What day did Poland surrender to the Nazis?
Duke de Richleau
As war threatened to engulf Europe once more, the duke (by now an implacable enemy of the Nazis) reformed the group to undertake a mission Codeword – Golden Fleece in Poland and Romania. They succeeded in disrupting secret negotiations over Poland’s surrender to the Germans in September 1939, which were taking place on Baron Lubieszów’s estate (near Pinsk, and now to be found in Lyubeshiv Raion, Ukraine), between ‘General Mack’, the false name adopted by one of Poland’s “most famous statesmen”, and General Count von Geisenheim and a senior Nazi, Major Bauer. Trapped between the advancing German and Soviet armies, De Richleau and his friends escaped to Romania, where they sought to cut supplies of oil transported by barge up the Danube to Germany. A botched kidnap attempt on von Geisenheim and the German commercial attaché in Bucharest on 23 September 1939 left the two Germans injured and their driver dead. A subsequent gun battle with members of the pro-Nazi Romanian Iron Guard resulted in the death of a policeman and an Iron Guard militiaman. The duke was shot several times and only narrowly survived. The friends reached Istanbul safely and provided the British government with an option to buy the oil barges and prevent supplies from reaching the Germans.
History of Germany
Nazi Germany collapsed as Berlin was taken by the Red Army in a fight to the death on the city streets. Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945. The final German Instrument of Surrender was signed on 8 May 1945.
History of the Jews in Poland
A second partition of Poland was made on 17 July 1793. Jews, in a Jewish regiment led by Berek Joselewicz, took part in the Kościuszko Uprising the following year, when the Poles tried to again achieve independence, but were brutally put down. Following the revolt, the third and final partition of Poland took place in 1795. The territories which included the great bulk of the Jewish population was transferred to Russia, and thus they became subjects of that empire, although in the first half of the 19th century some semblance of a vastly smaller Polish state was preserved, especially in the form of the Congress Poland (1815–1831).
Outline of Poland
The establishment of a Polish state is often identified with the adoption of Christianity by its ruler Mieszko I in 966 (see Baptism of Poland), when the state covered territory similar to that of present-day Poland. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth collapsed in 1795, and its territory was partitioned among Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Poland regained its independence in 1918 after World War I but lost it again in World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Poland lost over six million citizens in World War II, and emerged several years later as a socialist republic within the Eastern Bloc under strong Soviet influence. In 1989 communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is constitutionally known as the "Third Polish Republic". Poland is a unitary state made up of sixteen voivodeships (). Poland is also a member of the European Union, NATO and OECD.Geography of Poland
Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland
The German Military's control of Poland lasted until 25 October 1939. Following this, Germany directly annexed Polish territories along Germany's eastern border: West Prussia, Poznań, Upper Silesia, and the city of Danzig. The remainder of Nazi-occupied Poland came under the administration of the so-called "Generalgouvernement" (General Government) - a "police run mini-state" under SS control and the rule of Nazi lawyer Hans Frank, which, wrote Davies, "became the lawless laboratory of Nazi racial ideology" and in due course the base for the main Nazi concentration camps. Yet here, Nazi policy toward the Church was less severe than in the annexed regions.
Battle of Poljana
The surrender of this last area of Axis resistance 8 days after the official end of World War II in Europe, the surrender of the Germans on Monday 7 May 1945, was the last major battle of World War II in Europe.
Polish Corridor
A revised and less favorable proposal came in the form of an ultimatum delivered by the Nazis in late August, after the orders had already been given to attack Poland on September 1, 1939. Nevertheless, at midnight on August 29, Joachim von Ribbentrop handed British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson a list of terms that would allegedly ensure peace in regard to Poland. Danzig was to return to Germany and there was to be a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor; Poles who had been born or had settled there since 1919 would have no vote, while all Germans born but not living there would. An exchange of minority populations between the two countries was proposed. If Poland accepted these terms, Germany would agree to the British offer of an international guarantee, which would include the Soviet Union. A Polish plenipotentiary, with full powers, was to arrive in Berlin and accept these terms by noon the next day. The British Cabinet viewed the terms as "reasonable," except the demand for a Polish Plenipotentiary, which was seen as similar to Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha accepting Hitler's terms in mid-March 1939.
Armed Forces Day (Poland)
The Feast of the Soldier remained a celebrated holiday until 1947, when the newly installed communist government of the People's Republic of Poland discontinued the tradition. In 1950, the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz passed regulations to officially celebrate the military on 12 October. Renaming the celebration as Polish Armed Forces Day ("Dzień Wojska Polskiego"), the day marked the anniversary of the Soviet-organized Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division engaging German units at the Battle of Lenino in October 1943. The communist government found it impossible to celebrate the original date of 15 August and its coinciding historical significance, owing to its glorification of the Red Army's defeat. Following the return of democracy in the wake of the events of 1989, the Sejm approved the restoration of Armed Forces Day to the original 15 August date and meaning on 30 July 1992, repealing the earlier communist era 1950 declaration.
Soviet invasion of Poland
Hitler tried to dissuade the British and the French from interfering in the upcoming conflict and on 26 August 1939 proposed to make "Wehrmacht" forces available to Britain in the future. At midnight on 29 August, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop handed British Ambassador Neville Henderson the list of terms that would allegedly ensure peace in regards to Poland. Under the terms, Poland was to hand over Danzig (Gdańsk) to Germany, and there was to be a plebiscite (referendum) in the Polish Corridor within the year based on residency from 1919 (not after). When the Polish Ambassador Lipski went to see Ribbentrop on 30 August and said that he did not have the power to sign anything of the sort, Ribbentrop dismissed him. The Germans announced that Poland had rejected the German offer and negotiations with Poland were finished. On 31 August, German units posing as Polish troops staged the Gleiwitz incident near the border city of Gleiwitz. The following morning Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 04:45 on 1 September.
Invasion of Poland
On 17 September, the Soviet Red Army invaded Eastern Poland, the territory that fell into the Soviet "sphere of influence" according to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact; this rendered the Polish plan of defence obsolete. Facing a second front, the Polish government concluded the defence of the Romanian Bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered an emergency evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania. On 6 October, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered.
Territorial evolution of Poland
As Czechoslovakia was being absorbed into the German Reich, Zaolzie, the Czech half of Cieszyn, was annexed by Poland in 1938 following the Munich Agreement and the First Vienna Award. At noon on September 30, Poland gave an ultimatum to the Czechoslovak government. It demanded the immediate evacuation of Czech troops and police from Zaolzie and gave Prague until noon the following day. At 11:45 a.m. on October 1 the Czech foreign ministry called the Polish ambassador in Prague and told him that Poland could have what it wanted. Poland was accused of being an accomplice of Nazi Germany – a charge that Warsaw was hard put to deny. 
Poland seized land from northern Spisz and northern Orawa, including territories around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, around Javorina, around Leśnica in the Pieniny Mountains, a small territory around Skalité, and some other very small border regions. They officially received the territories on 1 November 1938. Polish military groups began to carry out assimilation of the population. Polish was introduced as the only official language and the Slovak Intelligence were displaced from the territories.
In 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland and partitioned it pursuant to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
History of Poland (1939–1945)
On 1 September 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Nazi Germany invaded Poland using the pretext of the Gleiwitz incident, a provocation (one of many) staged by the Germans, who claimed that Polish troops attacked a post along the German–Polish border. During the following days and weeks the technically, logistically and numerically superior German forces rapidly advanced into the Polish territory. Secured by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet troops also invaded Poland on 17 September 1939. Before the end of the month, most of Poland was divided between the Germans and the Soviets.
Plan East
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland. Consequently, Plan East became void. On September 17, following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviets broke the Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact by invading Poland. The Red Army met little resistance, as the Polish Army was concentrated in the West, fighting the Germans. Thus, the Soviets managed to occupy Polish Kresy in short order.
Francesco Nullo
In Poland Nullo is considered a national hero. On 8 May he was buried in the cemetery in Olkusz, together with several other soldiers killed in the battle of Krzykawka, and on 12 May a mass in his name was held in Kraków. Even before Poland regained its independence, a monument dedicated to him was built there by the local community; it was raised illegally as at that time Olkusz was still part of the Russian partition. In 1915 a memorial to Nullo and other soldiers was raised on the battle site near Krzykawka; the field is known as Nullo's Field. In the Second Polish Republic, in 1923, on the 60th anniversary of the battle, a ceremony was held there, attended by government officials and with the writer Stefan Żeromski giving a eulogy. In 1931 a Polish-Italian ceremony was held at the graveyard. He was the patron of the 50 Regiment of Kresy Riflemen ("50 Pułk Piechoty Strzelców Kresowych"). Even during the Cold War years, a consul went to Bergamo to pay him homage at the foot of the monument dedicated to him in his hometown. In 1963, on the battle's 100th anniversary, an Italian delegation visited the cemetery, adding another plaque and several trees. Nine streets and three schools in Poland bear his name. He is also commemorated in several poems. There is also a monument in Warsaw (on a street bearing his name), the monument was unveiled on 26 February 1939 by Galeazzo Ciano. On the 130th anniversary of his death, 5 May 1993, Polish Post issued a stamp dedicated to him.
National Independence Day (Poland)
The date coincides with the celebration of the Armistice in other countries. All of these holidays and Polish Independence Day are indirectly related because they all emerged from the circumstances at the end of World War I. In other countries, holidays were established in the spirit of grief and horror at the enormous human cost of the war, and they mark the sacrifices of those who fought. For Poland, however, the tragedy of the war was tempered by what had been accomplished at its end: the restoration of a sovereign Polish state that had been lost entirely in the partitions of Poland, after 123 years of struggle. The Polish holiday is therefore simultaneously a celebration of the reemergence of a Polish state and a commemoration of those who fought for it.
Crucial to restoring independence was the defeat in the war of all three of the occupying powers. Russia was plunged into the confusion of revolution and civil war, Austria-Hungary disintegrated and went into decline, and the German Empire bowed to pressure from the forces of the Entente. For Poles, this was a unique opportunity to reclaim their independence.
Themes in Nazi propaganda
Germany invaded Poland on September 1 after having signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in late August. The German attack began in Danzig, with a bombardment of Polish positions at Westerplatte by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, and the landing of German infantry on the peninsula. Outnumbered Polish defenders at Westerplatte resisted for seven days before running out of ammunition. Meanwhile, after a fierce day-long fight (1 September 1939), defenders of the Polish Post office were tried and executed then buried on the spot in the Danzig quarter of Zaspa in October 1939. In 1998 a German court overturned their conviction and sentence. The city was officially annexed by Nazi Germany and incorporated into the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia.
Greater Poland Voivodeship
Following the German invasion of 1939, Greater Poland was incorporated into Nazi Germany, becoming the province called Reichsgau Posen, later Reichsgau Wartheland ("Warthe" being the German name for the Warta river). The Polish population was oppressed, with many former officials and others considered potential enemies by the Nazis being imprisoned or executed, including at the notorious Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań. Poznań was declared a stronghold city "(Festung)" in the closing stages of the war, being taken by the Red Army in the Battle of Poznań, which ended on 22 February 1945.
Josef Buršík
During the Nazi invasion of Poland the Czech and Slovak Legion fought alongside the Poles against the Germans. Buršík took part in defense of Tarnopol (today Tarnopil, Ukraine). The Soviet Union invaded Poland on September 17 in fulfillment of Stalin's agreement with Hitler (Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact). Buršík and his unit were captured and imprisoned by the Soviets.
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski
On 1 September 1939 at 4:30 a.m., Składkowski, who spent the night in the complex of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, received a phone call from Kraków, informing him about the German invasion of Poland and a brutal attack in the border-town of Chojnice. The next day he gave a speech in the Sejm, expressing his hope that Poland would defeat the Third Reich and win the war. On 7 September at 2 a.m. Składkowski left Warsaw, heading eastwards. After spending some time in Łuck, Wołyń, on 15 September he arrived at Kosów, near the border with Romania. On 17 September, upon hearing of the Soviet invasion of Poland, Składkowski crossed the Romanian border on the Czeremosz River bridge near Kuty. On 30 September, interned by the Romanian government, he resigned from the post of prime minister. His resignation was accepted on 5 October 1939 by the new President of Poland (in-exile), Władysław Raczkiewicz.
Nowy Sącz
During the invasion of Poland starting World War II, Nowy Sącz was occupied by Nazi Germany on 6 September 1939. Because of its proximity to Slovakia, it lay on a major route for resistance fighters of the Polish Home Army. The Gestapo was active in capturing those trying to cross the border, including the murder of several Polish pilots. In June 1940, the resistance rescued Jan Karski from a hospital there, and a year later 32 people were shot in reprisal for the escape; several others were sent to concentration camps.
Polesie Voivodeship
The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on September 17, 1939, two and a half weeks after the Nazi German invasion of Poland of September 1st. A two-pronged attack was decided in the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed by the USSR with Germany in August 1939. As the bulk of the Polish Army had concentrated in the west of the country to fight the Germans, the Soviets met with limited resistance and their troops quickly moved westwards until they reached Brześć on September 22, where they met with the invading German army, and held the joint victory parade.
Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski
These plans, however, were quickly changed, after the Germans destroyed key Polish unit, 21st Mountain Division near the village of Dzikowiec, on September 15/16, killing general Józef Kustroń. General Piskor, realizing that German forces were stronger than he had thought, decided to act quickly, without waiting for all his divisions to concentrate. On September 17, he ordered Warsaw Armoured Motorized Brigade to attack Tomaszów and keep the town until main forces of Army Kraków joined the brigade. Tomaszów was attacked on September 18 in the morning, and by 1 p.m. half of the town was in Polish hands. Meanwhile, however, 4th Light Division joined the battle, striking rear Polish units and forcing them to withdraw. Thus, the attempt to capture Tomaszów in a surprise attack, failed. In the night of September 18/19, Warsaw Brigade, supported by infantry of 23rd and 55th divisions, attacked Tomaszów again, but without success. Third attack took place in the night of September 19/20, but Polish units were disorganized and demoralized. After a series of chaotic skirmishes, with number of killed and wounded growing, and ammunition shrinking, general Piskor decided to surrender. Some 11,000 Polish soldiers were captured, with small groups managing to hide in forests.
Invasion of Poland
German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west the morning after the Gleiwitz incident. Slovak forces advanced alongside the Germans in northern Slovakia. As the Wehrmacht advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish–German border to more established lines of defence to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France and the United Kingdom. While those two countries had pacts with Poland and had declared war on Germany on 3 September, in the end their aid to Poland was very limited.
Battle of Wizna
The Battle of Wizna was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of invasion of Poland. According to Polish historian Leszek Moczulski, between 350 and 720 Poles defended a fortified line for three days against more than 40,000 Germans. Although defeat was inevitable, the Polish defence stalled the attacking forces for three days and postponed the encirclement of Independent Operational Group Narew fighting nearby. Eventually the tanks broke through the Polish line and German engineers eliminated all the bunkers one by one. The last bunker surrendered around midday on September 10.
History of Poznań
Following Germany's defeat in World War I Polish independence seemed assured, but it was not clear whether Greater Poland would become part of the new state of Poland. A speech given in Poznań by Ignacy Paderewski on December 27, 1918 ignited the Greater Poland Uprising of 1918–1919, in which Polish troops attempted to take control of the region from Germany. The uprising was largely successful, and in the Versailles peace treaty (signed June 28, 1919) most of the region was granted to Poland, with Poznań as the capital of the newly formed Poznań Voivodeship within the Second Polish Republic. Many German inhabitants left to live within the new German borders, partly because of discrimination. Germans made up 5.5% of the city's population in 1921, and 2.6% in 1931 (after the expansion of the city's boundaries).
Battle of Wizna
Heavy fighting for each of the now isolated bunkers continued. Several assaults were repelled during the night and in the early morning of September 10. At approximately 11 o'clock German engineers, with the help of tanks and artillery, finally managed to destroy all but two of the Polish bunkers. Both of them were located in the centre of Strękowa Góra and continued fighting despite having much of the crew wounded or incapacitated and most of their machine guns destroyed. After the war, the Poles insisted that Heinz Guderian, in an attempt to end the Polish resistance, threatened the Polish commander that he would shoot the POWs if the remaining forces did not surrender. The resistance however continued for another hour, when a German envoy arrived carrying a flag of truce and proposed a cease fire. It lasted until approximately 1:30 pm. Raginis, realising that all of his men were wounded and his ammunition was almost depleted, ordered his men to surrender their arms to the Germans. He himself - seriously injured at the time - refused to surrender and committed suicide by throwing himself on a grenade.
History of Gdańsk
Following the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland, Germany in October 1938 urged the Danzig territory's cession to Germany. On 1 September 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland, initiating World War II. On 2 September 1939 Germany officially annexed the Free City. The Nazi regime murdered the Polish postmen defending the Polish Post Office: this was one of the first war crimes during the war. Other Polish soldiers defending the Westerplatte stronghold surrendered after seven days of fighting. The German commander returned the sword to the Polish commander for putting up a brave fight, while the same time one the captured defenders, Kazimierz Rasinski was brutally tortured by Germans and murdered when he refused to reveal Polish communication codes. On Sep 7th NSDAP organised night parade on Adolf-Hitlerstrasse to celebrate success. It was bombed by a single Polish hydroplane operating from Hela peninsula piloted by Jozef Rudzki and Zdzisław Juszczakiewicz. Six bombs each weighing were dropped from very low height.
In October 1939, Danzig, together with the prewar Pomeranian Voivodship to the south and west, became the German "Reichsgau" (administrative district) of Danzig-West Prussia ("Danzig–Westpreussen").
With the start of the war the Nazi regime began its policy of extermination in Pomerania; Poles, Kashubians and Jews and the political opposition were sent to concentration camps, especially neighbouring Stutthof where 85,000 victims perished. Kashubian and Polish intelligentsia were killed in the Piaśnica mass murder site, which is estimated to have had 60,000 victims.
Józef Piłsudski
After the fall of communism and the 1991 disintegration of the Soviet Union, Piłsudski once again came to be publicly acknowledged as a Polish national hero. On the sixtieth anniversary of his death, on 12 May 1995, Poland's "Sejm" adopted a resolution: "Józef Piłsudski will remain, in our nation's memory, the founder of its independence and the victorious leader who fended off a foreign assault that threatened the whole of Europe and its civilization. Józef Piłsudski served his country well and has entered our history forever."
Legnica
After the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II, Liegnitz and all of Silesia east of the Neisse was transferred to Poland following the Potsdam Conference in 1945. The German population was expelled from their home town between 1945 and 1947 and Poles took their place. As the medieval Polish name "Lignica" was considered archaic, the town was renamed Legnica. The transfer to Poland decided at Potsdam in 1945 was officially recognized by East Germany in 1950, by West Germany under Chancellor Willy Brandt in the Treaty of Warsaw signed in 1970, and finally by the reunited Germany by the Two Plus Four Agreement in 1990. By 1990 only a handful of Polonized Germans, prewar citizens of Liegnitz, remained of the pre-1945 German population. In 2010 the city celebrated the 65th anniversary of the "return of Legnica to Poland" and its liberation from the Nazis.
History of Poland
On 1 September 1939, Hitler ordered an invasion of Poland, the opening event of World War II. Poland had signed an Anglo-Polish military alliance as recently as 25 August, and had long been in alliance with France. The two Western powers soon declared war on Germany, but they remained largely inactive (the period early in the conflict became known as the Phoney War) and extended no aid to the attacked country. The technically and numerically superior "Wehrmacht" formations rapidly advanced eastwards and engaged massively in the murder of Polish civilians over the entire occupied territory. On 17 September, a Soviet invasion of Poland began. The Soviet Union quickly occupied most of the areas of eastern Poland that contained large populations of Ukrainians and Belarusians. The two invading powers divided up the country as they had agreed in the secret provisions of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Poland's top government officials and military high command fled the war zone and arrived at the Romanian Bridgehead in mid-September. After the Soviet entry they sought refuge in Romania.
Międzyrzec Podlaski
In 1939, during the Nazi–Soviet Invasion of Poland, the city was overrun by Wehrmacht on 13 September 1939, and ceded to the Russians on 25 September, in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Two weeks later, it was transferred back to Germany after the new Boundary Treaty. In 1940 six separate slave-labor camps were set up by the Nazis for some 2,000 local Jews; along with Judenrat, and the Jewish police.
Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact
On September 23, 1938, the Soviet Union sent a note to the Polish government informing it that the pact will be considered null and void in the case of Poland's participation in the occupation of Czechoslovakia . However, this threat was not carried out, as the Soviet government stated on October 31, after Poland occupied Zaolzie area, that the pact remained in force . and it was reaffirmed by the two powers on November 26, 1938 (see ). Finally the pact was broken by the Soviets on September 17, 1939, when the Red Army joined Nazi Germany's forces in their invasion of Poland, in accordance with the secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
Independent Operational Group Polesie
After the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, Kleeberg at first followed orders from Polish High Command and retreated towards the Romanian border (see Romanian Bridgehead). On 22 September, cut off from his superiors, he decided to aid besieged Warsaw. As they were running low on supplies, Kleeberg decided to recapture the town of Dęblin, where the Polish Army had large stores of supplies.
On 28 September Warsaw capitulated; Kleeberg - at that time having crossed the Bug river near Włodawa - decided that the units would advance west and organize large scale partisan warfare from local forest complexes near Świętokrzyskie Mountains. In the days of 29–30 September the units were engaged by the Soviet Red Army but were able to defeat them. From 2 October the SGO, at that point the last organized regular unit of the Polish Army, fought against the German forces of XIV Mechanized Corps in the battle of Kock. Despite immense German numerical superiority, the Polish forces were able to score several tactical victories; however they were increasingly running low on supplies, including ammunition. Hence on 5 October Kleeberg decided to capitulate; the fighting ended in the early hours of October 6. He was the last Polish general to capitulate in the Polish Defensive War; he is also considered one of the few Polish generals of the September 1939 campaign to have not been defeated in battle (along with Gen. Maczek).
Polish population transfers (1944–1946)
After the signing of the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Germany invaded Western Poland. Two weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland. As a result, Poland was divided between the Germans and the Soviets (see Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union). With the annexation of the Kresy in 1939, modern-day Western Ukraine was annexed to Soviet Ukraine, and Western Belarus to Soviet Belorussia, respectively. Spreading terror throughout the region, the Soviet secret police (NKVD) accompanying the Red Army murdered Polish prisoners of war. From 1939 to 1941 the Soviets also forcibly deported specific social groups deemed "untrustworthy" to forced labor facilities in Kazakhstan and Siberia. Many children, elderly and sick died during the journeys in cargo trains which lasted weeks. Whereas the Polish government-in-exile put the number of deported Polish citizens at 1,500,000 and some Polish estimates reached 1,600,000 to 1,800,000 persons, historians consider these evaluations as exaggerated. Alexander Guryanov calculated that 309,000 up to 312,000 Poles were deported from February 1940 to June 1941. According to N.S. Lebedeva the deportations involved about 250,000 persons. The most conservative Polish counts based on Soviet documents and published by the Main Commission to Investigate Crimes Against the Polish Nation in 1997 amounted to a grand total of 320,000 persons deported. Sociologist Tadeusz Piotrowski argues that various other smaller deportations, prisoners of war and political prisoners should be added for a grand total of 400,000 to 500,000 deported.
Battle of Lwów (1939)
On September 22, 1939, the act of surrender was signed in the suburb of Winniki. The Red Army accepted all conditions proposed by general Władysław Langner. The privates and NCOs were to leave the city, register themselves at the Soviet authorities and be allowed to go home. Officers would be allowed to keep their belongings and leave Poland for whatever country would accept them. The Soviet forces entered the city and the Soviet occupation began. Unsurprisingly, the Soviets broke the terms of surrender signed that morning shortly after noon, when the NKVD began arresting all Polish officers. They were escorted to Tarnopol, where they were sent to various Gulags in Russia, mostly to the infamous camp in Starobielsk. Most of them, including general Franciszek Sikorski himself, would be murdered in what became known as the Katyn Massacre in 1940.
Nazi crimes against the Polish nation
Less than a year before the outbreak of war, on 1 October 1938 the German Army rolled into the Sudetenland in accordance with the Munich Agreement. The operation was completed by 10 October. Two weeks later, on 24 October 1938 Ribbentrop summoned Polish ambassador to Berchtesgaden and presented him with Hitler's "Gesamtlösung" regarding the Polish Corridor and the Free City of Danzig. Ambassador Lipski refused. Three days later, the first mass deportation of Polish nationals from Nazi Germany began. It was the eviction of Jews who settled in Germany with Polish passports. On 9–10 November 1938, the "Kristallnacht" attack was carried out by the SA paramilitary forces; thousands of Jews holding Polish citizenship were rounded up and sent via rail to the Polish border and to the Nazi concentration camps. The round-up included 2,000 ethnic Poles living and working there.
Soviet invasion of Poland
The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, sixteen days after Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subsequent military operations lasted for the following 20 days and ended on 6 October 1939 with the two-way division and annexation of the entire territory of the Second Polish Republic by Germany and the Soviet Union. The Soviet invasion of Poland was secretly approved by Germany following the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939.
Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
A decree issued by Hitler on 8 October 1939, provided for the annexation of western Polish areas and the Free City of Danzig. A separate by-law stipulated the inclusion of the area around Suwalki (the Suwalki triangle).
Polish Home Army Museum, Orchard Lake, Michigan
On August 1, 1944, the Home Army in Warsaw rose against the Germans as they were retreating under pressure form the Soviet offensive. The Red Army was only 15 miles away at the time. However; a few days after the uprising started, Joseph Stalin ordered his armies to stop and wait until the Germans had brutally suppressed the uprising and destroyed the city. Stalin wanted the Home Army and Polish leadership destroyed in order to make it easier for the Soviets to set up a planned puppet communist regime. After 63 days of fighting with insufficient arms against three German Divisions, including the elite Hermann Göring SS Panzer Division and the German Luftwaffe, the Home Army was forced to surrender. After the surrender and evacuation of POWs, as well as the remaining civilian population, the Germans blew up or burnt whatever buildings were left standing.
Český Těšín
In 1938, following the Munich Agreement allowing the German annexation of the Sudetenland as signed by the United Kingdom and France in accordance with their policy of appeasement, Poland coerced Czechoslovakia to surrender the region of Zaolzie (including Český Těšín), by issuing an ultimatum to that effect on 30 September, which was accepted by Czechoslovakia on 1 October. Following negotiations with Czech authorities, who were given an additional 24 hours to evacuate the area, Polish troops and authorities entered it on 2 October 1938, and the territory was annexed by Poland as "Cieszyn Zachodni" (West Cieszyn). After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the entire territory was annexed by Nazi Germany. During World War II it was a part of Nazi Germany. In 1941, Nazi Germany established the camp Stalag VIII-D here. After the war, the 1920 borders were restored.
The Holocaust in Poland
The Western powers remained unaware of the top secret Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939, which paved the way for World War II. The German surrender in May 1945 was followed by a massive change in the political geography of Europe. Poland's borders were redrawn by the Allies according to the demands made by Josef Stalin during the Tehran Conference, confirmed as not negotiable at the Yalta Conference of 1945. The Polish government-in-exile was excluded from the negotiations. The territory of Poland was reduced by approximately 20 percent. Before the end of 1946 some 1.8 million Polish citizens were expelled and forcibly resettled within the new borders. For the first time in its history Poland became a homogeneous one nation-state by force, with the national wealth reduced by 38 percent. Poland's financial system had been destroyed. Intelligentsia was largely obliterated along with the Jews, and the population reduced by about 33 percent.
Due to the territorial shift imposed from the outside, the number of Holocaust survivors from Poland remains the subject of deliberation. According to official statistics, the number of Jews in the country changed dramatically in a very short time. In January 1946, the Central Committee of Polish Jews (CKŻP) registered the first wave of some 86,000 survivors from the vicinity. By the end of that summer, the number had risen to about 205,000–210,000 (with 240,000 registrations and over 30,000 duplicates). The survivors included 180,000 Jews who arrived from the Soviet-controlled territories as a result repatriation agreements. Another 30,000 Jews returned to Poland from the USSR after the Stalinist repressions ended a decade later.
Warsaw
Warsaw was occupied by Germany from 4 August 1915 until November 1918. The Allied Armistice terms required in Article 12 that Germany withdraw from areas controlled by Russia in 1914, which included Warsaw. Germany did so, and underground leader Piłsudski returned to Warsaw on 11 November and set up what became the Second Polish Republic, with Warsaw as the capital. In the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, the huge Battle of Warsaw was fought on the eastern outskirts of the city in which the capital was successfully defended and the Red Army defeated. Poland stopped the full brunt of the Red Army by itself and defeated the idea of the "export of the revolution".
The Średnicowy Bridge was constructed for a railway (1921–1931), connecting both parts of the city. Warszawa Główna railway station (1932–1939) was unfinished and destroyed during WWII.
History of Pomerania (1933–1945)
A revised and less favorable proposal came in the form of an ultimatum made by the Nazis in late August, after the orders had already been given to attack Poland on September 1, 1939. Nevertheless, at midnight on August 29, Joachim von Ribbentrop handed British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson a list of terms which would allegedly ensure peace in regard to Poland. Danzig was to be incorporated into Germany and there was to be a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor; all Poles who were born or settled there since 1919 would have no vote, while all Germans born but not living there would. An exchange of minority populations between the two countries was proposed. If Poland accepted these terms, Germany would agree to the British offer of an international guarantee, which would include the Soviet Union. A Polish plenipotentiary, with full powers, was to arrive in Berlin and accept these terms by noon the next day. The British Cabinet viewed the terms as "reasonable," except the demand for a Polish Plenipotentiary, which was seen as similar to Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha accepting Hitler’s terms in mid-March 1939.
Jawiszowice
Upon the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it became part of the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia. After World War I and fall of Austria-Hungary it became part of Poland. It was annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. It became the location of one of the Auschwitz sub-camps, named Jawischowitz. After the war it was restored to Poland.
11 listopada
"The 11th of November" is set shortly before and at the beginning of World War II. It tells the story of a group of Scouts from Zielonka, a small town near Warsaw, who, finding themselves unable to come to terms with the German occupation, decided to continue in secret their scouting activity. One night, on the eve of 11 November 1939 (Polish Independence Day), they put up in the streets of the town 15 hand-made posters with the text of "Rota" ("The Oath"), a poem and an anthem by Maria Konopnicka. In the gloomy reality of the German occupation this act was supposed to express hope. Perhaps they were dreaming of a moment of hesitation from a passer-by, rising hearts, a kind smile at this manifestation of national solidarity.
Zamość
The city was overrun by the Germans during the invasion of Poland at the outbreak of World War II; the local garrison, the Polish infantry regiment of "Podpułkownik" Stanisław Gumowski, was defeated. On September 27, 1939 Nazi Germany signed a border treaty with the Soviet Union who had invaded Poland from the east, and, consequently, on September 28, 1939, Zamość was handed over to the Red Army – for about a week. The Soviets left town on October 5, 1939 along with some 5,000 Jews after another demarcation line adjustment. The Germans returned to the city on October 8, 1939 and shortly afterwards, mass arrests of prominent citizens began. This was as part of the secret A-B Action, the deliberate extermination of the Polish intelligentsia. The Nazis created an execution site in the Zamość Rotunda. More than 8,000 people were massacred there, including displaced residents of the region and, later, Soviet prisoners of war captured during Operation Barbarossa.
Invasion of Poland
The German assault was originally scheduled to begin at 04:00 on 26 August. However, on 25 August, the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed as an annex to the Franco-Polish Military Alliance. In this accord, Britain committed itself to the defence of Poland, guaranteeing to preserve Polish independence. At the same time, the British and the Poles were hinting to Berlin that they were willing to resume discussions—not at all how Hitler hoped to frame the conflict. Thus, he wavered and postponed his attack until 1 September, managing to in effect halt the entire invasion "in mid-leap".
However, there was one exception: on the night of 25–26 August, a German sabotage group which had not heard anything about a delay of the invasion made an attack on the Jablunkov Pass and Mosty railway station in Silesia. On the morning of 26 August, this group was repelled by Polish troops. The German side described all this as an incident "caused by an insane individual" (see Jabłonków Incident).
Brańsk
On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland and quickly overwhelmed it. Within days of the war's beginning, Brańsk suffered German bombardment. On September 17, 1939, the USSR attacked eastern Poland, and in partnership with Nazi Germany, partitioned Poland under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 23. Brańsk along with all areas of Poland east of the Bug River was then occupied by the Soviet Union. All Polish and Jewish businesses of substance were confiscated by the Communist State. The Soviets remained in control of Brańsk until June 1941 when the Germans invaded their erstwhile Soviet allies. Hitler's German Wehrmacht (army) occupied the town and ordered the Jewish community to build a ghetto surrounded by barbed wire, to which the Jewish population (some 65% of the town) was confined. On November 8, 1942, the Jews of Brańsk were ordered to report to the town center, forced to march to the nearby town of Bielsk, and then transported by train to Treblinka. Within weeks, the vast majority were murdered by gassing at the Treblinka death camp.
Invasion of Poland
Another question concerns whether Poland inflicted any significant losses on the German forces and whether it surrendered too quickly. In the first few days, Germany sustained very heavy losses: Poland cost the Germans 993 tanks and armored vehicles as campaign losses of which 300 tanks were never recovered, thousands of soldiers, and 25% of its air strength. As for duration, the September Campaign lasted about a week and a half less than the Battle of France in 1940 even though the Anglo-French forces were much closer to parity with the Germans in numerical strength and equipment and were supported by the Maginot line. Furthermore, the Polish Army was preparing the Romanian Bridgehead, which would have prolonged Polish defence, but the plan was invalidated by the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939. Poland also never officially surrendered to the Germans. Under German occupation, there was continued resistance by forces such as the "Armia Krajowa", Henryk Dobrzański's guerillas, and the Leśni ("forest partisans").
Wilm Hosenfeld
Hosenfeld befriended numerous Poles and even made an effort to learn their language. He also attended Mass, received Holy Communion, and went to confession in Polish churches, even though this was forbidden. His actions on behalf of Poles began as early as autumn 1939, when against regulations he allowed Polish prisoners of war access to their families and even pushed successfully for the early release of at least one. During his time in Warsaw, Hosenfeld used his position to give refuge to people, regardless of their background, including at least one politically persecuted anti-Nazi ethnic German, who were in danger of persecution, even arrest by the Gestapo, sometimes by getting them the papers they needed and jobs at the sports stadium that was under his oversight. Hosenfeld surrendered to the Soviets at Błonie, a small Polish city about 30 km west of Warsaw, with the men of a Wehrmacht company he was leading.
Warsaw Uprising
Although the exact number of casualties is unknown, it is estimated that about 16,000 members of the Polish resistance were killed and about 6,000 badly wounded. In addition, between 150,000 and 200,000 Polish civilians died, mostly from mass executions. Jews being harboured by Poles were exposed by German house-to-house clearances and mass evictions of entire neighbourhoods. German casualties totalled over 17,000 soldiers killed and missing. During the urban combat, approximately 25% of Warsaw's buildings were destroyed. Following the surrender of Polish forces, German troops systematically levelled another 35% of the city block by block. Together with earlier damage suffered in the 1939 invasion of Poland and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, over 85% of the city was destroyed by January 1945 when the course of the events in the Eastern Front forced the Germans to abandon the city.
In 1944, Poland had been occupied by Nazi Germany for almost five years. The Polish Home Army planned some form of rebellion against German forces. Germany was fighting a coalition of Allied powers, led by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. The initial plan of the Home Army was to link up with the invading forces of the Western Allies as they liberated Europe from the Nazis. However, when the Soviet Army began its offensive in 1943, it became clear that Poland would be liberated by it instead of the Western Allies.
History of Warsaw
The first bombs felt on Warsaw already on 1 September 1939. Unfortunately, the most important representatives of civil and military administration (along with the Army's Commander-in-Chief, Marshall Edward Rydz-Śmigły) escaped to Romania, taking with themselves much of the equipment and ammunition intended for the defense of the city. To stop the chaos, President Starzyński seized full civil power, although he had no entitlement to do this. To prevent public disorder, he appointed the Citizen Guard. All time he supported the people's spirit in radio speeches. On 9 September, the German tank divisions attacked Warsaw from south-west, but the defenders (with a lot of civil volunteers) managed to stop them in the Ochota district. The situation was hopeless. The Germans advanced so many divisions that sooner or later they would conquer the city, all the more so because on 17 September the Soviets invaded east Poland. Three days later the German encirclement around Warsaw closed. On 17 September, the Royal Castle burnt down, then, on 23, the power plant. On 27 September Warsaw surrendered and on 1 October the Germans entered the city. In September 1939, around 31,000 people died, (including 25,000 civilians) and 46,000 were injured (including 20,000 civilians). 10% of the buildings were destroyed. On 27 October, the Germans arrested President Starzyński and deported him to the Dachau concentration camp, where he died in 1943 or 1944 (exact date still unknown).
Polska Siła Zbrojna
As a result of the Oath Crisis of July 1917, 1/4 of the soldiers of the Polish Legions declined to pledge loyalty to the German Kaiser. Approximately 15,000 of them were confined in internment camps in Beniaminów and Szczypiorno, while almost 3,000 were drafted to the Austro-Hungarian Army. The planned force of 50,000 which out of the 70,000 force happen and declare loyalty to the kaiser. After the command of the unit was transferred to the Polish Regency Council on 19 October 1918, the number soon reached 9,000. After Poland declared her independence on 11 November 1918, the Polnische Wehrmacht became the basis of the newly formed Polish Army.
The Pianist (memoir)
On 30 August Szpilman moved back into his old building, which by now had entirely burnt out. Here, in larders and bathtubs (now open to the air because of the fire), Szpilman found bread and rainwater, which kept him alive. During his time in this building the Warsaw uprising was defeated and the evacuation of the civilian population was completed. The Polish Home Army signed the capitulation agreement on 2 October 1944; 150,000 civilians are thought to have died. By October 14 Szpilman and the German army were all but the only humans still living in Warsaw, which had been completely destroyed by the Germans:
Hel, Poland
During the invasion of Poland the Hel Peninsula was one of the longest-defended pockets of Polish Army resistance. Approximately 3,000 soldiers of the Coastal Defence Group ("Grupa Obrony Wybrzeża") units under Kmdr Włodzimierz Steyer defended the area against overwhelming odds until October 2, 1939. Shortly before capitulation, Polish military engineers detonated a number of torpedo warheads, which separated the peninsula from the mainland transforming it into an island. During World War II the Kriegsmarine used the Hel naval base to train U-Boat crews. At the end of the war the village was the last part of Polish soil to be liberated: the German units encircled there only surrendered on May 14, 1945, six days after Germany had capitulated.
History of Poland (1939–1945)
For the optimal "political motivation" (a collapse of Poland having taken place), Molotov wished to hold the Soviet intervention until the fall of Warsaw, but the city's capture by the Germans was being delayed due to its determined defense effort (until September 27). The Soviet troops marched on 17 September into Poland, which the Soviet Union claimed to be by then non-existent anyway (according to the historian Richard Overy, Poland was defeated by Germany within two weeks from 1 September). The Soviet invasion of Poland was justified by the Soviets by their own security concerns and by the need to protect the ethnically Belarusian and Ukrainian populations. The invasion was coordinated with the movement of the German army, and met limited resistance from the Polish forces. The Polish military formations available in the eastern part of the country were ordered by the high command, who were then at the Romanian border, to avoid engaging the Soviets, but some fighting between Soviet and Polish units did take place (such as the Battle of Szack fought by the Border Protection Corps). The Soviet forces moved west (to the Bug River) and south to fill the area allotted to them by the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. They took steps to block the potential Polish evacuation routes into Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Hungary.
The Pianist (2002 film)
In September 1939, Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, is playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the station is bombed during Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Hoping for a quick victory, Szpilman rejoices with his family at home when learning that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. But the promised aid does not come. Fighting lasts for just over a month, with both the German and Soviet armies invading Poland at the same time on different fronts. Warsaw becomes part of the Nazi-controlled General Government. Jews are soon prevented from working or owning businesses, and are also made to wear blue Star of David armbands.
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day, was celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. The formal surrender of the German forces occupying the Channel Islands did not occur until the following day, 9 May 1945. It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe.
History of Poland (1918–1939)
The Germans wanted restoration of the pre-Versailles Treaty borders and so they launched new demands on Poland. They insisted on a plebiscite to determine the ownership of the "Polish corridor". Only those living in the corridor prior to 1918 would be allowed to vote. The proposal called for a subsequent population exchange that would move all Germans then in Poland out of the final region declared to be "Poland". The same would occur for all Poles living in what was declared, after the vote, to be "Germany". Danzig was to become part of Germany regardless of the vote, but if Germany lost, it was still guaranteed access to East Prussia through an autobahn system that it would administer, stretching from Germany proper to Danzig to East Prussia. If Poland lost the vote, the corridor would go to Germany and the seaport of Gdynia would become a Polish exclave with a route connecting Poland with Gdynia. After the British-French guarantee of support for Poland was announced on April 3, negotiations over Danzig ended. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The issue of Danzig was not the cause of the German invasion; Hitler told his generals in May 1939: “It is not Danzig that is at stake. For us it is a matter of expanding our living space in the east and making food supplies secure.” The total destruction of the Polish state, Polish culture, and indeed the Polish population had become Hitler's main objective. He wanted the agricultural land to resettle German farmers.
Międzyrzec Podlaski Ghetto
At the end of September 1939, during the Soviet invasion of Poland, the Red Army conquered the city of Międzyrzec Podlaski. At the beginning of October, the Soviet Union handed over the city to Germany as part of the brand new Nazi-Soviet Border Treaty amended to the secret Hitler-Stalin Pact against Poland in 1939. Following the exchange, approximately 2,000 of the city’s Jews left for the Soviet-occupied zone. The Germans set up a transfer ghetto in the historic neighbourhood of Szmulowizna. It held 20,000 Jewish prisoners at its peak. On August 25–26, 1942 some 11,000–12,000 Jews were rounded up by German "Ordnungspolizei" amid gunfire and screams and loaded onto Holocaust trains to Treblinka extermination camp.
Polish Home Army Museum, Orchard Lake, Michigan
The Polish Home Army Museum in Orchard Lake, Michigan is dedicated to the memory of the brave men and women of the Armia Krajowa during World War II. The Museum tells the story of the struggle for the freedom and independence of Poland during World War II. On September 1, 1939, without declaring war, the Nazi German Army, Navy, and Air Forces invaded Poland from the north, west and south. Sixteen days later, on September 17, the Soviet Union also attacked Poland from the east. For Europe, the Nazi invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II; for Poland, the Soviet invasion also marked the beginning of a 50-year struggle against communism.
World War II reparations
On 23 August 1953, the Soviet-imposed communist Polish regime under pressure and control of the Soviet Union announced it would unilaterally waive its right to war reparations from East Germany on 1 January 1954, with the exception of reparations for Nazi oppression and atrocities. East Germany, in turn, had to accept the Oder-Neisse border, which gave around one quarter of Germany in its 1937 borders ("see Former eastern territories of Germany") to Poland and Russia. West Germany hadn't paid reparations to non-Jewish recipients for the damage inflicted in Poland. West Germany in 1972 paid compensation to survived Poles being victims of pseudo-medical experiments in various Nazi camps during the Second World War. Gierek-Schmidt agreement signed in 1975 in Warsaw, stipulated that 1.3 billion DM will be paid to Poles who, during Nazi occupation, had paid into Germany's social security system without receiving pension.
Kościuszko Uprising
On 16 November, near Radoszyce, Wawrzecki surrendered. This marked the end of the uprising. The power of Poland was broken and the following year the third partition of Poland took place, after which Austria, Russia and Prussia annexed the remainder of the country.
Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union
Early in the morning of August 24, 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a 10-year non-aggression pact, called the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact. Most notably, the pact contained a secret protocol, revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945, according to which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence". In the North, Finland, Estonia and Latvia were assigned to the Soviet sphere. Poland was to be partitioned in the event of its "political rearrangement"—the areas east of the Narev, Vistula and San Rivers going to the Soviet Union while Germany would occupy the west. Initially annexed by Poland in a series of wars between 1918 and 1921 (primarily the Polish-Soviet War), these territories had mixed urban national populations with Poles and Ukrainians being the most numerous ethnic groups, with significant minorities of Belarusians and Jews. Much of this rural territory had its own significant local non-Polish majority (Ukrainians in the south and Belarusians in the north).
Polish culture during World War II
On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, initiating World War II in Europe, and on 17 September, pursuant to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union. Subsequently, Poland was partitioned again – between these two powers – and remained under occupation for most of the war. By 1 October, Germany and the Soviet Union had completely overrun Poland, although the Polish government never formally surrendered, and the Polish Underground State, subordinate to the Polish government-in-exile, was soon formed. On 8 October, Nazi Germany annexed the western areas of pre-war Poland and, in the remainder of the occupied area, established the General Government. The Soviet Union had to temporarily give up the territorial gains it made in 1939 due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, but permanently re-annexed much of this territory after winning it back in mid-1944. Over the course of the war, Poland lost over 20% of its pre-war population amid an occupation that marked the end of the Second Polish Republic.
Remembrance Day
11 November is a public holiday in Poland called Independence Day, as the ending of First World War allowed Polish people to regain the freedom and unity of their country after over a hundred years of partitions. Major events include laying flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by members of the government and highest authorities, other public ceremonies and church services and school celebrations.
Battle of Ujście
On the next day, July 25, Polish leaders signed capitulation, pledging allegiance to the Swedish king. Among the dignitaries who signed the act were such names, as Voivode of Poznań Krzysztof Opalinski, Voivode of Kalisz Andrzej Karol Grudzinski, Castellan of Międzyrzecz Pawel Gembicki, Castellan of Krzywin Maksymilian Miaskowski and Andrzej Słupecki. After the pact, Greater Poland's nobility, which stayed at the Ujście camp, was invited by the Swedes to a feast.
Częstochowa
In the Polish Defensive War of 1939, Częstochowa was defended by the 7th Infantry Division, part of northern wing of Kraków Army. After the Battle of Mokra and other battles, Polish forces withdrew, and the Wehrmacht entered the city on Sunday, September 3, 1939. Częstochowa was renamed into "Tschenstochau", and incorporated into the General Government. Monday, September 4, 1939, became known as "Bloody Monday" or also "Częstochowa massacre", when 227 people (205 ethnic Poles and 22 Jews) were killed by the Germans (some estimates of victims put the number at more than 1,000; 990 ethnic Poles and 110 Jews). German occupiers from the very beginning initiated a plan of cultural and physical extermination of the Polish nation. Częstochowa was a city county ("Stadkreis Tschenstochau"), part of "Radom District" of the General Government. The city was located near the border with Upper Silesia Province, and in its area operated units of the Home Army and National Armed Forces ("NSZ"). On April 20, 1943, a "NZS" unit attacked local office of the Bank Emisyjny w Polsce. After the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising, Częstochowa briefly was the capital of the Polish Underground State. In the autumn 1944, Germans fortified the city, preparing for a lengthy defence. On January 16, 1945, however, the Wehrmacht retreated after one day of fighting.
On April 9, 1941, a ghetto for Jews was created. During World War II approximately 45,000 of Częstochowa's Jews, almost the entire Jewish community living here, were killed by the Germans. Life in Nazi-occupied Częstochowa is depicted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel "Maus", by Art Spiegelman, the son of a Jewish Częstochowa resident. Before the Holocaust, Częstochowa was considered a great Jewish center in Poland. By the end of WWII, nearly all Jews had been killed or deported to be killed, making Częstochowa what the Nazis called Judenfrei.
Prelude to the Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising occurred at a stage of the Second World War when it was becoming clear that Nazi Germany was likely to lose. The Uprising ended in capitulation, the deaths of over 250,000 civilians, and only 15% of Warsaw intact; with the benefit of hindsight, many people have argued that it should never have been started. Others have argued that it was inevitable and even crucial for Poland to prove its commitment to the Allied cause. Although Stalin was later to describe it as a "criminal enterprise," just two days prior to its initiation, Radio Moscow had called for the Polish people to rise in arms.
Radomsko
Following the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Radomsko was taken over by the Wehrmacht on 3 September 1939. In April 1940 a Nazi ghetto was set up in the Przedborze district for local Polish Jews. The ghetto was liquidated in two stages during the Holocaust. The first deportation action took place in early October 1942 with prisoners sent aboard freight trains to Treblinka. On 12 October, approximately 9,000 Jews were deported. A small group of Jewish slave labour was allowed to stay behind. They were sent to Treblinka in January 1943. Radomsko was declared "Judenfrei". In retaliation, the unit of Armia Krajowa ambushed and shot the Chief of Gestapo Willy Berger and his deputy Johann Wagner on 27 May 1943. The German pacification action took place on 3 August 1943 in Rejowice. The settlement was levelled; some AK soldiers were captured and brought to Radomsko. The Nazi prison in Radomsko, located at the historic Ratusz, was attacked by AK on the night of 7–8 August 1943; and the prisoners were rescued. The attack was led by "Porucznik" Stanisław "Zbigniew" Sojczyński.
Jedwabne pogrom
The start of World War II in Europe began with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939. Later in the same month, on September 17, the Soviet Red Army invaded the eastern regions of Poland under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The area of Jedwabne was originally occupied by the Germans, who crushed the resistance offered by local Polish cadets and burned the synagogue. Jedwabne was then transferred to the Soviets in accordance with the German–Soviet Boundary Treaty of September 28, 1939. At first, many Polish Jews were relieved to learn that the Soviets, rather than the Nazis, were to occupy their town. Unlike most gentile Poles, some Jews prominently welcomed the Red Army as protectors from Nazism. Some people from other ethnic groups in the "Kresy" (Polish borderlands), particularly Belarusians, also openly welcomed the Soviets. In what Jan Gross has termed "the institutionalization of resentment", the occupiers used privileges and punishments to accommodate and encourage ethnic and religious differences among the local population.
Brzezinka
The territory of the Duchy of Oświęcim was eventually incorporated into Poland in 1564 and formed Silesian County of Kraków Voivodeship. Upon the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it became part of the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia. After World War I and fall of Austria-Hungary it became part of Poland. It was annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After this annexation the village was chosen by the Germans as the site of their Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) death camp, whose remains exist along with Auschwitz I as state museums to commemorate the victims of Nazism and the Holocaust. After the war it was restored to Poland.
History of Poland
The Second Polish Republic, established in 1918, existed as an independent state until 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union destroyed it in their invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II. Millions of Polish citizens perished in the course of the Nazi occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1945 as Germany classified ethnic Poles and other Slavs, Jews and Romani (Gypsies) as subhuman. Nazi authorities targeted the last two groups for extermination in the short term, deferring the extermination and/or enslavement of the Slavs as part of the "Generalplan Ost" ('General Plan for the East') conceived by the Nazi régime. A Polish government-in-exile nonetheless functioned throughout the war and the Poles contributed to the Allied victory through participation in military campaigns on both the eastern and western fronts. The westward advances of the Soviet Red Army in 1944 and 1945 compelled Nazi Germany's forces to retreat from Poland, which led to the establishment of a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union, known from 1952 as the Polish People's Republic.
Poland
World War II began with the Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, followed by the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September. On 28 September 1939 Warsaw fell. As agreed in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Poland was split into two zones, one occupied by Nazi Germany, the other by the Soviet Union. In 1939–41, the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Poles. The Soviet NKVD executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war (inter alia Katyn massacre) ahead of the Operation Barbarossa. German planners had in November 1939 called for "the complete destruction" of all Poles and their fate, as well as many other Slavs, was outlined in genocidal "Generalplan Ost".
Pope Pius XII and Poland
Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the West on 1 September 1939 and a period of brutal occupation commenced. Racist Nazi ideology targeted the Jews of Poland for extermination and categorized ethnic Poles (mostly Catholics) as an inferior race. Jews were rounded up into Ghettos or sent to extermination camps. The ethnic Polish intelligentsia were also targeted for elimination, with priests and politicians alike murdered in a campaign of terror. Forced labour was also extensively used. The Red Army invaded Poland from the East on 17 September 1939. The Soviets were also responsible for repression of Polish Catholics and clergy, with an emphasis on "class enemies". Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union was launched in June 1941, shattering the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, and bringing Eastern Poland under Nazi domination. Norman Davies wrote: The Nazi plan for Poland entailed the destruction of the Polish nation. This necessarily required attacking the Polish Church, particularly in those areas annexed to Germany. According to Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw, in his scheme for the Germanization of Eastern Europe, Hitler made clear that there would be "no place in this utopia for the Christian Churches".
Lesser Poland
In Lesser Poland, like in all provinces of the occupied country, the Nazis ruled with savage brutality, killing hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, both Polish and Jewish (see: World War II crimes in Poland, Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland, Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles, German AB-Aktion in Poland, Sonderaktion Krakau). The Auschwitz concentration camp, located at the border of Lesser Poland and Upper Silesia, was opened on 14 June 1940, and on 1 October 1941, the Germans opened Majdanek concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin. The third concentration camp in Lesser Poland was in Kraków's district of Płaszów. In late 1939 and early 1940, in Lesser Poland's spa of Zakopane, and in Kraków, several Gestapo–NKVD Conferences took place, during which the mutual cooperation between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union was discussed.
Grodno
After the outbreak of the Polish–Bolshevik War, the German commanders of the Ober Ost feared that the city might fall to Soviet Russia, so on April 27, 1919 they passed authority to Poland. The city was taken over by the Polish Army the following day and Polish administration was established in the city. The city was lost to the Red Army on July 20, 1920 in what became known as the First Battle of Grodno. The city was also claimed by Lithuanian government, after it was agreed by the Soviet–Lithuanian Treaty of 1920 signed on July 12, 1920 in Moscow that the city would be transferred to Lithuania. However, Soviet defeat in the Battle of Warsaw made these plans obsolete, and Lithuanian authority was never established in the city. Instead, the Red Army organised its last stand in the city and the Battle of Neman took place there. On September 23 the Polish Army recaptured the city. After the Peace Treaty of Riga, Grodno remained in Poland.
Polish Home Army Museum, Orchard Lake, Michigan
The Poles were beaten, but not conquered. The fight against the Germans continued, uninterrupted, for almost six years. After the war, when Poland was abandoned by her western allies and left under Soviet domination, resistance against communism continued for another 45 years. Finally, largely because of the Solidarity movement, freedom for Poland was regained in 1989.
Third Partition of Poland
Outraged with the further humiliation of Poland by her neighbors and the betrayal by the Polish nobility, and emboldened by the French Revolution unfolding in France, the Polish masses quickly turned against the occupying forces of Prussia and Russia. Following a series of nationwide riots, on March 24, 1794, Polish patriot Tadeusz Kościuszko took command of the Polish armed forces and declared a nationwide uprising against Poland’s foreign occupiers, marking the beginning of the Kościuszko Uprising. Catherine II and Frederick William II were quick to respond and, despite initial successes by Kosciuszko’s forces, the uprising was crushed by November 1794. According to legend, when Kosciuszko fell off of his horse at the Battle of Maciejowice, shortly before he was captured, he said "Finis Poloniae", meaning in Latin "[This is] the end of Poland."
Victory Day (9 May)
The German Instrument of Surrender was signed twice. Initially, it was signed in Reims on 7 May 1945 by Alfred Jodl (chief of staff of the German OKW) for Germany, Walter Bedell Smith, on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and Ivan Susloparov, on behalf of the Soviet High Command, in the presence of French Major-General François Sevez as the official witness. Since the Soviet High Command was not informed about the surrender, and because Susloparov, a relatively low-ranking officer, was not authorized to sign this document, the USSR requested that a second instrument of surrender be signed in Berlin. Joseph Stalin declared that the Soviet Union considered the Reims surrender a preliminary document, and Eisenhower immediately agreed with that. Another argument was that some German troops considered the Reims instrument of surrender as a surrender to the Western Allies only, and fighting continued in the East, especially in Prague.
Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1946)
On the night of 3–4 January 1944 the advancing Red Army crossed the former eastern border of the Second Polish Republic in the area of Volhynia (near the village of Rokitno). In several months, they pushed the Wehrmacht further west, reaching the line of the Vistula river on 24 July 1944. The Soviet advance stopped short of Warsaw, while the Armia Krajowa attempted to liberate the Polish capital from the Nazis ahead of the Red Army's offensive. The Warsaw Uprising by forces loyal to the Polish government-in-exile in London was crushed after 63 days.
Nowy Kurier Warszawski
Following the Polish defeat against the joint Nazi German and Soviet Invasion of Poland of 1939, on 6 October German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered. On 8 October, after an initial period of military administration, Germany directly annexed western Poland and the former Free City of Danzig and placed the remaining block of territory under the administration of the newly established General Government.
Soviet invasion of Poland
The Allied governments declared war on Germany on 3 September but failed to provide any meaningful support. Despite some Polish successes in minor border battles, German technical, operational and numerical superiority forced the Polish armies to retreat from the borders towards Warsaw and Lwów. On 10 September, the Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, ordered a general retreat to the southeast towards the Romanian Bridgehead. Soon after they began their invasion of Poland, the Nazi leaders began urging the Soviets to play their agreed part and attack Poland from the east. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German ambassador to Moscow Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg exchanged a series of diplomatic messages on the matter but the Soviets nevertheless delayed their invasion of eastern Poland. The Soviets were distracted by crucial events relating to their ongoing border disputes with Japan. They needed time to mobilize the Red Army and they saw a diplomatic advantage in waiting until Poland had disintegrated before making their move.
Northern Group of Forces
After the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, and with the signs of the fall of the Soviet Union, the new Polish government wanted the Soviet troops to leave Poland. By that time the Northern Group had already shrunk to 58,000 troops, but its military installations were still spread over about 700 square kilometres of Polish territory. After a new treaty in late 1991 and May 1992, and Poland's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet agreed to withdraw military units by 1992 and support units by 1993. Soviet troops had already begun leaving Poland, with the first group exiting in 1991. All troops left Poland by the end of 1993, the last leaving on 18 September. Symbolically, Polish President Lech Wałęsa saw them off on 17 September, the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland was defended by the following Polish armies:After a few days the Battle of the Border was lost, and forces of German Army Group South advanced deep into Lesser Poland's territory. Polish troops resisted fiercely, and among major battles in initial stages of the war, which took place in Lesser Poland, there are Battle of Mokra, Battle of Jordanów, and Battle of Węgierska Górka. By 6 September, Polish forces were in general retreat and Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered all troops to fall back to the secondary lines of defences at the Vistula and San Rivers. German units entered Częstochowa on 3 September (where on the next day they murdered hundreds of civilians), Kielce on 5 September, Kraków on 6 September, and Radom on 8 September (see also Battle of Radom). Within a week, almost whole Lesser Poland was under Nazi occupation. Northeastern part of the province, the area of Lublin, was held by the Poles until 17 September, but eventually, and after fierce battles (see Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski), all Lesser Poland was firmly under Nazi control. First draft of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact stipulated that northeastern Lesser Poland (east of the Vistula river) was to be occupied by the Soviet Union, and forces of the Red Army reached the area of Lublin after 20 September, but withdrew east on 28 September.
Hungary in World War II
By 2 May 1945, Hitler was dead and Berlin surrendered. On 7 May, General Alfred Jodl, the German Chief of Staff, signed the surrender of Germany. On 23 May, the "Flensburg Government" was dissolved. On 11 June, the Allies agreed to make 8 May 1945 the official "Victory in Europe" day.
Territorial evolution of Poland
At the end of World War II, the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. There were extensive changes to the territorial extent of Poland, following the decision taken at the Teheran Conference of 1943 at the insistence of the Soviet Union. The Polish territories east of the Curzon Line (known as the Kresy), which the Soviet Union had occupied in 1939 along with the Bialystok region were permanently annexed, resulting in Poland losing over 20% of its pre-war borders. While a large portion of this area was predominately populated by Ukrainians and Belarusians, most of their Polish inhabitants were expelled. Today these territories are part of Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania.
Germany–Poland relations
In 1918, Poland regained its place on the map. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its territories in West Prussia, East Upper Silesia and Danzig (Gdansk) and transferred them all to Poland. It was seen as a great injustice in the Weimar Republic, in part leading to the Nazi takeover of power in 1933. On 1 September 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany, thus initiating World War II. The Third Reich established concentration camps in German-occupied Poland, the biggest located in Auschwitz. Poland suffered many casualties and huge damages during the war. After World War II, Germany lost its former eastern territories to Poland and the Soviet Union. In 1945-1950, a series of expulsions and fleeings happened, in which up to 16 million ethnic Germans were forced to leave their homes in Poland and resettle in post-war Germany. It was the largest forced movement of any population in history.
Battle of Łomża (1939)
Despite three days of repeated German attacks and significant losses (roughly 30% in dead and wounded), Polish morale was still high. However, soon after 21:00 Col. Stefan Kossecki, commanding officer of the 18th Infantry Division, ordered the Łomża position to be abandoned. The reason was that the Germans were victorious in the Battle of Nowogród and the Poles failed to retake the town. Around the time the Germans also broke through at Wizna and the Narew river line was untenable. The 33rd Regiment withdrew towards Bacze Mokre, the last unit crossed the Narew around 22:00. The following day the German forces captured Łomża unopposed and on 29 September the town was handed over to their Soviet allies.
Victory in Europe Day
The term VE Day existed as early as September 1944, in anticipation of victory. On 30 April 1945, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin. Germany's surrender, therefore, was authorised by his successor, "Reichspräsident" Karl Dönitz. The administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg Government. The preliminary act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and the final document was signed on 8 May in Berlin, Germany.
Invasion of Poland
Polish border defence forces in the east—known as the "Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza"—consisted of about 25 battalions. Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered them to fall back and not engage the Soviets. This, however, did not prevent some clashes and small battles, such as the Battle of Grodno, as soldiers and local population attempted to defend the city. The Soviets executed numerous Polish officers, including prisoners of war like General Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński. The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists rose against the Poles, and communist partisans organized local revolts, robbing and killing civilians. Those movements were quickly disciplined by the NKVD. The Soviet invasion was one of the decisive factors that convinced the Polish government that the war in Poland was lost. Before the Soviet attack from the east, the Polish military's fall-back plan had called for long-term defence against Germany in the south-eastern part of Poland, while awaiting relief from a Western Allies attack on Germany's western border. However, the Polish government refused to surrender or negotiate a peace with Germany. Instead, it ordered all units to evacuate Poland and reorganize in France.
Meanwhile, Polish forces tried to move towards the Romanian Bridgehead area, still actively resisting the German invasion. From 17–20 September, Polish armies "Kraków" and "Lublin" were crippled at the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski, the second-largest battle of the campaign. The city of Lwów capitulated on 22 September because of Soviet intervention; the city had been attacked by the Germans over a week earlier, and in the middle of the siege, the German troops handed operations over to their Soviet allies. Despite a series of intensifying German attacks, Warsaw—defended by quickly reorganized retreating units, civilian volunteers and militia—held out until 28 September. The Modlin Fortress north of Warsaw capitulated on 29 September after an intense 16-day battle. Some isolated Polish garrisons managed to hold their positions long after being surrounded by German forces. Westerplatte enclave's tiny garrison capitulated on 7 September and the Oksywie garrison held until 19 September; Hel Fortified Area was defended until 2 October. In the last week of September, Hitler made a speech in the city of Danzig in which he said:
Despite a Polish victory at the Battle of Szack, after which the Soviets executed all the officers and NCOs they had captured, the Red Army reached the line of rivers Narew, Bug River, Vistula and San by 28 September, in many cases meeting German units advancing from the other direction. Polish defenders on the Hel peninsula on the shore of the Baltic Sea held out until 2 October. The last operational unit of the Polish Army, General Franciszek Kleeberg's "Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna "Polesie"", surrendered after the four-day Battle of Kock near Lublin on 6 October marking the end of the September Campaign.
Andrzej Ciechanowiecki
The German invasion of Poland began on 1st September 1939. On the advice - seriously flawed, as it turned out - of British general, Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, resident in Poland, on 5th September, the family fled East. They went to stay in Mołodów, Polesie Voivodeship on the estate of Henryk Skirmunt and his sister, Maria, the younger siblings of Konstanty Skirmunt, Polish ambassador in London (1919-1934). The plan had been to overwinter there and that Ciechanowiecki should attend school in nearby Pinsk. On 17th September invading Soviet units laid siege to the small town. Elements of local Belarusian activists presented an ultimatum to the Skirmunts: that the 150 Polish military police stationed on their estate should lay down their arms or all the buildings would be set alight. The unworldly Skirmunts fell for the trap; the police were all shot with their own weapons, the elderly Skirmunts were slaughtered in the woods and all the premises looted. Ciechanowiecki and his family managed to flee the horror with the retreating Polish columns of general Franciszek Kleeberg. Ciechanowiecki later stated laconically: ""...coś tam pomagałem, mam nawet krzyż za kampanię wrześniową jako ochotnik."" - "I helped out a bit, I even have a cross for the September campaign, as a volunteer." They travelled via Kamien Koszyrski to Kowel, then by train, strafed by Soviet planes, on to Lwów. There they suffered a harsh winter and a failed attempt in December to cross the "Green frontier" into Romania. They left the city in March 1940, just two days ahead of the KGB's arrival to start mass deportations. Recrossing the new "frontier", they finally returned to Warsaw in early May 1940.
Polish Underground State
In many respects, the history of the Polish Underground State mirrors that of the Polish non-communist resistance in general. The Underground State traces its origins to the Service for Poland's Victory (Służba Zwycięstwu Polski, SZP) organization, which was founded on 27 September 1939, one day before the surrender of the Polish capital of Warsaw, at a time when the Polish defeat in the German invasion of Poland (accompanied by the Soviet one) appeared inevitable. SZP founder General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski received orders from Polish Commander-in-Chief Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły to organize and carry out the struggle in occupied Poland. Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski decided that the organization he was creating needed to move beyond a strictly military format; and in line with the traditions of the underground 19th-century Polish National Government and World War I-era Polish Military Organization, it would need to encompass various aspects of civilian life. Hence, the SZP, in contact with (and subordinate to) the Polish Government in Exile, envisioned itself not only as an armed resistance organization, but also as a vehicle through which the Polish state continued to administer its occupied territories.
Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland
Following the Polish surrender, the Polish Underground and the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), loyal to the Polish Government in exile resisted the Nazi occupation. The position of the Polish resistance was complicated greatly following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, and Stalin, who intended to install a post-war Communist regime, allowed the Warsaw Uprising to be brutally put down by the Nazis - resulting in 200,000 civilian dead - and the Western Allies eventually recognised the Moscow backed government over the London-based legal government of Poland. At war's end, the Sovietisation of Poland ensued,
Konstantin Rokossovsky
On that same day General Paulus asked Hitler for permission to surrender but was refused. On 26 January the Soviets had broken the surrounded Germans into two pockets, and on January 31, the southern pocket collapsed and Paulus surrendered. Within four days the last significant group of defenders surrendered to Rokossovky's command, finally ending the battle that marked the high-water mark of the German advance during the Soviet-German war.
History of the Jews in 20th-century Poland
Until the outbreak of World War II, the relations between the Jews and the local Gentile population which contained Byelorussians, Ukrainians but mostly Poles – had been generally good with the exception of Eastern Poland, especially the Wołyń area, where Jewish shopkeepers were ruthlessly chased out by the Ukrainian nationalists from some 3,000 villages. On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany entered into a Non-Aggression Pact, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with a secret protocol providing for the partition of Poland. On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland and two weeks later, the Soviets invaded on September 17, 1939.
Biała Podlaska
The Germans captured Biała Podlaska on 13 September 1939 during the invasion of Poland, but withdrew on 26 September in accordance with the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to allow for the Red Army to take over. On 10 October 1939, the Soviets handed the town back to the Germans when the line of demarkation was finally set up. Around 600 Jews escaped the town during the Soviet departure. The Germans formed a Judenrat in November 1939, which set up a public kitchen and a Jewish infirmary. On 1 December 1939, a decree was issued requiring all Jews to wear a Star of David. Jews were ordered to move into an open-type ghetto along the Grabanów, Janowa, Prosta and Przechodnia streets, and a Jewish Ghetto Police was established. At the end of 1939, some 2,000 to 3,000 more Jews came during the deportations from Suwałki and Serock. The overcrowding resulted in a typhus epidemic in Biała Podlaska in early 1940, causing many deaths.
Dieter Schenk
During the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Germans also carried out attacks on Polish controlled building in the Free City of Danzig (Wolne Miasto Gdańsk), including the post office, which constituted extraterritorial Polish property. The Polish defense of the building, carried out by 55 lightly armed postmen against more than 200 German SS ("Schutzstaffel"), SA ("Sturmabteilung") and police troops, lasted for 15 hours. The Poles surrendered after the German forces used automatic pumps, gasoline tanks and flamethrowers to set the building on fire. Polish casualties were 6 killed during the fighting and 2 more killed while they were trying to surrender with a white flag. Four of the defenders managed to escape and six died in a Gestapo hospital. The rest were imprisoned, tortured, tried (with a single Wehrmacht officer as defense lawyer) by a Wehrmacht court-martial and sentenced to death. 28 of the judgements were countersigned, and thus became legally valid, by General Hans Günther von Kluge, another 10 by Colonel Eduard Wagner
A clemency appeal was rejected by Walther von Brauchitsch (who was to be charged after the war with crimes against humanity, but died while in custody) and carried out on September 8 and 30.
Cieszyn Silesia
On 1 October 1938 Zaolzie was annexed by Poland following the Munich Conference. On 1 September 1939 Zaolzie was annexed by Nazi Germany after it invaded Poland. During World War II Cieszyn Silesia was a part of Nazi Germany. Immediately after World War II, its borders were returned to their 1920 state. Poland signed a treaty with Czechoslovakia in Warsaw on 13 June 1958 confirming the border as it had existed on 1 January 1938. The Czech part of Cieszyn Silesia continued to be part of Czechoslovakia until the latter's dissolution in 1993 and since then has been part of the Czech Republic.
Palmiry massacre
Warsaw was perceived by Nazi leaders as one of the biggest obstacles to their plan to subjugate the Polish nation. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Warsaw was reduced to a provincial city in the newly created General Government. However, it remained a center of Polish cultural life. Warsaw also headquartered the high command of the Polish Underground State and soon became a stronghold of armed and political resistance against the German occupation. On 14 December 1943 Governor-General Hans Frank noted in his diary:
The Polish capital surrendered to the Wehrmacht armies on 28 September 1939. Three days later members of Einsatzgruppe IV led by SS-Brigadeführer Lothar Beutel entered the city. They immediately conducted a search in public and private buildings, as well as mass arrests. On 8 October 1939 about 354 Polish teachers and catholic priests were detained because occupational authorities assumed that they are “full of Polish chauvinism” and “created an enormous danger” for public order. Soon Warsaw's prisons and detention centers Pawiak, Mokotów Prison, the Central Detention Center at Daniłowiczowska Street, the cellars of the Gestapo headquarter on 25 Szucha Avenue were full of inmates. Many of the prisoners were deported to Nazi concentration camps. Many others were murdered.
History of Poland (1939–1945)
After the uprising's surrender on 2 October, the AK fighters were given the status of prisoners-of-war by the Germans but the civilian population remained unprotected and the survivors were punished and evacuated. The Polish casualties are estimated to be at least 150,000 civilians killed, in addition to the fewer than 20,000 AK soldiers. The German forces lost over two thousand men. Under three thousand of the First Polish Army soldiers died in the failed rescue attempt. 150,000 civilians were sent to labour camps in the Reich or shipped to concentration camps such as Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen. The city was almost totally demolished by the German punitive bombing raids, but only after being systematically looted of works of art and other property, which were then taken to Germany. General Sosnkowski, who criticized the Allied inaction, was relieved of his command. Following the defeat of Operation Tempest and the Warsaw Uprising, the remaining resistance in Poland (the Underground State and the AK) ended up greatly destabilized, weakened and with damaged reputation, at the moment when the international decision making processes impacting Poland's future were about to enter their final phase. The Warsaw Uprising allowed the Germans to largely destroy the AK as a fighting force, but the main beneficiaries were the Soviets and the communists, who were able to impose a communist government on postwar Poland with reduced risk of armed resistance. The Soviets and the allied First Polish Army, having resumed their offensive, entered Warsaw on 17 January 1945. In January 1945, the Home Army was officially disbanded. The AK, placed under General Okulicki after General Bór-Komorowski became a German prisoner, was in late 1944 extremely demoralized. Okulicki issued the order dissolving the AK on 19 January, having been authorized to do so by President Raczkiewicz. The civilian Underground State structure remained in existence and hoped to participate in the future government of Poland.