1939 Polish Defensive War - The Beginning of World War II

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W 1939 roku Polska zaatakowana została równocześnie przez dwa największe w historii ludzkości totalitaryzmy. Film dedykuję tym, którzy wyszli w pole stawić im czoło.

THE SOVIETS
The Soviets looked to destroy Polish self-rule using deportation of hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens and forcing their system of government upon them. They set out to remove a thousand years of Polish cultural influences. Polish was replaced in official usage. Schools spread Soviet indoctrination and religious education was forbidden. Monuments were destroyed, street names changed, bookshops closed, libraries burned and publishers shutdown. Soviet censorship was strictly enforced. Even the ringing of church bells was banned. In 1940 and the first half of 1941, the Soviets deported more than 1,500,000 Poles, most in four mass deportations. Most of them died of freezing cold, starvation and disease. The first deportation took place February 10, 1940, with more than 220,000 sent to northern European Russia; the second on April 13-15, 1940, sending 300,000 to 330,000 primarily to Kazakhstan; a third wave in June-July 1940 totaled more than 240,000 perhaps 400,000; the fourth occurred in June, 1941, deporting 200,000. The fourth wave contained a large number of children. Upon resumption of Polish-Soviet diplomatic relations in 1941, it was determined based on Soviet information that more than 760,000 of the deportees had died—a large part of those dead being children, who had comprised about a third of deportees. As well as deporting Polish citizens, Polish men were drafted into the Soviet army. It has been estimated that 210,000 were drafted. Murderous terror, to which the Polish population on the occupied territories was subjected, was meant to make the imposition of the Soviet regime easier. The Katyn Forest Massacre exemplifies the methods employed by the 'progressive' Soviet system and became a symbol of an unprecedented genocide.
THE GERMANS
The fate of Polish citizens under the German occupation was no less horrible. The aim of the Germans was to turn Poles into unskilled laborers. High schools and universities were closed. The treasures of Polish culture were plundered and taken away to Germany. Mass arrests and executions went on unabated throughout the occupation period. Roundups were organized in towns and hostages from among the innocent population were taken. A network of concentration camps in which slave labor force was inhumanely exploited was established. Hundreds of thousands of people were murdered there or died of hunger, disease or exhaustion. On August 22, ten days before the invasion, Hitler outlined his policy on Poland to the Wehrmacht leadership, instructing them to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Hitler said, "The destruction of Poland is our primary task. The aim is not the arrival at a certain line but the annihilation of living forces Be merciless! Be brutal! It is necessary to proceed with maximum severity.The war is to be a war of annihilation". So began a horrifying nightmare for Poles and Poland, as the German war machine swarmed in on several fronts. Civilian targets were attacked with the same ferocity as military objectives. Peasants working in the field were viciously strafed by the Luftwaffe, hospitals and sanitariums were incinerated, and highway traffic was shot at to create confusion and terror as Nazi Germany waged a war not just to conquer Poland but to destroy it as a nation. The Germans declared their intention of eliminating the Polish race (a task to be completed by 1975) alongside the Jews. This process of elimination, the "Holocaust", was carried out systematically. All members of the intelligentsia were hunted down in order to destroy Polish culture and leadership (many were originally exterminated at Oswięcim - better known by its German name, Auschwitz). "The Poles," announced Hans Frank, the Governor of the Generalgouvernement, "do not need universities or secondary schools; the Polish lands are to be changed into an intellectual desert". Secret universities and schools, a "Cultural Underground", were formed (the penalty for belonging to one was death). In the General-Gouvernement there were about 100,000 secondary school pupils and over 10,000 university students involved in secret education.
Linki:
http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/reading/history/polandbetrayal.htm - Poland Betrayal
http://ivrozbiorpolski.pl/en/ - Fourth Partition of Poland
http://www.warsawuprising.com/paper/wrobel1.htm - Poland during WW II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Poland_%281939%E2%80%931945%29 Occupation of Poland
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/phoney_war.htm - The Phoney War
http://www.electronicmuseum.ca/ - Polish Electronic Musem

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[1joshjosh1]

Kick all ass Poland sept 1939,left all on her own.

Warsaw uprising 1944,left all on her own.

I would be proud to be Polish.

They fight like lions.

[NicholasGeschke]

I'm a student of history. I know well how terribly the Polish nation suffered under the yoke of Nazi oppression. The people of that country have forever earned my respect for their outstanding courage to fight on, even when confronted by both the Nazis and the Soviets. When the Polish Resistance began the Warsaw Uprising, they fought so fiercely the Nazis resorted to burning down the capital to stop them.

Their bravery has touched my heart, and all those Poles that died will not be forgotten.

[oOMuayThaiOo]

@1joshjosh1 Man you are very cool ! Are you not Polish Brother?

[BoeserBiber]

Although it may sound odd but my grandfather told me that the "Polenfeldzug" (= polish campaign) was way harder than the "Westfeldzug" (= Battle of France). You have to consider the fact, that France had by far Europe's the strongest military (way stronger as the Germans), whereas Poland, as a small country, had some forces outnumbered both in material and menpower by Germany. Nevertheless the Battle of France took just one week longer (~ 6 weeks) than the polish (5). Let's think about why..,

[GruntOldCorps]

Said it before, say it again.  NEVER met a Pollack, decendant or national I wouldn't stand back to back with at the gates of hell.

Russia's attrocities after the World War far out wieghed the worst of Germany's as bad as they were.

[TheUpStars]

Jestem z Polski i jestem dumny z tego. Za filmik daje plusa. POLAND

[BENNYSIEGEL90]

@CountGrishnaak

Right. And if russians had fought like men in 1939 instead of hiding in Moscow while their german allies did the job for them it would have been 1920 all over again. Polish heroes who did not submit to the russians are inspiration and idols to all patriots world wide who don't want their country to be controlled by the Kremlin yurta.

[Paracelsus19]

"Peace is a precious and a desirable thing. Our generation, bloodied in wars, certainly deserves peace. But peace, like almost all things of this world, has its price, a high but a measurable one. We in Poland do not know the concept of peace at any price. There is only one thing in the lives of men, nations and countries that is without price. That thing is honor."

Polish foreign minister Józef Beck, May 5, 1939

[CountGrishnaak]

@McAmbrose14""mighty salute to Poland""The first to fall after being the first to fight against overwhelming military strength of 3 nations (DE,USSR, SK). In 1920, the first to fight & win over aggressive bolshevism thus saving Europe from Lenin's call for taking Warsaw, Berlin, Paris for his "world communist revolution" .The first to fall was Czechoslovakia

[ThePrisoner12345]

from what movie are scenes from? pls answer

[TheNavysealsrock]

R.I.P to all the fallen Polish soldiers. R.I.P.

[TheP4U111]

@McAmbrose14 "first to fall not to fight" dude, you can shut the hell up. they were the first to fight and they weren't even prepared for a war since they only had 20 years of a country to rebuild and improve their economy from after the 1st world war. they gained independence in 1919, but in 1920 had a war with Russia (but won YEY) but lost a load of soldiers, guns Armour and factories. 20 years later the war broke in 1939 when Germany attacked. the polish ally the Czechs betrayed Poland.