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| The map of Europe throughout the 20th Century. Throughout the years, Europe went through many changes with their countries, with some losing territories and many new nation-states were created. |
In September 1st of 1939, fascist totalitarian Adolf Hitler began invading Poland by ordering his troops to go over. When Poland was getting invaded, Allied States France and Britain declared war on Germany. Within a month, the Soviet Union moved into eastern Poland, the Baltic states, and Finland in order to reclaim the territories they lost after the peace treaties in World War I. Germany was moving westward, invading Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, while starting preparations to invade England.
The fighting began in Gdańsk (at that time the Free City of Danzig) when German forces encountered a stubborn handful of Polish resisters at Westerplatte. The battle lasted a week. Simultaneously, another German line stormed Warsaw, which finally surrendered on 28 September. Hitler’s policy was to eradicate the Polish nation and Germanise the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Poles were deported en masse to forced-labour camps in Germany, while others, primarily the intelligentsia, were executed in an attempt to
exterminate spiritual and intellectual leadership.
The Jews were to be eliminated completely. At first they were segregated and confined in ghettos, then shipped off to extermination camps scattered around the country. Almost the whole of Poland’s Jewish population (three million) and roughly one million Poles died in the camps. Resistance erupted in numerous ghettos and camps, most famously in Warsaw.
Bor-Komorowski (real name; Tadeusz Komorowski) (b. Lwow, 1895; d.1966), led the AK (Armia Krajowa; Polish Home Army) forces during the 62-day Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Though initially rejecting the idea of an uprising in Warsaw, Bor-Komorowski became convinced that an armed rising was inevitable in order to maintain an independent Polish presence on Polish soil at a time when the Soviets had created the PKWN (Polish Committee of National Liberation) in Lublin and begun to intern AK units. The decision on bringing the uprising was a mistake as no uprising had been previously been thought of, the AK forces in Warsaw were lacked equipment (as ammunition and arms had actually been sent out of the city to support action in the countryside) and other crucial preparation (such as medical provision) was very poor. The decision to initiate the Uprising was made in haste and without proper preparation; some leading members of both civil and military authorities were only informed by chance or at the last minute. The timing of the Uprising was intended to cause inconvenience to the German forces but in fact caused a great amount of disruption to the civilian population, taking them by surprise, separating them from their families for the duration and ultimately resulting in heavy casualties. When the Soviet forces stopped outside the city, the Germans were able to concentrate on the destruction of the insurgents but, despite the heavy shelling, bombing and assaults using armor, came across unexpectedly strong opposition. After surrendering, many civilians and soldiers were executed or sent to concentration camps to be exterminated and the buildings were razed to the ground. Polish tactics included the use of the sewer system as a means of maintaining communications between areas that were surrounded by the Germans (the evacuation of the suburb, Mokotow, was immortalised in Wajda's 1956 film, "Kanal"), and, when the Germans began to systematically demolish the city, to make full use of the ruins as part of the defensive system. Not only had the Russians ceased to advance but they also refused to allow Allied planes to land on Russian airfields after dropping supplies.There were horrific atrocities committed by the German forces (who consisted largely of criminals and Ukrainian and Cossack anti-Soviet forces fighting for the Germans). The AK lost around 20,000 soldiers whilst around 225,000 civilians were also killed. In accordance with Hitler's instructions the city was razed to the ground so that when Soviet forces entered, in January 1945, the city (that had housed 1,289,000 inhabitants) did not contain a living soul and 93% of the buildings were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The subsequent reconstruction and regeneration of the city is one of the great events of post-war Polish history.
The defeat in Warsaw destroyed the political and military institutions of the Polish underground and left the way open for a Soviet take-over.
With the liberation of Lublin in July 1944 a Russian-sponsored Polish Committee for National Liberation (a Communist Government in all but name) had been set up and the British had put great pressure, mostly unsuccessful, on the Government-in-exile to accept this status quo. At Yalta, in February 1945, the Allies put Poland within the Russian zone of influence in a post-war Europe. To most Poles the meaning of these two events was perfectly clear; Poland had been betrayed.
The war ended on May 8th, 1945.
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