Delegitimising Poland through a revisionist account of 17 September 1939

What it claims

The Red Army’s entry into Poland on 17 September 1939 is cast as the return of “western lands” to the Belarusian SSR and the unification of Belarusians. The Polish state is portrayed as having banned Belarusian history, culture and language, while the advance’s boundaries are presented as the ethnic borders of Belarus and Ukraine. In a BELTA lecture, assessments from London and Paris are inflated into a conclusion that the USSR bore no equal responsibility for starting the war and seized no foreign land.

Target audience

Examples (paraphrased)

We paraphrase rather than quote: propaganda's exact wording is built to spread, so we carry the claim and not the craft. Each example cites the post it came from.

• London and Paris did not regard the USSR’s actions in September 1939 as equivalent to Nazi aggression, and the Red Army seized no foreign land.

  Radio Belarus — Polish service, 14 Sept 2026

  t.me/radiobialorus/15660

• The Polish state banned Belarusian history, culture and language, and 17 September 1939 united the Belarusian people.

  Radio Belarus — Polish service, 14 Sept 2026

  t.me/radiobialorus/15662

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Goal

To encourage Polish nationalist and patriotic audiences to see Poland as a historical oppressor of Belarusians and to question the established understanding of the Soviet invasion in 1939.

Techniques used

• Appeal to AuthorityClaims about 1939 are bolstered by references to a historian, documents and assessments in European capitals.
• Loaded LanguagePolish rule is described through the image of a “yoke”, while incorporating western lands into the Belarusian SSR is presented as national unification.

The real grievance it exploits

The narrative exploits Poles’ sensitivity around the memory of September 1939, the Soviet invasion, and disputes over responsibility for historical violence in the region.

How to counter

• Fact-check: When assessing explanations of 1939, take account of the secret protocol to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which set out divisions of spheres of influence in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Technique exposure: Referring to selected diplomatic assessments does not replace examining the full historical context; such selection can make a political assertion appear indisputable.

Sources (all time)

• Radio Belarus — Polish serviceTier 11,076 subscribers
  6 posts · 14–17 Sept 2026

  • 17 Sept · t.me/radiobialorus/15764
  • 17 Sept · t.me/radiobialorus/15763
  • 17 Sept · t.me/radiobialorus/15761
  • 17 Sept · t.me/radiobialorus/15760
  • 14 Sept · t.me/radiobialorus/15662
  • 14 Sept · t.me/radiobialorus/15660