It’s probably been a while since the Battle of Krojanty in 1939 made the news, but that is what recently happened according to a blog post on the website of FP (Foreign Policy) magazine. The post states that Mad Money host Jim Cramer used the myth of Polish Cavalry attacking German Panzers as a metaphor for the struggling department store Macy’s. This prompted a response from the Polish Embassy in Washington that he apologize for the comments, which they regard as “unnecessary, inaccurate, and insensitive.”
The notion of Polish Cavalry charging German tanks during the 1939 campaign is a rather enduring one in the popular consciousness, despite having been debunked repeatedly by military historians. Nazi propagandists created the story of the Polish Army deploying cavalry against German tanks as part of their attempt to effort to present the WWII Wehrmacht as an ultra-modern, mechanized force. The reality was that much like the Polish Army, the majority of the Wehrmacht relied on horses for transport.
Article Excerpt:
On May 11, Mad Money host Jim Cramer compared the struggling department store Macy’s to Poland’s early efforts against the German Wehrmacht in World War II. “Macy’s is like the Polish Army in WWII — it tried to field cavalry against German tanks and it did not end well,” he said.
The Polish Embassy in Washington issued a fiery response to Cramer, demanding he apologize for comments that were “unnecessary, inaccurate, and insensitive.”
Cramer was recycling an oft-cited tale of Polish lancers who supposedly charged German tanks at the outset of World War II — making it the very epitome of blinkered futility.
The problem is that never actually happened, and it’s become a huge sore spot for Poland ever since.
Read the full post here.
For more information on the Polish Cavalry vs Panzer myth, check out this article from a 1984 issue of ARMOR authored by Steven Zaloga.
Tank and AFV News 
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