Hitler urged his nation to: "Kill without pity or mercy

Hitler urged his nation to: "Kill without pity or mercy

On August 22nd, 1939, a week before the Germans attacked Poland, Hitler urged his nation to: "Kill 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.”

Over 500 towns and villages were burned, and there were 714 mass executions, of which 60% were carried out by the Wehrmacht (German army) and 40% by the SS and Gestapo. In Bydgoszcz, the first victims were boy scouts from 12 to 16 years old, shot in the marketplace. All this happened in the first eight weeks of the war. 

See Richard C. Lucas, The Forgotten Holocaust; The Poles under German Occupation. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky (1986).

In the East, the Soviets, collaborating with the Germans (Hitler-Stalin pact of August 23, 1939), attacked Poland on September 17, 1939, and occupied the eastern part of Poland until June 1941. 

Massive killings followed, including 21,857 officers (Katyn) whose bodies were found later. Other bodies from these massacres have never been found. 

About 1.7 million Poles, mostly members of the intelligentsia, were deported to Siberia or Kazakhstan in Central Asia. Many never returned; thousands were killed in the fighting, and over 452,000 became POWs in Soviet Russia.

Poland disappeared from the European map, divided between Third Reich and the Soviet Union.

Out of its pre-war population of 36 million, Poland lost 22%, a higher percentage than any other country in Europe. The heaviest losses were sustained by educated classes, youth, and democratic forces that could have challenged totalitarianism. 

See I. C. Pogonowski, Poland: A Historical Atlas. New York, Hippocrene Books, 1987.

Few people know that among all the countries occupied by the Third Reich during the Second World War (1939-1945), only in Poland was any help to a person of Jewish faith or origin punishable by death. 

The occupying authorities widely announced this penalty. What is more, this punishment was quite often imposed not only on the rescuer but also on his/her family, often on neighbors, and whole towns or villages.

The Germans believed in collective responsibility, trying to eliminate as many Poles and Slavic people as possible, making them the most terrorized populations after the Jews and the Roma. 

However, Poles were the first victims until the Final Solution, being murdered at a 9:10 higher ratio than Jews.

The Germans killed nearly three million Polish Christians through execution, torture, starvation, or overwork in more than 2,000 prisons, forced labor, and concentration camps.

The Soviets murdered many more and this didn't stop when the war ended in the West; it continued in Soviet-occupied Poland as Poles continued to be killed. 

Still, many people have no idea of Polish heroism, suffering, and their plight during the war.  The Polish have often been excluded from Holocaust memorials, sites, and posts.

We should all try and recognize the Polish story as we remember the war and German and Soviet crimes so that all victims are remembered.

By doing this, we can fully comprehend the total immensity of the devastation and horror that individuals suffered and honor all of them.