National Content: Belgium
Edouard Ridz Smigly, marshal of Poland
| Source | “Pourquoi Pas ?”, N°1310, the 8th of September 1939,p. 2879, 2880, 2882-2883, 2884-2885, 2886-2887, 2898-2899 |
| Event referred to | September 1st,1939 : Nazi’s invasion of Poland |
| Technological characteristics | Type of file: Image Extension : pdf Characteristics Dimension of the files: <2000 Ko Availability proposed: pdf document with zoom options |
| Description of the source | Kind of source: Weekly newspaper Origin of the source: Archive of the University of Liege (Belgium) Language: French Copyright issues: full availability |
| Contextualisation of the source | « Pourquoi Pas ? » is a weekly newspaper founded in 1910. Since its first publishing, this newspaper gave humorous and satirical comments on the Belgian news. From 1910 to the sixties, this weekly had a great impact on the political and cultural opinion in Belgium. In 1973, the newspaper has been sold to an insurance company. In 1989, it has been bought by the newspaper “Le Vif/L’Express”. (http://www.ipb.be/upload/album/AP_115.pdf) The front page presents the marshal drawn by Ochs. |
| Interpretation of the source | The author draws an eulogistic portrait of the marshal of Poland Ridz Smigly. He underlines the necessary neutrality of the Belgian State laying stress on the fact that the population of our country on the whole, condemns the German aggression and brings its sympathy to the Polish people. The responsibility of Hitler is clearly exposed. The same point of view is developed in the short news (P. 2882 and following). |
| Original Contents | Extraits: Le maréchal polonais Ridz Smigly est qualifié de « chef militaire de grande envergure ». « Nous ne croyons pas que ce soit manquer à la sacro-sainte neutralité que de faire des vœux pour ce vaillant soldat et sa vaillante armée ». « On sait de quel côté va la sympathie de l’immense majorité des Belges, Flamands et Wallons, car tous ont le sentiment du droit et de la justice ». Quant à la responsabilité dans le déclenchement de la guerre : « l’unique responsabilité de la catastrophe retombe sur l’Allemagne nazie (…) ». « Le tort de l’Europe (…) fut de croire que la paix, la sécurité, la liberté des Etats, étaient compatibles avec la puissance allemande ». |
| Original Contents (English Translation) | The Polish marshal Ridz Smigly is considered as "a military chief of great stature". "We don’t believe that making whishes for this brave soldier and his valiant army would violate the sacrosanct neutrality”. “ One knows towards which side leans the sympathy of the large majority of the Belgians, Flemings and Walloons, because all of them have the feeling of Right and Justice”. Regarding the responsibility of the starting of the war : “the only responsibility of the disaster goes to the Nazi Germany (…)”. “The fault of Europe (…) was to believe that peace, security and States’ freedom were compatible with the German power”. |