73rd anniversary of Russians backstabbing Poland on September 17th, 1939

It's hard to believe that 73 years ago, on September 17th, 1939, Soviet Russia attacked Poland right after Nazi Germany started the World War II on September 1st.  Poland was pretty much erased from the map of Europe since both totalitarian regimes divided Poland in half.  As a first country in the World, Poland resisted Hitler and made possible for France and Great Britain to respond.

The secret pact of Ribbentrop-Molotov singed a month earlier made Hitler and Stalin best pals for about 21 months.  Yes, the same Molotov that forged out plans to invade Finland.  And yes, the same guy after whom Finns named the gasoline bombs - Molotov cocktails - used to fight the Russians aggressors.

Hitler's crimes against humanity are well known and publicized but Stalin's crimes seem to slip through the cracks of history.  Or, the definition of it.

So, for starters, let's get the naming convention straight.  Nazis = Germans.  Soviets = Russians.  Years of watering down the naming to make the mysterious Nazis and Soviets responsible for murdering millions of people worked very well.  Ask some American teenagers about who the Nazis were and they won't be able to pinpoint the nationality of those cruel Nazis you speak of.  Yes, I've ended the sentence with the preposition of the phrase.  Yes, the Soviet Union was a patch of different countries but the Russians were the leading force behind Lenin's bloody revolution and Stalin's mass murders.  Interestingly, Stalin himself was Georgian and his real name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili.  He combined "stal", a Russian word for steel, with parts of Lenin to create his new name: Stalin.  Since cars were in short supply those days, he had to compensate in some other way.

Right after Russians took over the Eastern part of Poland, with the 13 millions inhabitants, the killings of Polish intelligentsia, Polish police, land owners, and Polish officers began.  Before Hitler's attack in 1941, the historians estimate that Stalin killed between 90-100,000 Poles and 1 million were either sent to slave work camps, factories, or concentration camps of Siberia.

The most hideous Russian murder is the Katyn Forest massacre.  In the spring of 1940, the Russian NKVD systematically killed 22,000 Poles with a single shot in the head.

Of the total killed, about 8,000 were officers taken prisoner during the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland, another 6,000 were police officers, with the rest being Polish intelligentsia arrested for allegedly being "intelligence agents, gendarmes, landowners, saboteurs, factory owners, lawyers, officials and priests".

The 2007 Andrzej Wajda's film "Katyń", tells the horrible story about the massacre.  To this day, Russians are refusing to open the secret Stalin's archives to finally reveal the whole truth about those killings.  Many suspect that most of the high ranking former NKVD officers involved, held many leadership positions in the former Soviet Union.  If any of those monsters are still alive, they must be tried for war crimes.

Why am I so passionate about the WWII history?  Before she passed away, my Polish grandmother told me all kinds of stories from that time.  She lived as a teenager in the Eastern Poland known as "Kresy".  She and her family were finally expelled by the communists to the west part of new Poland after the war ended.  That war touched my family in many ways.  Totalitarian regimes will fail.  People want a true freedom and no government will keep everyone blindfolded forever.

Warsaw rental bicycles thefts and vandalism

Sharing bicycles in the high density urban areas - what a great idea!  If you've recently been to London, perhaps to enjoy the Olympics, you might have noticed Boris Bikes all over the town.  The Barclays Cycle Hire bike rental scheme which began in 2010, with Boris Johnson as London's mayor, was an instant hit.  Short history from Wikipedia:

BCH commenced operations in July 2010 with 5,000 bicycles and 315 docking stations distributed across the City of London and parts of eight London boroughs.^[10] The coverage zone spans approximately 17 square miles (44 km²), roughly matching the Zone 1 Travelcard area. Currently there are some 8,000 'Boris Bikes' and 570 docking stations in the BCH scheme, which has been used for more than 14 million journeys to date.

How does the system work?  You can register to receive a member key or just rent the bike with a plastic.  The best perk: first 30 min is free and the hour after, only £1!  The video explains how it's done.

The bikes had their share of vandalism, like the "F%&k" stickers placed right above the Barclay's logo, reading "F%&k Barclays".  The overall reception by Londoners, though, was favorable.

Similar bike-rental scheme called Veturilo, was launched in Warsaw just a month ago.  There are 1024 bikes and 57 rental stations in the major neighborhoods of Warsaw.  The bikes will operate between March and November.  

Finally, some great green idea for Warsaw and for the people.

However, after notorious thefts and vandalism totaling $15,000 in the first month, many question if Poles are ready for such advanced form of rentals.  Police is catching people riding the bikes after removing the banners and stickers even though the bikes have a very unique design are are easily recognizable.  

The repair crews have to replace parts, wheels, slashed tires, and even reconstruct whole bikes.  

Is this behaviour part of the culture or Poles just feel that any community property can be taken, read: stolen, without any consequences?   But wait, this is not community property.  Three companies shelled out a lot of money to launch this project.

The comments under the article describing the vandalism are merciless.  Those actions are, without a question, condemned.  Hopefully, the perpetrators will grow bored or be caught to stop this senseless acts.  Otherwise, whoever invested the money, will be taken for a ride.