Giving my talk to the Leamington History Group enabled me to share some of my historical research into “No Going Back.” The book’s protagonist, Marta, was my mother, who visited Germany in 1937 or 1938.
She told me it was self-evident, even to a tourist, that Germany was preparing for war.
Now, nobody in their right mind looks forward to war, but I think it’s probably fair to say that most Polish civilians regarded the prospect of war with Germany with great trepidation, yes, but not perhaps with outright fear.
Germany was an ancient foe, but German officers generally behaved decently during previous occupations. For example, they respected – by and large – private property.
Furthermore, the Poles likely expected this to be a conventional war against the Polish government and its military forces.
How wrong they were.
From the moment the Nazis invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939, they set in motion their policy of systematic terror, enslavement, and extermination of civilians on an unprecedented scale.
They were, quite simply, intent on destroying the Polish nation.
To the Nazis, with all their racial theories, the Poles were Untermenschen or subhumans who occupied land that was part of the Lebensraum or living space coveted by the superior German race.
Hitler made clear his intentions even before the invasion. On August 22nd, 1939, he authorized the killing, and I quote, “without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need.”
There are plenty of similar quotes by Hitler and by other leading Nazis.
In the Blitzkrieg, the Luftwaffe went out of its way to bomb and strafe civilians. They dropped bombs on workers in the fields, on houses, on hospitals, on railway stations already crowded with refugees, as well as on military targets.
With recent wars in Ukraine and Syria, to name but two, this sounds almost normal, to be expected, but in 1939, it was genuinely shocking.
Those of you who watched the television series “World on Fire” will remember a scene that exemplifies what it must have felt like to be a civilian in Poland: a German soldier bursts into an apartment, and the mother inside remonstrates with him. His response is to point his gun at her and shoot her in the head.
I plan to return to this subject in another blog. In the meantime, anyone interested in joining the Leamington History Group or finding out more information about their many and varied activities can look on their website or contact secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk