OCTOBER 7 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

OCTOBER

1918

Polish Independence:  On October 7, 1918, the Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland)  declared the independence of Poland. The Council was the highest authority in the Partitioned Poland during World War I,  and was formed by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary on historically Polish land around September 1917.  The Council was a semi-independent high-ranking governmental body which was intended to maintain its office until a new monarch or the Regent would be appointed.   Also in October 1918 the Council took over the command of the Polska Siła Zbrojna, which was part of the German army and under complete German command. It was merely the military branch of a puppet Kingdom of Poland envisioned by the Prussian Mitteleuropa Plan.  It was created in direct response to Piłsudski's refusal to swear an oath of allegiance to Germany. (The German efforts to recruit Polish soldiers to the unit were a complete failure.)

1944

Auschwitz Uprising:  At least 802 prisoners in Auschwitz-Birkenau camp attempted to escape, but only 144 made it out. The Nazis hunted them down one by one and shot them on the spot  Also on October 7, 1944, two Sonderkommando units launched an uprising however it failed.  Sonderkommandos were work units consisting of camp worker-prisoners of the Nazi death camps. They were mostly Jews who were under constant threat of death unless they obeyed the Nazi German directives to undertake the disposal of gas chamber victims during the Holocaust.  The Sonderkommandos were always prisoners, and not the same as the SS-Sonderkommandos, the latter which were units formed from various of Nazi Germans ranks

2017

Polish Catholics Gathered Along 2,000 mile border to pray for the Salvation of Poland and of the World.  It was called "Rosary at the Border" in which countless Polish Catholics from 320 parish Polish churches rallied at over 4,000 prayer zones along the Polish-Czech border.  Millions of Poles took part in the prayer vigil.  According to Reverend Rytel-Andrianik, spokesman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, the Rosary at the Border could very well be the second-largest prayer event in Europe - after the 2016 World Youth Day.  The Rosary at the Border, also commemorated the Battle of Lepanto, a naval battle in 1571 between Christian fighters, under orders from the Pope, and the Ottoman Empire. (Editors note:  In 1683 the Polish-Lithuanian Empire, allied with Habsburg Monarchy, and the Holy Roman Empire, under the command of Polish King John Sobieski III, battled and won against the Ottoman Turks, in the famous Battle of Vienna.  It marked a turning point in history,  after which the Ottoman's cease to remain a threat to European Christendom) Many Polish citizens today are fearful that the current influx of Islam refugees represents yet another threat to Poland, to Europe, and to Christianity.  In an article from the New York Times, Mr. Januszewski  was quoted as saying that, "in the past there were raids by sultans and Turks and people of other faiths against us Christians" and that, "Today, Islam is flooding us, and we are afraid of this, too. We are afraid of terrorist threats and we are afraid of people departing from the faith.” (article of Polish Catholics Gather at Border for Vast Rosary Prayer Event, written by Joanna Berendt, and Megan Specia on October 7, 2017 NY Times)