Uroczysko Baran: Forgotten Soviet Massacre of Poles Who Fought Against The Nazis
BY Herschel Smith5 years ago
Via WRSA, this report is interesting and bracing, and I confess it’s a part of history I have never studied enough.
Between October of 1944 and January of 1945, when the Second World War has not yet finished, a military court attached to the Second Polish People’s Army is formed, akin to the Soviets. The court, chaired by a Red Army veteran, Colonel Stefan Piekarski, and under the supervision of Soviet Colonel Aleksander Tomaszewski, condemns 144 prisoners; of them, 61 of them are condemned to death, 43 being executed. Almost all AK soldiers and officers imprisoned in Kąkolewnica are killed in the nearby forest of Uroczysko Baran, shot in the head. The locals hear the shots at night and as a result of the killing, the neighbors of Kąkolewnicy call the place “Mały Katyń” (Little Katyn).
Because they were a threat to communism. It reminds me of a related comment I saw at a post few days ago.
The ones I’ve spoken with say they think the Bible supports collectivism, because Jesus said to help the poor.
My response has always been “Show me where the Bible says you’re supposed to threaten someone with violence if they don’t pay taxes to support the poor.” The conversation normally ends at that point. Progressives, especially religious ones, don’t like to admit to themselves that collectivist ideologies require violence to implement and maintain.
Yes, that’s true. That makes some people recoil and back down. Not fully committed and self-aware communists. They just say, “precisely.”
On March 4, 2019 at 10:33 am, Fred said:
“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
This is a defining moment. While these times certainly are a defining moment in Western Civilization and in American History, that’s not what I meant. It’s a defining moment for the first time reader of the verses above. What do you see? Did the followers of Christ go commie? Many think so. Was Christ therefore a communistic do-gooder? Is that what the verses say? Did they create a community where everybody owned everything together? If that’s how you read it then that speaks volumes about YOU.
God is not a communist. In fact, everywhere Christ could, he choose the offer of His salvation of souls instead of doing some nice thing, even a meaningful thing such as helping the poor; he instead stuck to His mission of saving the souls of those that would follow Him. This is our example, the offer of Christ’s salvation.
So let’s break the verse down. “And all…” all is those that would, voluntarily. And it’s important to note that it’s all who believed and we’re not talking about belief in the Holy Washington Empire. Several verses later we find that some folks would not participate, again, voluntarily.
“And sold their possessions…” Right here is the biggest clue. These people sold private property on the open and free market for a mutually agreed upon price that the items could fetch in a mutually beneficial freely exchanged transaction. That’s hardly Communism.
Next we learn the difference between a government social program, aka socialism, and charity. But first by way of background, infant Christianity was just budding and persecution by the Jews and the Romans was deadly. Anybody who converted lost all of their wealth and property and faced the possibility of being stoned to death or tortured on the cross, and many were beheaded. Being fed to the lions came a few years later. The Jews and Romans killed at least one million Christians in the first century. That was a lot of the world’s population on a per capita basis.
That’s the scene, so what did they do with the money? They “parted them to all men, as every man had need.” They gave of their own good will, freely, to those that had a need. They gave out of love although they were strangers just days before. That’s not communism, that’s charity. Many needed the money to escape persecution by the Jews in Jerusalem, escaping the Romans was a much trickier prospect; this spread the Gospel, that Christ had walked the Earth and died for our sins, like wildfire.
Persecution of Christians, had that effect, and always has ever since. Interestingly, when Christians fight back against say, islam, Christianity also grows then. Faith is funny that way. American Christians 2000 years after Christ was among us are in that awkward spot, not being crucified and not fighting back. Faith dies right here.
Nowhere does the Holy Bible tell us to hire our neighbors to organize into a government, or otherwise for the purposes of stealing half of the money for redistribution to others. That is NOT charity. We are not to outsource OUR responsibility to take care of ourselves and our family. Nor are we to then, outsource charity as a social program in substitution for spreading the Gospel. Nor are we do relinquish our duty to personally help each other to a third party, such as government. Some Churches are creating more communists by way of free stuff than Christians by way of the Gospel.
So, worship God Almighty first, then take care of yourself, then wife, then children (YES, THAT ORDER, wife before children -per God), then your Tribe, then your neighbors.