Talk to Me Like I'm Stupid: Poland and WWII

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Andrew links to this video of soccer fans giving the Nazi salute. What's striking to me here is, as I understand it, Hitler and Stalin basically carved up Poland like a birthday cake. Moreover, Poland--again I'm spotty here--has always been trampled by many of the other European powers. Do I have that right? What is it about the country that would cause some people there to ID with Hitler? Didn't Hitler kill millions of Polish people?

These questions are not asked in an accusatory, or sarcastic manner. I'm very interested in the answers. If anyone's lived there, or read up some, please comment. If you just want to toss in a few links, or if you have to preface your comment with "I don't know much but..." or "This isn't what you were asking for but..." consider sitting this one out, unless you also want to ask a question. Please don't answer simply because there's space.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2012/06/talk-to-me-like-im-stupid-poland-and-wwii/258285/