Читать книгу Rouble Nationalization – the Way to Russia’s Freedom - Николай Стариков - Страница 8

The atmosphere at the end of August 1939 was tense and edgy. Poland, for example, just a week before it had to become the 'guiltless victim of Hitler's aggression'… was firing on German airliners (!) flying over its territory. Not trespassing on its air area but just passing on their way to other countries. One can read about this completely freely in the book by Hitler's interpreter, Paul Schmidt, who went to Moscow together with Ribbentrop. This book has been published several times in England and in the USA and no one has ever questioned this story: 'In the course of a brief visit to the aerodrome restaurant, I had learnt that both Condors[151] were having fighter cover. In the last few days, such was the tension which had already developed between Germany and Poland, Lufthansa machines had often been fired on by Polish anti-aircraft batteries'.[152]

Imagine the following picture: an aircraft with the German foreign minister is flying to the USSR to sign this treaty between Berlin and Moscow for Great Britain which was so unwanted for Britain. And gets shot down by the Polish air defence. What does it mean? For Germany it would be an excuse to declare war on Poland. And it would mean that there would be no treaty with the USSR. When did Ribbentrop fly to Moscow? 'On 23rd August in the afternoon between 4 and 5 p.m., we arrived at Moscow airport in the Fiihrer's aircraft', says the German foreign minister himself.[153] I should remind you that the attack against Poland is planned for 26^th August. Hitler might just have no time to send another minister to the Kremlin. Or may even not want to. Hitler did not break off contact with the West. Should Ribbentrop be unable to make it, the Führer, being a fatalist, would immediately send Goering to London.