Red Plague (Polish: Czerwona Zaraza) is a Polish poem, written in 1944 by Józef Szczepański, a World War II era poet, who died during the Warsaw Uprising. Red plague inspired Polish Oscar-winning film director, Andrzej Wajda to create the movie Kanał. The poem, which described the failed hopes of Warsaw insurgents that Red Army would save them, was banned in the People's Republic of Poland due to its anti-Soviet context; during the Joseph Stalin era the very possession of it was punishable by imprisonment.
Szczepanski wrote it on August 29, 1944, just a few days before his death (he died on September 10). The author expressed his anger at the Red Army units, which were positioned on the eastern bank of the Vistula, but did not help the insurgents ("We are waiting for you, red plague... you will be salvation welcomed with revulsion... we are waiting for you, our eternal enemy... bloody murderer of so many of our brethren.... Your red, victorious army has been lying at the bright feet of burning Warsaw and is feeding its soul with bloody pain of a handful of madmen who are dying in the ruins.")
'Red Plague' was recorded by De Press in theirs 'Myśmy Rebelianci' album in 2009. Excerpts of the poem were used by a Polish rock band Lao Che in its Warsaw Uprising album (in the song Czerniakow).