Posted on 09/01/2004 9:06:06 AM PDT by lizol
Remembering Germany's Darkest Day
Exactly 65 years ago, on Sept. 1, 1939, German troops crossed the border into Poland. The attack caused the outbreak of World War II -- the single biggest catastrophe of the 20th century.
"Tonight for the first time, Poland fired shots against our territory and regular soldiers. We have been returning fire since 5:45 a.m. And from now on, we will retaliate, bomb for bomb."
With these words on Sept. 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler announced that German troops had marched into Poland. The evening before, SS soldiers disguised as Poles attacked the radio station of Gleiwitz, a town on the German-Polish border, and transmitted a message for the Polish minority in the region to take arms against the Germans. This fictitious act of aggression was to serve as an alibi for the attack on Poland.
Hitler had long been on the warpath. Fifteen years previously, he wrote in his book "Mein Kampf," that the Germans should seize more Lebensraum -- living space. Besides, his rationale went, peace between populations was impossible. Only war could determine survival.
Relations with Poland were already strained during the Weimar Republic, due to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which laid down territorial acts of transfer to Poland. The state of East Prussia was separated from the German Reich by a Polish corridor, something barely any German politicians were prepared to accept.
Strategy of deception
When the National Socialists took power in 1933, Hitler pursued closer ties to Poland for tactical reasons -- he wanted to create an impression, at least to outsiders, of his readiness for peace. In 1934, he signed a pact of non-aggression with Poland.
"There may be differences between our two countries in future, but the catastrophic effects of trying to solve them through actions of war would in no way be in proportion to any possible gain," Hitler said. "The German government was therefore pleased to find that the leader of the Polish state, Marshall Pilsudski, shares this opinion, and that this mutual realization has been turned into a contract, that won't just be of equal use to the Polish and German peoples, but also will contribute significantly to the preservation of peace generally."
But the truth was that peace was not on Hitler's agenda. Instead of pursuing peace, he fuelled his plans for expansion. In 1938, Austria was annexed by the German Reich, then Czechoslovakia -- both without any military resistance.
Poland's weak position
Poland's fate was sealed when, at the end of August, 1939, Hitler surprisingly negotiated a pact of non-aggression with Stalin. In a secret protocol, it was decided -- Poland would be divided up between Germany and the Soviet Union. Just one week later, Germany marched on Poland.
Although the Polish government knew of Germany's war preparations, the attack came as a surprise. In the early morning hours of Sept. 1, the German battleship "Schleswig-Holstein" opened fire on the Polish city of Danzig. Hours later, Hitler spoke in front of the Reichstag assembly.
"Those who distance themselves from the rules of humane warfare can expect nothing else from us but that we do the same," he said. "And I will lead this war -- no matter whom we fight -- until such time that the security of the Reich is guaranteed."
Two days later, England and France declared war on Germany. World War II had officially begun.
The U.S. wasn't any better at protesting over it, but Poland wasn't the reason we entered WWII.
Springtime for Hitler and Germany, winter for Poland and France.
Didn't say anything? Hell they gave it to them on a platter.
Figures the Germans would try to portray themselves as the "victims" of WW II. At least they got the Marshall Plan after the war. What did Poland get? Zip. Zilch. Nada.
This dirty trick was repeated 60 years later by Adolph Clinton who staged Racak "massacre" as an alibi to attack Yugoslavia.
Even worse. In September 1939 Poland was JOINTLY ATTACKED BY THE THIRD REICH AND SOVIET UNION.
This fact is conveniently ommitted from many textbooks.
Winston Churchill had something to say, much as he did after Chamberlain was proudly waving around his worthless peace agreement with Hitler. But somehow or another, even after everything he did, Churchill never really was accorded the respect he was due during his lifetime, which has never ceased to amaze me.
What I always have enjoyed about that period was the love fest between Hitler and Stalin during their non-aggression treaty period. Commies in the US went from being anti-Nazi to being pro-Nazi overnight, proving what opportunistic whores they really were/are. Tosday, we have the neocommunists who still work for the destruction of the US and will work with any one who is also opposed to the US. The dangers to us have not changed over all these years. W will stand tall and confront them; Gigilo John would invite them to play polo or squash and try to convince them what fine fellows we are.
And unbelievably stupid. Germany could not have fought a two-front war. All their military forces were concentrated in the east. The dumbest thing one can do is to allow the enemy to choose where to fight. The French and British thus allowed the Germans to pick off one country at a time each time gaining strength and advantage.
Well, because Soviets "didn't attack" Poland. They only "took care of Belarussians and Ukrainians" living on Polish territory.
Yes, and Poland was supposed to be among the winners of the WW2 (sarcasm - bloody hell - sarcasm!).
I stand corrected. Poland was handed over on a platter because 'Uncle Joe' wanted it. And Prime Minister Atlee turned over tens of thousands of Russian soldiers and even their families in some cases to certain death because Stalin wanted that also.
Well FDR also gave it to them at Yalta.
He had Alger Hiss as an advisor at Yalta. And Hiss was far from being the only communist plant working for the Soviet Union.
The outlook on 9/1/39 was that all Germans will be exterminated by Slavs. This was a race war (aka war of annihilation) and Slavs constituted a much bigger race, they were led by a very able politician and they had powerful allies. It was more than enough to compensate for ineptitude of Slavs military leadership and infighting.
The situation on 5/7/45 was completely different, millions of Germans did survive the war and even ones to be cleansed and occupied by Slavs had a pretty good outlook for survival: e.g. only 2 mln (out of 15 mln) East European Germans were killed during ethnic cleansing and more than half of German POWs even survived captivity in USSR.
How true, and of course the real shocker came on July 26, 1945, when he was kicked out of office right after the war.
A leftist Briton once told me that Americans saw Churchill as an historic figure, and Brits only saw him as another politician. She was probably the British version of American left-wingers who saw Ronald Reagan as just another actor.
Yes, and we were told by an eyewitness at the time that ol' Joe Stahlin toasted FDR as a fool - right to his face! - and FDR, poor, sick SOB that he was, smiled and raised his glass in agreement just as though he had been complimented.
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