Letters

“Ukraine is the corpse over which we have to step to conquer the West.” A Vladimir Putin quote?

Almost right, but not quite. The actual quote was in the Moscow newspaper Pravda (“The Truth”), and it concerned Poland in 1920. In a miraculous victory outside Warsaw, with strong Allied help, Poland won the battle and the war, driving back the Russians to their homeland.

If our chaotic Congress denies to help Ukraine now, by the time the elections come around, Putin will have had a breakthrough victory and may have murdered Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, and we will know whose fault it was. And Poland will once again be the corpse for the Russians to step over to conquer the West.

I am not the only one with Polish roots on the East End: Of the nearly 10 million Americans who identified themselves in the latest census as Polish American, around 250,000 live on Long Island, many on the East End, often having relatives in the Old Country.

U.S. Representative Nick LaLota wrote to me in a letter — I hope he will read this one — with the assurance that “he might consider voting for help for Ukraine,” “if legislation comes to a vote”; two conditionals. He has not answered the letter of the president of the Polish American Congress of Long Island to Rep. LaLota regarding Ukraine aid, perhaps not understanding how important this issue is for all of us, now and in November and beyond.

Gregor Medinger

Sag Harbor

Medinger is a descendant of General Jan Marian Hempel, chief of staff of the Polish Army division which played a major role in the “Miracle of Warsaw” battle against the Red Army in 1920 — Ed.