BBC drama World on Fire charts the first year of World War 2 from French, German, British, Polish and American viewpoints. The opening episode saw the Nazis preparing to take over Europe with German soldiers spotted close to the Polish border. By the ending of the first instalment, the Germans invaded Poland and the rest of Europe reeling from the attack.
When did the Nazis invade Poland?
The Nazis invaded Poland between September 1, 1939 and October 6. 1939, sparking World War 2.
The invasion occurred from northern Poland with troops coming in by land and air.
The German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired on fired on the Polish garrison Westerplatte Fort, Danzig (which is now modern-day Gdańsk).
At the same time, 62 German divisions and 1,300 aircraft supported this invasion.
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The invasion of Poland was thought to be a gamble on Adolf Hitler’s part with the German army – called the Wehrmacht – not yet up to its full strength and the economy still weak.
Despite concerns from Hitler’s generals, he went ahead with the invasion and the risk seemed to pay off.
Just like TV series World on Fire suggests, the Polish army was facing a losing battle without tanks and antiaircraft guns.
This Nazi “blitzkrieg” or “lightning war” strategy on Poland seemed to work with the attack taking place at an alarming speed.
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According to Hitler, the attack was in retaliation to Polish belligerence.
In an address to the Reichstag, of which the Yale Law School has a transcript, Hitler said: “For the first time Polish regular soldiers fired on our own territory.
“Since 5:45 a.m. we have been returning the fire, and from now on bombs will be met with bombs.”
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What happened to Poland during Nazi occupation?
Poland was in a dire situation during the war with the German occupation starting in 1939 with the invasion and going on to last five years.
War crimes by German soldiers against civilians were committed from the outset including rape and genocide, according to Spiegel Online.
These crimes were uncovered by historian Sönke Neitzel and psychologist Harald Welzer, who went through 150,000 pages of transcripts from covert recordings of German soldiers.
They published their findings in the book Soldaten (Soldiers), which features officers speaking with unguarded candour about their actions during the conflict.
Life was terrible for civilians living under the Nazis, however, for Jewish people and others determined to be “Untermenschen” or sub-human it was a death sentence.
The Nazis put into action the Final Solution and the extermination of Jewish people with six million people murdered under the horrific policies of the Third Reich.
The most barbaric of this was the building of the extermination camp Auschwitz in Poland where millions from across Europe were sent to their deaths in the gas chambers.
Auschwitz was liberated in 1945 but not before the SS blew up crematoria II and III and burnt documents.
The German occupation of Poland came to an end in 1945 once the Nazis were defeated by the Allies.
World on Fire airs on BBC One on Sundays at 9pm