Poland suffered horrendously during WW2–world history and facts
Poland suffered horrendously during WW2–world history and facts
Before Hitler’s troops invaded Poland, he ordered them to show no mercy to any man, woman or child of Polish language and ethnicity. From the outbreak of the invasion – German planes levelled Polish cities and targeted hospitals. In my mother's town, a train full of refugees was intentionally bombed by the Luftwaffe, killing 42 people and wounding hundreds more.
The invading soldiers often committed crimes against civilians, such as mass executions or indiscriminate fire. Thousands of civilians crowded on the roads to escape the raving onslaught–only to be hounded and gunned down by fighters.
On September 1, 1939 - Hitler attacked Poland. In Warsaw, the civilians bravely partook in the defence of the city, even under constant bombardment and starvation. Up to 200,000 Polish civilians died during the first month of the invasion alone, along with additional 66,000 soldiers.
On September 17th, that same year – the Soviet Union invaded from the east, and Poland became divided between the two rival powers. The Soviets rounded up Polish officers & intellectuals and deported them to prisons in Russia. Most of them were executed later on. The most notorious massacre occurred in Katyń, where the Soviets liquidated up to 22,000 Polish officers during a very short and bloody period. On top of this, the Soviets arrested and killed thousands of civilians in Poland; people with no intention of harming anyone.
The Soviets would also conduct mass deportations of 1,700,000 Polish nationals to Siberia, Central Asia, and the far east. Many would die by the extremely cold climate within the Siberian forests or the extreme heat of the mines. Most of them would never see Poland again.
Meanwhile, in the German occupation zone, people were suffering immensely. While the chances of survival were better in the countryside, villagers also started to feel the burden as the Germans began exploiting them and using them as slaves. Villages were massacred and burned to the ground. Millions were used as slaves and were forced to labour in horrible conditions - including my 13-year-old grandfather.
Polish civilians in large cities were slowly starving to death and Jews even more so. Later on, the Nazis, like the Soviets, thought it necessary to eliminate the Polish elite. The Nazi Einsatzgruppen and local Volksdeutsch organised mass killings of Polish professors, professionals, and clergy. In Pomerania, 23,000 civilians were murdered in various forest massacres. At the Kampinos forest, the Nazis murdered 1,700 Poles and Polish Jews – in what became known as the Palmiry massacre.
As the war in Poland dragged on, the German Nazis worsened. Often they would randomly select innocent civilians and either shoot them where they stood or hang them at the nearest tree or streetlight, a ritual known to the Poles and łapanki. For any Nazi soldier killed, dozens of Poles would be killed in return. Poland was notoriously known as the country, in which saving or helping a Jew, was punishable by death - for yourself and your entire family. Up to 50,000 were killed saving Jews.
As Hitler started invading the Soviet Union, he first had to attack Polish land seized by the Soviets. In the eastern territories of western Ukraine, organisations by Ukrainian nationalist and the Ukrainian SS unit began persecuting the ethnic Polish community. In 1943, the UPA began exterminating Poles in Ukraine. Somewhere between 100,000–130,000 Poles were murdered in total. Execution methods included decapitation, shooting, mutilation, barn burning, crucifixion, implement and dismemberment. Neither women nor children were spared.
As the Soviets reentered Poland in 1944–45, they “liberated” everything of value they could find. In some districts, all the Polish women above the age of 14 were raped. Soviet partisans attacked Polish resistance groups, and when Polish fighters helped Soviet troops fight the Nazis, they would later be arrested, deported or killed.
In August 1944, the Polish underground launched an uprising against the Germans in Warsaw. The brave poles fought for 63 days until defeated. During the battle, Nazi troops, along with their auxiliaries, massacared thousands of Poles enmass. 200,000 Poles were killed in the uprising and 85–90% of the city was leveled to the ground. The Soviets did nothing to help the Poles. They had their own plans for Poland.
After the war, the Soviets made Poland a communist puppet state. Poland was under another occupation, which would only end in the decades to come. Secret police arrested Poles, falsely denounced people, and carried out executions and murders. Partisans who fouhht against the Nazis and Soviets were hunted down and killed. Poland was locked in a 2-year civil war after WW2, which claimed the lives of 100,000 people.
Altogether, Poland lost 6 million inhabitants, 3 million of Polish ethnicity, and 3 million Polish Jews; the country was in ruins and still in slavery. Poland’s immense contribution to the allies got shelved, and the heroism of this nation was largely forgotten.
P.S This answer focuses on non Jewish Christian Poles. This answer is for them, as their plight is less known and often misunderstood.
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