EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES SESSION SCENARIO Class: Władysław Anders. The General of Polish Hopes Session time: 45 minutes Target group: Senior high school students. Materials and teaching aids: Fragments of Władysława Anders book Bez ostatniego rozdziału, London 1949; fragments of Maria Nurowska s Anders, Warsaw 2012; audiovisual reports with testimony, history schoolbook (20 th century), map of the Mediterranean as during the Second World War. Important facts and figures: The Katyń massacre war crime committed by the Soviet Union authorities on 5 March 1940, i.e. the shooting of over 20,000 Polish citizens, including more than 10,000 officers of the Polish army and police forces in the forest in the vicinity of Katyń near Smoleńsk. The name refers to all murders committed by the NKVD on Polish people in Spring 1940 in several locations in the USSR territory: in Tver, Minsk, Kharkov, and Kijev. The officers murdered in Katyn were searched for by general Anders who wished to include them in the forming Polish army in 1941 and 1942. Sikorski-Mayski agreement common name of the Polish-Soviet agreement of 30 July 1941, signed by general Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of the Polish Government in London representing the Polish party, and by the Soviets represented by Ivan Mayski, ambassador of the USSR to Great Britain. The agreement allowed for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union after the aggression of the Red Army on Poland on 17 September 1939. The talks between Poland and the USSR were possible due to the German attack on the Soviet Union of 22 June 1941 and the need to form an anti-nazi coalition. The document contained a settlement on amnesty for the political prisoners from Poland and the agreement to form a Polish army in the USSR, equipped on the Soviet government s expense. For leadership of the army, general Władysław Anders was appointed. Wojtek (bear) Syrian brown bear born in 1941 and acquired via exchange against food provisions from a Syrian boy, to be adopted by the 22 nd Artillery Supply Company of the II Polish Corps. The animal was officially included in the register of the II Corps and accompanied the soldiers on the entire war route from Iran, through Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to Italy and then to Great Britain. He participated in the battle of Monte Cassino where he helped in carrying heavy ammunition. The bear functioned as the mascot-symbol of the 22 nd Company and of the II Corps. After disbanding the Army led by Anders, he lived in the zoological garden in Edinburgh and there he died at the age of 22. the battle of Monte Cassino also called the battle of Rome, marks the breaking of the socalled Winter Line, strongly fortified by the Nazi German army in Spring 1944. The line of the German defense was finally broken at 10 AM on 18 May 1944 by the troops of the II Corps of Poland commanded by general Anders, with French and British aid. The Battle is among the most dramatic and crucial military operations of the Second World War, along with the Battle of Stalingrad and the Allies landing in Normandy.
The abbey of Monte Cassino founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, the abbey stands on a hill of 519 m altitude, located between Naples and Rome, over the valley of the Liri river. Saint Benedict and his sister Saint Scholastica are buried in the abbey. The temple was one of the most important locations of Christian spiritual life in the Middle Ages. Its strategic location, however, caused constant invasions, beginning with the Lombardos, then Napoleon Bonaparte s army, and more recently the Nazi army troops blocking the access to Rome. General goals: pointing to similarities and differences between the notion of the Righteous Among the Nations and the definition of the Righteous as developed by the GARIWO Gardens of the Righteous Committee, tracing the influence of the value system one holds on one s comportment, presenting important military contribution of the Polish Armed Forces fighting in the battles of the Second World War in the context of the political relations between the allied countries the USSR, Great Britain, the US, and the Polish Government in London. Particular goals: the students gain knowledge on the life and work of general Władysław Anders and general Władysław Sikorski, on the relations between these two men of state and their contribution to marking the Polish position on international stage, they comprehend the significance of the Battle of Monte Cassino in the context of the course of military actions during the Second World War, they are familiar with the circumstances in which the Polish Army in the USSR territories was formed by general Anders; they are able to locate the Army s trail on the map, they understand the complexities of the situation which the soldiers of the Army faced after the end of the Second World War. Skills to be developer by the students: locating the route by which the Polish people were evacuated from the Soviet Union territories towards the Middle East and to Italy, on the map, evaluating the significance of and characterizing the historical figure of general Władysław Anders as compared to other Second World War heroes, transplanting elements of historical text sources into the contemporary sphere of associations and symbolic imagery, ability to examine the political realities of the period 1941-1944 which Poles had to face in the country and in exile, knowledge of the circumstances which emerged as a result of the so-called post-yalta order in various countries after the year 1945 and the application of this knowledge to assess the situation of the Polish people in the country and in exile, critical analysis of historical text sources. Working methods and forms: Elements of introductory lecture, working in groups, source text analysis, audiovisual material analysis. Historical figures: general Władysław Anders, general Władysław Sikorski. Władysław Anders was born in 1892 in Błonie, in an Evangelical family. Like his three brothers, he chose to be a soldier, and was a lover of cavalry and horses. He took part in the First World War, the Greater Poland Uprising of 1918-1919, and the Polish-Bolshevik War.
During The May Coup, he served as the chief of staff to the government forces. In September 1939 he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Soviets near the city of Sambir. Initially detained in a Lviv hospital and later in the Moscow prison of Lubyanka, he escaped the tragic fate of his comrades who were killed in Katyń. In 1941, after the signing of the Polish-Soviet treaty referred to as the Sikorski Mayski agreement, Anders was appointed the commander of the Polish Army in the USSR. After numerous problems with food supplies, he decided to move the Polish army to Iran, against the will of the Commander in Chief general Władysław Sikorski and with British and Russian consent. He commanded Polish troops under the name of the II Polish Corps in Italy the most important fights being the battle of Monte Cassino, Ancona and Bologna. From October 1944 to May 1945 he served as Supreme Commander of the Polish Armed Forces and Inspector General of the Armed Forces. After the war, forced to remain in exile, he lived in the United Kingdom and was deprived of Polish citizenship by the communist authorities and soon became the patron and exponent of the will of Polish political émigrés. He died in 1970 in London. In accordance to his will, Anders was buried on the site of Monte Cassino battled, among soldiers he had once led. Władysław Sikorski was born in Tuszów Narodowy in 1881. Before World War I, member of several Polish independence movements. He fought in the Polish Legions and then in the newly created Polish Army during the Polish-Bolshevik war. During the interwar period, he served as Prime Minister (1922-23) and as Minister of Military Affairs; however, after the May Coup of 1926, he remained in opposition against the Sanation government. During the Second World War, Sikorski was among the most important Polish politicians, holding positions of both the Prime Minister and the Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. On 30 July 1941, he established political relations with the Soviet Union and entrusted the mission of creating an army consisting of the Polish prisoners to general Władysław Anders. In 1943, Sikorski demanded an International Red Cross investigation of the Katyń Massacre, which resulted in the rupture of Soviet political relations with Poland. He died in an airplane crash over Gibraltar on July 4, 1943. His death made it easier for the Soviet party to marginalize Poland's part in the new global political order proclaimed after the Second World War. Task 1 (Attachments 1-3) Activity form: working in groups text analysis, analysis of audiovisual reports. Defining the Righteous: The students are divided into three groups: the first group is given the definition of the Righteous Among the Nations (cf. Attachment 1). The second group is given the definition of the Righteous developed by the GARIWO Gardens of the Righteous Committee (cf. Attachment 2). The third group is given the definition of a hero by P. Zimbardo (cf. Attachment 3). Upon reading these, the students present the essential elements of each definition to the rest of the class. They agree upon their own definition of the Righteous and write it down on a large sheet of paper (flipchart) or on the blackboard. Optional questions for discussion: Who can be considered Righteous? Do the Righteous belong to the category of saints, or are they normal people who were able to take action when put to test? Does the notion of a Righteous person apply to cases of homicide and crimes against humanity other than Holocaust?
Why do we need to preserve the memory of what the Righteous did? How can we foster the memory of the Righteous? What is your opinion on the initiative of founding Gardens of the Righteous? Can the Righteous only be found in difficult moments in history? Can the terms of Righteous and hero be used interchangeably? Task 2 Activity form: source text analysis (cf. Attachment 4) Information concerning the political circumstances and legal background to the formation of the Polish armed troops in the USSR in the period 1941-42 will prove helpful in analyzing the complex situation which involved the task given to general Anders in the historical moment. Based on fragments of Anders memoir Bez ostatniego rozdziału, written and published in London, describing the necessity to form an army and evacuate the Poles to Iran. Questions for discussion: 1. What was the aim of forming the Polish Army in the USSR? 2. What is the importance of the section stating that it would return to Poland after the war? 3. Were the decisions concerning the formation of the army in the USSR in 1941, e.g. the Polish sovereign command, possible to implement? Discuss. 4. Why did the Soviet authorities obstruct the process of forming the Polish Army? 5. Why was general Sikorski opposed to leading Polish people to the Middle East? 6. How does Anders justify the cause of evacuating the civilian population, women and children, from the Soviet Union? Task 3 Activity form: analysis of source text and audiovisual reports (cf. Attachment 5). Władysław Anders the profile of a hero Discussion questions for source text analysis: 1. What were the reasons for Anders to criticize the decision of initiating the Uprising in Warsaw? 2. How was Anders thought of by his coworkers and subordinates? 3. Do you find the comparison made between general Anders and Moses to be wellfounded? 4. Enumerate the circumstances, events and decisions which contributed to general Anders high status and authority among the émigrés. 5. Discuss the significance which Anders activities and opinions had to the Poles in exile, to Polish communist authorities, and to Polish people in the country. Audiovisual material analysis: Listen to the opinions concerning Władysław Anders and the II Polish Corps shared by professor Rafał Habielski, historian and Maryna Miklaszewska, the author of book Wojtek z Armii Andersa. Question: How would you describe the relations between the soldiers and their commander general Anders?
Home Assignment Think of this year s anniversary of the battle of Monte Cassino. What is the best way to commemorate this event and to revive the memory of its participants, so as to consolidate its image as one of the most important events of the Second World War, in the memory of the members of your peer group? Suggest suitable and effective ways of fostering the memory of general Anders, his men, and their accomplishments (e.g. a cultural event, monument, logo, naming of an object in public space, film adaptation, etc.).