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September 1: Blitzkrieg
Nazi Germany invaded Poland on this date in 1939, triggering World War II and setting in motion the genocide of Europe’s Jews. Close to two thirds of Poland’s 3.5 million Jews would fall into Nazi hands, while a third came under the rule (and relative protection) of the Soviet Red Army, which invaded Poland from the east on September 17. Hundreds of concentration camps would be built in Poland by the Nazis, and alongside Poland’s Jews, close to three million Polish gentiles would be killed in the course of the war. An additional million or more Polish citizens would be deported by the USSR, many to forced labor camps in Siberia. “Defenseless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages . . .” —W.H. Auden, “September 1, 1939”
Watch newsreel footage of the September 1 1939 invasion of Poland:
