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Modern History XIX - XX

On the Wrong Site of the Frontline

This is the third article devoted to World War II in Poland for a series started in the September edition on the anniversary of the war. Read the first article Long Shadows of War - Poland and World War II . This is also a first part of mu Uncle Franek memoirs.

As I already pointed out in the previous article, the majority of Poles in the regions annexed to Germany during World War II, especially in Upper Silesia, were treated like second-class German citizens. The whole Silesian population was divided into four categories - the first two included people who were members of German political, cultural or sport organizations or had pure German blood. The third category, so-called "volksdeutch" (folk Germans or country Germans) were people of mixed blood and mixed culture who spoke either German or Silesian at home. The Silesian language is just a Polish dialect, mixed with some German and Czech words. These people, according to Nazi standards, were not completely germanized but had lived in the region of Silesia for generations. Originally, there was an idea that all of these people should be sent to the Reich in order to germanize them, but this task was simply impossible since there were so many people who would need "germanization." They therefore received temporary German citizenship for a period of ten years. Commonly, people who belonged to this group had all the duties of the first and the second categories: they were required to send their men to Wehrmacht, but they were denied the special privileges of the two higher class.

Read more: On the Wrong Site of the Frontline

 

Solving The Myth: Polish Cavalry Charge Against German Tanks.

A Clash at Krojanty

In the early morning hours of September 1, 1939, military forces of Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Later that day, events unfolded that would lead to one of the most fanciful and enduring legends of World War II.

The Polish 4th Army, or Army Pomorze, had been placed in the Pomeranian area known as the Polish Corridor to prevent Hitler from taking this northwest section of Poland unopposed as he had done in the Czech Sudetenland a year earlier. However, since a full-blown war had broken out, the Army Pomorze was in the process of withdrawing while continuing to oppose the German advance.

By late afternoon of that first day, the German 20th Motorized Infantry Division was approaching the city of Chojnice, in the Tuchola Forest, about 165 miles northwest of Warsaw, and it was threatening a key railroad junction in the village of Krojanty about four miles northeast of Chojnice. Army Pomorse forces in this area consisted primarily of the 18th Lancer Regiment of the Pomorska Cavalry Brigade, commanded by Colonel Kazimierz Mastelarz.

Read more: Solving The Myth: Polish Cavalry Charge Against German Tanks.

   

Polish Aviation History

commemorative stampThe first successful airplane was invented and flown by the Wright Brothers in 1903. But many nations and cultures dreamed of and experimented with human flight long before that. One of those was Poland. An Italian who became a Polish citizen named Burattini experimented with a muscle powered winged craft in the mid-seventeenth century and apparently was able to become airborne.

The first manned balloon flight occurred in 1783. In 1789 Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first balloon flight in Poland, a 45 minute flight over Warsaw and across the Wisła. A year later Jan Potocki became the first Pole to fly in a balloon, over Warsaw, with his Turkish servant and Blanchard. Three years after that Blanchard made the first balloon flight in America in the presence of President George Washington.

Read more: Polish Aviation History

   

Memories of September 1939

Part I

On the first of September of 1939, the sky above Warsaw was unexpectedly filled with hostile military aircraft. Without declaring war, Germany crossed the border into Poland. Units of the German Air force, fighters and light bombers were prowling about Poland, nearing the capital.

I was returning by bus that day from Swider, a summer vacation spot. Going by Anin, I saw by the road a bombed out house and a dead white horse. That horse was the first casualty of the war that I was to see.

Read more: Memories of September 1939

   

Trip from the French Front Home, Part II - From the Memoirs of Franek Gwiozdzik

This is the continuation of the memoirs of Franciszek Gwiozdzik, who served as all Silesians had to serve, in the Wehrmacht during World War II. Franek is on the way to get to Packau, Germany, from France. Since nobody knew where Packau is, he decided to get there indirectly and stop by his family home in Katowice, Silesia.

Read more: Trip from the French Front Home, Part II - From the Memoirs of Franek Gwiozdzik

   

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