ZOGOLGOTA:
Poland in the Second World War (1939-1945)
The Second World War was started by Sturmban-fuehrer Alfred Helmut
Naujocks of the Nazi Security Service (SD). At 8 p.m. on 31 August 1939, he led
an attack on the German radio station at Gleiwitz (Gliwice) in Upper Silesia. His
men included a dozen convicted criminals referred to in his orders by the code-
word Konserwen (Tin Cans), who had been promised a reprieve in return for
their co-operation. After a brief encounter with the station guards, they burst
into one of the studios, broadcast a patriotic announcement in Polish, sang a
rousing chorus, fired a few pistol shots, and left. Once outside, the 'Tin Cans'
were mown down by the machine-guns of the SS. Their bodies, carefully dressed
in blood-soaked Polish uniforms, were abandoned where they fell, to be found
in due course by the local police. Before the night was out, the world was awak-
ening to the astonishing news that the Polish Army had launched an unprovoked
attack on the Third Reich.^1 (See Map 15.)
The fighting began at 4.45 and 3 seconds a.m. on 1 September, when the old
German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, moored in the port of Danzig on a
friendship visit, opened fire with its 15-inch guns on the Polish fort at
Westerplatte. One hour later, the Wehrmacht tore down the barriers on the
frontier roads at a score of points, and raced to the attack. General Heinz
Guderian commanding the armoured force which roared across the Corridor in
the direction of Chelmno, his birthplace, recalled those hours with special
poignancy:
The first serious fighting took place north of Zempelburg (Sgpolno) in and around Gross-
Klonia, where the mist suddenly lifted and the leading tanks found themselves face to
face with Polish defensive positions. The Polish anti-tank gunners scored many direct
hits. One officer, one cadet, and eight other ranks were killed.
Gross-Klonia had once belonged to my great grandfather, Freiherr Hiller von
Gartringen. Here, too, was buried my grandfather, Guderian. My father had been born
in this place. This was the first time I had ever set eyes on the estate, once so beloved of
my family.^2Air raids were launched on Warsaw, Lodz, Czestochowa, Cracow, and Poznaii.
Dive-bombers raided airfields in a determined attempt to destroy the Polish Air
Force on the ground. Bridges were bombed, trains derailed, columns of refugees
were strafed on the roads. Nazi Einsatzgruppen (Action Groups) roamed the
rear areas, terrorizing the population and shooting hostages and prisoners. By