Context: In mid-September 2026, Nikolay Patrushev, Vladimir Putin’s aide and former FSB chief, said Poland could be wiped out in two or three days if it engaged in military action against Russia. In response, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski called on Moscow to “recognize the balance of power” and understand “what it is getting itself into by threatening” Poland. He claimed that Russia has an advantage in nuclear weapons. However, the war in Ukraine has shown that using them is not simple and that victory cannot be achieved through nuclear blackmail.
On September 14, 2026, political analyst Piotr Piatrouski appeared as a guest on the CTV channel’s talk show, Po Sushchestvu, where he stated that, before World War II, the Polish leadership had planned to attack the Soviet Union and partition its territory together with Nazi Germany.
“There were talks with [Hermann] Göring, [the Reich Minister of Aviation in Nazi Germany], from 1935 to 1938 in the Białowieża Forest, as well as with [Marshal of Poland Edward] Rydz-Śmigły and [Polish Foreign Minister Józef] Beck. Every summer, he would come to hunt and talk: ‘So, what are we going to do?’ And there were concrete proposals. Moreover, the Polish side agreed to them: to partition the Soviet Union. The Byelorussian SSR and Ukrainian SSR — that is, Eastern Belarus, and Eastern and Central Ukraine — would become part of Poland. The Pribaltika [the Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — ed. note] and Central Russia would become part of the Third Reich. They talked about this openly.”
Göring did indeed propose a joint action against the USSR to Poland. This information comes from a memo dated February 1935 by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Göring proposed forming an anti-Soviet alliance and launching a “joint campaign against Russia.” He also referred to Ukraine as a potential sphere of Polish influence. However, Piatrouski’s claim that the Polish side agreed to the proposal is not consistent with the memo’s content. The memo describes Piłsudski’s reaction to Göring’s idea of a joint campaign against the USSR: the Polish leader did not pursue the conversation on this topic.
After Piłsudski’s death, Göring continued negotiations with the Polish leadership. In February 1937, he met with Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły. Göring spoke again of the threat posed by the USSR and proposed developing cooperation between Germany and Poland. Rydz-Śmigły responded by stating that he did not believe the USSR was preparing for an attack. At the same time, he assured Göring that in the event of an international conflict, Poland would not side with the Bolsheviks. Yet this did not imply agreement to a joint attack on the USSR.
That same year, in November, Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck wrote that Poland could not join the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany, Italy, and Japan. He explained this by pointing out that the USSR was Poland’s neighbor and that, as a matter of principle, Poland opposed participating in political blocs.
