Polish looters. Home Army soldiers refusing to help the Warsaw ghetto. Thousands of Cracovians in Hitler's service. We can not be proud of all episodes in our history. Today we present those that many Poles would prefer not to remember.
As always, all items in our TOP10 are based on articles published by "Curiosities of History". This time - those devoted to controversial and painful episodes in Polish history.
We would prefer not to remember that…
 | 10. | Modern Krakow was not only a city of the Renaissance, but also… ubiquitous rapes. The scale of sexual violence was staggering. There are known cases of assaults by executioners, commoners and urban elites. The sources contain both information about pedophilia and gang rape (read more about it) . |
 | 9. | There was a concentration camp in pre-war Poland. The place of seclusion in Bereza Kartuska was opened by the president's decree of June 17, 1934. The guards abused the prisoners, humiliated them, starved them and forced them to work for up to 15 hours a day (first article; second article) . |
 | 8. | A few years before he became king, Jan Sobieski ordered his soldiers to attack Warsaw. His subordinates committed brutal robberies and rapes. All this to help the queen in the coup d'état (read more about it) . |
 | 7. | Not all Westerplatte defenders were heroes. During the week of fighting, there were cases of desertions and even abandonment of colleagues to the enemy. One account states that the commanders shot four soldiers (read more on this topic) to impose discipline. . |
 | 6. | The Polish president was a terrorist. In his youth Ignacy Mościcki planned a suicide attempt with himself in the lead role. He only got married so that his wife would help him roll the bombs. He survived because Tsarist Ochrana exposed his plot. Sam admitted that his mental state during this period was not the best (read more about this) . |
 | 5. | Poles in the Borderlands welcomed the Nazi army with great enthusiasm. When Hitler crossed the borders of the USSR in June 1941, the Polish population ordered masses for the German soldiers and erected triumphal gates in their honor (read more about this) . |
 | 4. | According to the British soldier, Polish airmen in England were demoralized primitives. Audrey John-Brown, a WAAF servant, accused them of sexual harassment and attempted rape. In self-defense, she killed a drunken Polish soldier (read more about this) . |
 | 3. | In August 1944, Warsaw took up arms. Krakow at the same time ... was digging ditches for the Nazis. Huge crowds volunteered to work on the suburban fortifications that were to constitute the Wehrmacht's defense line. Willing to help the Germans was much more than the equipment (read more about it) . |
 | 2. | The Polish underground state refused to help the Warsaw ghetto. The commanders of the Home Army did not believe in supporting the Jewish resistance movement. Until January 1943, by way of exception, Stefan "Grot" Rowecki gave the ŻOB only 10 pistols. Four of them were broken (read more about it) . |
 | 1. | When the Germans were murdering the Jews, the Poles were robbing whatever was left of them. The problem of looting became so enormous that the Home Army began to fight it. "In the name of the loftiest divine and human slogans, we urge you, our countrymen, not to humiliate yourselves to the role of jackals," appealed the editors of the underground "Information Bulletin". Even so, the robberies across the country continued (read more on that) . |