Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, posted online on Thursday, began with a 30-minute history lesson from the Moscow leader, who made broad claims about Russia's historical claim to Ukraine.
The controversial interview in Moscow, released on Thursday, sparked a wave of mockery as Putin lectured Carlson, talking through Russian history from the 9th century to the present day.
Some commentators alleged that while talking through the Soviet campaign in World War II, Putin claimed that Adolf Hitler had been "forced" to invade Poland in 1939.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by former Ukrainian Deputy Internal Affairs Minister Anton Gerashchenko, on February 9, 2024, viewed 755,000 times, said: "Putin said the Poles forced Hitler to attack them in 1939.
"Hitler just wanted to 'realize his plans' and Poland was 'uncooperative' and 'forced' Hitler to attack and start World War II, Putin said.
"So, 1939, late August.
"Hitler: Poland, we want to annex you, agree!
"Poland: We don't agree, we are a sovereign state and will remain so.
"Hitler: You force me to conquer you by force. I declare war against you. God knows, it's your fault!
"And Putin says: Hitler had no choice but to start with Poland.
"What do you think of this interview, dear Polish followers?"
The post included a clip from Putin's interview with Carlson. Subtitles stated "The Poles forced, they played too long and forced Hitler to start World War II with them. Why did the war begin with Poland on September 1, 1939?
"Poland was uncooperative. Hitler had nothing else to do in the realization of his plans but to start with Poland?"
An online translation of another post on X by user @prof_preobr, posted February 9, 2024, viewed 199,100 times, which included the same clip, said "The Poles FORCED Hitler to attack them in 1939!
"Forced!
"Poor good Hitler didn't want to, but he was forced to start World War II.
"Putin REALLY says this."
The Facts
Leading up to an argument regarding the handover of territory following World War II, Putin described the circumstances that led to Germany's invasion of Poland.
There are multiple translations of this part of the conversation, most of which do not use the word "forced" but impart a similar meaning.
The voiceover translation provided by Carlson's Network states that Poland "went too far pushing Hitler to start World War II by attacking them," adding "Poland turned out to be uncompromising and Hitler had nothing to do but start implementing his plans with Poland."
The Kremlin's translated transcript of the interview states Poland went "too far... pushing Hitler to start World War II" while the voice dub of the interview says "the Poles played too much and you know, as a result of that Hitler started the war... against them on the 1st of September 1939", adding "Poland turned uncompromising."
However, Newsweek has verified with a Russian speaker, based on a Russian transcript from Parlamentskaya Gazeta, a Kremlin newspaper, that Putin said the Poles "forced" Hitler to invade, as the posts on X say as well.
The translation states: "So, before the Second World War, when Poland collaborated with Germany, it rejected Hitler's demands, but nevertheless participated with Hitler in the division of Czechoslovakia, but since it did not give up the Danzig corridor, the Poles nevertheless forced him - they got carried away and forced Hitler - to start The Second World War against them first.
"Why did the war start on September 1, 1939 precisely against Poland? Because it turned out to be uncooperative. Hitler had no choice but to implement his plans, starting specifically with Poland."
A Google translation of the Gazeta's transcript also states "the Poles forced it, they played around and forced Hitler to start the Second World War with them."
The Russian word "вынудили," repeated by Putin for emphasis, translates as "forced," or "compelled."
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
Putin's claim that Hitler was "forced" to invade Poland is not accepted by historical evidence. Hitler broke Germany's non-aggression pact with Poland, signed in January 1934, under the guise of what it claimed was Polish aggression.
The National WWII Museum in New Orleans writes "Hitler was determined to make it look as if the Poles had provoked the hostilities and the SS obliged by staging numerous false-flag operations and 'Polish provocations' against Germans."
It adds "According to the testimony of Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks at Nuremberg, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich "Gestapo" Müller ordered Operation Himmler to make the Poles appear to be the aggressors and to justify the coming war."
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says that to justify the invasion, Nazi propagandists accused Poland of persecuting ethnic Germans living in Poland.
"They also falsely claimed that Poland was planning, with its allies Great Britain and France, to encircle and dismember Germany. The SS, in collusion with the German military, staged a phony attack on a German radio station. The Germans falsely accused the Poles of this attack. Hitler then used the action to launch a 'retaliatory' campaign against Poland."
The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, adds: "Hitler had attacked Poland because he wanted Germans to live there.
"He considered the Polish people inferior and only fit as a work force. In the last three months of 1939, the Nazis murdered 65,000 Jewish and non-Jewish Poles."
The Ruling
True.
Based on a Russian transcript of Vladimir Putin's interview with Tucker Carlson, Newsweek verified Putin said Adolf Hitler was "forced" to invade Poland, an inaccurate interpretation of the circumstances leading to World War II.
While translations do not use the word "forced" or "compelled", they broadly match its meaning.
FACT CHECK BY Tom Norton
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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