NOVEMBER 28 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

NOVEMBER 28

1627

Greatest and Last Victory of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth:  Battle of Oliwa.  On November 28, 1627, a newly formed, relatively small Polish navy took leave from Danzig, to engage the Swedish navy in battle.  The Swedish navy put a blockade on Poland's sea ports, specifically Danzig, with the objective of maintaining a stranglehold on Poland's trade routes. Poland had ten ships in operation, with a substantial number of crew, placing them in an advantageous postion over the Swedish fleet. The Polish ships flanked the Swedish flagship, the Tigern, overwhelming the Swedes and easily capturing the vessel.  At the same time, the Polish vice-admiral's ship, the small galleon Meerman (Wodnik) attacked the larger Solen ("The Sun"). The captain of the Solen blew his ship up rather than allow it to be captured by the Poles.  The four surviving Swedish ships retreated and headed towards the open sea and managed to escape.  In the aftermath of the battle, the Polish court capitalized on the propaganda, that is, " The Sun (that is the Solen) went down at noon."

1940

The Eternal Jew was a 1940 Nazi German propaganda film which was presented as a so-called "documentary".   Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda, insisted that the film be directed by Fritz Hippler, who ran the film department for the Propaganda Ministry. Richard Barsam wrote that "essential contrast is between myths and stereotypes of Jews and the Nazi ideal of a 'master race,' between the alleged inferiority of the Jews and the superiority of the Germans."  He argued that Jews were considered "criminals", with no soul, and that "killing them is not a crime but a necessity—just as killing rats is a necessity to preserve health and cleanliness."  In 1946, Fritz Hippler was tried for directing Der Ewige Jude but was not found guilty.  He claimed that the true creator of the film was Joseph Goebbels, with the close supervision of Hitler.   Franz Hippler was interviewed by PBS for the award winning series, Walk Through the Twentieth Century (1983–1984).  During this interview Hippler claimed that he regretted being listed as the director of The Eternal Jew because after the end of the war, he was interrogated by the Allies. He felt that this was unfair, in his opinion because he had not taken part in the killing of the Jews.  In another interview for a German documentary series Holocaust (2000), the then 90 year old Hippler described the film as "the most disgraceful example of antisemitism."

1943

The Big Three at Tehran Conference:   From November 28 to December 1, 1943, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill met in the Soviet Union's embassy in Tehran, Iran for the Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka).    It was the first of the conferences of the Big Three in which the leaders planned strategy for the outcome of the war.  It was followed by the Cairo Conference, held from November 22 to 26, 1943; the Yalta Conference from February 4 to 11, 1945, and the Potsdam Conferences from July 17 to August 2, 1945.  The Tehran Conference dealt with the allied relations with Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia, and against  Japan.  But the main concern was achieving a consensus on opening a second front against Nazi Germany and a post-war settlement. A separate protocol was signed at Tehran, in which the Big Three recognized Iran's independence. Stalin insisted that Poland's eastern border be revised according to the border configuration established by British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon in 1920, ie the Curzon Line.  And in compensation for the loss of Polish territory, the Big Three agreed to move the German-Polish border to the Oder and Neisse rivers.  The decision was eventually ratified at the Potsdam Conference in 1945.

MAUS is propagandist memoir says Canadian Polish Congress - Conclusion

CONCLUSION OF THIS SERIES

The Canadian Polish Congress (CPC) has published a very important treatise entitled, "The Problems with Spiegelman's MAUS: Why MAUS Should Not Be Taught in High Schools or Elementary Schools." It is an appeal to all concerned and responsible citizens, that Art Spiegelman's controversial book, MAUS must be removed from school curriculum.

MAUS is not an appropriate source material for the teaching of the Holocaust to young students. Evidently MAUS is responsible for instigating anti-Polish sentiment in Canadian schools. Students of Polish origin have been subjected to degradation and humiliation by their classmates, who mock Polish people as "pigs" and accuse them of "killing Jews", the very same aspersions which are spread throughout the pages of MAUS. These slurs are tantamount to hate propaganda and must not be tolerated in our schools or society.

The CPC presented many important observations about MAUS that must be brought to the attention of the general public. MAUS is not a reliable source for the teaching of the Holocaust as it is filled with lies, inaccuracies (and omissions). Moreover, it's content of propaganda is beyond the capacity for young students to recognize or understand. Children do not yet possess the skills to think critically, nor independently, and they are incapable of analyzing a subject as complex and diverse as the Holocaust.

Spiegelman's objective is to offend the dignity of the Polish people and foment hatred against them. He attempted to disguise his book as a narrative about the Holocaust, but riddled within its pages are rampant slurs against the Polish people, reminiscent of the Nazi German propaganda during World War 2. Incidentally, in Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote that propaganda must "be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed..." Children are the least able to defend themselves from propaganda and are vulnerable to its deleterious effects. But I am sure that Spiegelman already knows that.

When it comes to the education of children, we are all duty bound to protect them from the damaging influences of books such as MAUS. If MAUS is on the curriculum of your child's school, I implore you to write a letter of complaint to your provincial school board and Minister of Education, and demand that MAUS be removed immediately.

Please click on one of the following links to the website of provincial Department of Education, then click on the "Contact" link.

Make your opinion count.

ONTARIO

ALBERTA

BRITISH COLUMBIA

MANITOBA

NEW BRUNSWICK

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

NOVA SCOTIA

NUNAVUT

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

QUEBEC

SASKATCHEWAN

YUKON

 

WW2 PROPAGANDA: WAR OF WORDS Part 2 Nazi Propaganda

By the time he rose to power in 1933 Adolf Hitler was made into the very personification of a "saviour" and mesmerized millions of Germans who worshiped him as an idol. In the video above he presented himself as the collective consciousness of the German people, acting on behalf of their interests, and spewed rhetoric of the need to defend Germany against its enemies. The German people looked up to him as their only hope for the restoration of their national pride and readily embraced everything that he said believing it to be the Gospel truth.

The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 had dealt Germany harsh terms after their defeat in World War I. It forced them to admit responsibility for causing the war and imposed stringent demilitarization in addition to territorial changes and financial reparations. The humiliation and anger felt by the German people was shared by Hitler and it was from this cauldron of discontent that he emerged to lead the nation. The German people saw him as the only leader who was capable of restoring Germany to glory. But the world recognized him for what he was, the Incarnation of Evil.


This propaganda poster underscored by the inscription "Long live Germany" depicted Hitler as a savior to the nation.  It illustrates a silhouette of the German eagle as if it were descending from the heavens, like the dove which descended upon Jesus Christ at his Baptism. Nazi propaganda projected Hitler as the very embodiment of the German nation. It is interesting to note that before Hitler's appearances at Nazi rallies, his deputy Rudolph Hess would deliver rousing introductions, bordering on the verge of hysteria, and proclaimed to ecstatic crowds that "The Party is Hitler! But Hitler is Germany, as Germany is Hitler!" It was not an improvisation but the tactics of a meticulously prepared propaganda. The tone of these words held an uncanny similarity to those spoken by Jesus to his disciples. In the Book of John, Chapter 14:20, Jesus said, "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you."The origin of one was totalitarian and the other Divine, but both statements were an affirmation of absolute unity, calling for the total sacrifice and subordination of the individual to an established doctrine.

This is an NSDAP (Nazi Party) poster which was circulated in Germany circa 1924. It depicted an eagle as having broken free from its chains and the symbol of the rising swastika on the horizon as the harbinger of a new dawn. It was a Nazi promise that under the yoke of Hitler, Germany would be liberated from the bondage that was the Treaty of Versailles. During the inter-war period, the Weimar Republic experienced an alarming degree of hyperinflation which led to Germany defaulting on its reparation payments. Consequently, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr seizing valuable industrial assets. The climate of resentment and outrage was fertile ground for Hitler and the Nazi Party to wield its ideology.




 
Propaganda was the key. Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" published in 1925 was a veritable blueprint of theories and ideologies that would later become instrumental in the policies of the Third Reich. This treatise on propaganda was permeated with Hitlers perverse vision of the world and of humanity, and amounted to nothing more than a jumble of logical fallacies. Just like all the despots who came before, and after him, Hitler understood the means with which to conquer the soul of the German people, and to defeat his enemies. Simplicity and generalizations were the order of the day, as provided by the following quotation.


"The people in their overwhelming majority are so feminine by nature and attitude that sober reasoning determine their thoughts and actions far less than emotion and feeling. And this sentiment is not complicated, but very simple and all of a piece. It does not have multiple shadings; it has a positive and a negative; love or hate; right or wrong; truth or lie; never half this way and half that way, never partially, or that kind of thing." (Hitler)

Hitler knew that the most effective propaganda campaigns had to be constructed with the most simplest of messages, so that the weakest link in society could understand them. It had enormous appeal not only to young Germans but to compatriots who were provincial in their outlook of things. He said that "the receptive powers of the masses are very restricted and their understanding feeble. On the other hand they quickly forget." Posters and photographs of Hitler posing with German children were intended to project his image as that of a loveable father figure. Stalin, who was as great a mass murderer as Hitler, generated the same kind of propaganda.

Just eight days after having been elected as Chancellor of Germany, Hitler established the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and appointed Joseph Goebbels as its head. Their objective was to spread Nazi ideology throughout the globe, and maintain an iron-fisted control over every aspect of German society and culture. One department dealt exclusively with German and international newspapers. Other departments worked on assigned portfolios such as Budget, Law, Propaganda, Radio, Film, Personal, Defence, International, Theatre, Music, Literature, Visual Arts, and Tourism. In 1933 the fledgling Ministry had only five departments and 350 employees but by 1939 at the start of World War II there were 2,000 employees in 17 departments. Quite noteworthy is that between 1933 and 1941 the Ministry's propaganda budget skyrocketed from 14 million to 187 million Reichsmarks.


Hitler Youth was established in 1922 as a paramilitary division of the Nazi Party composed of youth 14 to 18 years of age but included members as young as 10 years old.  They were considered the future of the German Reich and were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology at a very young age - inculcated with the principles of honour, sacrifice and anti-Semitism.  As part of their scouting activities they went camping, played sports, exercised and competed for badges. They also distributed Nazi propaganda literature, and recruited new members. Initially none received weapons training, however during the Allied bombing of Germany, boys of Hitler Youth charged into battle willing to die for Hitler. The girls however were groomed for a future role of wife and mother.





Nazi ideology was diffused through a vast array of propaganda in the form of posters, film, literature and even postage stamps glorifying German women in the role of motherhood for the Reich. Women were encouraged to have as many children as possible otherwise, Hitler warned, the German race would be overrun by so-called inferior races. They even received "mothers crosses", medals that looked similar to military decorations, in gold, silver, or bronze. The bronze medal was awarded to mothers with four children, the silver medal to mothers of 6 children, and the gold medal to mothers of 8 or more children.  They were distributed annually at Mother's Day rallies, and members of the Hitler Youth were ordered to salute them military-style. The good German mother was considered to be the one who submitted to to the demands of the State while fulfilling her destiny of protecting the purity of German pedigree.

anchluss propaganda postcard

Upon Hitler's rise to power, he revived the ambitions for Pan-Germanism, a political ideology based on ethnocentrism and racism which had its origins in the 19th century. Its aim was the reunification of all Germanic peoples of Europe, and was the impetus that led to the anchluss - the occupation and annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938 followed soon after by the annexation of Sudetenland and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Ambitions for Pan-Germanism was not a new concept but originally took hold during the Napoleonic wars with the birth of "romantic nationalism". Germany's history had long been one of fragmentation consisting of a disconnected patchwork of states.  It was the goal of the Nazi Party to re-unite ethnic Germans into a larger "Great Germany" through invasion and "liberation" of neighbouring countries.

Poster Nazi Blitzkrieg of Poland 

The major focus of Nazi ideology was Hitler's vision of
"lebensraum", that is, living space for the Greater German state  After having already annexed Austria, and invaded Czechoslovakia, Germany targeted Poland. Hitler feigned an attempt to negotiate with the Polish government for the control of the Free City of Danzig, and access through the Polish Corridor to East Prussia, but Poland refused, cognizant of Hitlers real agenda.  On August 31, 1939, Nazi SS disguised in Polish uniforms staged an attack against a German radio station at Gleiwitz (Gliwice) and broadcast the incident to the world as so-called "evidence" of Polish aggression against Germany.  It was the pretext that Hitlerr needed to start a war. The very next day Germany invaded Poland without a declaration of war.





Polish civilians and soldiers in towns throughout the western frontier of Poland fled the German onslaught. In the town of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) the Poles who fled succeeded in killing approximately 5,000 to 6,000 ethnic Germans. These Germans who were formerly neighbors, were suspected by the Poles of being spies for the Nazi regime, traitors, or snipers. Nazi propagandists pounced on the opportunity to elicit support from Germans and the world by fabricating the number of Germans killed to that of 58,000. The Nazis published the following photograph in one of their newspapers as "proof" of the atrocities committed by the Polish people.  Wehrmacht soldiers and journalists were photographed inspecting the scene of a so-called massacre of Bloody Sunday, September 3, 1939. Notice the editor's crop marks at the top of the photo, an indicator that it was selected for publication in a Nazi newspaper.

Anglio Twoje Dzielo! ( Britain, Your Work!)
This Nazi propaganda poster depicted the image of a wounded Polish soldier blaming Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain for the Polish defeat in the September Campaign in September 1939.  (The British Prime Minister had already ceded Czechoslovakia to Hitler a year earlier as a result of the Munich Agreement.) Hence, Nazi propaganda attempted to persuade the Poles into joining the German army but few did. The Polish people harbored a great deal of animosity and distrust against Germany, the result of centuries of German occupation and partition of Poland.

"Der Pimpf" was the name of a Nazi magazine which began publication in 1935, as "Morgan", but was changed in 1937. The name "Der Pimpf"  means "little rascal", "scamp", or "little fart." The magazine had wide appeal among young German boys who were easily indoctrinated with Nazi ideology. It contained articles glorifying the adventures of the Hitler Youth and urged young Germans to aspire to become SS soldiers.  On the cover of this issue, a drawing of the Polish cavalry was depicted as charging towards German tanks.  This was purely a myth perpetuated by the Nazis, from the first day that Poland was invaded by Germany. In the "Skirmish of Krojanty"  the Polish cavalry led a charge against a German infantry battalion but was forced to retreat under a barrage of fire by German armoured personnel carriers. Shortly thereafter a team of reporters had converged on the area, and seeing the dead bodies of Polish cavalrymen and their horses, assumed that they had charged against German tanks. It provided the Nazis with the opportunity to perpetuate the myth, in an effort to undermine and humiliate the Poles in the eyes of the world.To this day, many people still believe this Nazi propaganda.

Nazi German Poster of Eagle with wings spread over Europe and Russia ("Deutschlands Europaische Sendung") This poster was distributed by the Nazis throughout occupied Europe, circa 1942 onward. It was an attempt by Hitler to persuade Europe that Germany was part of the Eastern crusade against Bolshevism. (The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, ie, the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union, signed on August 23, 1939 was the precursor to the joint invasion and partition of Poland on September 1st, 1939.) The treaty  was abrogated when Hitler turned his armies against Russia in June 1941.  Hitler called it Operation Barbarossa, named after the medieval ruler Frederick Barbarossa, who according to legend would rescue Germany in her time of need.  Despite initial successes the Nazi armies were ultimately decimated.






 
Der Sturmer was the most vehemently anti-Semitic newspaper in Nazi Germany. This image was the front page of its May 1934 issue which depicted a caricature of Jewish men collecting the blood of Christian children for a religious ritual.  It was one of many anti-Semitic slurs against the Jews and included accusations of pornography, anti-capitalism and anti-catholicism. Jews were portrayed as ugly characters with grotesque facial features and misshapen bodies.  The publisher of the tabloid, Julius Streicher, promoted the myth of blood libel which had originated during the Middle Ages. It claimed that Jews killed Christian children, sacrificed them and drank their blood.  This propaganda continues today and finds acceptance largely among the uneducated, the provincial, and most particularly the disenfranchised.

Nazi propaganda portrayed the Jews as the cause of all Germany's economic and social problems and accused them of international capitalism and Bolshevism.  In a speech given by Hitler at a Nazi rally, he asked the audience who was responsible for Germany's defeat in WWI and the audience erupted "the Jews". The indoctrination was complete.  In this poster from 1942, the Jews were depicted carriers of typhus. It was a metaphor Hitler often used to portray Jews as a source of moral and social decay. By then Jews had been deported to Nazi German concentration camps where they were starved, tortured and worked to death. Outbreaks of typhus in the camps and lice infestation among the Jewish inmates were held as "proof" by the Nazis that the Jews were a race of "dangerous bacillus".

Translated to English, the slogan means "Smash the Enemies of Greater Germany",  and illustrated the anger felt by Germans against Britain, US, and Russia. This poster dates to the summer of 1940. At that time a battle was raging which ultimately marked the turning point for Allied fortunes during WWII. It was the Battle of Britain, which pitched the forces of the Luftwaffe against that of the RAF. Germany failed to destroy Britain's formidable air defenses and met with its first major defeat of the war. Churchill praised Allied pilots who fought in Battle of Britain in a historic speech - "Never was so much owed by so many to so few".

Fundamental to Nazi ideology was the myth of the "master race" exemplified by the white skin, and blue-eyed blondes of the German and Nordic peoples, and with it came the notion of safeguarding the so-called "purity" of their race as a means to preserve their idea of cultural superiority in a world of mongrels. Much of this theory has been borrowed from various sources. The writings of a French aristocrat and racial theorist, Arthur de Gobineau claimed that the fall of the ancient regime in France was the result of racial degradation brought about by racial mixing, for which he blamed the Jews. (This provided the Nazi Party with fodder to make similar pronouncements about the Jews in relation to Germans.)  But Hitler was most influenced by a French biologist and founder of genetics Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who, unlike Darwin, categorized each race in a specific order from the origin of apes. A German geneticist, Ernst Haeckel elaborated on this theory by organizing each race in gradations from "fully human" to "subhuman". The word "aryan" was derived from the Sanskrit word "arya" which means "honourable", "respectable" and "noble" however in its original unadulterated version, arya did not refer to Germanic peoples but rather to the Indo-Iranian peoples. However by the 18th century Europeans altered its definition to include Indo-European ancestry which included Greeks, Latin, and Germans. 

Nazi Propaganda Film
The Eternal Jew

"Der Ewige Jude" (The Eternal Jew) was a Nazi propaganda film produced by the Ministry of Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels.  As with all other media generated by the Nazi Party, its intention was to mold public opinion. It was always the same refrain; to stereotype the Jews as grotesque, as parasitic and as untermenschen bent on enslaving the world. The film was produced as if it were a documentary but it was a chain of staged events narrated with the most venomous vitriol. The Germans ordered the Jewish congregation of Vilker synagogue to assemble for full services wearing tallithim and tefillin.  When the Rabbi was ordered to read from the Torah, he looked at the camera and uttered, "Today is Tuesday". It was a signal to indicate that the assembly was coerced, because the Torah is never read on Tuesdays.

This Nazi propaganda poster dated from 1941 reads as "Europe's Victory is Your Prosperity". Germany is depicted here by the mailed fist which is shown to have defeated England, hence the cross on the graveyard, and is then poised to destroy Stalin and the Soviet Union. (But Hitler was unable to invade England in 1940 which marked his first major defeat in the war. His adventures in the Soviet Union will have proved equally futile, but with greater losses.)  Hitler was vehemently opposed to communism and regarded the Soviet Union as the repository of European Jewry and Bolsheviks. He warned that a "victory of Bolshevism over Germany would not lead to a Versailles Treaty, but to the final destruction, indeed the annihilation of the German people."  Until 1942, the Nazis promoted the slogan, "Der Russe sei eine Bestie, er muesse verrecken." meaning "the Russian is a beast, he must croak" but the slur was quickly dropped when the German labor force needed Russian workers.  Hitler also condemned capitalism, and the Jews for monopolizing global wealth for "selfish purposes". (Such generalizations were used by the Nazi Party in a calculated attempt to rally support from German factions left and right.) The impetus for invading Russia was to guarantee the security and safety of a Greater Germany however "lebensraum" or "living space" was a really a euphemism for Nazi plunder of neighboring countries.

Editor's Note:

The video, images and quotations presented in this special series are for educational purposes and not meant as dissemination of Nazi propaganda.  Our best defense against propaganda is knowing how to define and identify it.

Polish Greatness.com and Polish Greatness (Blog) are fiercely opposed to Nazism and neo-Nazism and strongly condemns all private or public persons, organizations, leaders, and nations which promote hate propaganda in any form.

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WW2 PROPAGANDA: WAR OF WORDS

Soviet Propaganda

The Myth about Polish Cavalry in World War II

It was Lenin who said “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” History can certainly attest to that, as lies, or rather the artful application of propaganda is a practice that has gone hand-in-hand with every battle or war that has ever occurred in the history of mankind. What makes propaganda so insidious is that it sometimes, but not always, incorporates a small sliver of truth amid a torrent of lies, making it all the more credible to gullible masses. World War II was fueled by such propaganda which was designed by the Nazis to undermine and exploit the weaknesses of the Allies, in particular Poland.

It is disconcerting to discover that much of the Nazi propaganda from World War II has survived to this day. What I find surprising is that otherwise intelligent individuals readily accept its precepts though they do not recognize its nature, and are unaware of its origins.

One case in point is the on-going controversy that continues to baffle and fascinate people of each generation: the myth that the Polish Cavalry charged German tanks with sabers. ( I use the words “myth” and “propaganda” interchangeably as their objectives are the same.)

In my special series called about the September Campaign, ie Invasion of Poland 1939: A Re-Enactment, I mentioned the cavalry only briefly but it needs to be addressed more thoroughly. It is true that the Polish armed forces included cavalry regiments, and they did indeed engage the Nazis in several battles. If you have followed my daily posts, you will have read about the Polish cavalry and their successful attempts to defeat German advancements, especially during the Battle of Bzura.

When Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939, they did not expect a tough fight from the Poles. They were in for a surprise. Poland had 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 500 aircraft and over one million troops. Though Poland was outnumbered and outclassed by the German war machine, Polish troops were highly skilled in warfare and ferocious fighters.

The Polish armed forces also included eleven cavalry brigades, each composed of three or four regiments with armoured and infantry battalions. After 1937 the Polish cavalry was equipped with modern armaments including tankettes, 37mm AT guns, 40mm AA guns, anti-tank rifles, 75mm guns, and other pieces of modern warfare although cavalrymen continued to carry their sabres as part of a tradition.

The Polish brigades functioned as mobile reserve units, filling in strategic gaps in the front, and acting as cover in the event that Polish units had to withdraw. Polish infantrymen had to dismount before engaging the enemy in battle. In many situations, the Polish cavalry also served as a vital tactical instrument of warfare. Their objective was not to “charge” enemy tanks with sabers in an effort to overpower them! Their power was demonstrated by their skill, agility and swiftness on horseback to surprise, disorganize and confuse enemy ranks.

From September 1 to September 26, 1939 there were sixteen documented cases in which the Polish cavalry battled German infantry units: the Poles succeeded in either dispersing, defeating or breaking through German barriers. Many attempts met with success.

On September 1st, 1939, the Polish 18th Uhlan Regiment encountered a large unit of German infantry in the woods near the village of Krojanty. Polish Colonel Mastalerz ordered a surprise attack and his cavalry charged, successfully dispersing the enemy.

The myth (propaganda) about Polish Calvary may have begun here. German war correspondents, accompanied by two Italian journalists, were brought to the battlefield. What they saw were the corpses of Polish cavalrymen and their horses next to German tanks. (The German tanks arrived on the scene only after the battle.) Upon seeing this, one of the Italian correspondents dispatched an article in which he described the bravery and heroism of Polish soldiers who “charged German tanks with their sabres and lances.” [It’s difficult to corroborate this story without reference to the newspaper in which this article was published. If anyone knows where I can get a copy, please email me.]

Another source of the myth, or propaganda, is a quote from Heinz Guderian's memoirs. He was a General in the German army and military theorist and claimed that the Pomeranian Brigade had charged on German tanks with swords and lances. It is utter nonsense.

Such a charge could not have happened, because tanks were not used in that combat. It is German propaganda at work. The Nazis often staged events to perpetrate their lies and never failed to film such events for posterity. For example, among many of the German propaganda films, is a 1941 reel entitled, “Geschwader Lutzow” which showed a staged Polish cavalry charge. And in that same film, the Germans filmed Luftwaffe Avia 534B trainer planes, and tried to pass them off as Polish PZL-11 fighters. That fraud succeeded, until the Soviets were caught trying to pull off the same ruse after the end of World War II. German and Soviet propaganda were aimed to discredit and humiliate Poland by claiming that Poland was unprepared for war and wasted the blood of its soldiers. They were lies. The fact is that the Polish Army had expected that Germany would attack. Poland was the first to fight. Though England and France gave Poland their assurance that they would intervene, no assistance was provided by either nation.

September 1, in the Battle of Janów the 11th Polish Legion Uhlan Regiment encountered a similar unit of German cavalry. Lieut. Kossakowski ordered a cavalry charge, but the enemy was resistant and after a brief skirmish, they withdrew towards their positions. (Unfortunately, I did not mention this battle and a few others in the special presentation of Invasion of Poland 1939 - due to my shortsightedness for which I am embarrassed, and do apologize)

In the Battle of Mokra, on September 1st, 1939. The Polish 19th Volhynian Uhlan Regiment took the Germans by surprise causing a number of units of the German 4th Panzer Division to retreat in panic.

September 2, the 1st squadron of the Polish 19th Volhynian Uhlan Regiment charged a squadron of German Cavalry at Borowa. The Germans withdrew.

September 11, the Polish 1st squadron of the 20th Uhlan Regiment succeeded in charging through German infantry lines at Osuchowo, in an effort to avoid being encircled.

September 12, the Polish 4th squadron of the 11th Polish Legion Uhlan Regiment charged at German positions at Kaluszyn during the night. Though the commander issued an order to move forward the regiment misinterpreted it as an order to charge. It was a success nonetheless. However the town was retaken by the Germans the next morning with heavy casualties on both sides.

September 13, the Polish 1st squadron of the 27th Uhlan Regiment battled the Germans near Maliszewo and succeeded in beating them back. The Germans retreated when the Polish cavalry charged. The Poles took the village and a large number of German prisoners.

September 13, the Polish 1st squadron of the 2nd Grochów Uhlan Regiment charged German infantry positions at Minsk Mazowiecki, but was repelled by German MG and artillery fire.

September 15, elements of the 17th Wielkopolska Uhlan Regiment attacked German positions near Brochow. The Polish cavalry charged towards the Germans to intimidate them but just before reaching the range of enemy weapons, they dismounted and continued their assault on foot. The attack was successful.

September 16, a Polish platoon from the 4th squadron of the 17th Wielkopolska Uhlan Regiment charged towards a small German post near Dembowskie. The small number of Germans there withdrew.

September 19, most of the 14th Jazłowiec Uhlan Regiment (without MGs and AT platoon) was ordered to probe the German positions near Wólka Węglowa. Upon arrival of the Polish 9th Małopolska Uhlan Regiment arrived, the group charged through German lines. This opened the way towards Warsaw and Modlin for the rest of Polish forces who were withdrawing from the Battle of Bzura. The Polish cavalry charged through a German artillery unit in a surprise attack. Polish losses were high (205 killed and wounded), the German losses remain unknown.

September 19, a Polish squad of the 6th Mounted Artillery Detachment charged through German lines near Lomianki to allow the rest of the unit to head toward Warsaw.

September 21, in the Battle of Kamionka Strumiłowa the Polish 3rd squadron of the 1st Mounted Detachment charged through German infantry lines which were preparing to attack Polish positions. Unable to carry out their plans, the Germans withdrew.

September 23, the 1st squadron of the 25th Wielkopolska Uhlan Regiment charged towards the town of Krasnobród. They reached the hilltop upon which the town was located. Polish casualties were very heavy. A unit of German cavalry from the German 8th Infantry Division countercharged from the hill, but was repelled. The Poles captured the town, and German HQ of the division, as well as taking prisoner some 100 German soldiers, and freed 40 Polish combattants who had been taken prisoner by the Germans.

September 24, the Polish reserve squadron of the 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment (with about 500 sabres), was reinforced with cavalry units of police and a few of the divisional organic cavalry. They were ordered to break through the Soviet infantry surrounding the Polish positions in the village of Husynne. Soviet forces withdrew in panic. However, the attack was soon halted by a strong Soviet tank unit. Casualties were similar on both sides.

September 26, the Polish 27th Uhlan Regiment charged twice at a German infantry battalion positioned at Morańce. Both charges were repelled with heavy casualties (the Poles lost 20 KIA and about 50 wounded, German losses are unknown). After the Poles charged a second time a German soldier was sent out bearing a white flag. After a short discussion with the Polish commander of the Nowogródek Cavalry Brigade, the Germans withdrew.

It is a wonder to me how historical facts have so easily been usurped by myth and lies. Propaganda seemed to have taken a life of its own even after World War II had ended. A German novelist, Gunter Grass, wrote “The Tin Drum” in 1959 in which he made references to the Polish cavalry. He was widely accused of anti-Polonism for perpetuating this Nazi deception.


O insane cavalry... with what aplomb they will kiss the hand of death, as though death were a lady; but first they gather, with sunset behind them - for color and romance are their reserves - and ahead of them the German tanks, stallions from the studs of Krupps von Bohlen und Halbach, no nobler steeds in all the world. But Pan Kichot, the eccentric knight in love with death, lowers his lance with the red-and-white pennant and calls on his men to kiss the lady's hand. The storks clatter white and red on rooftops, and the sunset spits out pits like cherries, as he cries to his cavalry: "Ye noble Poles on horseback, these are no steel tanks, they are mere windmills or sheep, I summon you to kiss the lady's hand".


Most recently, on September 1, 2009, an article written by Sir Simon Jenkins, appeared in the Guardian, a London newspaper, in which Jenkins accused the Poles of “the most romantic and idiotic act of suicide of modern war”. The Guardian printed a retraction on September 21st, stating that Jenkins article "repeated a myth of the second world war, fostered by Nazi propagandists, when it said that Polish lancers turned their horses to face Hitler's panzers. There is no evidence that this occurred."

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who believe Nazi propaganda and lap it up like pap. Their point of view, though skewed, is virtually impossible to sway. Public forums on the web are overflowing with such propaganda, hotly defended by neo-nazi diehards, undereducated “intellectuals” and the common folk who follow blindly and ask no questions. For more than 70 years, Nazi lies continue to circle the globe almost undetected, permeating the soft minds of every new generation. Whether the Nazis knew it or not, they set into motion a Perpetual Propaganda Machine, because now there are so many more simpletons to keep the lie alive. And if the lie is repeated often enough, it is adopted as fact.


Link:
Polish Greatness.com

HITLER AND STALIN: REIGN OF TERROR

WARNING:

The following video and photos contain extremely graphic and shocking images.
Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Joseph Stalin Pure Evil (00:05:32m)






EINSATZGRUPPEN 2 FILM RARE (00:08:10m)  Archival footage begins around 1:12



October 8, 1939

Polish territory has officially been incorporated into the Hitler's Third Reich.  In a decree issued today, Hitler proclaimed that "where 12 million Poles now live, is to be populated by 4 to 5 million Germans." He referred to central Poland which has come under the command of the Nazi General Gouvernement.  Western areas of Poland, in addition to the former Free City of Danzig, have been annexed to Germany.  As a result, Germany's eastern border has been extended some 200 kilometers into Polish territory. German citizens are flocking into areas formerly part of Western Poland, as part of Hitler's policy of lebensraum, displacing the Poles who were living there.

Polish citizens are being deported to the General Gouvernement in central Poland, and subjected to hard physical labour in areas of industry and agriculture.  There are severe shortages of food and fuel supplies in the work camps and Poles are being worked to death. Jews have been rounded up and isolated in Ghettos, heavily guarded by armed German soldiers. Any Jews trying to escape are shot.  A Polish man was shot on the spot for tossing a loaf of bread over the ghetto wall.  Scenes like this are repeated every day in every city. The misery and terror are inexplicable.

Poles in Nazi Labour Camp

Meanwhile Polish citizens are being publicly executed in reprisal for attacks made on German soldiers.  The Nazis have imposed harsh rules and prohibitions. Posted in every city are bulletins forbidding the Poles from helping the Jews. The SS carry out frequent random house to house searches, looking for Jews in hiding, and upon finding them, shoot them in the street along with the Polish families who have been sheltering them. Thousands of Poles have been killed, both Jews and Christians.

Poles Executed by Germans

Poles executed by hanging. German looks on.

Poles Executed by Nazi firing squad

Nazi Bulletin Warning Against Helping Jews

Click here for translation

While the Nazis are exacting their rule of terror, the Soviet regime has applied its own draconian methods In the eastern part of Poland. Polish currency has been withdrawn from circulation without exchange for rubles literally wiping out entire families savings. All personal and state property has been confiscated. Poles refusing to accept Soviet citizenship are charged with "counter-revolutionary activity" and deported to Soviet gulags. Hundreds of thousands are never seen or heard from again.  All Polish institutions, political, cultural, and economic have ceased to exist. All organized religions are being persecuted.  All Polish political parties have become illegal. No one is safe. Politicians, civil servants, scientists, engineers, professors, teachers, journalists, and anyone even suspected of being a threat to Soviet rule is arrested and deported. Polish POWs are being killed by the hundreds of thousands by the infamous NKVD, the secret Soviet police.  Although the Red Cross has tried to investigate the condition of Polish POWs they have not been able to obtain permission to see them. The Soviet Union has refused to cooperate. They never signed the Geneva Convention in regard to the treatment of prisoners of war and do not recognize its merits.

At the core of Nazi-Soviet terror is a finely-tuned propaganda machine. By exploiting the existing tensions among minorities in Poland, clashes frequently occur between opposing groups ften leading to violent outbreaks and bloody massacres. German soldiers periodically harass and humiliate Jews in the Ghetto.  Reports indicate that a group of Hitler Jungen (Hitler Youth) armed with guns had entered the confines of a Jewish Ghetto, and used Jews as target practice.  

These and many other reports have been received from Jan Karski, and countless other members  of the Polish Resistance.  Britain and France have dismissed these claims as false or exaggerated.  International public opinion is outraged and is demanding an official inquiry.

Polish Underground Radio Station

In Riga Government Representatives from Germany and Latvia met today for the signing of an agreement for the patriation of all German-speaking citizens of Latvia, to the Third Reich.  An estimated population of 50,000 ethnic Germans will be transferred to Germany.

In Helsinki, the Finnish government has accepted a Soviet invitation to send a delegation to Moscow to discuss border disputes. Finland has declared its determination to maintain its independence and its neutrality in the war.

The Canadian government has announced that a division of 20,000 troops will leave for overseas next year.



Please note:  Tomorrow's blog will present concluding information and comments.  Don't miss it!


Link:
Polish Greatness.com

German Victory Parade In Warsaw

Poland surrenders to Germany, Victory Parade during WW2. (00:08:49m)


October 5, 1939

German forces have occupied the city of Warsaw. Hitler toured the capital city today and attended a victory parade, saluting the troops several times as the troops passed the reviewing stand

Meanwhile, German Army Group South were still battling the Poles in the town of Kock. (Pronunciation:  Kotsk ) The town is located 45km north of Lublin, and 120 km southeast of Warsaw between the Vistula and Bug Rivers. For the past three days German forces have been trying to encircle the Poles but fail. Polish units have consistently repelled all attacks. At 16:00 hours the last German advance began but after a hard fight they was forced to withdraw into the forest. Ground has been lost and regained repeatedly by both German and Polish forces. A Polish infantry regiment led attacks on a German unit using artillery support and the bayonet with which one of the Germans had attempted to fire against the Poles.  It was successful: the German units tried to escape being chased by Polish infantry and cavalry. The Poles captured the Poznan village including a German artillery battery. The artillery later had to be destroyed when Polish cavalry was forced to withdraw under heavy fire from another German artillery battery. Despite initial gains made by the Polish infantry and cavalry they eventually were forced to withdraw to the south of the town of Kryzywda. They have retreated to Krakow and the Vistula River. From there they took the route from Warsaw to Sandomierz and then to Lublin.

Polish Cavalry 1939

In the North Atlantic, the German pocket battleship the Admiral Deutschland attacked and sank the SS Stonegate. British and French Command have dispatched 8 of their warships to hunt down the German Graf Spee.

A Nazi anti-Semetic weekly magazine,"Der Sturmer" published a "Hymn of Hate" renouncing England as the "curse of the world".

The Soviet government continues its' efforts to strengthen it's position in the Baltic region.  Soviets have requested the government of Finland to reopen talks on changing its boundaries.  Meanwhile a pact has been signed between Russia and Latvia giving the Russians use of their sea and air bases. This is the second pact Russia has acquired so far.
 

Link:
Polish Greatness.com