Well said Joph.
Especially since the Poles actually fought back. True, they were ill-equipped and their tactical doctrine still lingered somewhere in the 19th centurty, but they fought and died valiantly. And in one of the greatest backstabs in history, while Germany invaded from the west, Stalin waited until the Poles were committed to battling the Germans and invaded from the east.
The French on the other hand, who were supposed to come to Poland's aid when Germany invaded, did nothing but sit on their own border and wait (from September 1939 to May 1940) for Germany to re-organize, turn around and come kick their asses (along with the British Expeditionary Force). They didn't get the moniker of "wine soaked surrender monkeys" for nothing.
That ends todays history lesson. On a strictly personal, anecdotal sidenote, one of, if not THE finest American I've ever known was born in Poland. He was one of my instructors while I was at Nuclear Power School in the Navy. He was born in Poland, walked overland at the age of 15 to East Berlin, crossed the wall into West Berlin, and eventually made his way to the US. Where he promptly joined the Navy, fought in Vietnam as a SEAL, was heavily decorated and wounded multiple times. Returned to the US after serving multiple tours, went to Officer Candidate School, and earned a Masters Degree in Engineering in his spare time.
He taught what was supposed to be the most difficult course at Nuclear Power School, Reactor Principles. He made it the easiest class in the school (for me at least), because he was, without a doubt, the best teacher I've ever had.
I've been fortunate enough to have traveled widely. Along the way certain peoples have earned by respect, and other haven't. The French are the leaders of the latter.
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