Poland remembers September 1939 as the month the Soviet Union invaded its eastern territories, but f

Poland remembers September 1939 as the month the Soviet Union invaded its eastern territories, but forgets about how the Polish government treated the people living there.

In 1934 - shortly after the Third Reich had created Dachau - Poland established a detention camp at Bereza Kartuska, where political opponents were imprisoned without trial or conviction.

Among its inmates were Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, communists and other opponents of the government. They were tortured with repeated beatings, humiliation, solitary confinement, and forced labor - the camp became notorious for its brutal treatment of prisoners.

Then came September 1939. As the Red Army advanced into eastern Poland, the camp authorities fled and Bereza Kartuska ceased operating. Its prisoners were finally free - much like their homeland.