Polokaust By Starvation. Interwar Land Reform Fallacies Refuted. Taylor

The Economic Development of Poland 1919-1950, by Jack Taylor. 1952

Polokaust By Starvation. Seldom-Told Polish Achievements (1918-1939) Debunk Communist Propaganda

This scholarly work begins with portioned Poland, and then moves on to the resurrected Polish state and the interwar period. It then discusses conditions under the German Nazi occupation followed the Soviet puppet state. It is of especial relevance because the Second Republic has always been denigrated Communist propaganda, and now receives the same attacks from LEWAKS, cultural Marxists, etc.

THE “BENIGN AUSTRIAN PARTITION RULE” MYTH

Economic conditions were, of the three partitioned portions of Poland, the worst in Austrian-ruled Poland (Galicia). Taylor writes, (quote) …the phrase “Galician misery” became a common catchword. So far as fiscal and economic policies were concerned, the first fifty years of Austrian rule were purely predatory. The aim of the Hapsburg government was to keep the Polish provinces primarily agricultural in order to serve as a granary for the rest of the Hapsburg Empire and as a never-failing market for the produce of Austrian industries. The Austrian attitude toward Galicia in this period was very reminiscent of the British attitude toward its American colonies in the mercantilist era. (unquote)

POLAK POTRAFI: POLES ACHIEVED A LOT IN A VERY SHORT TIME

Because the Soviet-imposed Communist puppet government (1944-on) had no legitimacy, it did the only thing it could do: Denigrate pre-Communist Poland as one that had suffered under the rule of incompetent, oppressive, self-seeking upper classes. Moreover, there had been no Poland worthy of the name until the dawning of PPR (and, now, Poland as part of the European Union).

Let us set the record straight.

Although the resurrected Polish state was free for only 21 years (1918-1939), its citizens achieved much in this short time. For instance, 2,016 kilometers of new railway line were built between 1918 and 1936 alone. (p. 20). Between 1930 and 1939, the number of Polish maritime vessels increased from 25 to 71. (p. 21).

Whatever “backwardness” existed must be kept in perspective. In 1931, 60% of Poles engaged in agriculture. For comparison, the same was true of 5% of the English, 20% of 1933 Germans, and 76% of Yugoslavians. (p. 63). In 1939, 20% of the Polish population engaged in industry. This contrasted with 38% of Germans and 11% of Yugoslavians. (p. 83).

TERRIBLE POLISH NOBILITY–COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA REFUTED

One perennial staple of Communist propaganda had been the big bad Polish landlords of pre-WWII Poland. Taylor presents facts and figures (Table 29, p. 75) which shows how large estates were being parceled out throughout the years of the Second Republic, and also comments on how the large estates had their good side: (quote) Detailed statistics for the period are set out in Table 29; they effectively refute the lie that land reform in Poland had to wait until the Soviet occupation. In connection with parcellation, it must not be forgotten that as the large estates often obtained higher yields per hectare than the small ones, the breakup of the large estates meant a fall in yield per unit area. This loss was largely offset, however, the gain in productive efficiency caused the consolidation of small holdings. (unquote).

RESTRICTED OCCUPATIONS? THE JEWS BANNED FROM AGRICULTURE MYTH

We commonly hear the exculpation that Jews engaged in “parasitic” occupations (such as usury) because they were forbidden law from engaging in “productive” occupations such as farming. The facts are otherwise.

Taylor touches on the occupational positions of the Jews. At 10% of the population, Jews accounted for 21% of Poland’s professions, 58% of commercial workers, 20.3% of Poland’s industrial workers, and only 0.7% of Poland’s agricultural labor. (p. 103). Note that 0.7% is not zero percent. Since Jewish farmhands did exist, this refutes the argument that there were laws that forbade Jews from engaging in farming.

NOT ONLY THE JEWS: POLES WERE ALSO DEPRIVED OF THEIR PROPERTY

The author elaborates on the economic consequences of the WWII German occupation of Poland. Contrary to Jan T. Gross and his GOLDEN HARVEST, who focused on greedy and (what else) anti-Semitic Poles “getting Jewish property”, the Germans voraciously expropriated the properties of Jews AND Poles. For instance, the Germans simply confiscated Polish factories without compensating their owners. (p. 166). Also, “…since the Nazi authorities rigidly controlled prices, an inducement was created for Germans to go to Poland and to strip the country of all available commodities at absurdly low prices.” (p. 159).

POLOKAUST BY STARVATION

The Germans used both active genocide (mass murder) and passive genocide (forced premature “natural” deaths) on Poles. Let us focus a bit on the later.

After the Nazi German conquest of Poland, the Germans imposed starvation rations on Poles. A daily Polish intake of approximately 3,000 calories before the war, and this fell to 1,650 calories in 1942 and only about 1,400 calories 1943 and 1944. (p. 163). However, these figures are general averages that do not take into account areas hit less severely and more severely German-imposed starvation. Based on reports from the League of Nations and the later United Nations and their relief agencies, Taylor comments that, “In general, Poland suffered more than any other European country except Greece, parts of Yugoslavia, and German-occupied Russia (which, of course, included that part of prewar Poland that had been seized the U.S.S.R.)(p. 162).

The foregoing facts make it obvious that Poles had a very difficult time housing and feeding themselves, let alone also fugitive Jews–quite apart from the mortal risks of doing so. They also make folly of neo-Stalinists such as Jan T. Gross, who have accused Polish rescuers of Jews of being “greedy and exploitative” whenever they required payments from the Jews they were housing. So much for the myth of the greedy, paid Polish rescuer of Jews.