"Remember that the soul of a Russian, if not every Russian, then almost every one, is consumed with the spirit of hatred towards every free Pole and the idea of a free Poland.
They are easy and capable of feeling even great friendship and they will love you sincerely and warmly, like a brother, until they feel that in your heart you are a free person and you are afraid of their love, in which the dominant element is the desire to take care of you, in other words : power.
This is a birth defect of their soul, hereditary and centuries-old, for their slavery, for the Tatars, for Ivan, for the oprichniki, for eternal rebellions drowned in blood.
If one's own freedom is unattainable, the freedom of others arouses envy and disgust. For centuries, we have been too painful an example for them, a denial of their own fate. I am afraid that it will take a long time before they understand that no one and nothing, except death, will take away our rights to freedom..."
- Józef Piłsudski
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