European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 29, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages the stars and stripes Friday. September 29. 1989 polish soldiers on their Way to prison Camps pass through the City of grud ind. After the invasion Liy Germany. To right is then i British prime minister Neville Chamberlain. Scholars Tell Why Poland was on its own in 39 editor s note the american University of Paris this Heck is bringing together for the first time scholars from the Stirl Union the West and Japan for an open scientific debate on the origins and sequence of events that led to world War ii. Scholars from 13 countries Are presenting papers on the subject. The stars and stripes will tre reporting on the four Day conference by David Tarrant staff writer Paris Only a few Days after the nazi War machine crossed the polish Border without warning on Cpl. I. 1939, one could hear crowds singing in the streets of Warsaw. In retrospect the reason is sadly poignant. The crowds gathered outside the British and French embassies were there to cheer those countries declarations of War on Germany. The singing included god save the King and la Marseillaise the British and French National anthems. But historians meeting in Paris this week to debate the causes of the War contend that France and Britain never intended to defend the hapless poles despite the treaties world War ii the beginning they signed the month before Hitler s move to the East. The Luftwaffe kept up its bombing of the capital and the crowd s Hopes for Rescue were doomed for Poland had to fight the German aggressor alone said Reiner Pommerin of Friedrich Alexander University in Erlanger. West Germany. In vain did the defenders count on their English and French allies whose partnership bound the two great european democracies to defend Poland by armed forces Pommerin said. In reality Poland had to withstand the combined Power of Germany and the soviet Union alone fully lacking the promised Mili tary Relief from the West. Naturally it  nazi Germany s first Gamble with War was an Over whelming Success forcing the Quick surrender of the polish army on sept. 28. The Brief War brought Admir ing reviews from the world press which trumpeted the daunting Power of Germany s Blitzkrieg Hitler s lightning fast mechanized warfare. But Germany s Battlefield Success owes much to the Lack of British and French resolve the scholars note. The French polish treaty for example called for the French to attack the German Border on the 15th Day after a German Advance on polish territory. But All facts pointed against such a move Pommerin said. The Basic pattern of French military strategy since world War i had been defensive marked by the Strong line of defense along the French German Border known As the Maginot line. And the French who had lost More than 10 percent of their population in world War 1. Were still strongly influenced by a mood of pacifism that dominated the nation in the 1930s, he said. A people such As the French valiant in defense docs not willingly plunge to its death in order to de fend unknown territory and too Distant  Poland s other ally England was also poised for defensive operations concentrating its strategy on protecting its sea routes. Pommerin said. The other part of the British strategy assumed a Long War of attrition that would favor the allies Superior economic position. The British insisted on remaining purely defensive in the West even if Poland suffered a Complete defeat As a  Pommerin said. Ultimately the French and British abandonment of Poland May have actually helped the West Pommerin noted. Mad the French attacked along the Maginot line valuable resources and manpower might have been los without the desired effect of hindering Germany he said adding that Western politicians should not necessarily be condemned for striving for a political reconciliation in order to avoid War. That View was also supported by another scholar who described the failure of the allies in the opening stages of the War in strictly modern terms. France and England through their Mutual pact with Poland pledging support in the event of German aggression had attempted what in modern times is known As deterrence said Malcolm Mackintosh of the International Institute for strategic studies in London. Such deterrence May have succeeded if French and English diplomats and not German emissaries had been Able to secure the allegiance of the soviets Mackintosh said. We were inexperienced totally inexperienced in the role of deterrence in International relations he added. Life under bumbling bolsheviks was lesser of two evils expert says Paris much has been written about the brutal wave of terror that followed the september 1939 Ger Man occupation of Poland and led to the death or deportation of thousands of poles. Much less is known of the soviet occupation of East Ern Poland agreed to in a secret protocol Between Hitler and Stalin in August 1939. But the soviet Slaughter of thousands of polish officers has tended to underscore the View of some Western historians that the soviet occupation was More oppressive than the nazi presence in the Western halt of the country. New evidence however indicates that soviet occupation May have been the lesser of the two evils according to Canadian historian George Urbaniak. Certainly the poles and jews who experienced both nazi and soviet Rule in 1939 were virtually unanimous in judging the nazi experience As infinitely worse said Urbaniak during a historical conference in Paris on the 50th anniversary of world War ii. Pan of the reason for this View is simply a result of soviet bumbling As Urbaniak s research demonstrates. Quoting a British Diplomat s interviews with a pol ish countess who experienced both occupations he said she could speak almost Lightheart edly about her three month s experience in a bolshevik prison. But when she came to speak of her impressions of Warsaw under German occupation she did so on quite a different  what impresses me is the refinement of the Ger Man brutality As compared with the primitive and unorganized barbarity of the bolsheviks he said. The soviets also had some Success in gaining sup port among the polish youth according to Urbaniak. Looser discipline in the school and Shorter class Days As Well As free Access to cinemas and train transportation delighted the polish children he said. The soviets also did not interfere to any great degree with religious practices in Poland Urbaniak said add ing one soviet official expressed a patient attitude. If you live with us for several years you will Sec for yourself that there is no god " there was. However widespread pillaging by the soviet army. The red army took supplies of Grain cattle flour and potatoes assuring the local populace that these were temporary Loans until supplies arrived from Russia. But they never saw any recompense Urbaniak said. But economically the soviet occupation deliberately drained Eastern Poland transferring much of its resources to help the soviets. The occupation prompted this comment from a jewish Hotelier in Lvov comparing the differences Between Hitler and Stalin the former kills the fish without More ado he said. The latter slowly lets out the  Dave Tarrant