The tracks are a relic of the prewar past, when this was all Polish territory, before the Soviet Union “liberated” western Ukraine in 1939 from Poland and incorporated it into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. But the emotions of that old train route still illuminate the fears and hopes that now make Poland a central player in the sharpest European crisis since 1989. For the last quarter-century — the first time in modern history — Poles have not faced an existential threat from the East. But within living memory, Poland lost its eastern provinces when Hitler and Stalin carved it up in 1939; in 1945, the loss became permanent in a redrawn Poland that now included former German lands. So invasions, dismemberments and wholesale remappings of nations are not implausible to Poles. The idea that Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president, could simply send his troops to occupy and effectively annex territory from Ukraine without real provocation may have seemed fantastical from farther away, but not from Warsaw. when Mr. Putin gave a rambling news conference last week that some Westerners thought held reasons for optimism, Poles heard a direct threat to their own country in his accusation that the snipers on Kiev’s Independence Square had been trained in Poland. Poles believe they have a special message, even a special gift, to convey to those around the world who struggle for liberty and civil rights, and especially to Ukraine. The two nations are drawn together more by a painful past than by common threads. Ukrainian peasants once worked for Polish noblemen. After World War I, the Polish Army helped dash Ukrainians’ brief hopes of independence. World War II brought horrific massacres to both populations, from many directions, and ended with vast ethnic cleansing. But from this pain came a slow discovery of common ground. Both sides took the idea of “solidarity” to mean a shared struggle against dictatorship. Poles, too, have seen their territory taken and blood spilled on city squares. They have also seen popular determination and grass-roots organizing lead to democracy. And they see a turn toward Europe as a moral choice, not one that simply brings prosperity and stability. The idealism of 1989 has been combined with a pragmatic, firmly institutional view of international relations. It makes Poland a formidable player in Europe, and an essential friend to Ukraine.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 11:08:18 +0000
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