years gone by. Today, Poland has a unique identy, and is in a unique place, where it can serve as a bridge between both worlds. There is much to be gained from fulflling this role, but so long as Poles are as obsessed as they appear to be with their hatred for all things Russian, nothing will come of it. They will hate Russians, Russians will react to this, and Poland will not be accepted as a conduit for East-West commerce or dialogue. Other countries will step forward and get the benefits of this immensely important exchange.
So. My advice to Poland, and to Poles Forget about Stalin. He is dead fifty years ago. Forget about the USSR. It died a decade ago. Look at what is today, and look to the future. Make the most of today's opportunities, and leave the past behind. Bury it. Let it become the minutiae that historians thrive upon, but that no one in the real world cares about. Get on with life, and let it go. It is irrelevant today, Accept it, and move on, lest the Polish nation become as crippled by the past as the Jews are.
Cheers
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