DISINFO: Warsaw colluded with Hitler to expel Polish Jews to Africa
SUMMARY
Poland is extremely dissatisfied with a recent statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called Polish Ambassador to Nazi Germany Jozef Lipski a “bastard and anti-Semitic swine” for supporting Hitler and his idea of expelling Polish Jews to Africa “for extinction and extermination.” In late December, the president read excerpts from a report Lipski had compiled for the foreign ministry at that time, in which the ambassador suggested that a monument to Hitler be built if the Nazis’ deportation plans were carried out.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative distorting Poland's actions in the run-up to and during the Second World War.
The story deliberately muddies the timeline of the Second World War, particularly regarding Warsaw-Berlin relations and the degree to which European states were aware of Nazi Germany's position on the European Jewry. Poland's chief rabbi, among others, has billed Putin's remarks about Lipski as "scandalous" and "taken totally out of context." He noted that the diplomat's support for Jewish emigration from Europe stemmed from Warsaw's support at the time of the Zionist movement, "which was clandestinely supported by Poland in military matters." After the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland, Lipski fled to France and joined the Polish Armed Forces as a volunteer.
Sputnik also fails to mention that Lipski made these remarks in September 1938, which precludes any knowledge on his part of Hitler's intentions toward the Jews (see note 75, "In these negotiations"), let alone a desire for their "extinction and extermination."