Episode 15-The fall of Poland.

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[9] Hello, and thank you for listening to a History of World War II podcast, episode 15, The Fall of Poland.

[10] So I wanted to thank everybody for the comments that you've been putting on iTunes and the feedback.

[11] I really appreciate it.

[12] I especially want to thank Ann W. from Illinois, who sent me an email also for her support as well.

[13] There's a book I was eyeing on Amazon about the Battle of Britain, and because of her contribution, I was able to get that book finally.

[14] So thank you very much, Ann.

[15] On the last episode, we'd gotten to the point where Hitler had called off the attack against Poland about 7 .30 on August 25th.

[16] It was supposed to be launched on 4 .45 the next day, the next morning.

[17] But two letters that he received that day, one from Mussolini and one from Chamberlain, really rattled his cage, and so he panicked and he stopped the attack.

[18] Honestly, the letter from Mussolini really hurt him personally.

[19] But it was the letter from Chamberlain that brought him up short.

[20] He did not or could not notice the change in Chamberlain and his cabinet and the British government in general about appeasing him or fearing war anymore.

[21] They were certainly afraid, they certainly didn't want war, but they weren't going to let that stop them from stopping this madman.

[22] The British would always be a puzzle to Hitler.

[23] His insecurity in whatever form it played out against this island nation, this tiny body with a mighty heart, to paraphrase Shakespeare, would time and again just drive him crazy, and he would switch back and forth between wanting to destroy them completely and to do anything to have them see Germany as an equal.

[24] Now, the German forces on the Polish border were stomped, as we've said, but their...

[25] Action was noticed.

[26] Fortunately, there had been so much movement going on in the last week, there had been a couple of skirmishes and things like that, that it really wasn't considered anything more than what it was.

[27] But some of the conspirators in Germany, Colonel Oster, Canaris, and Dr. Schatt, who was the interpreter for Hitler, believed that calling off the war, which is what they had thought had happened, would be the end of Hitler.

[28] But they really didn't understand that his hold over the army, the police, the government, and the people was just too complete.

[29] and a hiccup like this was not going to bring him down or he wouldn't walk away or no one would stand up to him.

[30] But again, they were about to find out very soon that the war wasn't called off.

[31] It was just being delayed.

[32] Initially, only he and Gehring were the only ones who knew.

[33] Another conspirator, General Halder, who was in charge of the conspirators the last time during the Munich crisis.

[34] didn't try to stop Hitler because he wanted to attack Poland just as much as Hitler did.

[35] Remember that Poland was very unpopular in Germany.

[36] After the Versailles Treaty, the Polish Corridor, it was seen as an embarrassment, a humiliation to Germany, and they were all pretty much agreed that Poland had to go.

[37] Even General von Witzleben, who was in charge of the Berlin forces, who was instrumental if they had planned anything, if they had done anything against Hitler during the Munich crisis, he was out in the field in the West.

[38] getting ready to lead his troops, so he wasn't in the area to help out with any kind of attempt to stop Hitler.

[39] So, again, a lot of the German generals thought that the stats, you know, the number of their men and the supplies did not support a long war, and there was no way they could win that, but they thought...

[40] that Hitler would somehow find a political way to stop that.

[41] And so they all wanted what he wanted.

[42] They wanted to take Poland, take it quickly, and they knew that the Western powers did not want war, that they wanted peace, so let's take Poland, offer them peace, they'll take it because they're weak, and then we can go on from there, and we can again come close, but avoid a long war.

[43] So the military leaders with their staffs are meeting at Zozin.

[44] which is southeast of Berlin, and they're going to be closer to the front to help organize the combat against Poland.

[45] So since they're in such close proximity to each other, you think maybe there would have been more conversations between the conspirators about what to do, but to be honest, they pretty much passed a few memos around, but that was pretty much it.

[46] They were focused on taking out their enemy, Poland.

[47] Now, for the last couple of days, the U .S. President Roosevelt had been sending Hitler numerous letters asking for Germany and Poland to settle their differences through negotiations.

[48] Hitler and the foreign office stalled.

[49] They gave vague answers because, again, Hitler was just trying to buy time to see if he could separate Britain from Poland and maybe work out another Munich agreement, or at least to get them not to fight when he did take Poland.

[50] So, again, he's just trying to buy time to see what he can do with Britain.

[51] And, again, Pope...

[52] Pius XII has been sending letters as well, sending them to Germany, to Poland, to Britain, to France, and Italy, again, just trying to get someone to step up and start negotiations.

[53] But Hitler very subtly and very brilliantly torpedoed them all.

[54] So it looked like there was a lot of talk and a lot of chance, a lot of hope, but again, nothing really happened because he didn't want it to.

[55] Now, the foreign press had been scrambling to get out of the country on the 25th.

[56] But they saw that nothing had happened yet, so they started coming back.

[57] And they were watching the Wilhelmstrasse, which is where the chancellery and the foreign offices are at.

[58] And some of them were watching the Bändlerstrasse, where the military had their offices.

[59] And they couldn't really tell from who was walking in and out what was going on.

[60] They just knew that something was up.

[61] And the only thing that the German people knew was that because of the German -Soviet pact, there would be no war between those two countries, which was a good thing for them.

[62] But at the same time, because of the German newspapers, the German people believed that Poland was about to attack them at any moment.

[63] And the German newspapers were filled with stories of atrocities against Germans on the borders and in Danzig and in Poland proper.

[64] And they were talking about the...

[65] buildup of the Polish forces.

[66] Of course, the German newspapers didn't mention anything about their 1 .5 million men getting ready to invade Poland.

[67] But then on August 27th, the German government announced that there would be rationing of food, textiles, coal, and shoes to begin the next day on the 28th.

[68] Now the German people knew that something was going to happen, that something was up.

[69] Hitler had been shaken emotionally and personally by Mussolini's letter, so he wrote back to him.

[70] And Hitler said, what would you need and when would you need it in order for Italy to join in on a general European conflict?

[71] So that letter from Hitler to Mussolini got to Mussolini about 9 .30 on the 25th.

[72] Mussolini met with his chiefs of the Italian armed services, and they drew up a list for minimum requirements.

[73] And Mussolini asked for a lot.

[74] He asked for about 7 million tons of petroleum, 6 million tons of coal, 2 million tons of steel, and about 150 anti -aircraft batteries to protect.

[75] Italian industries in the north.

[76] So his letter gets back to Hitler by noon on the 26th.

[77] And all this Mussolini needs before war breaks out.

[78] So Hitler's reading between the lines that Mussolini's not going to go along with him.

[79] Also that Mussolini was hoping to guide Hitler into another Munich.

[80] Of course, Mussolini doesn't know Hitler's true objective, which is the destruction of Poland.

[81] So Hitler replies back to Mussolini by 5 p .m. on the same day, the 26th, and he says some material can be sent, others not, but it's certainly not going to get there before hostilities break out.

[82] Since Germany has a pact with the USSR, the plan is to destroy Poland very quickly and then rush all our forces back to the West.

[83] And so we can help you.

[84] And Hitler says, he pretty much sums up the letter by saying, I'm willing to risk war with the West in order to settle this Eastern question with Poland.

[85] So now Mussolini writes back by 7 p .m., and he has the answer from Hitler that he wants.

[86] So Mussolini says, thank you for what you can send me now.

[87] Now that I know that you can't send me everything that I need before hostilities break out, I will take your advice and tie down as many French and British troops as I can by moving my men around and making loud speeches.

[88] At the same time, I'm going to stay neutral.

[89] And I ask again, if you can negotiate through this, that would be great, and I can help you.

[90] Not that I'm a coward or anything, but because I want to be at your...

[91] side so badly, but Italy simply is not ready yet.

[92] So Mussolini got what he wanted.

[93] He got Hitler's permission to not join in the conflict.

[94] And Ciano, the foreign minister, and his son -in -law noted in his diary that Mussolini really was embarrassed that he could not help out his Axis partner.

[95] Mussolini certainly had a vision of himself and for Italy, but he just couldn't physically manifest it.

[96] And through this letter writing between Mussolini and Hitler, Hitler resigned himself to the idea that Mussolini was just going to let him go on alone.

[97] And so there was one last letter to Mussolini at 9 a .m. on the 27th.

[98] And he says, I know you can't be with me now, but don't let the world know your attitude.

[99] Support me psychologically with your speeches and your press.

[100] Again, tie down the French forces by making a big show on your border, and I will be ready for the West by the spring.

[101] Oh, and by the way, please send me some more workers.

[102] Industrial and agricultural would be nice.

[103] So later that day, Mussolini sends his letter back to Hitler saying, yes, I'll tie down the forces, and yes, I'll tie down the, and then I'll send you some more Italian workers.

[104] So it's like his way of saying, saying, thank you for letting me out of the deal that I'm supposed to honor.

[105] So while this is going on, the French Premier Deladia writes Hitler's letter on August 26th, but it really doesn't do any good.

[106] Hitler responds to the letter saying, we don't want France, we don't want to fight with France, and we think it's silly that you're going to fight over another country.

[107] But by then, Hitler had made up his mind to invade Poland in the early afternoon of the 26th.

[108] It was pretty much time for war.

[109] That was the only thing that he would settle for.

[110] And he decided that the invasion would be September 1st.

[111] That would give him some time to do what he could to drive a wedge between Britain and Poland.

[112] And Britain was always his real concern, even though the French had over 100 divisions on the continent.

[113] Britain had very little or none.

[114] But again, he was always focused on Britain.

[115] So as we mentioned previously, Hitler sends a letter to Chamberlain on the 25th.

[116] And he says he doesn't want a war with Britain.

[117] He's willing to sign a non -aggression pact.

[118] And of course, he didn't mean any of this.

[119] He's just trying to muddy the waters, just trying to get dialogue going with them.

[120] There's always been a case of mutual jealousy, distrust, and admiration between the two countries, between Germany and Great Britain.

[121] And he was just a part of that as well.

[122] And he reminded Chamberlain that his demands were modest.

[123] He wanted Danzig.

[124] He wanted to be able to travel through the corridor, but that was it.

[125] You know, can't we talk about this?

[126] So he's hoping that Britain says yes, Poland says no. They either go their separate ways or you're looking at another Munich.

[127] Either way, he figures it's the best way to go to see what he can get before he decides to solve his situation, his problem through armed force.

[128] Now here's where things get a little weird.

[129] The purposefully vague plan of peace that Hitler puts to Chamberlain has two channels.

[130] One is official and the other one is completely unofficial.

[131] Ambassador Henderson...

[132] who was in Berlin, flies back to London on a German plane, you know, giving Chamberlain Hitler's letter.

[133] The other unofficial channel, as far as negotiations and peace, is through Goering's Swedish friend, Dolores.

[134] And he has a message for London from Goering on the 25th as well.

[135] So Chamberlain's going to end up getting two messages from Hitler.

[136] One's official, one's unofficial.

[137] Goering, through Dolores, tells Britain that any chance of peace is slipping because of the treaty that Britain signed with Poland, like they're supposed to tear it up or something.

[138] And that Britain needs to send a representative right away to Berlin to save the peace.

[139] And again, Goering is hoping for another Munich, just like most people are.

[140] Now, keep in mind that Goering, as the number two man of the Nazi party, is the only one who could possibly get away with...

[141] Not doing an end run around Hitler, but working alongside him without his knowledge or without his approval and still live to keep going on.

[142] Only Gehring could do that.

[143] So Dolores goes to London, meets with Foreign Minister Halifax, and then he's on a plane again within the hour back to Germany.

[144] And he's coming back and he has a letter from Foreign Minister Halifax.

[145] Again, the British are finished giving...

[146] Hitler, so it's a very vague letter about desiring peace.

[147] But Gehring gets excited about it, and Dallaris and Gehring go to Hitler, and they wake him up, so they have to talk to Hitler while he's in his pajamas, because he had been sleeping, trying to get some sleep before the war started.

[148] And Hitler pretty much ignores the letter, and he just tries to talk to Dallaris, and he says, you understand these English, I don't understand them, please make them make sense to me, which of course Dallaris can't do, because Hitler's got a mental block against anyone who won't listen to him or fear him.

[149] So Dallaris tries to explain the firming British resolve to Hitler, and he tries to read the letter from Halifax to Hitler, and Hitler pretty much ignores him, and he goes into a tirade.

[150] He's Hitler, and he's in his pajamas.

[151] He's jumping up and down, screaming, and he starts yelling, I will build U -boats, U -boats, U -boats.

[152] I will build planes, planes, planes.

[153] Germany is unstoppable.

[154] I will destroy my enemies.

[155] He's just freaking out, and Dallaris is starting to get a glimpse of the real Hitler.

[156] And of course, all of this, Gehring is just sitting there, and he doesn't even bat on it.

[157] eye because he's used to Hitler going off like this.

[158] So Dallaris, again, is sent back to London by Goering.

[159] So Dallaris jumps on a plane again and goes back to London, and he meets with Chamberlain, Halifax, and Sir Horace Wilson of the Munich episode.

[160] And so now Chamberlain's got two proposals from Hitler, and quite honestly, he doesn't believe either one of them.

[161] So they send Dallaris back to Berlin.

[162] If this guy had gotten frequent flyer miles, he would have been set for life.

[163] And of course, all this is unofficial, and they send him back only to set up more talks.

[164] Chamberlain doesn't want to use him.

[165] He wants to use regular diplomats, but he'll use him to get the talks going.

[166] send it back to Berlin with ideas about, hey, maybe you can have Danzig, but no to the corridor.

[167] So it looks like we're heading for another Munich.

[168] But Britain still warns through Dallaris, they still warn Berlin that if anything happens to Poland, if there's any conflict, we will support Poland as we promised.

[169] Now, Gehring's getting happy because negotiations are finally getting down to details.

[170] Here's something he can work with.

[171] So Dallaris and his excitement, I don't know when the last time this man has slept.

[172] goes over to the British embassy, and he wakes up a counselor there named Forbes, and he tells them that Hitler's willing to talk about these new demands.

[173] And he actually tells Forbes what to write, what the British reply should be.

[174] So he's becoming quite the self -important person.

[175] So after all this, some diplomatic progress is being made.

[176] The British foreign minister, Halifax, calls up the British ambassador to Poland, Sir Howard Kennard.

[177] And he tells him to go see the Polish Foreign Minister Beck and to ask permission to say to Hitler that Poland is ready to have direct discussions with Germany immediately about the situation.

[178] So Foreign Minister Beck says yes.

[179] And so Ambassador Henderson, the British ambassador, goes to see Hitler on the evening of August 28th.

[180] And he gives him a letter from Chamberlain.

[181] And the letter says that...

[182] Britain and Poland agree that a settlement needs to be reached, but there won't be another in Munich, and that the hows and the whys of an agreement are important, not just to ram through an agreement, just to have the agreement.

[183] So Chamberlain is saying, we'll talk, we'll negotiate, but there will be no appeasement, and everybody will be treated fairly.

[184] So Ambassador Henderson is standing there while Hitler is going over the rest of Chamberlain's letter.

[185] Hitler's offer to guarantee the British Empire was gently refused by Chamberlain.

[186] Chamberlain certainly didn't need Hitler to guarantee to protect the British Empire.

[187] And the letter also said that Poland will talk, but we will not tell them what to say.

[188] And if there is a war, we will support them.

[189] And both sides kept reassuring each other that they were serious.

[190] So Hitler decides to raise the ante a little bit.

[191] He needs to break this up a little bit.

[192] So he tells...

[193] Henderson that he now wants Danzig and the quarter as opposed to just taking Danzig and not the corridor or maybe having a plebiscite on the quarter.

[194] He wants it all.

[195] So he's trying to intimidate Henderson because he still believes that either Britain won't fight or can be separated from Poland or they're not willing to shed their blood over a country that will be taken off the map very soon.

[196] But what's interesting about this is Hitler still believed that Britain wouldn't fight, even though they were saying over and over again on the radio in their letters to him and the newspapers that this was it.

[197] They would now fight.

[198] He still couldn't get it through his head.

[199] So Hitler finishes the meeting by saying he will reply to Chamberlain's letter the next day on August 29th.

[200] So the next day, Gehring tells Dallas that the letter was well -received, and Dallas tells Chamberlain this.

[201] So things are starting to look pretty good.

[202] But Henderson's starting to get a real view of the real Hitler, and he says he doesn't believe anything that Hitler says, and that Hitler's always lied to him, even though he's just starting to figure it out now.

[203] He thinks back about all his conversations, and he knows that everything was just a smokescreen or a lie to get something.

[204] So Henderson's pretty much figured Hitler out.

[205] So Henderson goes back to the chancellery at 7 .15 p .m. on the 29th.

[206] Hitler's there, and he has a response.

[207] In fact, he has it written out.

[208] He wants Danzig, he wants the whole corridor, and he wants a guaranteed safe treatment for Germans in Poland.

[209] And Germany thought there was no way that this was going to work, and maybe there was only hours left before Germany couldn't take the Polish abuse anymore.

[210] But for the friendship to Britain, Germany would try one more time.

[211] So Germany expects a Polish representative.

[212] full powers to negotiate to be in Berlin by August 30th, the next day.

[213] Britain said that they would reply with their own letter.

[214] So this response of Hitler's was purposefully all over the place because he wasn't getting what he wanted.

[215] He wasn't getting another Munich.

[216] He wasn't separating the two.

[217] So he's just going to shoot for everything.

[218] He's saying, we can't trust Poland.

[219] Poland wants to attack Germany.

[220] They're abusing our people.

[221] You want to help them take us, take us down, destroy us.

[222] We can't trust any of you.

[223] But for the sake of Britain's friendship, we'll try.

[224] We could be hours away from war, but we'll try and it will be all your fault and all Poland's fault.

[225] But Germany will try because Germany...

[226] So now Germany and England are waiting for a response from Chamberlain.

[227] And Henderson and Hitler bump into each other later on that evening.

[228] And Henderson, thinking about the way Schuschnigg and Dr. Hatcher was treated, asked if a Polish representative did come, would he be well received?

[229] And Hitler looks at him, you know, almost hurt, and he says, of course he would be.

[230] Then Hitler and Henderson got into a screaming match about who really cared more about peace and who really cared more about the other people.

[231] person's needs and that's how the meeting ended with them screaming at each other.

[232] And of course Hitler's plan was to treat the Polish representative if he did show up like he had treated the other two.

[233] So it was the 29th and he was demanding someone be there the next day on the 30th to sign a document to save peace.

[234] And of course all that's a lie.

[235] If someone shows up and they bully him and he signs something, they get Danzig.

[236] If no one shows up, they can get it through war.

[237] Hitler knows that if no one shows up, he can say that Poland broke the peace by not sending anybody, and he can launch his attack.

[238] And if everything worked out, it would be harder for Britain and France, in his mind, for them to come to the aid of the side that would not negotiate.

[239] So as for Britain, Henderson gave Hitler four letters on August 30th.

[240] They pretty much said, let's talk, let's get you and Poland together, let's quit you two clashing along the border.

[241] And the last letter, that was about 6 .50 that evening, said, now again, Britain is serious.

[242] If anything happens, we will back Poland.

[243] And we do want a...

[244] peaceful settlement to this.

[245] We don't believe that Germany does, but again, if there is an invasion, if there is an attack, Britain will support Poland.

[246] They were trying to make that very clear to him.

[247] And obviously, as for the Poles, they had no desire for Munich if they were going to be the victim.

[248] They helped out Germany last time when Czechoslovakia fell, but they weren't going to let anybody do that to them.

[249] and Poland said that they would not send a representative running to Berlin just because Hitler snapped his fingers, and they wanted to be treated as an equal, and they suggested the idea of meeting in a neutral territory.

[250] So it should have been obvious to everyone in Germany and Berlin that the British officials from Chamberlain on down were not in the mood to appease Hitler on anything anymore.

[251] So the promised British response comes to Berlin at midnight on August 30th.

[252] Henderson hands it to Ribbentrop, and the letter says, We want peace just like Germany says it does, but we cannot betray Poland just to keep your friendship.

[253] And it's way too early for you to demand that a Polish representative show up the next day with full powers.

[254] That's just not the way it's done.

[255] So Ribbentrop says that since a Polish representative had not shown up by midnight on the 30th, which is what Hitler wanted, he will read their latest letter and demands to Henderson, since there was no one else to read them to.

[256] So Ribbentrop was belligerent, and he read their letter very quickly, and Henderson couldn't translate in his head fast enough to read.

[257] And of course, Ribbentrop read it in German, and he didn't read it in English.

[258] And so Henderson asked, could he see the letter?

[259] Ribbentrop was being a jerk, and he said no, and he threw it on his desk.

[260] And he said the letter was dead anyway, since no Polish representative had shown up to talk.

[261] Now, the letter had some very reasonable points to it.

[262] And the reason it did is because Hitler had no intention of agreeing to them.

[263] The letter said, because we find out later, that Germany just wants Danzig.

[264] And how about a plebiscite on the corridor?

[265] You know, let the people decide.

[266] So a copy of this was sent to the German charge day affairs in London.

[267] And he was told to keep it, you know, keep it quiet.

[268] Don't show it to anybody.

[269] And Hitler would have this letter read over the German radio on August 31st at 9 p .m. so he could show how moderate his demands were.

[270] Of course, when that letter gets read to the German people on August 31st at 9 p .m., that'll be about eight and a half hours after Hitler has ordered the attack on Poland to commence.

[271] But the German people and a lot of foreign correspondents in Germany were fooled because it was a very reasonable letter.

[272] But no one knew at the time that Poland never heard the letter, so they couldn't have agreed to it.

[273] Welcome to True Spies.

[274] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[275] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.

[276] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[277] What do they know?

[278] What are their skills?

[279] And what would you do in their position?

[280] Vengeance felt good.

[281] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

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[283] So Henderson leaves Ribbentrop's office and he feels pretty hopeless about the whole thing, but he has to keep trying because that's his job.

[284] So he goes to the Polish ambassador at 2 a .m. and he wakes him up and he tells him about the two main points of this new proposal.

[285] And he was able to find out the details of the proposal because Dallaris had talked Gehring into sending a copy to the British government later on that evening and they sent a copy to Henderson.

[286] So Henderson recommends to the Polish ambassador that Field Marshal Smigli Rydes, the leader in Poland, get together with Gering.

[287] So after all this, it looks like there might be some light at the end of the tunnel.

[288] These proposals are modest, and now let's get the right people talking.

[289] So because of these recent developments, British Ambassador Henderson is starting to believe that peace is still possible.

[290] Of course, Downing Street in London does not share this view anymore.

[291] Again, they're tired of Hitler and all his demands.

[292] So Henderson begins to pressure Lipsky, the Polish ambassador, to talk to Goering.

[293] But Lipsky did not have the power to negotiate.

[294] He certainly didn't want the power.

[295] He didn't want the responsibility to be on himself.

[296] But London was now convinced that both...

[297] sides would agree to a talk, and their goal was to now make this happen.

[298] But they certainly didn't want Poland to jump to Germany's tune, and they certainly didn't like the idea of Germany demanding that someone show up right away, probably get abused, and then forced to sign something he didn't want to sign, but only signed it because he was being bullied.

[299] But they did want Poland to agree to have Foreign Minister Beck ready to talk to Göring or to Hitler or to somebody.

[300] Poland said that they would reply to this request by Britain by noon on the 31st.

[301] And so after the deadline passes, Lipski goes to the chancellery and he's prepared to say that Poland is favorably disposed to talking to Berlin.

[302] Of course, Ribbentrop makes Lipsky wait a few hours in the waiting room, and so he finally receives him at 6 .15 p .m. And so Lipsky gives him the message.

[303] So Ribbentrop is all cold and stiff, and he says, do you come with full powers to negotiate?

[304] And of course, Lipsky says, no, I don't.

[305] So Ribbentrop says, okay, well, that means this meeting is over.

[306] So Lipsky leaves.

[307] He goes back to his embassy to try to contact Warsaw, but he finds that Germany has cut off his telephone.

[308] He can't call anybody.

[309] Now, the Germans had cracked the Polish codes, and they knew that Lipsky did not have permissions to negotiate.

[310] They merely asked to have it on the record so they could show Britain and say, look, see, they're not even trying.

[311] Why do you want to back these people?

[312] But again, this was in the evening of the 31st, and at 30 minutes after noon on that same day, Hitler had already decided to go to war, and he'd already issued the last orders to make it happen.

[313] So the diplomats were wasting their time.

[314] For Germany, it was just a smokescreen.

[315] Mussolini was wasting his time, even though he didn't know it.

[316] And so now Hitler is just trying to distract everybody with diplomatic maneuvering so he can be ready for attack.

[317] In fact, after the war, they had found the directive number one that Hitler had issued at 1230 on the 31st.

[318] And it said that now that all the political possibilities for disposing of peaceful means have been eliminated, it's now time to solve our problem by force.

[319] We will attack Poland on September 1st, 1939 at 445 a .m. And that's when we'll do the fake attack on the radio station as well.

[320] And that if anything happens in the West, we'll let Britain and France start the war there.

[321] We won't shoot at them first.

[322] And the forces that are there will just have to do the best that they can until we can rush forces over after Poland has been destroyed.

[323] And again, the territory of Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland are all to be avoided.

[324] We are not to cross into their borders at all because we've given them assurances.

[325] And let's try to keep this as localized and as focused as possible.

[326] So even at this late date, he is saying to Britain and France, okay, you be the first one to strike.

[327] You be the first one to declare war.

[328] I'll let you be seen as the aggressor.

[329] And he's hoping that will help him on the political and diplomatic stage of the world.

[330] So at even this last minute, there was some more diplomatic wrangling by Goering, Lipsky, and Henderson, but it meant nothing and it came to nothing.

[331] And as we talked about earlier, Hitler's modest, new modest proposals were read out over the German radio to the people, 9 p .m. on the 31st.

[332] And of course, you can remember that the proposals...

[333] proposals were never sent to Poland.

[334] Poland never saw them officially.

[335] And Goebbels gets on the radio and he says, look, we even tried to bring Britain in to help us, but Poland is so unreasonable that did no good.

[336] And Germany has been waiting two days after these proposals were sent out, which they never were, to hear from Poland.

[337] And we never have.

[338] And that's just way too long to wait because we don't trust Poland.

[339] They might be using this as a trick to get us to lower our guard so they can attack us.

[340] So Germany considers its earnest attempts at peace to be rejected.

[341] So now Hitler needed some action to go along with this, to light the powder cake to start the war.

[342] And he's already got a plan for that as well.

[343] So the Nazi high command had come up with the attack, the fake attack on a German radio station, the Gleiwitz.

[344] And this would be something that would rouse the German people to be on Hitler's side because he knows that they don't want war.

[345] But if he can make them believe that they were attacked by Poland, even though they were trying...

[346] all these different means for peace, that the German people would be on the side and fight even harder.

[347] So the fake attack on the radio station was altered a bit, and there would be several other attacks, kind of the same thing.

[348] So it would look like the beginning of a real war between the two countries.

[349] So Hitler had his million and a half men all at their staging points, all at their jump -off points, and he did not have the West evacuated because he still felt that Britain and France would not attack him.

[350] So Hitler gives the word to Heydrich.

[351] Heydrich gives the word to the SS officer, Alfred Nadjax, and the radio station was attacked, you know, the fake attack, and the speech was given about the time it had come to attack Germany.

[352] The German forces began to move out at 445, September 1st, 1939, just as they were ordered, and the war in Europe had begun.

[353] Now, Hitler would have all the men who took part in the fake attack on the radio station and the other ones disposed of later.

[354] Again, it was like the Reichstag fire.

[355] He didn't want anyone around who would be able to talk about this later.

[356] So on that day, September 1st, everybody can see that Hitler's in a really good mood, and the conspirators against Hitler know that if this war gets to be something wider than just between Germany and Poland, Germany will be destroyed, but they do nothing.

[357] So the Germans attacked from the west, the north, and the south.

[358] And we'll go into details about the war in a couple of minutes.

[359] The concept that the world would soon fear, Blitzkrieg, had begun.

[360] First, the planes and the bombers flew over, and they bombed the Polish troops, their defensive positions, their ammunition dumps, their bridges, their railroads, their cities, their communication lines, everything, causing just panic and mass miscommunication.

[361] So on September 1st, 1939, it was cloudy in Berlin.

[362] And Hitler drove from the Chancellery to the Reichstag about 10 a .m. He was going to make a speech, you know, since the war had begun.

[363] But the streets were empty, and the people were at work, and they were not cheering.

[364] There were no crowds waving at him, giving him the Nazi salute as he went by.

[365] And even the hand -picked people in the Reichstag, known for their loyalty and enthusiasm, their response to Hitler's speech was not as exuberant as it had been for past speeches.

[366] They were in shock and a little afraid, just like the German people were.

[367] So Hitler starts his speech in the Reichstag and he explains that the Polish government had ignored his peace proposals and that they were getting ready to attack Germany and that he couldn't take the atrocities against the German people anymore or the Polish government building up their troops on the German border.

[368] border anymore, he had to act.

[369] And he explained away Italy not joining Germany, even though they had the Pact of Steel, and he was saying this was something Germany had to handle alone, because it wasn't a war, it was only self -defense.

[370] But Hitler did utter one truth during his speech.

[371] He said that even though he was but the first soldier in the German army, if he did not win, he did not want to live, and he would keep his word.

[372] So by noon on September 1st, Ambassador Henderson had not asked to speak to Hitler, and Hitler had not asked to speak to him.

[373] So Henderson had told London that he had heard about Poles blowing up some bridges along the German -Polish border.

[374] Of course, it never occurred to him that the Polish army might do this on purpose, to stop the Germans from advancing into Poland proper.

[375] And Dallas was busy as well.

[376] He was telling London that the Poles had refused to negotiate and that they had attacked a German radio station and some other German property.

[377] But London had had enough of Dallas and they had had enough of appeasement.

[378] And they said they would not negotiate or recommend Poland to negotiate while German troops were tearing through the Polish countryside.

[379] For London, the fighting had to stop and the Germans had to return to their area if there was going to be any negotiations.

[380] And if this was just Germany defending themselves and defending their border, this should be possible because they were the ones now advancing.

[381] Only then could negotiations be considered.

[382] So at 10 a .m. on September 1st, the Polish ambassador in London, Count Rakzynski, called on Lord Halifax, and he told him of the German aggression in Poland, and he told him it met the requirements for the treaty.

[383] Talk about the understatement.

[384] So at 10 .50 a .m., Halifax called in the German charge day affair, Theodore Kort, and asked him if he had any information.

[385] And, of course, he said he had nothing.

[386] So a court called Berlin at 11 .45 a .m., and he told him of the creasing, dread feeling around Downing Street.

[387] But to Hitler, this was just superficial news.

[388] It wasn't a declaration of war.

[389] So he still held on to his hope that Britain either wouldn't fight or would somehow justify not fulfilling their obligations to Poland.

[390] So Ambassador Henderson goes to see Ribbentrop at 9 p .m. on September 1st after a full day of fighting, and Ribbentrop meets the French ambassador, Calandre, one hour later.

[391] Henderson gives Ribbentrop a formal note from London, and the note reads, Unless the German government are prepared to give His Majesty's government satisfactory assurances that the German government has suspended all aggressive action against Poland and are prepared promptly to withdraw their forces from Polish territory, His Majesty's government will, without hesitation, fulfill its obligations to Poland.

[392] And the French note said the exact same thing.

[393] But what Ribbentrop could have not known at the time was that, in this instance, Britain was firm and it was the French cabinet that was split.

[394] The French were starting to falter, but Britain was demanding that they go along with them.

[395] But to both ambassadors, Ribbentrop merely replied that it was Poland that attacked first, and he would give their respective notes to de Fuhrer.

[396] So Ribbentrop took the notes to Hitler, and Hitler knew that if he did not stop the offensive, he would have a world war on his hands.

[397] The only chance to salvage any of this was to turn to his, what he called Munich luck, and that meant his old comrade Mussolini.

[398] Now Mussolini had already told London that Italy would not be fighting against anybody on August 31st at 11 .15pm, and the reason he did that...

[399] Part of the reason he did that was because London had pulled one of its own tricks and it cut off the telephone communication with Rome around 8 p .m. that night.

[400] That kind of freaked the Italians out.

[401] They thought it was a prelude to an Anglo -French attack on Italy.

[402] Now, before Hitler drove to the Reichstag to give his speech about war existing between Germany and Poland, he wrote a short letter to Mussolini.

[403] He basically, in the letter, let him know that he was letting him out of the obligation to fight at Germany's side.

[404] Hitler told him, I don't want to put you in the awkward position of being a mediator, and I don't want you to get involved.

[405] What he was really telling him was, I don't want you to mediate, period, stop it.

[406] And of course, all the ways that Mussolini could have reacted to this, he chose to try to continue to save the peace.

[407] And on September 1st, he told the British that he would invite Hitler to Rome on September 5th to try to get negotiations going again.

[408] So Henderson for the British and Calondra for the French are waiting on September 2nd.

[409] They're waiting for German reply, but none come.

[410] There's activity throughout the capitals that are, you know, the countries that are involved.

[411] And Mussolini has his ambassador running all over Berlin on September 2nd, but nothing comes of it.

[412] Now what only the British and French know is that the French cabinet is split.

[413] And they're wavering on honoring their treaty with Poland.

[414] But Britain is pretty much...

[415] forcing them to, and so the French are going along, but barely.

[416] So there's a lot of diplomatic activity that day on the 2nd, mostly by the Italians, but the only information of consequence for that day is that Ribbentrop tells the Italian ambassador in Berlin that Germany will reply by noon on September 3rd to the British and French notes that were delivered earlier.

[417] So we're getting near the end of this sad diplomatic tale, and Ciano, the foreign minister in Italy, finds out through some of his friends and contacts about the French cabinet.

[418] And he takes solace in this because he knows Italy's military situation is pathetic.

[419] So he actually gets comfort knowing that there's a chance France might walk away from their treaty with Poland.

[420] So September 3rd comes.

[421] It's a very lovely day in Berlin.

[422] Normally on a Sunday like this, the Germans would be taking their families and heading out into the woods pretty much all day to enjoy it.

[423] But today is not a day for a picnic.

[424] Everyone is huddled around the radios listening to see what happens.

[425] At dawn, a telegram comes to the British Embassy from Lord Halifax in London.

[426] And it says for Henderson to go see Ribbentrop at exactly 9 a .m. local time and to give him a note that's soon to follow.

[427] And the note pretty much, you know, Britain and France had had enough.

[428] And they had given their first letter to Germany on September 1st and had no response, and they were still waiting.

[429] Now again, Britain and France are arguing about the details, but Britain pretty much overrules them, and they decide to honor their treaty to Poland.

[430] And they said, you know, go see him at 9 o 'clock, and if we don't hear anything from Germany officially by noon, we will consider ourselves at war.

[431] So this is a very serious note.

[432] Now, France wasn't ready for any kind of offensive action, but merely mobilizing would tie down significant German forces in the West, and they were hoping that would help Poland some.

[433] The French cabinet had decided on August 23rd to honor their treaty, but...

[434] Again, they were rethinking this, and they were debating about how exactly to go about helping Poland.

[435] What exactly should they do?

[436] So the first thing they do is they alert their frontier forces to be at station on August 24th, and they start calling up about 360 ,000 reservists.

[437] So they have the numbers.

[438] It's impressive numbers, but the spirit is not there.

[439] Now, before the telegram got sent to Henderson at 9 a .m. in Berlin local time, there was still a lot of arguing going on between the French and British governments.

[440] The French wanted more time to be ready.

[441] They thought that when war came, that Germany would go on the offensive against them.

[442] They couldn't dream of Germany not attacking them.

[443] And they knew that they weren't ready.

[444] And they also knew that there would be no British forces on the continents to help with the counterattack to stop the German forces coming their way.

[445] But Britain had enough, and they stuck to their deadline, and they made the French stick to their deadline as well.

[446] So Ambassador Henderson goes to the Wilhelmsklasse at 9 a .m., and he meets with Dr. Schmidt, the interpreter.

[447] Ribbentrop, he is informed, is sick, which is not true, of course.

[448] Ribbentrop was closeted with Hitler trying to figure out the best way to play this.

[449] So Henderson comes in.

[450] shakes his hand, refuses to sit down, reads the note from the British government, hands Schmidt a copy, and leaves.

[451] So Schmidt grabs the note, and he runs from the Wilhelmstrasse to the chancellery, and he goes into Hitler's office, and he reads the note, and of course he has to translate it.

[452] Hitler turns to Ribbentrop by the window, and he says, now what?

[453] So he's very angry, he's blaming, you know, he's nervous, and he's blaming Ribbentrop for all this, but it's really Hitler's doing.

[454] And then Schmidt leaves the office and he sees Gehring and the other generals outside of Hitler's office and he tells them what happened.

[455] And they all get very quiet and they all kind of walk away from each other.

[456] And they're dealing with their own dreadful thoughts.

[457] So the deadline of noon comes and there is no response from the German government.

[458] Hitler is hoping that Britain and France won't take the final step.

[459] But Chamberlain is ready when he speaks before the House of Commons.

[460] the british ambassador in berlin handed the german government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o 'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from poland a state of war would exist between us i have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and that consequently This country is at war with Germany.

[461] So after the deadline passes, Ribbentrop calls Henderson into his office.

[462] He says, we refuse to receive or accept this British ultimatum.

[463] And then he spits out the whole rehearsed litany of lies that Germany tried to save peace.

[464] The Poles attacked Germany.

[465] The Poles were killing Germans.

[466] They are the ones who started the war.

[467] And the German newspapers would blame the diplomatic failure of Britain.

[468] So Henderson leaves Ribbentrop's office, and at 12 .30, the French ambassador comes in, and they follow Britain's lead.

[469] They're now at war.

[470] After informing the House of Commons that Great Britain was at war with Germany, Chamberlain ended his speech with this.

[471] This is a sad day for us all, and to none it is sadder than to me. Everything I have worked for, everything that I have believed in during my public life, has crashed into ruins.

[472] There is only one thing left for me to do.

[473] That is, to devote what strength and powers I have to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we have to sacrifice so much.

[474] I trust I may live to see the day when Hitlerism has been destroyed and a liberated Europe has been re -established.

[475] But Neville Chamberlain would not live to see that day.

[476] He had just over one year left to live.

[477] At 9 p .m. on September 3rd, Hitler's special train left Berlin for general headquarters in the east to better conduct the war against Poland.

[478] But before the train pulled out, Hitler got off a letter to Mussolini.

[479] And it can be summed up by saying, Thanks for all you tried to do, but all along Britain really wanted this war.

[480] I will finish off Poland quickly, and then I will move all of my forces to the west.

[481] I know you can't be with me now, but in the future, do not refuse me again.

[482] The other diplomatic initiative before the train left out was conducted by Ribbentrop.

[483] He sent a top -secret telegram to the USSR at 6 .50 p .m. on September 3rd.

[484] And he said, we'll have all this done in a few weeks.

[485] We'll defeat the Polish forces pretty quickly.

[486] But we may have to go into your sphere of influence in order to do this.

[487] Is that okay?

[488] It would be better if you helped us by joining in the attack.

[489] The war could be over that much sooner.

[490] But between the lines, Ribbentrop was really saying, look, you're getting a big prize here.

[491] You should have to earn it as well.

[492] And also it would help Germany if some of the onus of war was put on USSR and not on Germany alone.

[493] So as the train pulls out around 9 p .m., without warning, a German U -boat, U -30, torpedoed and sank a British liner, Athenia, while on its way to Montreal from Liverpool.

[494] There were 1 ,400 passengers aboard.

[495] 112 of them died.

[496] 28 were Americans.

[497] World War II in Europe had begun.

[498] Military movements of the fall of Poland.

[499] So if you picture Poland, picture roughly a box.

[500] It's not a box, it's not a square, but picture that.

[501] In the center is Warsaw, the capital.

[502] To the north is East Prussia.

[503] Above that is the Baltic Sea.

[504] And to the left of East Prussia is Danzig, the area that's in dispute.

[505] To the left of that is the Polish Corridor.

[506] And of course to the left of that is the German eastern border.

[507] Now to the south of most of Poland was Czechoslovakia, which is now in German hands.

[508] So about 85 % of the southern border is now in German hands.

[509] And of course to the east of Poland is Russia.

[510] And to the northeast is Lithuania, which is in the Russian sphere of influence, so the German troops are not allowed to go there.

[511] But in the bottom right corner of Poland is where it makes contact with Romania, and that's where this war is going to end.

[512] It's going to start in the top left corner where the Polish corridor is at, and the troops are going to get pushed diagonally.

[513] They're going to go through Poland, past Warsaw, keep moving southeast, and they're going to end up in the bottom right corner of Poland.

[514] So when Germany made their plans to attack Poland, they used the very long border that Germany had with Poland to great effect.

[515] The German plan, which was called the September Campaign, was to attack Poland from the north, from east Prussia, pushing south, from the German...

[516] east border, you know, pushing west, and from the former Czechoslovakia, pushing north.

[517] So they were going to attack in three different directions, and there's just no really good way to defend against that kind of ability to move.

[518] Now, another part of the German plan, Case White, was to use a pincer movement to attack and take the corridor quickly.

[519] General von Kluge's Fourth Army would be attacking from East Prussia, heading west, and then in the German top right corner, General von Kukler's Third Army would be heading east into the corridor, and that battle would pretty much be over within three days.

[520] And about a third of the Polish troops were there, but they were just torn to pieces, and we'll get to that in a minute.

[521] And Poland's terrain was nice and flat, and it was well -suited, and the weather was nice for the first couple of days of war, so it really helped the German troops.

[522] So by September 4th, the battle for the corridor is over.

[523] What Polish troops survived started heading southeast, but most would be trapped by the German offensive plan by the Army Group Center, led by General von Reichen now.

[524] And he was coming from...

[525] the eastern border of Germany.

[526] Now the reason that they were able to take the corridor so quickly was because it was pretty much German tanks versus Polish horsemen.

[527] The Polish horsemen had very long lances that they were using but the Germans had tanks and they had obviously greater speed.

[528] A horse couldn't hurt a tank and they just kept shooting and mowing down and destroying the...

[529] The Polish troops, that along with the Luftwaffe as well, just dropping incendiary bombs.

[530] They were very light bombs, but they were incendiary bombs.

[531] If there was a mass of men, you could just drop a bomb and set them all on fire, and it wiped out the troops very quickly.

[532] So the Polish soldiers were brave, you can even say foolhardy, but they charged the tanks, and they were able to cause some casualties, but they were wiped out very quickly.

[533] And for every one German soldier, you can just imagine dozens if not hundreds of Polish soldiers being wiped out in a matter of minutes.

[534] Now the Polish plan for defense played right into the German plan of offense perfectly.

[535] The Poles had a long line of defense just inside the Polish border.

[536] on the western side.

[537] And the reason they did that was because they figured out that if Germany took just the corridor and stopped fighting, Britain might force Poland into signing an agreement a lot like Munich, giving up the area that was in dispute.

[538] So picture the German -Polish border.

[539] The Poles have got a long line of defense just inside their border, and the plan was to, they knew they were going to give ground, but to give ground slowly in an organized fashion and allow the Polish government to keep calling up reservists to get ready for a counterattack.

[540] But it was supposed to be a lot slower and a lot more organized than what it actually was.

[541] And, of course, the other reason that the Poles had this built into their plan of slowly pulling back was to give France and Britain time to get their troops in and start attacking Germany in the west and of course that didn't happen during this battle.

[542] So the Germans have been flying planes over the western part of Poland and they had an idea of their defensive positions.

[543] So what they did was they pretty much just planned to go around the ends of the Polish defensive line with their tanks, get in their backs, get behind them and then attack them from the front and have them surrounded.

[544] So this was the beginnings of the Blitzkrieg.

[545] plan.

[546] First you send your plans and your bombers over.

[547] You disrupt their defensive plans.

[548] You disrupt their supply lines, their ability to communicate.

[549] And you also destroy the leaders, the colonels and the generals in the back of the troops.

[550] So there's no one giving orders and there's no way to communicate.

[551] And so they've been totally cut off.

[552] So first the German Luftwaffe flies over.

[553] bombing positions, bombing leaders, bombing supply lines and communications, and then whole divisions of German tanks started pouring over and smashing right into the Polish defensive lines.

[554] Now, each German tank division had about 150, maybe 200 tanks, and they just had division after division pour right into these defensive lines after they had been bombed.

[555] And, of course, it's horse against tank.

[556] And the tank divisions are able to move about 30, 40 miles a day, sometimes more.

[557] sometimes a lot more when there's no resistance.

[558] And they had a lot of, the Germans had a lot of these self -propelled rapid -firing guns that was just shattering the line of men and horses that Poland had lined up against them.

[559] So even though the majority of the German infantry was not motorized or mechanized, the planes and the tanks were doing most of the fighting, and so the troops didn't have to fight and walk.

[560] They were able to just ride or keep up with them as best that they could.

[561] And all this activity is being coordinated and directed by the German generals and their staff, who are safe in the rear.

[562] They're using the radios, the telephones, and telegraph networks.

[563] So this is another part of the Blitzkrieg.

[564] First you bomb, and you cause confusion and mayhem.

[565] different parts of the German war machine by having this effective means of communications, which is considered instant compared to having a rider run around on a horse delivering notes.

[566] And within the first two days, the Polish Air Force, which was about 500 first -line planes, were destroyed.

[567] Most of those were bombed while they were on the ground.

[568] So after the first week of fighting, phase one of the German plane is complete.

[569] 35 Polish divisions that have been called up or have either been destroyed, captured, or scattered, or they're encircled.

[570] There's a lot of different encirclements going on.

[571] The Polish defensive plan that would have the main line slowly retreating to give Warsaw more time has been destroyed.

[572] The corridor is now in the German hands, and the first pincer movement is complete, and the pincer closed behind the defensive lines, but still west of Warsaw, the capital.

[573] So picture about a third of the Polish troops captured, destroyed in the top left corner.

[574] Another third of the troops that have been along the German eastern border now have German troops behind them and they're cut off from the capital.

[575] So by the afternoon of September the 8th, the 4th Panzer Division...

[576] has made it to the outskirts of the capital Warsaw.

[577] So when the first pincer movement closed and they trapped the defensive line, some of them had already made it to the outskirts of Poland.

[578] And Rykenau's 10th Army had captured a major city about 95 miles south of Poland, so things are starting to fall apart very quickly.

[579] So Krakow, which is south by southwest of Warsaw, and it's the second largest city in Poland, falls on September the 6th.

[580] And that night, the Polish government flees from Warsaw to Lublin.

[581] Again, they're going southeast.

[582] So on September the 7th, General Halder is already making plans to send troops to the Western Front because it's already practically over in Poland.

[583] Even though there's no activity in the West, he's getting ready just in case.

[584] Now, the British and French estimates were that Poland would hold out for about two or three months, and that would give them time to call up men, to call up reservists, get everybody equipped, and get them into...

[585] position and tacked Germany in the West.

[586] Poland thought it would hold out for at least six months, giving them even more time.

[587] Now, the French and the British assumed that the war would eventually develop into trench warfare, a lot like World War I. But because Germany had lost their first war, they asked themselves why they lost, what they can do differently.

[588] And that's why they came up with these different methods.

[589] They really pushed the tanks and they came up with new plans.

[590] So the British and the French were planning on, were making their plans based on a trench warfare like World War I. Of course, the Polish government was not notified of this by the French or the British, and they assumed that the French would be coming in right after a couple of days of war and helping them on the western side of Germany.

[591] So now it's time for phase two of the German attack plan.

[592] And this was to destroy or capture all the encircled Polish troops that they had along the border and the ones who were fleeing from the corridor.

[593] Also it was time for their second and larger pincer movement that would be closed to the east or behind Warsaw, the capital.

[594] And they would capture a lot of fleeing civilians and armed troops who were coming from the corridor and coming from the defensive line.

[595] And, of course, the second pincer movement would try very hard to stay on their side of the agreement between them and the USSR.

[596] So they would try to stop at the city of Brest -Liptosk.

[597] And so phase two started on September the 9th, and it would pretty much be finished by September the 17th.

[598] Again, just lightning speed, capturing, destroying, and disrupting the Polish troops and the Polish army.

[599] The capital Warsaw had been under heavy aerial bombardment since the first day of the war, and they were attacked on September the 9th and put under siege by September 13th.

[600] So now the city is being bombed by the large German guns, but that is nothing compared to the 1 ,150 German aircraft that bombed Warsaw that started on September 24th.

[601] Now the only success that the Polish troops had were when the...

[602] Troops who had made it out of the corridor were coming southeast towards Warsaw, and they ran into the flank or left side of one of the German pincer movements.

[603] So they kind of bumped into their side behind their front line.

[604] So they were able to inflict some casualties.

[605] But as soon as the German army found out about this, they sent the Luftwaffe in, and they just bombed them, and they turned some tanks their way, and they were wiped out pretty quick.

[606] But they were able to cause some casualties and slow down the left pincer movement that was swinging behind.

[607] the Polish defensive line.

[608] So the Polish government and what's left are the Polish troops, civilians, everybody's moving southeast.

[609] They're moving diagonally across Poland.

[610] They're heading towards the Romanian border because that's all that's left.

[611] The Germans are pushing them, they're driving them, and that's the only direction they can go.

[612] So they keep going that way.

[613] Some of the Polish troops that made it...

[614] to the eastern side of Poland weren't being attacked by German troops and they couldn't figure out why.

[615] They didn't know about the secret agreement between Germany and Russia.

[616] So some of them are getting on the eastern side of Poland and they're trying to get ready for a counterattack.

[617] They think the Germans are going to be coming at them any day now.

[618] Since the invasion had started on September 1st, Berlin had kept telegraphing Moscow and asking them when they were going to enter the war according to their secret contract.

[619] They wanted the resistance in Poland over as quickly as they could so they could rush their forces to the west.

[620] But Stalin was shrewd and he let the Germans do the bulk of the fighting and the dying.

[621] By the time the war was over with Poland, Germany lost just under 15 ,000 men with about 30 ,000 wounded.

[622] Of course, that's not a very big number compared to having over a million men fighting for you.

[623] But Molotov would not be rushed by Ribbentrop, even though he kept sending him message after message, saying, we are waiting for you to end the war.

[624] Molotov's only response was to make sure that the Germans did not cross into the agreed -upon area that was saved for Russia and their protocol.

[625] So the Russian distrust of Germany is already there.

[626] In some of the ways, Germany was hurt by its own success.

[627] Russia didn't want the stain of being an invader or starting a war like Germany was suffering through.

[628] It looked like the war was going to be over too quickly and Russia wasn't ready.

[629] So they were saying, we can't come in and invade now.

[630] It looked like we're starting another war against Poland.

[631] So Ribbentrop replies to Molotov's letter on September 15th by saying Warsaw will soon fall, but it hasn't fallen yet.

[632] The war is not over.

[633] And Russia can't say that they're invading to save the Russian minority from the Germans because people would think we're enemies, and that goes against our secret contract.

[634] So Russia replies with, OK, well, we'll say that since Poland doesn't exist anymore, any treaty that Russia had with Poland is dead.

[635] So we'll go in to protect our Ukrainian and white Russian people on the border from the chaos.

[636] We won't blame you directly.

[637] We'll just say from the general chaos.

[638] So the USSR attacks Poland on September 17th.

[639] And of course, there's no organized resistance.

[640] And they're able to meet up with some of the Germans at Brest Liptovsk in the center of Poland on September the 18th.

[641] So some of the Polish forces and the civilians that had been going towards the Russian border and getting ready to face the Germans in their front are now being invaded and attacked by the Russians in their rear, and it's over with very quickly.

[642] There's no way they can stand up to the two offensive armies.

[643] So Russia comes in with about 800 ,000 men.

[644] They wipe out what's along the Russian border pretty quickly, so all you have left is a small group of civilians, soldiers, and the Polish government that's near the Romanian border in the bottom right quarter of Poland.

[645] So the second half of September, Germany is intensifying its attacks on Warsaw.

[646] They're bombing.

[647] They're bombing from planes.

[648] They're using their heavy guns.

[649] And the only thing left in Warsaw is reorganized retreating units, civilian, volunteers, and militia.

[650] And they hold out until September 28th, and then Warsaw is taken.

[651] So by the beginning of October, all that's left is what's left as far as the troops and the government and the civilians in the bottom right corner along the Romanian border.

[652] And after Germany, after the Soviet Union enters, Polish government knows they can't hold out, and they just order emergency evacuation.

[653] It's pretty much everybody for themselves.

[654] And the ones who can go into Romania and seek refuge or asylum, and they get away as best they can.

[655] And there's one last large battle, the Battle of Koch on October 6th, and the Polish are defeated, and that is the end of Poland.

[656] It is wiped off the map.

[657] So near the end of the fighting, Stalin himself sends a telegram to Ribbentrop saying some of the German forces have crossed into our territory and we want them out of there.

[658] So a German ambassador, Schulenburg, promises they'll go back to their side.

[659] So this is some beginning for this new partnership between the two countries.

[660] But the diplomatic friction increases and so Ribbentrop has to go to Moscow himself to negotiate the details and work everything out.

[661] And he does that on September 28th.

[662] So there's a new agreement signed between the two countries, and it was signed at 5 a .m. on September 28th.

[663] And it's called the German -Soviet Border and Friendship Treaty.

[664] The treaty sets the boundaries for the two countries.

[665] It wipes out Poland.

[666] expresses the goal of reestablishing peace and order in the area.

[667] And it says that both countries will assure the people living there a peaceful life in keeping with their national character, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[668] It's a bunch of lies.

[669] And of course, there's a secret protocol.

[670] These two always have a secret protocol.

[671] Lithuania is to go to the USSR, which will give them a buffer state against Germany in case Germany decides to attack them.

[672] Stalin is always looking 10 steps ahead.

[673] And they shift the line a little bit.

[674] The Germans get the majority of the land and of the Polish people.

[675] And of course, in the secret protocol, both sides agree that they're not going to tolerate any Polish agitation.

[676] It's to be put down ruthlessly.

[677] So the Soviet Union got what it wanted.

[678] It got its border back from the war in 1920 with Poland.

[679] And Stalin got to stick Germany with the majority of the Polish people because the Russians knew what a headache.

[680] angry Polish people can be.

[681] He didn't want to have to deal with them.

[682] He left that to Hitler.

[683] So world war in Europe has begun.

[684] Germany has defeated Poland, but Stalin has won the major advantages of war.

[685] Germany has been cut off from the Baltic countries.

[686] Russia now has a buffer area against Germany.

[687] And Hitler did not get to control the Ukrainian wheat or the Romanian oil because they're both inside Russia's sphere of influence.

[688] Also, Russia got Poland's oil region, but they promised to sell oil to Germany at a decent price.

[689] All of this was Hitler's price for getting a neutral Russia so he could attack Poland.

[690] But why not Welsh on your own deal?

[691] He had the best army in the world, he had it ready, and it was on Russia's border, and his generals were urging him to attack now.

[692] And Hitler knew, just like everyone else knew, that Stalin's purges has left Russia's military with talentless but loyal leaders.

[693] But Hitler is still obsessed with Britain.

[694] His insecurity or whatever doubting voices in his head would not let him take his eyes off that small island.

[695] Stalin would have to wait for now, but Hitler would remember how harshly he was treated and the hoops that Stalin made him jump through.

[696] Next time, Hitler will turn to the West.

[697] France did nothing to save Poland, and Britain didn't have any sizable force on the continent until October 11.

[698] Hitler had guessed correctly about the West, and so he went on with his plans.

[699] Welcome to True Spies.

[700] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[701] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.

[702] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[703] What do they know?

[704] What are their skills?

[705] And what would you do in their position?

[706] Vengeance felt good.

[707] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[708] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.

[709] Wherever you get your podcasts.