DESCRIPTION

Polish People's Army x 52

The Polish People's Army, the direct product of Stalin's "internationalism", was created in the Soviet Union as an alternative to the armed forces of the existing government of the country, which had fought on the side of the Anglo-American allies.

As its prototype one can consider the 68th Division of the Red Army, founded in the summer of 1939 out of ethnic Poles, who were citizens of the USSR or simply had Polish names, specifically to take part in incursions into the Second Polish Republic to make it look like a matter of "fraternal aid to the workers, oppressed by the capitalists".

Originally formed along similar lines in 1943 as just one division, the Polish People's Army was issued with Soviet defensive and offensive weapons, including helmets, but it had the traditional national Polish uniform. Also, along with the proven command and political officers, drawn to a large extent from Polish Communists, Catholic chaplains served in this unit.

Despite the obviously opportunistic reason for its initial formation, its soldiers displayed outstanding courage, especially once they entered the territory of Poland itself, and having been replenished by native Poles, they lost much of their ephemeral nature, turning instead into a formidable force consisting of 2 armies of 4 infantry divisions each with a total of about 200.000 men. The dream of complete freedom for their Fatherland had yet to come true but the Polish soldiers retaliated against the Nazis, delivering to Berlin their white eagle banners.