Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

W Szponach Czerwonych: Komunizm I Postkomunizm w Polsce po 1944, by Leszek Zebrowski. 2015

The Crushing Scale of the Soviet-Imposed Communist Puppet Government on Poland (1944-on). Never-Punished Communist Crimes

IN THE TALONS OF THE REDS, COMMUNISM AND (POST)COMMUNISM IN POLAND AFTER 1944, is the title of this book by historian Leszek Zebrowski. I focus on seldom-presented information on Poland Communized by force. 

SOVIET-RULED POLAND: POLICE STATE OF A POLICE STATE

The scale of Communist repression took on staggering proportions. For example:

In 1944-1956, some 1 million ” enemies of the people” experienced arrests, prisons, and work camps. 5,000 death sentences were carried out, and an additional 20,000 were murdered without as much as the formality of a trial. Many more died in combat against the repressive organs of the government.

In 1948, the U. B. (BEZPIEKA) had 5,000 agents and 48,000 informants in Poland. By 1956, this had grown to 1 million (mostly consisting of ” compromised” people).

In 1954, there were around 10 million cards on the ” enemies of the people.” This comes out to nearly one-third of the entire Polish population!

Around 1956, the Communist terror slackened. But this had less to do with a ” thaw” , and more with the fact that full-scale repression was no longer needed.

Communism harmed Poland in other ways. The NOMENKLATURA embraced 500,000 positions, and was an enormous parasite on the Polish organism.

MARCH 1968 IN MUCH-NEEDED PERSPECTIVE

Although usually presented as such, 1968 was hardly unusual. During 1956-1957, 36,500 persons left Poland.

1989: ONLY A PARTIAL BREAK WITH COMMUNISM. THE NOTORIOUS GRUBA KRESKA

Why did Bezpieka members continue getting paid for their crimes (by retaining their pensions) after 1989? Simple. Communism had not totally ended in 1989!

Consider the absence of LUSTRACJA. No former Communist ever got punished for his crimes. In a 2007 interview, Zygmunt Bauman gave an Eichmann-style exculpation for his crimes as a Communist. For more on the lack of justice for Communist criminality, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2025/11/20/bombshell-post-communists-rule-poland-specifics/

Krystyna Kersten and Adam Michnik vel Szechter whitewashed the Communists as ” misguided idealists” . [Imagine, if you can, someone excusing Hitler and the Holocaust as manifestations of ” misguided idealism.” How well would that fly in the Jewish community? ]