VAIPA QUARTERLY, issue #3.
For two decades after WWI Poles drank the sweet elixir of freedom. But envious neighbors saw them not as a country, but as a prize. Finally, the storm clouds broke and armies from East and West marched into Poland.
The Poles fought hard for their country. For six long years they fought. They fought in Poland, they fought in France, they fought in Norway, they fought in Britain, they fought in North Africa, they fought in Italy, they fought in Russia, and finally, they fought in Germany, all the way into Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate. They fought in the air, they fought on the seas, they fought on the land, and they fought behind enemy lines.
They had hoped that their unwavering opposition to the Axis would earn them the right to freedom after the war. Their motto was, "We don't ask for freedom. We fight for freedom!" However, only one of their foes was conquered. The other was now master of Eastern Europe. It would be four more decades until the Polish people would taste that sweet elixir again.