Start of War in Poland

Germany and Russia, in spite of having agreements to preserve the present borders of Poland for some years yet, got together and decided to divide Poland between them. Germany was to take over the western half and Russia the Eastern. Half of Poland was to be included in the Germany of the Third Reich and the other half was to be a satellite state occupied and administered by Germany. The German occupation included Krakow and the Polish nationals were extremely oppressed. Germany's intention was to create a race of second class citizens and the Poles were to be denied education and become the slaves of their oppressors. "It will be my task to remove every manifestation of polonism within the next few years..."said Gauleiter Forster at Bydgoszcz on 27th November 1939. "Not an inch of land we have conquered will ever belong to a Pole again. Poles can work for us, but not as rulers, only as serfs." declared Gauleiter Greiser at Gniezno a year later. Dr. Robert Ley, Hitler's close collaborator stated quite clearly "A lower race needs less space, less nourishment and less culture than a higher race." More then six million people died as a result of the war, but only one tenth of that number because of the hostilities - the rest were tortured and/or killed by the Nazi's to satisfy their ideals.

The Polish army were powerless, and disorganised and no match for the German invaders but they had not surrendered. The authorities were well aware that Germany was preparing for war but did not want to start mobilisation of troops for fear of accelerating action. They wanted to give no excuse for the Germans to start their action. In the event, the Germans needed no such excuse. The mobilisation of the Polish army when it came was unplanned, uncoordinated and chaotic. Men were being called up, going to railway stations with no idea of where they were heading. Nor was there anyone there to tell them. The German army advanced through Poland finding only pockets of resistance, which were soon crushed. The Polish forces eventually had to retreat after putting up a brave fight to try and save their capital city of Warsaw. Many fled to Romania and Hungary where they began reforming, some disappeared, many discarded uniforms and weapons and went into hiding. Others joined the underground movements, re-arming and waiting their opportunity.

One of the first things that happened when it was apparent that the Germans would soon occupy the city was the destruction by the Polish nationals of machinery in the factories. This was done to make sure that the invaders could not make use of any manufacturing process. The shops were also looted and left empty of produce. There were free for all situations with the weak unable to purchase the necessities to keep them alive. There was no work as the factories and shops had closed down and residents wandered about the city unsure of what to do and where to go. Even the Gas Works where my father worked was closed down for a short while. Living conditions in the interim period between the knowledge that the Germans were coming and their eventual arrival was made extremely difficult because of the mentality and stupidity of some of the Polish inhabitants who denuded the city of all its foodstuffs and produce to the detriment, not of the Germans, but of the local inhabitants. Much of this looting was carried out, no doubt, for personal gain under the guise of civilian war tactics.

One little light shone in my darkness. I heard that the hated Father Willebrand had been shot as a German informer by the Polish military. I felt that my judgement of him as anti-Polish during my schooling in Silesia had been totally justified. I shed no tears over his demise. He had got his just desserts.

Life under German occupation was far from easy for the ordinary citizens. It did at least bring about some stability out of the chaos. Essential services were restored. My father returned to work but for new masters - the German administration. Poles had to register in order to get ration cards for food (if there was any food to be had). When bread was expected in the shops we would have to queue for hours often to find that a German lorry came along and commandeered all the stock leaving nothing for the expectant queue. The Germans would take whatever food they wanted and anything that was left was good enough for the Polish people. All firearms had to be surrendered. Anyone found with any weapon was liable to be shot or despatched to a concentration camp. Money was valueless as the Germans introduced their own currency. It was their intention to issue a new kind of currency based on both German and Polish coinage but this was never carried out. No one wanted money. Everyone was afraid of exchanging goods for money, as no one knew when the current coinage would become obsolete. The exchange rate became goods and services.

I managed to exchange my old clapped out motorbike for two sacks of flour and a pair of leather boots. This was a marvellous deal as far as I was concerned. The motorbike was no good without petrol and my mother had flour enough to bake bread for some time to come. I was released from the inevitable and often unrewarding queuing.

Cousin Alfons made the most of the situation. There was now more money to be made from black market and smuggled goods and he made it.

There was no restriction of movement within the country, but if you were on a train the occupying forces would question where you were going and for what purpose. Poles were only allowed to travel third class, the first and second-class compartments being reserved for the Germans. There was no petrol available for ordinary citizens as it was all requisitioned by the occupying forces. Rail became the main form of travel and it was easy for the Germans to question ordinary citizens as to their business.

Schools, colleges and the University were all taken over by the Germans for their own countrymen's use. All the Polish intellectuals were either killed or sent to labour camps. Houses were often searched under the pretext of looking for arms, but I suspect more for a showing of strength. The newspapers were all taken over and all the articles printed in them were biased towards the occupying country. Notices were often posted informing the people of various orders and certain buildings and areas were labelled "Germans only". As often as possible the Polish people pulled down these notices, but this had to be done undercover as anyone found doing so would have been shot. The whole atmosphere was of fear and hatred of the Germans. The only people who were hated more were the Polish people who collaborated with the Germans.

There were various uniforms displayed by the occupying forces - the SS (Gestapo), the Tank Regiments, and the Wehrmacht. The uniforms themselves did not strike fear into the citizens. It was the face and bearing of the wearer that did this. The German soldiers must have been well trained in visually portraying superiority with their unsympathetic and unyielding expressions which drove us to pass them by unnoticed whenever possible.

One day I was walking along the pavement minding my own business when I saw coming towards me two German soldiers. As I was about to pass them by, one of them knocked me into the gutter with his rifle butt. There was nothing I could do about this. If I had retaliated I would have been shot. I had to stifle my anger and walk away with his laughter ringing menacingly in my ears. It was extremely dangerous to be anywhere in the city especially if there were large German movements. This usually meant that an area would be sealed off and all the inhabitants rounded up and either killed or taken away to concentration camps. It was even more dangerous if you were in a Jewish area when the round-ups were carried out.

The Jews, who were the main sect of people singled out by the Germans out of pure hatred, were systematically herded into one area of the town. They were then rounded up, put into lorries and despatched to Concentration camps. My Aunty Anna, who worked for Jewish families, although not of the Jewish faith was also included as a Jewish sympathiser. She was taken to Auschwitz.

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