THE FORMATION OF ANDERS ARMY

ESCAPING STALIN’S SIBERIAN GULAGS – HOW THE POLISH II CORPS TOOK ON AN ODYSSEY ACROSS THREE CONTINENTS

Enabled by the Molotov-ribbentrop pact, the soviet Union followed germany’s lead and invaded Poland on the 17 september 1939, this time from the east. Caught between two occupiers set on the total destruction of Poland, the Poles were seen as a ‘racial enemy’ by the germans, and a ‘class enemy’ by the soviets. as germany was still setting up the concentration camps that would later kill millions, the soviets, following the great terror and purges of the 1930s, already had a fully running system of gulag prison camps. throughout all of soviet-occupied Poland, the nkvd (soviet secret Police) immediately began the deportations of Poles to the uninhabitable wastelands of the gulag archipelago – effectively sentencing them to slow deaths from hard labour, disease and starvation.

Estimates vary, but around 50 per cent of the close to 1.5 million Polish people that were deported, would be dead by the end of 1941. the exact numbers will never be known.

the turning point came in June 1941 as germany invaded the soviet Union. operation Barbarossa brought an unexpected chance for freedom to many Poles held across soviet territory. With the soviet Union switching sides to join the allies, diplomatic relations between the soviet Union and Poland were re-established. despite talks often close to stalemate, the sikorski-maisky agreement was signed on the 30 July, giving amnesty (for crimes never committed)

to all Polish citizens deported to soviet territory. Perhaps even more remarkable, the Polish

Prime Minister and Commander-in-chief of the Polish armed Forces, general sikorski, made a plan for the formation of a Polish army in the soviet Union. He appointed command to general Wladyslaw anders, who inspired fierce loyalty in his soldiers and had, following the announced amnesty, just been released from the lubyanka prison in Moscow.

as news of the amnesty spread, thousands of Poles from labour camps and remote villages from across the soviet Union began the journey – along railways, on rafts across rivers, through snowy terrain on sledges – all seeking recruitment or protection in the newly formed army. Many, already weakened by starvation and disease, found the journey extremely difficult and died on route. others were too weak to even begin the journey. some families were forced to make heart-breaking choices between those that had to stay and those who were able to leave towards an unknown future.

initially stalin had expected the newly formed Polish army to fight alongside the Red army, but with the soviets unable to provide necessary food and supplies, the physical condition of Poles who managed to reach anders army was deteriorating fast, leading to unacceptably high death rates. Furthermore, with the german war machine now focusing on the oil fields in Ussr’s Central asian Republics, an agreement was made with stalin to evacuate some of the Polish forces to the British zone in iran.

in March 1942 the Polish army stood at around 70,000 men, and along with dependants, eventually close to 115,000 people were allowed to leave the soviet Union. today Polish cemeteries can still be found all along the roads travelled by the men, women and children of anders army, as they made their way out through Central asia to the Middle east.

“THE NKVD (SOVIET SECRET POLICE) IMMEDIATELY BEGAN THE DEPORTATIONS OF POLES TO THE UNINHABITABLE WASTELANDS OF THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO – EFFECTIVELY SENTENCING THEM TO SLOW DEATHS FROM HARD LABOUR, DISEASE AND STARVATION”