Pawel
Szalamacha writes from Poland, August 31, 1998:

Dear Mr Irving,

I have read your
Hitler’s
War. Two quick points:

  • You repeat the lie on the
    Polish cavalry charging German tanks in September 1939.
    There was not a single case. No officer would give such
    an order.

Actually, thanks to the new anti-tank rifle the Polish army struck off 30% of German tanks. This is a remarkable score, probably (my stress on probably) the best result of the war before campaign in
Russia.

  • I have not read your book
    on the accident at Gibraltar which happened to Gen
    Sikorski. It appears that the Polish public opinion now
    seems to be convinced that this was no accident. The
    event happened close to the British military base, i.e.
    it was done either by the British, or with their
    approval. Note, that I am not blaming the British. We had
    the choice in 1939.

    Having considered the alternative (
    i.e. 45-89), I am prone to think that maybe we should
    have yielded to Hitler, given up Gdansk [Danzig]
    and given him access to [East] Prussia or Silesia
    if necessary. Then after the fall of France, go to Moscow
    as the ally of Germany. The “Buts:”
    (i) the Polish government although pretending
    to be autocratic was responding to democratic pressures
    in rejecting Hitler’s demands and accepting
    Franco-British “alliance”.

    I am afraid that a coup
    d’état would take place if Beck, Smigly,
    Moscicki     would accept (compare Yugoslavia in 1941)
    (ii) the calculation was not that irrational,
    it was really in France’s interest (not because of love
    for Poles) to stand up to her obligations and launch the
    offensive say around Sept 12. Documents prove that all
    the time Beck was aware (in 1938 and later) that he is
    playing a risky game while thinking the French would
    fight.

    However, after August 26, that is after the
    Molotov Pact, Beck should have yielded.

Pawel
Szalamacha

See Also