My personal opinion
My own opinion is just that - an opinion. It is up to you to decide whether or not you agree with it.
Having studied whatever I could find on the subject, my overwhelming feeling is of shame and indignation.
There seems no doubt that initially Churchill saw Stalin as a means of deflecting German might. More than 25 million Russians were killed during the war as opposed to less than half a million British, which is an indication of the success of that strategy - if one can ever consider so many deaths as being a success.
However the immorality of condemning one tyrant (Hitler) and yet maintaining a close relationship with another (Stalin) is hard to justify, especially as there was a great deal of positive propaganda spun around the nature of Stalin for the benefit of the British.
Time and again Churchill promised to defend Poland's rights and promised he would never abandon Poland. At Tehran and Yalta he did exactly that and on several occasions condemned the Poles for objecting to his agreements with Stalin.
Perhaps such behaviour during war time can be justified, perhaps not, but what I find impossible to forgive is the silence that has fallen ever since concerning the suffering of the Poles.
It seems clear to me that much of this was due to the desire to protect reputations. Using the excuse of wishing to maintain good relations with Soviet Russia does not convince me. Neither does the more recent excuse of saying Churchill had no choice.
Even today the majority of People in Britain are unaware of the events in Eastern Poland; even fewer are aware of Britain's role in the aftermath.
I feel strongly that the truth should be made more widely known and that the government should be open about dubious dealings in the past and apologise to Poland for abandoning it during the war. It requires greatness to admit to one's faults and by doing so perhaps we can justify the term 'Great' Britain.
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