I would like to know the speculative reasoning behind certain Polish factions wanting to kill Gen. Sikorsky as a potential “enemy of the state.”
There are few reasons for his extreme opposition to get him killed:
- Sikorski was a main opponent of Pilsudski’s political formation (Pilsudczycy) - personal conflict between them arised during WW1,
- after arriving to France he become a Prime Minister of Polish Government in Exile;
as he had a strong support of the French, he was given the right to create its structures. He agreed to allow Pilsudczycy to take part in it by giving them few ministers. Sikorski refused to allow gen. Sosnkowski to become a Military Commander of Polish Forces in Exile - instead of that he gathered all the power and took both positions. Pilsudczycy didn’t like it at all. - During the the evacuation of polish forces to France there was a lot of tension between him and Pilsudczycy. President Raczkiewicz called him of from position of PM for that, but after receiving strong opposition from Sikorski’s supporters, he agreed to change his decision.
- Sikorski since early moments was looking for some sort of agreement with Soviet Union.
In July 1940 he issued a letter to British Foreign Office stating a desire to create a 300.000 polish army in USSR. He didn’t discussed that proposition with anybody.
For Pilsudczycy it was outrageous: they considered USSR as the same kind of enemy as Germany and that Poland was in state of war with USSR.
After German attack on USSR, Churchill insipred the Sikorski/Majski Agreeement signed on July 25 1941. Because Churchill insisted on rapid signing of that document, many issues important for Polish were not properly secured by Sikorski. That was considered by Pilsudczycy as a final betrayal. Their minister abandoned their positions in the government.
on 13th of April 1943 Germany announced the discovery of mass-graves of polish officers in Katyn. When Sikorski refused a Soviet version and German responsibility for that war crime, Stalin broke-up the diplomatic relations with Polish Government in Exile. - Sikorski organised a detention camp for his opponents at Bute Island in Scotland. According to some sources about 600 hundred officers were kept there during WW2. 1/3 of them died there.
- Polish 2nd Corp in Italy was considered as a main nest of opposition against Sikorski, consisting of people who got through the Soviet prisons and GULAG camps’ system and managed to evacuate to Iran in 1941.
Very interesting. Thanks.
Yes, thank you for your exposition Kovalski. Interesting, but I don’t know if I’m buying it. It sort of reminds me of the “Gen. Patton murdered” conspiracy theory, which also doesn’t hold up for me as Patton died in such a random, pedestrian fashion that even the most efficient NKVD or Werewolf operation could never pull it off. Aircraft failures were far from uncommon as already stated here; and killing someone in the archetypal, Byzantine political intrigue “plain crash” is probably harder than it sounds in this context…
Well, I’m not saying it is true.
That theory received a major blow when the results of the latest examination (2008) of Sikorski’s remains were presented. According to the team of forensic experts from Krakow, the general died from wounds typical for the victims of air accidents. Leading expert, dr Tomasz Konopka said, that the search for any other causes of death is pointless.
So, it seems it was an accident.
But, by the way, if some other facts can be discovered, I think it is still quite interesting and worth digging into it.
That historian who presented that theory spend over 15 years interviewing witnesses, soldiers, intelligence agents, diplomats and found plenty of discrepancies and weird coincidences.
Some of the information can’t be verified (at least I don’t know where and how to verify them), but some are confirmed.
Even if he is mistaken, his work gives the great opportunity to bring the unknown historical facts to daylight.
I may be a few years late with the reply but it has to be done.
This story may not be liked but I have recently finished a book on my father’s military history and based upon alot of his memoirs and talks with me.
One of the topics Dad spoke about was another ‘secret’ that he wanted released after his death that relates to the death of General Sikorski.
My father was originally a K.O.P. Plutowny (Platoon Leader) Dederkaly Baon and survived KATYN by changing his clothes and his birthdate. Captured at Kulikov he was filmed by the Wermacht (actually on youtube video ‘Polish POW 1939’ at 1:00min in) and taken to Stalag VA and then VC and finally VB. In 1942 towards August after demonstrating to the commandant that he can grow potatoes to feed the Stalag.
They then placed him on a Farm to grow potatoes for the third Reich, here he escaped to France and eventually in 1943 he finds General Sikorski and due to his previous position as Protector of Poland K.O.P. he told me he was one of his personal men to protect him I think he said there were 10 or 12 of them.
Just before my father’s death in 1984 he mentioned that was he very angry about this one.
What he told me about Sikorski was this
- It was 100%sabotaged
- The method the person used was so simple that no one has found it today done under the cover of darkness it was a ‘small rag’ jammed into the wing that allowed it to lift and that’s all the pilot could do.
- Unfortunately Dad indicated it was another Pole under pressure by Ander’s and Churchill to do the deed to Stop Sikorski causing a war with Britain at all costs.
None of this could be mentioned as he would have been killed instantly and create dissention in Poland.
That’s it, it was so simple, whether you believe it or not it made sense to me and I suppose no one has found otherwise so I believe my fathers directive to tell once he was dead.
Cheers
Youngbruno
Interesting. Anyway, if it was murder (now very difficoult to dmonstrate) the only one that coul have a true interest in killing Sikorsky that was Stalin.
Hi DVX
I normally dont follow this forum but have to reply as I was sent an email for some reason.
I personally would have blamed the Russians point blank. That’s what has thrown me, unfortunately neither I nor you were present with General Sikorsky then, he was.
Given my fathers unique military involvement and what he got into I believe him and If I didnt hear it first hand explained to me I would also blame Stalin 100%. However one must think that Churchill apart from me reading some of his “message grams” sent to the Allies that he disliked Sikorski and thought someone from Sikorskis / Anders own ranks might take things in hand. Sure enough someone did.
The english were pounded by the Germans and so Churchill did not want war with a 'mad Stalin ’ and made this very clear.
As for the demonstration of the “theory” of the plane crash given the “rag method”, it seems to make logical sense to me. It would allow a plane to lift but not manovoure or descent properly. Probably why the Pilot got on his lifejacket as he knew the controls were stuck.
Incidentally my father dispised the Russians as he became a Brygada Swietokryska later on !
Cheers
Hi Youngbruno.
Interesting and respectable the opinion of your father also given his position so near to gen. Sikorsky. Personally I’m a bit dobious about the convenience for Churchill to see Sikorski killed… I don’t see the advantage of Churchill in Sikorski’s death. Of course Sikorski was a political trouble for him, but for example no more than De Gaulle, that nobody thought to kill (phisically, not politically). I mean: far for me the idea that Churchill was a man not so much cynical to not be able to kill his enemies (just the opposite), but it’ s difficoul for me to imagine a strong motive (differently, for example, to strange Mussolini’s end in which the involvement o f Churchill is highly probable, due to the explosive documents of the “secret letters”).
Different instead the “insider track”. This could be a more possible track, likewise it happened between De Gaulle and admiral Darlan, whose strange murder - as a matter of fact - was an advantage for De Gaulle.
But which clear advantage could gen. Anders or his entourage get with the murder of Sikorski?
Am I correct in understanding that in 1943 your father joined Sikorski in France?
Hi DVX
It’s all history now but a small group of dispirited people can do a lot of things, you will find that it was not the first time attempts were made to kill Sikorski rather quite a few as it was only the simplest method that finally worked as they were attempting to kill him for months. You know in reality with our family history I would have blamed the Russians also as being the ones who would have done this but I was surprised as well considering dad’s cousin later on was one of the leaders of the “trial of sixteen” and another the Prime Minister of Poland in exile!
What’s interesting is that when I questioned my father back in 1984 before he died and I said ….Dad you said you had a choice of England, America and Australia to go to when fleeing Western Germany. So why did you not go to America or England for that matter? He said mum did not wish to go to America (he met my mother in Germany and she thought she would be persecuted in the U.S.) and about England Dad said they ‘betrayed us’ and favoured the Russians just on the ending of the war to us and let our country go to the Russians and broke a promise with the Polish they did not really care about us.
As a fleeing ‘Doomed Soldier’ being all of these even from capture by the Germans in 1939 he protected himself by changing his name or simply his dob many times to as he was K.O.P., imprisoned in 3 x stalags in Germany then escaped to France from Stalag VB after being released for work detail on a Farm to feed the 3rd Reich and became one of Sikorski’s protectors and then with the Allies/Anders Army after they won against Rommel in the African desert he went to Italy where he was trained by the English as ‘Cichociemni’ (Dark and Silent) then dropped by parachute in late 1944 from italy (brindisi) back into Poland to help start more Polish Resistance groups like the 5 Wilenska Brygada, then power up the Brygada Swietokryska with the training he had to connect to the Polish American Soldiers with Paton’s Army using HAM radios. He also coordinated the event with the Holysov incident where they (Brygada) took on the Concentration camp with 200 SS Commandos and won (on his 100th birthday posthumously he was award a medal for this), just as the 3rd Army rocked up, as history shows Paton was so impressed they hired Dad and the Brygada to go into U.S. controlled Germany (West) and route out Nazis and he was used in the Nuremberg trials etc. Dad interestingly enough was with WIN at the same time as an intelligence Officer and still had his Salamander badge on him this is the group Stalin disliked………it goes on!
to Rising Sun
Yes, sometime between late 1942 after being given a monopoly game he entered france after killing the two farm managers where they placed him. He was given a silk map, compass and 500 francs hidden in a game of monopoly when in Stalag VB in Villingen in mid to very late 1942 distributed by the Red Cross. This apparently was placed there by the British I didnt know this he showed me the map made of Rayon/Silk he also showed me and I have kept one of the Francs . His story is truly miraculous I dont know how he wasnt killed about a million times or more.
Was Sikorski in France in late 1942?
I doubt that the Red Cross distributed anything that would help prisoners escape as that would have undermined the Red Cross’s neutrality and ability to enter camps and provide assistance to POWs.
However, the Monopoly story, apart from the Red Cross aspect, could well be correct. See http://www.snopes.com/military/monopoly.asp
Interesting link, I’d of never guessed 35,000 Allied POW’s made it out…
Hi Rising Star
Sorry I really don’t know where or when General Wladyslaw Sikorski was in France; I was just taken aback by how my dad escaped to be quite frank.
The Monopoly games what I have just found out were apparently created by a “fictitious company” in England coordinated with the Games owner’s and either MI5 or MI9 to produce these aids to prisoners of war for escape. They distributed these games in especially marked boxes i.e. a special marker on the top of each box for the appropriate Stalag etc.
So a special game was to be given if the Stalag etc close to a country say France then they would send the appropriately loaded game to that Stalag with maps for France in Silk/Rayon, compass and French Francs. I actually have one of those 500 Francs Dad kept but did’nt spend they were made in 1940, Stalag VB was apparently only about 45kms away from the French border.
For your information the Red Cross were kept out of the loop to not damage their integrity and for their safety! To not compromise them and as the German’s trusted them they never checked the games. The English (MI9) did not tell them they contained anything and its due to their spectacular effor I would like to publically thank them on our Family’s behalf for doing this; as this is the reason why I am here today and my brothers and sisters.
Well done MI9 if that is who did this you saved many lives, my father and myself do thank you!
If you wish to see the man whom they saved now turned to digital Dad was filmed by the German Wehrmacht on 13th of October 1939 being rounded up with other Polish General Army members just before they or he was taken to Stalag VA in Germany, which was one of three Stalags he was in.
On Youtube he is shown at exactly 1:00 min the German properganda department was in full swing and tried to film all the prisoners to show just how kind the German Army was and how happy they were and that they fed them well.
Go to youtube and type in … Polish POW 1939 and select this one… Polscy jency 1939 - (Polish POW 1939)
Since I am new they wont allow me to post a link on this site yet.
When the German film crew went by they stopped on my Father as he had “Brand New” General Army clothing on, they knew something was wrong but did’nt know what so they panned up and down on him then continued on.
He was infact a K.O.P. officer which is the ones they were slaughtered at KATYN. He was the only survivor to my knowledge of Dederkaly K.O.P. he changed his clothes to normal Army whilst on the run. If you watch the Movie that is called KATYN that’s were all Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza went as they were the protectors of Poland from the Russians. Dad heard as early as October 1939 they were going to kill all INTELLIGENSIA well before Stalin signed the orders.
Cheers
Youngbruno
Polscy jency 1939 - (Polish POW 1939)
Me neither.
I’m taking Snopes (which professes to be the ants’ pants in accuracy) at face value.
I have no idea of the numbers who got out along the ratlines etc.
Depends also what is meant by “Allied POW”, and what constitutes “successfully escaped”.
The latter term would mean to me that they got back home or at least somewhere where the Nazis couldn’t get them for the rest of the war, e.g. Switzerland (which was probably distracted from dealing with escaped POWs from Germany by the constant effort required to deal with the riches deposited by the Nazis in Swiss banks).
The prospect of about 12,000 POWs escaping on the basis of Monopoly maps seems a bit unlikely, but the article says only that they were aided by the maps. They had to get out of the camps and then survive in a hostile environment. The maps were only a navigational aid which weren’t the major, although no doubt very useful, element in any successful escape.
Yeah, there were over a million French POW’s alone, from 1940, held for the better part of the war…