POLAND: HERE IS THE RECORD

By Ann Su Caldwell

Distributed by the Polonia Media Network

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, beginning World War II. This writing was published in 1945 by the Michigan Committee of Americans for Poland in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It not only presented an accurate picture of pre-war and wartime history, but an insightful prediction of the future. It was reintroduced in 1999 by Polonia Today as Polonians around the world commemorated the 60th anniversary of the invasion.

Part 1

FIRST TO FIGHT

Before the ink was dry on the 1919 peace treaties Germany was plotting to get back surrendered territories, first on the list being the Polish Corridor.

The Poles, fully realizing the dangers of their situation and the inevitability of another war, hoped for time to prepare. Meanwhile, to the extent of their financial ability they equipped and trained an army.

Military service was compulsory, but during my long residence in Poland I never heard a young man complain of it-and my acquaintance with young men was extensive. Civilian organizations to cooperate actively with the army in time of war were formed. Membership was voluntary but regarded as an honor and a civic duty. Practically every adult and teen-age youth I knew belonged to one.

POLAND FORESEES GERMAN AGGRESSION

When in 1933 Marshal Pilsudski--one of the few statesmen of our time understanding Central and Eastern European historical currents-seeing what was ahead offered to attack Germany before the latter had attained too great strength, Britain and France refused. Events proved Pilsudski right. Hitler occupied one country after another. The Poles knew their time was coming; and they meant to fight.

POLES REJECT HITLER'S ANTI-RUSSIAN PROPOSALS

Hitler pressed them to join him in attacking Russia and dividing the spoils; they refused. They had a non-aggression pact with the Soviets--proposed, be it noted, by the latter. They had a mutual assistance treaty with France, and in late August, 1939, they signed one with Britain.

French diplomatic correspondence of 1939 shows that Germany was Preparing to attack Poland that August. But Britain and France, unready, hoping to avoid war I even when they knew that German troops were concentrating along Polish frontiers, bound Poland not to mobilize until last efforts toward peace had failed. Thus without declaration of war, Poland, only beginning mobilization, was invaded in the gray dawn of September 1, 1939.

POLAND FIGHTS ALONE

The Poles faced the first blitzkrieg in history utterly alone.

Men, women, and children dug trenches, prepared shelters, got first-aid kits ready, followed instructions constantly coming over the radio. Men in the reserve hurried off to join their regiments. The home defense, long since perfected, went on duty. Discipline was extraordinary. Class and party lines ceased to exist. In this war that "had to come," as was universally agreed, these people were all Polish citizens fighting a hated enemy.

The only exceptions were members of the "fifth column," which was organized down to the smallest detail, widespread, efficient, base, and treacherous beyond description.

Many men and women of German background who for years had passed as loyal Poles now showed their true colors From our Warsaw balcony I watched a Volksdeutscher [Pole of German descent] fifth columnist being taken from an adjoining building; he had been shooting at Polish pursuit planes during a raid just ended.

Cities and villages all over Poland were bombed the first day. Children at play, people on the roads and in the fields were machine-gunned. This was not war, but wholesale slaughter and destruction.

"WE CAN HOLD FOR A MONTH"

Polish troops were forced back; but read what a Berlin magazine ("The Signal," November, 1943, two years and more after the invasion of Russia) says of the war in Poland: "It was worst of all," for the Poles "were an enemy who fought with incredible fury, unimaginable fanaticism, and grim endurance."

"We can hold for a month," said the Poles. "By that time the British and French will be in." But British and French help never materialized.

Poles fit for military service were ordered east, preparatory to a second mobilization. With a committee from the ministry of social welfare organizing help for refugees from overrun western provinces, my husband and I were in the midst of that immense stream of young and middle-aged men heading east as fast as they could go.

INVASION FROM THE EAST

Then Stalin moved in. The Polish-Soviet non-aggression pact and the promise given in May that the Soviets would remain neutral if Germany attacked Poland were now forgotten. And Poland, in the grip of two powerful antagonists, was helpless. Under the leadership of "Stefan the Stubborn," the dauntless mayor of Warsaw, the capital fought for twenty-seven days. The last battle of the Polish-German War, excluding guerilla warfare which never stopped, occurred October 5.

Alone and attacked in the rear by a second predatory power, Poland fought Germany thirty-five days. In 1940 France, Belgium, and Holland with Britain's help could hold but thirty-nine days, despite the eight months' time and valuable experience the Poles had given them.

After the invasion from the east the Poles had to think and act fast. The problem was to get to their ally, France, and fight beside her. The Polish Government had been moving from place to place in order to carry on.

Pushed into Southeastern Poland, between the Germans and Russians, it crossed into Rumania, with which it had treaty arrangements, expecting to pass to a friendly land and there establish itself. Rumania, dictated to by Germany, refused to honor the agreement and interned the Poles-government officials, soldiers, aviators, and private citizens.

POLES RETREAT-TO CARRY ON IN FRANCE

While I waited my turn I watched thousands and thousands of men from the Polish forces, ordered out of Poland by the Polish Government, march across the Polish-Romanian frontier on the night of September 17. There were other thousands not yet in uniform, for the Soviet invasion had prevented further mobilization.

There were truck and bus loads of skilled factory workers, who had been taken from their machines in what they had on, loaded into vehicles, and sent east to escape German labor conscription. Now they were crossing into Romania to escape falling into the hands of the Soviets.

There were managers and foremen, not high-salaried men but just average middle-class. There were government employees and provincial officials. It was common knowledge that the lives of all such persons would be in grave danger under the occupying powers. There were relatively few women, among them groups of telephone and telegraph operators in the army service.

BREAKUP OF POLISH FAMILIES

The wives of most of the officials of my acquaintance were "back in Poland," as the men had been moved on duty. The breakup of Polish families in this war is inexpressibly tragic.

An uninterrupted dribble of refugees into Rumania and Hungary followed the first mass crossings, until each country had a total of some 50,000 Polish soldiers and civilians. The number was not static, for the common objective was France and the Polish army forming there, and thanks to friendly help many thousands of Poles from both Rumania and Hungary eventually reached their destination.

I can speak without hesitation of these people, for my husband was director of Polish relief in this whole area and had personal contact with the vast majority of the refugees through camp visits. On many of these trips I accompanied him to one place, for instance, where there were over 500 Polish school boys. The refugees were patriotic, "typically middle-class" as we would say in America, anxious to get out of internment and be of service to their country.

POLAND'S CRUCIAL CONTRIBUTION

The September Polish contribution to what later became the United Nations' cause was very considerable. The Allies gained terribly needed time and experience. The Germans lost 91,279 men killed and 98,355 wounded, 1,000 planes shot down, 1,400 tanks destroyed and 2,600 so badly damaged that they required complete overhauling. After meeting the Poles the Germans had to take many months to lick their wounds before turning west.

One further thought: suppose Poland had agreed to join Hitler against the Soviet Union. What then would have been the fate of that country and of unready Britain and France?