Disgrace?

Was the seizure of Vilnius by Poland in 1920 the greatest disgrace in the entire history of Poland?

The beginnings of the birth of Vilnius reach deep into the era of myths and legends. It was in the Šventaragis Valley that the eternal fire burned in honour of Perkūnas. This place had long been associated with supernatural forces. It was in this valley that all those of merit were cremated posthumously, so that their energy could merge with others, creating a place of accumulated power. According to the faith of the people of that time, it was a sacred valley. The center of their cosmos. The valley where Grand Duke Gediminas spent the night during a hunt-the night in which the city of Vilnius was born.

The Duke fell asleep and dreamed of an Iron Wolf standing on a hill, howling with the voice of thousands of wolves. Upon waking, the Duke sought the counsel of fortunetellers and, after listening to them, decided to found the city of Vilnius on the hill where the Iron Wolf had stood in his dream…
And then came the Union of Krewo (1385). Two separate worlds-Catholic Poland and pagan Lithuania-unite in defence against a common enemy, the Teutonic Knights. Subsequent centuries and subsequent repelling of invaders. Sometimes the enemy penetrated deep, enslaving everyone they encountered. Other times they settled for valuables, killing only those who resisted. Until an era arrived in which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was attacked from three sides. It could not withstand such forces… and vanished from the map for over a hundred years.

And when, after the First World War, Poland and Lithuania regained their freedom, Poland trampled upon everything it had built together with Lithuania. In 1920, Poland takes away from the Lithuanians their sacred city, Vilnius, turning it into one of its provincial voivodeship cities. And for the Lithuanians, it is like taking away a piece of their soul…

It is like taking Gniezno away from Poland, its symbolic city. The nest of the white eagle. The founding myth of all Slavic tribes that decided to become Poles.

Or Gdańsk. In 1920, the number of Poles in Vilnius constituted more than 50 percent of the city’s population. And Lithuanians, about 2%.
In 1939, Poles constituted a minority in Gdańsk, yet it crossed no Pole’s mind that Gdańsk was founded by anyone other than the Slavs. And although things varied throughout history-sometimes, after the extermination of the inhabitants of Gdańsk during a siege and the capture of the city by foreign forces, new people would stream in-yet it was Gdańsk that, through an alliance with Neptune, the ruler of seas and oceans, connected the Western Slavs with the sea.

Is the seizure of Vilnius in 1920 a shameful act in the history of Poland?

Today, Poland and Lithuania form another union-the European Union. A meeting place for nations with thousand-year histories, their myths, and beliefs. A mosaic creating one single, complete picture…