OCTOBER 17 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

OCTOBER 17

1939

Polish citizens who resided in territories annexed by the Third Reich were deported to General Gouvernment (GG) in Poland. The Nazis ordered each Polish household to evacuate their homes, allotting them each only one suitcase weighing not more than fifty kilograms, only one blanket, and enough food for a couple of days. They could not take their beds, and had to leave behind their money and valuables. Hitler regarded Polish Christians and Polish Jews as "untermenschen" (sub-human). His plan was to exterminate both the Poles and the Jews, but allow a small proportion of Poles to survive and serve the Third Reich as slaves.  Due to the shortage of food in the GG,  the Nazis rationed food supplies to sub-subsistence levels:  While the Nazi Germans were enjoying a daily intake of 2,310 calories, the Poles were receiving only 654 daily calories, and the Jews only 184 calories per day.  Many urban Poles tried to supplement their food by secretly buying from farmers, or from the black market.  Tragically, Jews could not pursue the same options. There were countless stories of Jewish children who would sneak out of the Jewish ghettos at night to search for, buy, or steal food from the outside.  And there were sympathetic Poles who would toss bread over the ghetto walls to try to help the Jews.  If the Nazis caught them doing so, they would have been shot on the spot.


Luftwaffe bombers raided Scapa Flow again and damaged the HMS Iron Duke, a decommissioned British battleship. In retaliation the RAF shot down one of the enemy bombers. The British naval base was protected by mines and boom, as well as anti-aircraft batteries. Churchill ordered a series of causeways to be built to block the eastern approach to Scapa Flow.  Though it was closed in 1956, the Churchill Barriers are still in place today, and have been preserved, allowing road access between the islands of Orkney while blocking any ship access. (Scapa Flow is one of the transfer and processing points for North Sea oil. A 30-inch(-diameter), 128-mile underwater pipeline brings oil from the Piper oilfield to the Flotta oil terminal. The Claymore and Tartan oil fields also feed into this line.)   Read October 14, 1939

1944

Warsaw Uprising: Nazi German Plan to Erase Warsaw. Throughout October as the Nazi Germans were preparing to leave the city, they systematically razed Warsaw to the ground. "After 5 or 6 weeks, Warsaw will disappear; Warsaw the capital, the head of 16-17 million Poles, a people who blocked the East to us for 700 years, will be no more. Then, historically speaking, the Polish Question will no longer be a problem for us, for our children, and for all those who will succeed us." (October 17, 1944 quote by Heinrich Himmler, SS Chief)


TO MARSHAL STALIN (no. 336) "My dear Marshal Stalin, We have had further conversations with Mikolajczyk, and we have made progress. I am more than ever convinced of his desire to reach an understanding with you and with the National Committee, despite the very real difficulties that confront him.  Mikolajczyk is anxious to see you himself alone, in order to tell you what his plans now are and to seek your advice. The conversations which I have had with him since I saw you lead me to press this request most strongly upon you.  I am looking forward to our conversation tonight on the question of the partition of Germany. I feel, as I think you agreed yesterday, that we may clarify and focus our ideas with a precision which was certainly lacking at Tehran, when victory seemed so much more distant than now.  Finally let me tell you what a great pleasure it has been to me to find ourselves talking on the difficult and often unavoidably painful topics of State policy with so much ease and mutual understanding.  My daughter Sarah will be delighted with the charming token from Miss Stalin and will guard it among her most valued possessions.   I remain, with sincere respect and goodwill, Your friend and war comrade,  Winston S. CHURCHILL  (Moscow, October 17, 1944)

1992

Adoption of Small Constitution:    The Polish Constitution of 1992 annulled many of the antiquated sections of the Stalinist Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland (1952), replacing statements of communism and socialism, and with that supporting a free liberal democracy and open market economy.  The 1992 Constitution also revised and regulated the relation between the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as local government.   It was voted on by the first freely-elected Sejm since 1928.  (The reformed 1952 constitution was fully repealed and completely replaced in 1997 by the current Constitution of the Republic of Poland.)

OCTOBER 2 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

OCTOBER 2

1938

Polish troops of the Independent Operational Group Silesia carried out the annexation of  Zaolzie, Czechoslovakia ( from October 2 to 11, 1938.)  The Group was established after the Munich Agreement, signed on September 30, 1938, in which the Allies acquiesed to Hitler's demand for the annexation of the Sudetenland.  The Czechoslovakian government finally yielded to pressure from the Polish government.  The Operational Group was established in September of 1938, numbering over 35,000 Polish officers and soldiers, among several army units and five squadrons, under the command of General Władysław Bortnowski.  The Group was disbanded in December of the same year. The Zaolzie region was created in 1920, when Cieszyn Silesia was divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland, in an attempt to resolve their border dispute.  Zaolzie formed the eastern part of the Czech portion of Cieszyn Silesia.  Despite this division, the conflicts persisted until annexation.  But after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the area was incorporated into Nazi German control.  After the war ended, the 1920 borders were restored.

1939

The Battle of Kock was the final battle during the Invasion of Poland. The battle was fought near the town of Kock lasted until October 5, 1939 between the Polish Polesie Independent Operational Group, under the command of Polish General Franciszek Kleeberg, and the German 14th Motorised Corps, under the command of General Gustav Anton von Wietersheim.  On October 2, the German commanders were of the opinion that the Polish forces were incapable of combat because they became demoralized by Warsaw's capitulation.  They expected an easy victory. At 08:00 hours, the German infantry came under fire from the Polish guard platoon of No. 2 company of the 'Wilk' battalion.  After a lengthy exchange of fire and counterattacks, the German troops finally had to withdraw.  This gave the Polish 179th Infantry Regiment the time to move to defensive positions near and in Kock. By around 11:00 the German forces launched another attack on Polish positions, which had been strengthened by the addition of another battalion. But even with supporting artillery fire, the German attack failed again. Again, at dusk German motorcyclists advanced towards the church in Kock and began firing, but when the Poles returned fire, the Germans again withdrew. Polish fighters posed an insurmountable resistance in the ensuing days, but fate dealt a turn on October 5th. The final German assault succeeded when they were linked with another German artillery battery, and forced the Polish troops to withdraw. At 10:00 hours on October 6, 1939, Polish General Kleeberg ordered the Polesie Independent Group to surrender.  General Kleeberg wrote that the reason for his decision to capitulate was that they were surrounded by the Germans, and could no longer continue the fight as ammunition and food had been depleted.


The Battle of Hel ended on October 2, 1939 when Polish forces capitulated.  From September 9, 1939,  about  2,800  Polish soldiers of the Fortified Region Hel unit, and part of the Coastal Defence Group, fought overwhelming German forces.  Polish forces included three coastal anti-ship batteries consisting of one  4 × 152 mm battery, two older 2 × 105 mm batteries and three batteries with 8 × 75 mm guns in total.  The Poles also had anti-air batteries consisting of  6 × 75 mm and 8 × 40 mm guns, and two 120 cm searchlights. In total they had 46 guns, 1 destroyer, 1 minelayer, and 1 patrol boat.  Facing them were about 38,000 German forces, 2 pre-dreadnoughts, and 2 destroyers.  Despite the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, Polish forces launched counterattacks relentlessly.  On September 3, the Polish destroyer Wicher, and minelayer Gryf succeeded in damaging two German destroyers by gunfire. But the Luftwaffe attacked and sank both Polish ships.  By September 14, the Germans had cut off Polish forces from the mainland.  Polish defences managed to stall the German advance only temporarily.  With reinforcements of  land artillery batteries and an armored train battery, the Germans continued their advance, albeit slowly, amid fierce counterattacks from Polish forces.  On September 25, after the Germans captured the village of Chałupy, Polish military engineers detonated a number of torpedoes in the narrowest part of the peninsula.   By October 1, the Polish forces were running out of supplies, and stranded without any relief forces, were under orders by Jozef Unrug, the commander of the Polish Navy, to capitulate.

1941

The Battle of Moscow, code-named Operation Typhoon, began on October 2, 1941, as German troops attempted to advance towards Moscow using a two pincer offensive; one strategically placed to the north of the city by the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies,severing the Moscow–Leningrad railway; and another to the south of Moscow by the 2nd Panzer Army, while the 4th Army advanced directly towards Moscow from the west.  In the initial phase of the battle, the Soviet forces maintained a strategic defence of Moscow by establishing three defensive zones, as well as deploying reserve armies and bringing troops in from other military districts.  Having succeeded at halting the German offensives, the Soviets began their counter-offensive, which forced the German forces back to positions around the cities of Oryol, Vyazma and Vitebsk, which resulted in nearly surrounded three German armies. The battle ended on January 7, 1942.  Hitler's vision of capturing Moscow was a complete failure, and signaled the end of the German adventure in the USSR.  This defeat made Hitler so bitter that he fired Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as commander of OKH,  and appointed himself as Germany's supreme military commander.

1943

Germans executed Polish citizens:   In Warsaw, on October 2, 1943, the Nazi Germans distributed an announcement of the execution of 100 Polish hostages as revenge against Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army) for the assassination of five German policemen and 1 SS-man.  The Nazis took hostages, arresting Polish people by the thousands from the time of the invasion and throughout the occupation of Poland.  Many of the hostages were the intelligentsia, that is, prominent citizens such as doctors, lawyers, profesors, priests, and leaders of political, social and economic organizations, and trade unions.  Mostly the Germans chose them at random.  For every German killed, between 50 and 100 Polish civilians were executed.  The Germans would target rural communities who were suspected of aiding the resistance, or hiding Jews, and "other fugitives".  In one case they rounded up about 20,000 villagers, some of whom were burned alive.  Poland was the only country in Nazi-occupied Europe where anybody helping the Jews would be condemned to death.  Despite these Nazi German threats, many Polish people continued to help the Jews, and the Polish Underground continued their plans to assassinate Nazi officers as well as sabotage their supplies and rail transports. 

1944

Warsaw Surrendered:  After 63 days of fierce fighting, General Bor-Komorowski surrendered to the Germans on the condition that the Home Army (Armia Krajowa, or AK) fighters would be treated as prisoners of war. The Nazi Germans agreed and took them as POWs. The Warsaw Uprising ended with heavy losses -  225,000 civilians and 20,000 Home Army soldiers were killed. Hitler ordered Warsaw razed without leaving a trace, turning Warsaw into a smouldering necropolis.


Warsaw Uprising: Polish Fighters Surrendered their Weapons on October 2, 1944. The next day the Germans began to disarm the Home Army soldiers. They later sent 15,000 of them to POW camps in various parts of Germany. Meanwhile, about 5,000 to 6,000 Polish resistance fighters tried to blend into the civilian population hoping to continue the fight later. The entire civilian population of Warsaw was expelled from the city and sent to a transit camp Durchgangslager 121 in Pruszków. Out of 350,000–550,000 civilians who passed through the camp, 90,000 were sent to forced labour camps in the Third Reich, 60,000 were transported to death and concentration camps (including at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen, among others), while the rest were transported to various locations in the General Government. Polish casualties were 15,200 killed and missing,  5,000 WIA, and 15,000 POWs.  German casualties were 16,000 killed and missing, 9,000 WIA,  310 tanks and armoured vehicles, 340 trucks and cars,  22 artillery pieces, 4 rocket launchers, and 3 aircraft.

1979

Pope's Speech at the United Nations: The following is an except of Pope John Paul II's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on October 2, 1979:  "….. Today, forty years after the outbreak of the Second World War, I wish to recall the whole of the experiences by individuals and nations that were sustained by a generation that is largely still alive. I had occasion not long ago to reflect again on some of those experiences, in one of the places that are most distressing and overflowing with contempt for man and his fundamental rights—the extermination camp of Oświęcim (Auschwitz), which I visited during my pilgrimage to Poland last June. This infamous place is unfortunately only one of the many scattered over the continent of Europe. But the memory of even one should be a warning sign on the path of humanity today, in order that every kind of concentration camp anywhere on earth may once and for all be done away with. And everything that recalls those horrible experiences should also disappear for ever from the lives of nations and States, everything that is a continuation of those experiences under different forms, namely the various kinds of torture and oppression, either physical or moral, carried out under any system, in any land; this phenomenon is all the more distressing if it occurs under the pretext of internal "security" or the need to preserve an apparent peace......."

SEPTEMBER 28 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 28

1938

Polish-Czechoslovakian Border Conflict:   On September 28, 1938, Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia prepared a note to the Polish government with the proposal of reopening discussions concerning the territorial demarcation in Těšínsko. However, he delayed in sending it as he hoped to receive good news from the British and French governments. Dissatisfied with their responses, Benes approached the Soviet government, which then threatened Poland with the dissolution of the Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact. In the meantime, Soviet troops had just begun a partial mobilisation in eastern Belarus and the Ukraine.   The border conflicts began in 1918 following the end of World War I, and the newly created nation-states of the Second Polish Republic and First Czechoslovak Republic. It wasn't until 1958 that the conflicts were resolved with a treaty between the two states.


The Oster Conspiracy of 1938 was a plan to overthrow Hitler and the Nazi regime if Germany went to war with Czechoslovakia over the Sudetenland. The conspiracy was the brainchild of Generalmajor Hans Oster, deputy head of the Abwehr who was backed by other high-ranking officials of the Wehrmacht. They opposed Hitlers regime for trying to bring Germany into a war which Germany was not prepared to fight.  Their plan was essentially a coup d'etat in which they would overthrow (arrest or assassinate) Hitler, and storm the Reich Chancellery thereby restoring Wilhelm II as Emperor. However the plot became irrelevant when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler in which the Sudetenland was virtually handed to Hitler on a silver platter. Hitler was then praised in Germany as the "greatest statesman of all times at the moment of his greatest triumph".

1939

The Siege of Warsaw lasted until September 28, 1939 when Polish troops under the command of General Walerian Czuma, capitulated to the Germans. The next day about 140,000 Polish soldiers were taken as prisoners of war.  About 18,000 civilians were killed, and 10% of the city's buildings were completely destroyed, while another 40% were heavily damaged.    Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union (Vilnius to Lithuania, Western Ukraine to Ukranian SSR, Western Byelorussia to Byelorussian SSR). On October 1, the Nazi Germans occupied Warsaw throughout the war until January 17, 1945, when the city was so-called "liberated" by the Soviet Red Army.  Before the capitulation, Polish garrisons scrambled to hide weapons and destroy their heavy armaments. The hidden cache of weapons would be used during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.  (Editors note:  Polish Greatness Blog featured a special series called Invasion of Poland Day by Day. You can follow it at your own pace by referring to the my blog post entitled  "September 1939 Invasion of Poland Day by Day: An Index")


The Massacre in Zakroczym was committed by German troops of the Panzer division Kempf on September 28, 1939.  The Germans stormed on Polish positions located at Zakroczym, just as the Polish soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division were about to surrender.   Hundreds of Polish soldiers as well as civilians were massacred, and many others were wounded and brutally beaten.  German units barged into homes, robbing the people and setting the houses on fire. They tossed grenades into the basements where civilians were hiding.  According to Kazimierz Szczerbatko's estimate, based on eyewitnesses reports, about 500 Polish soldiers and 100 civilians were killed. The Massacre was most likely an act of revenge for the loss of an entire infantry division during the Battle of Mlawa. The Germans had lost 72 of their tanks even though they used Polish civilians as human shields in front of their tanks.


The Battle of Szack was fought on September 28, 1939 which resulted in a tactical Polish victory over the Soviets. When the Soviet armies invaded Poland on September 17, the Polish Border Defence Corps was severely stripped of all its military reserves and materiel.  Polish forces had been deployed to the west to reinforce Polish units fighting the Nazi Germans (who had invaded Poland on September 1st)  On the morning of September 28 the Polish units were marching toward the town of Szack in two columns; the northern column advanced to the forests near the village of Mielniki while the southern column headed towards the forests east of Szack. According to Polish reconnaissance, Soviet tank units (T-26 tanks) occupied the town of Szack. The Polish commander ordered both columns to form a defensive line along the border of the forest and provoked the Red Army to attack. By 8:00 in the morning the Soviet tank units launched a direct assault on Polish positions but the Poles did not return fire. They were ordered to wait until the Soviet tanks came closer. When the tanks reached a distance of 500 metres from Polish lines, the Polish Bofors wz. 36 anti-tank guns opened fire,  along with 75 mm artillery from the Polish infantry.  All Soviet tanks were destroyed.


The German-Soviet Frontier Treaty was signed on September 28, 1939. It was a secret clause that was agreed upon by Hitler and Stalin after the joint invasion and occupation of the sovereign Polish Republic. It was signed by the foreign ministers of the Germany, Joachim von Ribbentrop and of Russia, Vyacheslav Molotov, and witnessed by Stalin. The treaty was only the first of a series of secret protocols attached to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939.  This secret agreement was not known to the public at the time as it remained highly classified.  Among its articles, it specified the "spheres of influence" of Poland, and stated that "Polish agitation" directed to either party of the treaty would not be tolerated.

1944

Allied Support Efforts:   Since August 4,1944 allied aircraft had dropped a total of 370 tons over Warsaw to supply weapons to the Polish insurgents. The operations were a failure as at least 50 % of the supplies fell into German hands.  About 360 airmen, and 41 Allied aircraft (British, Polish, South African and American) were lost.  Due to Stalin's refusal to grant landing rights in Russia, allied planes had to operate over long distances from bases in Italy and Britain. Consequently, payload had to be reduced, and the number of sorties drastically limited.   The meager supplies retrieved by the Polish insurgents were insufficient to sustain the Polish resistance and by October 2, 1944, Warsaw was overrun by Nazi troops.   

SEPTEMBER 26 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 26

1908

Bezdany raid by Polish revolutionaries:  The Bezdany raid was a train robbery on a Russian Empire passenger train near Bezdany near Vilna, and was considered the most daring and successful train robberies in Eastern Europe. The robbery was led Jozef Pilsudski, Poland's future national hero and dictator. The robbery garnered about 200,000 Russian rubles, which under the gold standard would be equivalent to 5,000 ounces of gold  ( in 1908 it would have been valued at $100,000; or , in 2012, would be valued at 8 million dollars, a veritable fortune in contemporary times.)  Pilsudski intended to use those funds to finance his secret military organization, though originally it was earmarked for the construction of a tram system in Vilnius. 

1938

In the midst of the Sudetenland crisis, Hitler made the speech in Berlin announcing that he had assured the British Prime Minister that when the Czechoslovakian problem had been settled, that there would be no more territorial demands by Germany in Europe.  (However, an OKW directive had later been issued to German forces (on November 24, 1938 ) ordering them to prepare for an attack on the Free City of Danzig. The directive read as follows: " The fuehrer has ordered (that) preparations are also to be made to enable the Free State of Danzig to be occupied by German troops by surprise"

1939

The French Communist Party was banned.  After its declaration of war on Germany, the French Government denounced the French Communist Party (PCF). Initially, the PCF confirmed its commitment to national defense, but changed its position after Comintern announced that the declaration of war was considered "imperialist".  Subsequently officials of the PCF signed a petition calling for peace, and expounded favorably of Hitler's peace proposals. The French government issued a decree that the manifestation of any communist propaganda would be punishable by the death penalty.  The Comintern ordered the PCF leadership to evacuate to Belgium,  while Maurice Thorez (leader of PCF) escaped to Moscow to evade prosecution.  All Communist-led local parties and organizations were dissolved,  communist trade unionists were suppressed, as well as communist newspapers. The PCF continued to exist albeit as an underground organization.

1942

Nazi Memorandum:  The August Frank memorandum was issued on September 26, 1942 by August Frank, SS Lieutenant General of the SS concentration camp administrative department  (SS-WVHA). It outlined detailed plans to carry out the "Final Solution", that is the extermination of the Jewish people, and the systematic confiscation of every item in their possession, including cash, jewelry,furs, gold teeth, watches, fountain pens, razors, scissors, flashlights, wallets, purses, clothing, underwear, footwear (of men, women and children), blankets, umbrellas, walking sticks, glasses, mirrors, belts, forks, knives, spoons, suitcases, combs, bed sheets, towels, and lastly - hair, which was shaved off the Jewish victims before they were gassed to death. The August Frank Memorandum, translated to English, was used as evidence during the Nuremberg Military Tribunal in the Trials of War Criminals.  Despite the evidence, Frank claimed that he had no knowledge that the Jews were being mass murdered.  He was tried and convicted of crimes against humanity. On November  3,1947 he was sentenced to life in prison by the tribunal which made the following declaration:  "...August Frank: this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under counts two, three, and four of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have thus been convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment for the remainder of your natural life, at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority...."  But in 1951 his sentence was commuted to 15 years.  The tribunal decided that Frank was criminally responsible for the slave labor program and the looting of Jewish property, but not liable for the murders of the Jews.  He died in Germany in 1984.

1944

Germans recaptured Mokotow district.  In the early morning, the Germans continued a massive assault on all fronts throughout Warsaw. (The previous day was the heaviest bombardment by the Germans backed with artillery and 1,200 aircraft. The Poles referred to it as Black Monday. ) On this day western parts of the city were attacked by five German divisions of the 10th, 18th, 19th, 31st and 46th while four German divisions of the 11th, 32nd, 61st and 217th attacked the eastern parts of the city. There were 70 batteries of field artillery, 80 batteries of heavy artillery and two entire air fleets (1st and 4th). Warsaw was bombarded relentlessly resulting in very high civilian casualties.  On September 26, 1944, the Germans captured the Forts of Mokotów, Dąbrowski and Czerniaków.  On the same day, Juliusz Rommel, Polish Army General, began capitulation talks with the German commander. On September 28, at 12:00 they signed an agreement for a cease-fire. Warsaw officially capitulated. Despite this outcome, some Polish units refused to lay down their arms and cease fire, though they were personally commanded to do so by Polish Generals Czuma and Rommel.

SEPTEMBER 25 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 25

1939

Massive German Bombing:   At 0800 hours on September 25, 1939, heavy German bombers under the command of Major Wolfram von Richthofen launched the largest bombing ever seen. A total of 560 tons of high explosive bombs and 72 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on Warsaw, in conjunction with heavy artillery shelling.  The destruction of the center of Warsaw was devastating. The Luftwaffe made about 1,150 sorties in a variety of aircraft, including obsolescent Junkers Ju-52/3m bombers, which dropped 13 percent of the incendiary bombs dropped on one day. Only two Ju-52 bombers were lost. (Polish history refers to this massive bombing as Black Monday.)

1942

RAF Bombing of Gestapo Headquarters.  The British raid called the Oslo Mosquito raid targeted the Gestapo headquarters located in the Victoria Terrasse building in Oslo.  It was carried out by four of the new de Havilland Mosquito aircraft  by No. 105 Squadron. The bombers crossed the North Sea at altitudes of lower than 100 ft in order to evade detection by enemy aircraft. Despite this attempt, they were intercepted by two Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters, causing one of the Allied planes to land.   Each aircraft was armed with four 500 lb bombs with 11 second delayed action fuses. This posed a dangerous situation because at a low level attack the bombs could damage the aircraft that dropped them.  At least four bombs were dropped on the Gestapo HQ however one failed to detonate, while the other three crashed through the opposite wall before exploding. Civilian casualties were 80 killed or injured. (Though the mission did not achieve its main objective, it revealed the existence of the Mosquito plane to the enemy. It went into production in 1941, and by mid-1942 to mid-1943, Mosquito bombers flew high-speed, medium or low-altitude daylight missions against military and industrial targets of German-occupied Europe. By June 1943, Mosquito bombers became the Light Night Strike Force and used as pathfinders for RAF Bomber Command heavy-bomber raids. They also dropped Blockbuster bombs, facetiously nicknamed "cookies" - the bombs weighed 4,000 lb (1,812 kg).  German fighters were powerless to intercept them.)

1944

Operation Market Garden Ended on September 25, 1944 with the failure of the allied mission to cross the Rhine. Now the British troops were trapped in German-occupied territory north of the Lower Rhine in the Netherlands. Operation Berlin was put into immediate action for a night time evacuation of the remaining allied forces before they became encircled by enemy forces. The mission was achieved successfully with the rescue of about 2,400 men of the British Division.


Events during the Warsaw Uprising:  The Nazi Germans sent two captured Polish soldiers of Armia Krajowa (Home Army) to ask that Polish insurgents capitulate and hand over the Mokotow district.  No reply was given. The Germans murdered the injured and staff of hospitals located at 17 Czeczota and Lenartowicza streets in Warsaw.  During the night Polish soldiers, the Delegatura, and civilians withdrew from the Mokotow district by descending underground via the sewers and made their way to the safer area of Srodmiesie district.  Lieutenant Eugeniusz "Brok" Lokajski was killed in the ruins of 129 Marszalkowska Street.  He was a Champion of Poland in the javelin throw and gymnastics, and was at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but was seriously injured in a training session. He placed 7th with a 66.36 m javelin throw. He was also the photographer of the Warsaw Uprising and took more than a thousand photos of the Uprising. One of his most memorable photos was taken of himself wearing a helmet and holding a little kitten. (The location was in the yard of a bombed out building at 124/128 Mraszalkowska St.(

1953

Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski was imprisoned.  The communist government of Poland arrested Cardinal Wyszynski on September 25, 1953, and imprisoned him at Rywałd. He was later placed under house arrest in Stoczek near Lidzbark Warmiński, in Prudnik near Opole, and in the Komańcza monastery in the Bieszczady Mountains.  At the start of 1953, the government ordered the widespread arrest of Polish priests and Bishops who supported the resistance against Soviet occupation.  The priests were subjected to staged "show trials", and imprisoned unjustly.  While incarcerated, Cardinal Wyszynski was a witness to many of the heinous tortures inflicted on his fellow inmates.

SEPTEMBER 23 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 23

1922

Gdynia Seaport Construction Act was passed by the Polish parliament on September 23, 1922.   Due to the blockade of shipment of Polish arms, during the Polish-Soviet war, there was the urgent decision to establish a truly Polish port. (The Versailles Treaty which followed the end of WWI, declared Gdansk to be the Free City of Danzig, and over which the Second Republic of Poland was granted many rights and privileges in its administration.) By the 1930s the Gdynia Port had been developed where it could compete with other ports in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.  The city of Gdynia was developed and by 1939 had a population of 125,000 Polish people.  Before the outbreak of World War Two, the port of  Gdynia was modern and fully functional and contributed greatly the Polish pre-war economy: Polish exports amounted to 80%.  After Germany invaded Poland in September,  the development of the port ceased and it became the base of the German Kriegsmarine and their most important center for the armaments industry of Nazi Germany.  Allied bombing raids of the port resulted in the destruction of 40% of the hydro-technical structures, 25% of storehouses. (75 % of the storehouses and 54% of quays and breakwaters were in need of repairs) The Germans dismantled over 30% of handling facilities and transported them to ports in Germany, and destroyed the remaining facilities. Viaducts on land were blown up, blocking access to the port.

1939

The Battle of Krasnobród was fought on September 23, 1939 between Polish armed forces and the German Wehrmacht near the town of Krasnobród, and resulted in a Polish victory. It was one of the many battles during the September Campaign, and one in both sides used cavalry forces. The Polish Uhlan Regiment under the command of Col. Bogdan Stachlewski had the mission of recapturing Krasnobród.  However the town was fortified by the German 8th Infantry Division positioned on a hill top along two lines of trenches.  Despite the numerical superiority of the Nazi Germans, Stachlewski conceived of a devious plan that called for his forces to be divided into two sectors, each of which launched a cavalry charge on the enemy at different sectors along the front......The first Polish squadron successfully broke through enemy positions, catching the Nazi Germans completely by surprise. It resulted in a frantic retreat by the Germans, pursued by the Polish cavalry using sabers and lances.  The second Polish squadron under the command of Lt. Tadeusz Gerlecki also participated in the cavalry charge. Though the German infantry division attempted to counter-charge, they were repelled by the Polish forces. Despite heavy enemy fire, the Polish units succeeded in entering the city, and pursued the fleeing Germans. The Poles captured about 100 German soldiers, and their commander General Rudolf Koch-Erpach (as well as freeing forty Polish soldiers that had been taken prisoner by the unit.) 

1943

Liquidation of Vilno Ghetto:  On September 23-24, 1943 the ghetto was liquidated under the command of Oberscharführer Bruno Kittel; the majority of the remaining residents were sent to the Vaivara concentration camp in Estonia, killed in the forest of Paneriai, or sent to the death camps in German-occupied Poland. (A week earlier, Karl Plagge, a staff officer of the German army, made arrangements to transport over 1,000 of his Jewish workers along with their families from the Vilna Ghetto to the HKP camp under his command, which provided maintenance and repair of Nazi German military vehicles. The treatment of the Jews working at HKP were relatively benign compared to the horrific conditions in which the ghetto Jews worked. Though Plagge was a member of the Nazi Party, he was sympathetic towards the Jewish plight, and provided the Jewish workers with extra food rations and hot meals, as well as clothing, medicine and firewood.) Though Plagge attempted to save as many Jews as possible, the SS murdered about 900 to 1,000 of the 1,250 of his workers. Only about 250 Jews of HKP managed to survive.

1944

Warsaw Uprising:   On the morning of September 16, 1944  two infantry divisions of General Berling's Army succeeded in crossing the Vistula to Czerniakow to reinforce Polish insurgents in the area. However it did little to assist in the defense of the town.  German units were also reinforced, and on September 23, were able to capture the two remaining buildings in Czerniakow.  On the same day a German report was submitted. The following is an excerpt:  ".... When the resistance at the last house in the southern encirclement in Warsaw was fought, 82 Polish legionaries, 57 soldiers of AK [...] were taken prisoners. Besides, there were 35 dead bodies. There is also a Polish woman among the prisoners-of-war, who was trained as a platoon commander in Ternopil"...." The Polish woman they referred to was a Polish Officer, Second Lieutenant Janina Blaszczak. In the period 1943-1944, she had enrolled in the military school at Ryazan, and completed her training at the top of her class. She became commander of the male mortar company and took part in the fighting at Czerniakow. She was wounded twice in battle and was captured by the Germans and transported to a prison hospital. Eventually she escaped with the help of Polish covert operatives of the Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army, or AK).  Polish author, Henryk Baczko recounted the fighting in Czerniakow as follows: ".....They fought not only with bullets but also with butts and fists. Anyone who saw Second Lieutenant Blaszczak at that time, with fair hair flowing in the wind, leading her lads to counter-attack, or throwing grenades, will never forget this sight. It seemed as if a Greek goddess descended on the bank of the Vistula to defend the beautiful work of art....."

SEPTEMBER 21 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 21

1939

Nazi German Einsatzgruppen was formed.  On September 21, 1939, Himmler instructed Heydrich to form the Einsatzgruppen (a Nazi German task force) that would accompany German armies and implement directives concerning the "Jewish question in the occupied territory".  Their orders were to round up Jewish people for imprisonment into ghettos, the formation of numerous Judenrat (Jewish councils within the ghettos), conduct census, and promotion of Aryanization plans for Jewish-owned businesses and farms, among many other edicts.  Later, in the Soviet Union, the Einsatzgruppen units also conducted the execution of Jews by firing squad, and by gas vans. The Einsatzgruppen systematically hunted down and murdered Poland's intelligentsia and cultural elite, as well as implemented the "Final Solution", ie the extermination of the Jews.


President Franklin Roosevelt addressed United States Congress appealing for an amendment to the U.S. Neutrality Acts that would allow countries fighting Germany to purchase American arms.  He added that the Acts were enabling "aid to an aggressor" while denying assistance to allies. Roosevelt wanted to loosen the embargo, and after tough resistance from Congress, the Neutrality Act of 1939 was passed (on November 4). It allowed for arms trade with so-called "belligerent nations" (Great Britain and France) on a cash-and-carry basis, in effect ending the arms embargo.  Several Neutrality Acts were passed by the U.S. Congress in the 1930s, in the midst of increasing instability in Europe and Asia, leading to World War Two.( The Acts were the result of rising sentiment of isolationism and strong opposition following U.S. involvement in World War One, and was an attempt to ensure that the U.S. would stay out of foreign conflicts.)


The Battle of Grodno began on September 21, 1939 after Soviet forces had invaded Poland's eastern frontier.  Eastern Poland was virtually undefended because a large sector of Polish troops had been mobilized to the western front battling against the Nazi German invasion.  As the Soviet 15th Tank Corps advanced rapidly towards the city of Grodno,  the city mayor, Roman Sawicki, and General Jozef Olszyna-Wilczynski began coordinating a defence with which comprised largely of march battalions and police forces, as well as volunteers and scouts.  The military garrison was not prepared for a Soviet invasion and lacked sufficient number of troops as well as ammunition, though members of the Wołkowysk Cavalry Brigade joined the battle under the command of Brigadier General Wacław Przeździecki. There was no anti-tank artillery, and the city fighters had to use small weapons and resort to anti-tank barricades as well as bottles of gasoline or turpentine.  Despite overwhelming numbers of Soviet troops, the Polish defenders had two advantages on their side: that many of the Soviet tanks literally came to a sudden halt due to lack of infantry support as well as fuel; and Soviet tank crews were completely inexperienced in urban warfare.  Initially, the Polish defenders succeeded in repelling the Soviet assault on the city.  Fighting was very heavy over the next few days, and much of the city was destroyed by Soviet artillery.  The battle ended in a Soviet victory when Polish troops were withdrawn towards the Lithuanian border. After the battle, the Soviets murdered about 300 Polish defenders of Grodno.

1944

Operation Market Garden:  The Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade under the command of Major-General Stanislaw Sosabowski entered the battle on September 21, 1944.  Polish troops were transported on 114 C-47s of the U.S. 61st and 314th Troop Carrier Groups. Two of the brigade's three battalions were dropped amidst heavy German fire, opposite the 1st Airborne Division's position on a new drop zone south of the Rhine near the village of Driel. The third battalion was dropped 12–15 miles away near Grave. Overall, the poor coordination by the British air transfer officers and persistent attacks by Luftwaffe aircraft caused their supplies to be dropped 15 km (9.3 mi) away on the opposite side of the Rhine. The Poles intended to use the ferry to reinforce the 1st Airborne division, but the plan had to be shelved due to enemy troops positioned at the opposite side of the river, and the fact that the ferry was missing. (It was later found downstream in a state of disrepair.)  The Poles made numerous attempts to cross the Rhine on improvised equipment under very heavy German fire. Consequently Polish troops had to withdraw to Driel to plan their defence while German units were building up strength around them. Polish casualties were about 590, which represented about 25 % of its total strength.  This tragedy was the result of the decision of British Lieutenant-General Browning to drop the Polish paratroops 7 kilometers from the bridge at Arnhem.   General Sosabowski attempted to divert this impending disaster by warning British command of their flawed strategy but Browning ignored the dire warnings. He refused to listen, and made Sosabowski a scapegoat of the debacle. Sosabowski later endured a swift and humiliating dismissal from his command.


Allied Air Drops During Warsaw Uprising:   From August 4 the Western Allies flew airdrop missions over Warsaw during the Uprising, supplying Polish insurgents with munitions and weapons.  The major part of flights were carried out by the 1586 Polish Flight of the PAF stationed in Bari and Brindisi,  flying Liberators, Halifaxes and Dakotas. Later, at the urging of the Polish Government-in-Exile they were joined by the Liberators of 2 Wing - 31 and 34 Squadrons of the SAAF based at Foggia in Southern Italy, and Halifaxes, flown by 148 and 178 Squadrons of the RAF. From August 4 to September 21, 1944, the allies dropped a total of 104 tons of supplies over Warsaw.  (Stalin did not give the Allies permission to use Russian airports for supply operations, therefore the planes were forced to use bases in the UK and Italy, which drastically reduced their carrying weight and number of sorties. Stalin referred to the Polish fighters as  "a handful of criminals".)


Germans Bombed Water Supply.   As the Uprising continued, another serious problem arose for the Polish people (civilians and soldiers) was the shortage of water. By mid-August many of the water conduits were either out of order, or in the control of the Germans. To prevent the spread of epidemics and provide the people with water, Polish authorities supervised the construction of water wells throughout the city.  But on September 21st, the Germans blew up the remaining pumping stations, located at Koszykowa Street.  The only available potable source of water were public wells. Nevertheless, by the end of September there were more than 90 functioning wells in the center of Warsaw.

1997

Parliamentary elections. In the Sejm elections, 47.93% of citizens cast their votes, 96.12% of which were counted as valid. In the Senate elections, 46.92% of citizens cast their votes, 97.82% of which were valid.  The Solidarity Electoral Action party (liberal-conservative) won the election, and formed a coalition with the Freedom Union Party (liberal).  The results of the vote for Solidarity Electoral Action were: Sejm 33.8%, Senate 49.2% of the vote. And the results for the Freedom Union Party were:  Sejm 13.4%, Senate 22.1% (while the Democratic Left Alliance had the following results: Sejm 27.1%, Senate 45.7%)

SEPTEMBER 19 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 19

1657

Brandenburg & Poland signed Treaty of Wehlau.  The Treaty of Wehlau was agreement in which John Casimir, King of Poland renounced the suzerainty of the Polish crown over ducal Prussia and granted it to Frederick William (the duke of Prussia and elector of Brandenburg) making him the duchy’s sovereign ruler.  William wanted to acquire the duchy by his participation in the Polish-Swedish War of Succession (1600–60).  Initially he sided with Sweden,  but when he failed to achieve his goal, he entered into the Treaty of Wehlau with King Casimir.  According to the terms of the treaty, Frederick William promised to provide Poland with 6,000 troops from Brandenburg for use in the war against Sweden.  In return,  King Casimir recognized Frederick William and his heirs as sovereign rulers of ducal Prussia. The Treaty of Wehlau was subsequently confirmed by the Treaty of Oliva (1660), which concluded the Polish-Swedish War.

1921

Wojciech Antoni Rostafiński  (dob) code-named "Masłowski", was a Polish soldier in the Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army) during World War II. In 1944 he fought in the Warsaw Uprising as a member of Szare Szeregi (Gray Ranks-Boy Scouts) "Rygiel" Group.  For his bravery during the Uprising, Rostafiński was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari.  In 1953 Rostafiński moved to United States. He was manager of advanced research projects at NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. During his career, he contributed to the theory of aeronautics and applied mathematics, and his work is listed in the Scientific Citation Index.

1939

Hitler entered the former Free City of Danzig and gave a speech denouncing the Polish government and warning England that Germany would never capitulate even if the war lasted years. The following is a brief excerpt: "…..Britain ought to welcome the fact that Germany and Soviet Russia have come to an understanding, for this understanding means the elimination of that nightmare which kept British statesmen from sleeping because they were so concerned over the ambitions of the present [German] regime to conquer the world. It will calm you to learn that Germany does not, and did not, want to conquer the Ukraine........Germany has there limited but unalterable claims, and she will realize those claims one way or another. Germany and Russia will put in place the hotbed of conflict in the European situation which later will be valued only as a relaxation of tension. If the Western Powers now declare that this must not be, under any circumstances, and if especially England declares that she is determined to oppose this in a three- or five- or eight-year war, then I want to say something in reply:  Firstly, Germany, by extensive yielding and renunciation in the west and south of the Reich, has accepted definite boundaries. Germany tried by these renunciations to attain lasting pacification. And we believe we would have succeeded were it not that certain warmongers could be interested in disturbing the European peace.......

1940

Polish underground fighter Witold Pilecki deliberately went out during a Warsaw street roundup (łapanka) and allowed himself to be caught by the Nazi Germans, along with some 2,000 civilians (which included Władysław Bartoszewski). They were detained for two days in the Light Horse Guards Barracks, and suffered beatings with rubber truncheons.  Pilecki was sent to Auschwitz and was assigned inmate number 4859.  During his imprisonment there he organized the underground Union of Military Organizations (ZOW), which merged with many of the smaller underground organizations already formed at the Camp.   ZOW's objectives were to improve inmate morale, provide news from outside, distribute extra food and clothing to members, set up intelligence networks and train detachments to take over the camp in the event of a relief attack by the Home Army, or arms airdrops or an airborne landing by the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade. ZOW was an invaluable organization which provided the Polish underground and the Polish Government In Exile with information about the camp operations.

1941

Nazis Germans captured Kiev.  The First Battle of Kiev was part of Operation Barbarossa which lasted from August 7 to September 26, 1941 and resulted in a large-scale encirclement by the Nazi Germans of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev. The encirclement was the largest one of its kind in the history of warfare.  Much of the Southwestern Front of the Red Army was encircled though small groups of Soviet troops were able to escape the cauldron. The battle was an unprecedented defeat for the Red Army, and surpassed even that of the Battle of Białystok-Minsk (June–July 1941). The encirclement trapped 452,700 Soviet soldiers, 2,642 guns and mortars and 64 tanks.  By October 2, about 15,000 escaped from the encirclement. The Southwestern Front casualties were 616,304 killed or captured, and 84,240 wounded or missing during the battle. The 40th Army suffered many losses, while the 5th, 37th, 26th, 21st and the 38th armies, consisting of 43 divisions, were annihilated.

1942

During the previous two days, September 17/18, 1942, nearly 3,000 ethnic Polish men and women were caught and rounded up by the Nazi Germans, in random massive round-ups (Polish: lapanka) throughout Warsaw. The Poles were then transported by the train-loads to Germany as slave labor. Many Poles were taken as hostages in reprisal, while most were sent to concentration camps, or summarily executed.

1944

Warsaw Uprising.  On the night of September 19, when no further crossings from the other side of the river could be made, and the promised evacuation of wounded did not take place, units of Armia Krajowa, (Polish Home Army soldiers) and landed elements of the 1st Polish Army were forced to begin a retreat from their positions on the bank of the river. Out of approximately 900 men who made it ashore only a handful made it back to the eastern shore of the Vistula. Berling's Polish Army losses in the attempt to aid the Uprising were 5,660 killed, missing or wounded. From this point on, the Warsaw Uprising can be seen as a one-sided war of attrition or, alternatively, as a fight for acceptable terms of surrender.

1993

Parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on September 19, 1993 for the Sejm (Parliament) and the Senate. Roughly 52% of Polish citizens cast their votes, and 95.7% votes in the Sejm elections were confirmed as valid, while 97.07% in the Sentate eletions were confirmed as valid.  The elections were won by the Democratic Left Alliance ( 20.4% of the Sejm;  35.7% of the Sentate) and the Polish People's Party  (15.4% of the Sejm;  23.2% of the Senate). Both left-wing parties formed a coalition. (Votes for Solidarity: 4.9% Sejm;  19.2% Senate)

SEPTEMBER 18 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 18

1454

Battle of Chojnice (1454) was fought between Poland and the Teutonic Knights during the Thirteen Years' War. The Teutonic army consisted of about 9,000 cavalry and 6,000 infantry under the command of Bernhard von Zinnenberg, while the Polish army had 16,000 cavalry, and over 3,000 infantry troops as well as about 2,000 mercenaries hired by the Prussian Confederacy, all of which were under the command of the Polish King, Casimir IV.   At the outset, the Polish cavalry succeeded in breaking through the Teutonic lines, killed Duke Rudolf of Sagan and captured Zinnenberg.  The Teutonic cavalry tried to break through the Polish lines but were met with strong Polish defense. But unexpectedly Zinnenberg managed to escape and led the pursuit attacking the Polish troops.  When it was all over about 3,000 Polish men died in battle, and 300 were captured by the Teutonic Knights.

1587

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Grand Duke of Lithuania on September 18, 1587.  Sigismund was elected to the throne, and sought to establish a union between the Commonwealth and Sweden. He did achieve this goal in 1592.  Seven years later, after he was deposed from the Swedish throne by his uncle, Charles IX of Sweden, he spent much of the rest of his life attempting to reclaim it.  During his quasi-45 year rule, Sigismund was subjected to criticism in Poland for his unsuccessful decisions that negatively affected the diplomatic and financial situation of the country.  But he was also widely praised, in particular by nationalists, for the capture of Moscow, and for obtaining new territories which greatly expanded the Commonwealth to the largest country in Europe during the 16th and 17th century. But the Golden Age of the Commonwealth would end with its final partition in 1795.  For the next 123 years, Poland ceased to exist. Sigismund III is commemorated in Warsaw with Sigismund's Column, which was commissioned by his son and successor, Władysław IV.

1939

Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski which took place from September 18 to 20, 1939 near the town of Tomaszów Lubelski was fought between Polish Army Lublin and Army Krakow against German VIII Army Corps and XXII Panzer Corp.  Polish forces consisted of five infantry divisions 3rd, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 55th and included one of the largest Polish armored units of that time, the Warsaw Armoured Motorized Brigade, as well as the 1st Mountain Brigade and  Kraków Cavalry Brigade.  The Battle was the second largest fought during the Invasion of Poland (the largest was the Battle of Bzura) and also the largest tank battle of the September campaign. Polish troops attacked the town of Tomaszów on the morning of September 18 and by early afternoon half the town was under Polish control. But they were forced to withdraw after the German 4th Light Division struck Polish units. On the night of September 18-19, the Warsaw Brigade, supported by the 23rd and 55th infantry divisions, made a second attempt to capture Tomaszów in a surprise attack, but failed to achieve their objective.  They made a third attempt the next night, but the attempt was disorganized and chaotic and also failed.  Polish casualties of killed and wounded kept rising, and ammunition and food supplies were dwindling. Polish General Piskor decided to surrender.  After days of heavy fighting, Polish troops were reduced to 30-50% of their original strength (except for the Armoured Brigade). The Battle ended with a decisive German victory.  Army Krakow surrendered on September 20, 1939.  The Germans took 11,000 Polish soldiers as prisoners, while the remainder escaped into the forests. 


The Polish submarine Orzel made a daring escape to England after its crew overpowered two Estonian guards who interred them at Tallinn, in Estonia.  As the Orzel emerged in the North Sea, and after having followed a treacherous course around the Baltic coast near Denmark, the vessel was fired upon by British and German warships. She had no means to identify herself as the Estonians had confiscated all equipment, including the radio. She finally made landfall off the coast of Scotland 40 days after she sailed from Gdynia.


The Battle of Wilno was fought between Polish forces and the Soviets, which were invading Poland from the east.  On September 18 at approximately 17:00, Okulicz-Kozaryn received reports that Soviet forces were approaching from Oszmiana  (today, Ashmyany, Belarus). The first Soviet attack was repelled by Polish defenders though they were greatly outnumbered.  Polish troops took some bridges, with the objective of delaying the Soviet advance, but their tactic failed. Soviet troops continued their attack unabated, advanced into Wilno, captured the airfield and the city. By the next day, the Soviet armoured units were reinforced with infantry and cavalry. The Soviets transferred Wilno to the Lithuania authorities, according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. Lithuanian troops entered the city on October 27 to 28, 1939. Polish troops surrendered, others had retreated towards the Lithuanian border or deeper into Poland


The Battle of Kobryń began on September 14, 1939, between the German XIX Panzer Corps of General Heinz Guderian and the improvised Polish 60th Infantry Division "Kobryn" of Colonel Adam Epler. The Polish commander received reports that German troops were advancing rapidly and he surmised that the Germans would advance on the towns of Brześć and Kobryń, as well as toward an important railway node located in the village of Żabinka.  The next day the German 3rd Armoured Division destroyed a column of the 9th reserve light artillery depot. By evening, Epler's forces spotted and bombarded by the Luftwaffe. The following day when the main force of the German XIX Corps arrived, the Polish 2nd Battalion of the 84th Infantry Regiment together with an armoured train organised an ambush and attacked the German.  After six hours of unrelenting combat, the Germans were forced to retreat suffering heavy casualties. The Polish troops were able to seize a significant number of guns and tanks, but due to lack of fuel had to destroy them, and retreat towards the main Polish defense lines. On September 17, 1939, German units tried to outflank the Poles but had to withdraw under heavy machine gun fire. At the same time, Soviet armies were invading Poland from the east. On September 18 the Germans captured Gubernia I and Gubernia II, but a counterattack from Poles at Kobryn forced the enemy to retreat.  The Germans were unable to capture Kobryn because of fierce Polish counterattacks, resulting in an impasse. With the impending invasion of the Soviets, Polish troops withdrew from Kobryn.

1944

Warsaw Uprising. Stalin decided to finally grant the United States Air force clearance to fly one mission to aid the Poles during the Warsaw Uprising.   A little over a hundred  B-17 Flying Fortresses flew in a daylight mission at high altitude accompanied by P-51 fighters.  They dropped 1,284 containers of supplies to the Polish insurgents but only 228 of the containers fell in Polish-controlled territories. The rest were captured by Nazi German troops. This was the only major US supply drop during the war that was permitted by the Soviets. Soviet commanders on the ground near Warsaw estimated that 96% of the supplies dropped by the Americans fell into German hands. From the Soviet perspective, the Americans were (unintentionally) supplying the Nazis instead of aiding the Polish resistance. Following this debacle, the Soviets refused permission for further American flights until September 30. But by the end of September, the weather was too unstable to allow any flights, and the Uprising was nearly over.

1993

Last Russian troops left Poland.  After 54 years of Russian occupation, the last remnants of Russian combat troops left Poland on this day.  Polish newspapers brandished headlines,"Gone!" and "Soviets Go Home!" It expressed the bitterness of the Polish people of living under Russian totalitarianism for decades, as well as elation of achieving freedom at last.  At a press conference leading up to the election the next day, then President Lech Walesa and Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka considered this Russian departure as a great success and that "historical justice is being accomplished". Furthermore, he stated that the Russian withdrawal heralded the end of "agony, humiliation and captivity." However, Walesa was alarmed that former communists were trying to run for political office, and were actually leading in the opinion polls. At a ceremony marking the Russian withdrawal, Walesa spoke about the communist legacy and used it as an attempt to disparage communist political candidates.

SEPTEMBER 15 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 15

1935

Legislative Elections:   On September 8, 1935, Poland held parliamentary elections, and Senate elections on September 15 in the same year. Both were held under the April Constitution which had previously been drawn up by the Sanation movement, so the election rules would be in their favor. The opposition boycotted the election in protest, and voter turnout was only 45.9%,  the lowest in the history of the Second Polish Republic  The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government, the political power behind the Sanation movement, won 181 of the 206 seats in the Sejm and all 96 seats in the Senate.  The Bloc was affiliated with Jozef Pilsudski and his movement, which included major members such as Walery Slawek, Kazimierz Bartel, Jozef Beck, Adam Koc,  Leon Kozłowski, and others. (NB.  In 1993 then President Lech Wałęsa, founded a Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms, in Polish Bezpartyjny Blok Wspierania Reform, (which was also abbreviated "BBWR") Walesa intended to revive some of the traditions of the prewar "BBWR" and organize a parliamentary grouping explicitly supportive of his Presidency. This new "BBWR" did not prove to be successful.  In the 1993 elections it won only 5.41% of the vote.)


At the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), the Reichstag held a special meeting to decree the Nuremberg Race Laws against the Jewish people.  They instituted the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which made it a criminal offense for Jews and Germans to marry or engage in extramarital intercourse. It also forbade the employment of German women under the age of 45 in Jewish households. The Reich also passed the Citizenship Law which declared only those of German or related blood to be recognized as Reich citizens. The remainder were classed as subjects of the state without rights of citizenship. German Jews were forbidden to practice many professions such as law or medicine, and were excluded from vocations such as journalism, teaching, radio, film, and even farming. Signs were placed in store windows, and public arenas and even pharmacists, "Jews not welcome". International reaction to these events was somewhat indifferent perhaps because people thought it was "just a phase". At the time, British Prime Minister Lloyd George publicly referred to Hitler as "a great man", and believed that Hitler was only rearming for defence and not for invasions. The British Prime Minister called Hitler, "the George Washington of Germany".


Rassenschande (translated: "Shame") was one of the Nazi laws that forbade sexual intercourse and marriage between non-Aryans and Germans, (the ban was directed not only to Jews, but Polish as well).   Despite this law, Polish women who were forced into slave labor were subjected to rampant sexual assault, rape, and abuse by their handlers, and by German farmers and workers, resulting in an exorbitant spike in the rate of unwanted births. The Nazis dealt with the situation by founding hundreds of  so-called "special homes" (in German: Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte) in order to secretly exterminate these babies. 

1940

The Blitz Extinguished.  The Luftwaffe launched two major daylight attacks along the river Thames, targeting the docks and railway communications, causing extensive damage. The German strategy for air superiority was hinged on their expectation that by targeting the London docks, the RAF would be lured to defend the area, and be destroyed by German fighter planes. But the tide of war changed - RAF fighter planes succeeded in shooting down 56 German fighters, representing about 18 per cent of enemy bombers. The Germans attempted to switch to night-time bombing, but could not gain air superiority.  By September 19, 1940, Hitler realized his defeat, and cancelled his plans for Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Britain. Despite this defeat, German planes continued sporadic attacks on London and other British cities until 1941.  However, the allies won the Battle of Britain.

1944

Warsaw Uprising:  Polish units from the eastern shore of the Vistula river attempted several more landings. From September 15 to 23, 1944, Polish insurgents suffered very heavy casualties in this operation, during which all their landing boats and military equipment were destroyed under German machine gun fire.  The promised assistance of the Red Army support was minimal to non-existent.  When the 1st Polish Army failed to link up with the Polish resistance, the Soviets responded with a marked reduction in artillery and air support.  At this juncture, Soviet supreme command relieved Polish General Berling from his duties, a decision which impeded an already beleagured Polish army. Moreover, Soviet plans were to postpone further landings "for at least 4 months".  Of about 900 Polish fighters who reached the other side of the shore only a handful made it back to the eastern shore of the Vistula.  Polish casualties were 5,660 (killed, missing or wounded)

SEPTEMBER 14 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 14

1939

Polish Abandoned Przemyśl.   The Battle of Przemysl was fought by Polish forces attempting to defend the town of Przemysl from German attacks. The Luftwaffe targeted the important military garrison repeatedly since the start of hostilities. By September 9th, an evacuation of the towns civil servants and para-military was ordered, but proceeded in a state of chaos as thousands more refugees, civilians as well as Polish soldiers, poured into the area while trying to escape from the western part of Poland.  On September 11, German 2nd Panzer Division reached the area of Przemyśl, in hot pursuit behind the Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade. Meanwhile the 4th Light Division attempted to capture the city by surprise but were repelled by ferocious Polish artillery fire. Despite this success, the military situation for the Poles began to worsen as motorized German units captured Dobromil, and were approaching Przemysl but failed to seize the city. On September 14, the Polish troops consisted of seven infantry battalions, a company of engineers, and six platoons of artillery, numbering several thousand soldiers altogether.  German forces consisted of 7th Infantry Division, and elements of 44th and 45th Infantry Divisions.  The Germans advanced towards the city and attempted to capture it in a frontal attack, but were again repelled by Polish machine gun and artillery fire power.  The main fighting took place in the village of Kruhel Maly, in the district of Przemysl but the Poles launched a counterattack with bayonets, and by evening the situation was under control. The German attacks in the northern area, also failed.  By the evening, Colonel J. Matuszek received an order from General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, commanding him to abandon Przemysl and advance eastwards to Lwow.  Polish units began blowing up bridges as they retreated towards Mosciska.  The next day the Germans entered Przemysl.


First U-Boat Sunk by Allies. On September 14, 1939, just 27 days after the German submarine U-39 began its first patrol it spotted the Ark Royal, a British aircraft carrier at Rockall Bank, northwest of Scotland, and attempted to sink her by firing two torpedoes.  The crew of the Ark Royal spotted the torpedo tracks and the Royal made a turn, reducing her cross-section, and avoided the torpedoes, which fired short of their target.  Immediately afterwards, three British destroyers, the HMS Faulknor, the Firedrake, and the Foxhound, pursed the U-39 and all three destroyers launched depth charges until the U-39 surfaced.  All crew were rescued and taken ashore in Scotland where they were interned in POW camps for the remainder of the war, and in the Tower of London. They were later sent to Canada.

1944

Polish and Soviet forces occupied Warsaw’s eastern bank. From the outset of the Warsaw Uprising, the Poles established control of much of central Warsaw, amid an overpowering German onslaught. Soviet troops did not advance past the city outer limits, and refrained from maintaining radio contact with the Polish insurgents.  The Poles fought alone. On September 13, the Germans had destroyed the remaining bridges over the Vistula, which indicated that they were abandoning all their positions east of the river. In the Praga area, Polish units under the command of General Zygmunt Berling fought on the Soviet side. On the night of September 14/15, three patrols of his First Polish Army landed in the Czerniaków and Powiśle areas of Warsaw and linked up with Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army forces).  Soviet troops provided artillery cover and air support as Polish units were crossing the river, but it was insufficient to counter ferocious German machine gun fire. As a result, the Polish landing troops sustained very heavy casualties during the crossing. Only 1,200 Polish men made it ashore from the I and III battalions of 9th infantry regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.  The 1st Polish Army was the only external land force to support to Warsaw Uprising.  The absence of sufficient Soviet assistance led to suspicions that Stalin's objective may have been to assure Polish defeat.  Incidentally, the Soviet air base was within five minutes flying time, which gave the Soviets ample opportunity and time to increase the number of sorties. 

SEPTEMBER 7 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 7

1939

Saar Offensive marked the start of the Phoney War:  In accordance with the Franco-Polish military alliance (dated 1921), the French military came to the assistance of Poland since Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The French deployed numerous artillery, armored and mechanised divisions along Germany's western front, which was under-defended at the time. French forces enjoyed a military numerical advantage, albeit temporarily. French troops were able to capture about a dozen German towns virtually unopposed (including Gersheim, Medelsheim, Ihn, Niedergailbach, and Bliesmengen) By September 9, the French captured the Warndt Forest, but they stopped just short of the Siegfried Line, when they encountered an area of the Forest that was heavily mined by the Germans. Though French troops occupied German territory along all of the Rhine-Moselle front, French General Gamelin, on September 21, ordered all French troops to return to their initial positions along the Maginot Line. The decision was unusual - Henri Giraud, among other French generals criticized the move as a wasted opportunity. In any event, French efforts at "assisting" Polish forces was vastly insufficient. This was the beginning of the Phoney War.


Nazi German Reinhard Heydrich stated that all Polish nobles, clergy and Jews were to be killed.  Heydrich quickly rose the ranks of the Nazi Party and became one the highest ranking officers. He was among the main proponents for the Final Solution and chaired the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which deliberated on their objective of deportation and extermination of of all Jews in German-occupied Europe.  The Nazis murdered 6 million Poles (Jews as well as Christians) and several millions more of European Jewry, and other nationalities. He assisted in organizing Kristallnacht, which consisted of a nation-wide systematic attack on German Jews, and the suppression of all opposition to the Nazi regime.  Hitler had described Heydrich as the "man with iron heart".  (In May 1942 Czech resistance fighters ambushed Heydrich and attempted to assassinate him. He survived but died of his wounds a week later).


Polish Fighters at Westerplatte Surrendered:  At 4:30am on September 7, 1939 the Germans launched a barrage of fire power on Westerplatte that lasted for more than two hours, destroying Guardhouse 2 with flamethrowers, damaging 1 and 4.  After seven days of fierce fighting, the besieged Polish garrison could not hold out any longer,  Lacking sufficient water, and medical supplies,  Captain Mieczyslaw Slaby, WST medical officer could not tend to the wounded soldiers and surrender was the only option. At 9:45am the white flag appeared. Polish Commander Sucharski surrendered his troops and was arrested by the Germans. At the same time, the Germans arrested Kazimerz Rasinski, the wireless operator, and interrogated him, brutally torturing him. He was executed when he refused to hand over the Polish radio codes. The Polish forces numbered only 209 soldiers, yet they managed to hold off 3,400 German soldiers and policemen,  the Battleship Schleswig-Holstein,  2 torpedo boats and 60 German bombers. The Battle of Westerplatte lasted for seven days.


Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły relocated the Polish Army headquarters from Warsaw to Brest-Litovsk.  When Warsaw came under attack, Marshal Rydz-Smigly evacuated from the capital city, along with much of the Polish government.  Consequently,  efforts at coordinating and commanding troops became more difficult due to the communication problems.  Relocated in Brest the Marshal ordered that Warsaw be defended at all costs, and awaited the counterattack promised by Britain and France. Unfortunately, it was not known at the time that the Western Allies had no intention of extending the promised military assistance. Poland would be betrayed.


Nazi German Plan for the Destruction of the Polish people.  The following is a brief excerpt from the minutes of the first conference of Nazi police officers and commanders led by Nazi German Werner Best (Heydrich's deputy). ".....No government protectorate is anticipated for Poland, but a complete German administration. (...) Leadership layer of the population in Poland should be as far as possible, disposed of. The other lower layers of the population will receive no special schools, but are to be oppressed in some form......" Berlin. September 7, 1939

1940

The Blitz.   The Nazis launched a series of massive air attacks, code-named Operation London, which targeted the city of London and its port.  A total of 348 bombers and 617 fighters of the German Luftwaffe  took part in the attack which damaged about 107,000 gross tons of shipping in the Thames, with heavy civilian casualties killed and injured. Operation Sea Snake was also launched targeting London and other industrial cities.  For the next 57 nights, the Luftwaffe systematically bombed London.  Daylight fighting was very intense resulting in the loss of German warplanes among which were 41 aircraft, 14 bombers, 16 Messerschmitt Bf 109s, 7 Messerschmitt Bf 110s and 4 reconnaissance planes. The RAF lost 23 fighters, with six pilots killed and another seven wounded. Though the Luftwaffe attempted to gain air superiority, they were ultimately defeated.  The Battle of Britain lasted for eight months and five days, and ended with a decisive Allied Victory on Oct 31, 1940.  Much of the credit for the victory was due to the participation of Polish fighter squadrons, in particular the 303 Polish "Kosciuszko" Squadron, which scored the highest kill rate of any RAF allied squadron. These Polish aces were wildly celebrated and praised as heroes, by the British people.

1942

Gross Aktion Warsaw:  In a period of two days, Nazis slaughtered more than 1,000 Jews in the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto. By September 21st, 48,000 Warsaw Jews were deported to the extermination camps, and the final transport, consisting of 2,196 people, many of them families, were deported to Treblinka. Many of the remaining Jews organized a resistance in April 1943 (Warsaw Ghetto Uprising) and were assisted by members of the Polish underground.

1943

Franz Bürkl, an SS-Oberscharführer, Gestapo officer and commandant of Pawiak  was assassinated in a plot called Operation Heads (Glowki). It  was the code name used by the Polish Resistance to conduct a series of assassinations of Nazi German officers.  Those targeted for assassination had been sentenced to death by the Special Courts of the Polish Underground for crimes against Polish citizens during the World War II occupation of Poland. The name of the operation, "Operation Heads" was a sarcastic reference to the Totenkopf (Gr. 'skull') 'Death's Head' symbol of SS Nazi German uniforms and headgear. 

1944

Polish Break Off Negotiations:   Since the Warsaw Uprising broke out on August 1, 1944, it became clear to the Germans (and the Poles) that the Soviet army was unlikely to intervene.  The Poles were greatly outnumbered in troops and equipment, and had suffered enormous casualties. On September 7, 1944 German General Rohr made a proposition for negotiations which was accepted by Polish General Tadeusz "Bor" Komorowski.  From September 8 to September 9, about 20,000 Polish civilians were evacuated, as was agreed by both sides.   Rohr promised to recognize the right of the Polish insurgents to be treated as military combatants, as per the Geneva Convention.  But on September 11th, the Poles stopped negotiations when they received news that the Soviets were advancing through the Praga district, albeit slowly. Several days later, with the arrival of the 1st Polish Army, the Uprising regained its momentum, and the Poles broke off negotiations completely.

SEPTEMBER 2 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 2

1939

Raid on Fraustadt:  Polish General Roman Abraham, commander of the Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade. He ordered a raid on the town of Fraustadt, located in the province of Silesia (now Wschowa),in the Free State of Prussia. At 2:00 pm the raid was launched by the 55th Poznan Infrantry Regiment unit commanded by Colonel Waclaw Wiecierzynski.  The Poles attacked a border guard post, capturing a large cache of weapons which they seized. Soon after Polish cannons opened fire on Geyersdorf, followed by the advance of Polish TKS tankettes supported by machine gun fire. By 4:00pm the Poles had captured the city and proceeded to Fraustadt   By nightfall, the Poles were 8 kilometers into German territory, when General Abraham ordered all Polish troops to return to Leszno.  Despite Polish efforts, this raid did not alter the outcome of the initial border wars during the invasion by the Germans.


Battle of Borowa Góra began. It counted among the Border Battles during the Invasion of Poland, and lasted until September 5, 1939. Polish troops manned their defensive positions during the night of September 2 to 3 in the Gory Borowskie hills (east of the town of  Bełchatów, in Central Poland)  Polish General Thommee ordered Colonel Czyżewski to defend a 25-kilometer line in the area of Rozprza (Lodz Voivodeship) and hold their positions for two days when a Polish counterattack would be launched.  In the evening of September 3, the German 1st Panzer Division attacked Rozprza, in a battle that lasted several hours, but retreated under heavy fire from the Polish 3rd Battalion. The next morning the German 1st Panzer, joined by the 4th Panzer Divison, under cover from the Luftwaffe, launched another attack against the Polish stronghold which resulted in a Polish retreat. The battle ended in a German victory on September 6. German casualties were 650 killed, 550 wounded, and the Poles suffered 663 casualties.


The Nazi Germans established Stutthof concentration camp near the former territory of Danzig. It was the first Nazi German camp outside of Germany during World War Two and was initially used for the imprisonment of the Polish intelligentsia.  The first prisoners were 150 Polish citizens who were rounded up from the streets of Danzig. A total of 100,000 inmates were imprisoned there during the course of the war, but the number was certainly higher (since many of the people exterminated where never registered by the Nazis.) Prisoners were used as forced laborers in SS-owned businesses, in local brickyards, private industrial enterprises, in agriculture, and mostly in the heavily guarded armaments factories. Over the years, the camp barracks were expanded to imprison thousands more inmates, mostly Jews. Living conditions in the camp were brutal. By 1942, many prisoners died in typhus epidemics.  Those who were too weak or sick to work, were selected by the SS for extermination in the camp's small gas chamber.

1944

Warsaw Uprising:  Polish insurgents courageously fought against the Nazi onslaught and held onto the Old Town since the Uprising began on August 1st, 1944.  From the end of August until September 2, 1944,  members of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, or AK) evacuated Warsaw's Old City district;  about 2,000 Polish insurgents escaped during successive nights by descending beneath the city through street manholes,and travelled through miles of interconnected underground networks. It was a major source of communications between different parts of the Uprising.  Thousands of Poles were evacuated in this way. But once the Nazi Germans regained control of the district, many Poles were captured and either shot or transported to concentration camps such as Mauthausen and Sachsenhausen.

AUGUST 31 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

AUGUST 31

1939

On the night of August 30-31, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop read a 16-point German proposal to the British ambassador. When the ambassador requested a copy of the proposals for transmission to the Polish Government in Exile, Ribbentrop refused, on the grounds that the requested Polish representative had failed to arrive by midnight. Later on August 31, Polish Ambassador Lipski went to see Ribbentrop  to confirm that Poland was willing to enter negotiations, but that he did not have the full power to sign, Ribbentrop summarily dismissed him. Germany then broadcast that Poland had rejected Germany's "offer" for negotiations, and talks came to an abrupt end. Hitler issued orders for the invasion of Poland the next day.


Hitler issued Directive No. 1, ordering an attack on Poland to begin September 1: He declared  "Since the situation on Germany's Eastern frontier has become intolerable and all political possibilities of peaceful settlement have been exhausted, I have decided upon a solution by force.  The attack on Poland will be undertaken in accordance with the preparations made for 'Case White', with such variations as may be necessitated by the build-up of the Army which is now virtually complete.  The allocation of tanks and the purpose of the operation remain unchanged.  Date of attack 1st September 1939.   This time also applies to operations at Gdynia, in the Bay of Danzig, and at the Dirschau bridge..... "


Nazi Propaganda at Gleiwitz: Sturmbanfuehrer Alfred Naujocks of the SD led a party of German convicts dressed in Polish uniforms, staging a fake attack on the German radio station at Gleiwitz. The so-called "raiders" burst into the studios, broadcast a patriotic announcement in Polish, fired a few shots and left. Once outside the convicts were executed by the SS and their bodies left there for the local police to find.  Within hours, other German radio stations broadcast the news of the "unprovoked attack on the Reich and falsely accused the Polish Army of the attack. The incident was staged by the Nazis as a pretext for invading Poland. In his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials, Naujocks stated that he organized the incident under orders from Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Muller, chief of the Gestapo.

1940

Polish fought in the Battle of Britain:   The No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron was formed on August 1, 1940 and became operational on August 31, 1940.  The 303 was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the British Royal Air Force (RAF). The PAF in Britain consisted of about 8,000 Polish airmen. The Polish pilots were among the aces in the Battle of Britain, and gained enormous prestige in their valor and skill in aerial combat. Their experience and skill was superior to that of the British pilots, as the Poles were constantly "scanning the skies" for enemy aircraft, and relied on their own quick instincts in battle.  Not only did they hold the highest scores of the Hurricane squadrons during the Battle of Britain, but they achieved the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed and damaged. The Kosciszko squadron was named after General Tadeusz Kosciuszko,  the Polish and United States hero, (who fought in the American War of Independence) and the Polish 7th Air Escadrille founded by Merian C. Cooper, that served Poland in the 1919–1921 Polish-Soviet War.  Sir Archibald Sinclair,  British Air Minister sent a letter to the Polish airmen after WWII, in which he said, "... Our shortage of trained pilots would have made it impossible to defeat the German air force and so win the Battle of Britain if the...airmen of Poland had not leapt into the breach.......[We] do not forget that you were the first to resist the aggressor....neither do...[we] forget that you came after manifold trials to our aid when we most needed your help.  Your valiant squadrons fighting alongside our own were in the forefront in the Battle of Britain and so helped to restore the fortunes of the Allies throughout the years of struggle.  In good times and bad you have stood by us and shared with the RAF their losses and their victories......"

1944

Polish Insurgents Escaped Through Sewers:  Since the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising, Polish insurgents relied heavily on Warsaw's extensive network of sewers as a vital link of communication, and transport between Polish units throughout the city center.  By the end of August, the sewers were used by Polish Home Army soldiers and Polish citizens in an emergency evacuation to flee the increasing German onslaught. The most successful evacuation was of over 5,000 Polish soldiers and citizens from the Old Town district to the City Center and Zoliborz areas. It was only by the end of August that Germans discovered the sewer network and  attempted to destroy the operation by pouring gasoline into the sewers and igniting it, or laying mines and building obstacles.  Despite the horrific dangers, the Poles continued the evacuation until the end of September.

1980

Gdansk Agreement:  The agreement was the direct result of the 21 demands of the Interfactory Strike Committee (MKS),  resulting from the Gdansk strikes.  With wide support of other striking groups, and the citizens, the communist-controlled Polish government finally gave in to their demands. This ushered in democratic changes within a communist political system.  Among their demands were the formation of independent trade unions,  the right to strike, economic decentralisation, freedom of speech and of the press, fair workers compensation and working conditions, among others.  These developments led to the creation and rise of Solidarność (Solidarity), the independent trade union that emerged from the Lenin Shipyard strike, led by Lech Walesa.  It achieved unparalleled power and success of over 10 million Poles across the country.  Solidarosc negotiated for Poland's interests, and led the way to a free, and independent Poland again. (see August 17, 1980)

1982

Solidarity National Wide Demonstrations:  Solidarnosc, organized anti-government street demonstrations to commemorate the second anniversary of the Gdańsk Agreement. The bloodiest protest occurred in southwestern Poland, in the town of Lubin in which three protesters were killed by Communists and an unspecified number of wounded. On the same day, rallies and demonstrations took place in 66 cities across the country.  Street fights were a common sight not only in major urban centers, such as Warsaw, Kraków, Szczecin, Wrocław, Łódź, and Gdańsk, but also in provincial cities (Rzeszów, Koszalin, Kielce, Przemyśl, Częstochowa, Bielsko-Biała, Gorzów Wielkopolski), and towns (Starachowice, Lubin, Konin). In Wrocław, which was one of main centers of underground Solidarity, several thousand people fought against riot police and soldiers for many hours.  One demonstrator, 27-year-old Kazimierz Michałczyk, was killed by a bullet.   Other victims of police brutality were: 32-year-old Piotr Sadowski from Gdańsk, Mieczysław Joniec from Nowa Huta, and Jacek Osmański from Toruń. Stanisław Raczek was severely beaten during a protest in Kielce, and died on September 7. He was 35.

AUGUST 14 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

AUGUST 14

1941

Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to die in place of another prisoner in Auschwitz:  Kolbe and several other priests of the monastery organized a temporary hospital, where they provided shelter and assistance to Jews fleeing from Nazi persecution. He hid 2,000 in their friary in Niepokalanów.  The Nazis permitted him to continue publishing religious material, but he secretly issued a number of anti-Nazi German publications. On February 17, 1941, the Nazis shut down the monastery and arrested Kolbe and four others, sending them to Pawiak prison. On May 28, Kolbe was transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner #16670.  When a prisoner escaped from the camp, the Nazis selected ten others to be killed in reprisal. One of them was Franciszek Gajowniczek, who broke down in despair and weeping, " My wife! My children! I will never see them again!" Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and asked to die in his place. His request was granted ... (PS: After the Germans invaded Poland, Kolbe was arrested and briefly detained by the Gestapo. Kolbe refused to sign the Deutsche Volksliste, which would have given him rights similar to those of German citizens in exchange for recognizing his German ancestry. His father was an ethnic German.)

1944

Operation Tractable, the final phase of the Allied offensive began on August 14, 1944. It was conducted by the 1st Canadian Army and the 1st Armored Polish Division against Army Group B of the Wehrmacht. Their objective was to capture the strategically important French towns of Falaise, and smaller towns of Trun and Chambois  The Polish Division, under the command of General Brygady Stanislaw Maczek in their drive for Chambois, enabled the Falaise Gap to be partially closed by Aug 19, 1944 thus trapping about 150,000 German soldiers in the Falaise Pocket.  Attacks and counter-attacks continued on Hill 262 between the 1st Polish Armoured Division and the II SS Panzer Corp.  Despite the fact that the Gap was narrowed to a distance of only several hundred yards, thousands of German troops were able to escape. For two days of nearly continuous fighting, Polish forces using artillery barrages and close-quarter fighting, managed to hold off seven German divisions. On August 21, elements of the First Canadian Army relieved the Polish survivors and sealed the Falaise Pocket by linking up with the Third US Army. This led to the surrender and capture of the remaining units of the German 7th Army in the pocket.


President Roosevelt sent Stalin a request for US landing facilities in Russia in order to transport supplies to the Poles during the Warsaw Uprising.  The Soviets bluntly replied that they did not object to the British and American supply mission, however they would be refused landing facilities once they had completed the mission over Warsaw.  In the following three weeks both Churchill and Roosevelt engaged in negotiations with Stalin, and finally on September 9, 1944 Stalin sent a message to the British Ambassador in Moscow, stating that the Soviet Union would not take responsibility for what was happening in Warsaw, but that they would begin their own air supply missions, and give American and British planes landing rights according to pre-determined arrangements.

1980

The Rise of Solidarity:  16, 000 workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, marking the beginning of the Solidarity movement (Note: The strike was organized by the Free Trade Unions of the Coast, led by electrician Lech Wałęsa. He was a former shipyard worker who had been dismissed in 1976. The strike committee demanded the rehiring of Walentynowicz and Wałęsa, as well as respect for workers' rights among other issues. Moreover, they demanded that a monument be raised in memory of the shipyard workers who were killed in 1970, and for the legalization of independent trade unions. The Polish government tried to impose censorship by blocking all phone connections between the coast and inland regions. The communist media barely mentioned the strike except to indicate some "sporadic labor disturbances in Gdańsk".  Regardless, the democratic ideals of the emerging Solidarity movement spread rapidly through Radio Free Europe broadcasts, mass circulation of a series of samizdats, including Robotnik (The Worker), and spreading the word through the grapevine.