World History
Nazi Blitzkrieg: Poland, 1939 - A Polish officer's account of the battles and personal losses during the invasion by Hitler and Stalin.
This is from "A Katyn and World War Two Diary." Katyn was the scene of a Soviet war crime where 4,000 to 5,000 Polish army officers were slaughtered.
From the site:
On September 1, 1939, Leon Gladun was mobilized as an officer cadet to defend his beloved Poland against the Nazi blitzkrieg. A horticultural student at Stefan Batory University, my father would only have time to grab a few photos from his home in Krzemieniec, before racing to the front, leaving behind his mother and grandmother. Leon would never graduate nor would he see his home again, and it would be twenty years before he'd be reunited with his mother. Most of his classmates and friends would perish during the war.
One of my father's surviving possessionsis a diary of the years he spent in uniform: from his first battles against the blitzkrieg in 1939, to V-E Day in Italy, when the Germans finally surrendered. Leon would train and fight in Poland, the USSR, the Middle East and Italy. Even after the war, he escorted Axis POW's from Italy back to their homes because he had no country--Poland had been sacrificed to Stalinism.
The diary also chronicles his life as one of the thousands of Polish officers who were captured and imprisoned by the Soviet Union. Leon unwittingly records the last days of his comrades who would be murdered in one of the greatest and most controversial war crimes of the Second World War: Katyn.
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- Treaty Of Rapallo 1922
At the start of World War Two, Germany and the Soviet Union worked together to invade and conquer Poland. However, there had been a history of German-Soviet cooperation dating from 1922. The Treaty of Rapallo enabled the German army, through secret agreements,...
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World History
Nazi Blitzkrieg: Poland, 1939
Nazi Blitzkrieg: Poland, 1939 - A Polish officer's account of the battles and personal losses during the invasion by Hitler and Stalin.
This is from "A Katyn and World War Two Diary." Katyn was the scene of a Soviet war crime where 4,000 to 5,000 Polish army officers were slaughtered.
From the site:
On September 1, 1939, Leon Gladun was mobilized as an officer cadet to defend his beloved Poland against the Nazi blitzkrieg. A horticultural student at Stefan Batory University, my father would only have time to grab a few photos from his home in Krzemieniec, before racing to the front, leaving behind his mother and grandmother. Leon would never graduate nor would he see his home again, and it would be twenty years before he'd be reunited with his mother. Most of his classmates and friends would perish during the war.
One of my father's surviving possessionsis a diary of the years he spent in uniform: from his first battles against the blitzkrieg in 1939, to V-E Day in Italy, when the Germans finally surrendered. Leon would train and fight in Poland, the USSR, the Middle East and Italy. Even after the war, he escorted Axis POW's from Italy back to their homes because he had no country--Poland had been sacrificed to Stalinism.
The diary also chronicles his life as one of the thousands of Polish officers who were captured and imprisoned by the Soviet Union. Leon unwittingly records the last days of his comrades who would be murdered in one of the greatest and most controversial war crimes of the Second World War: Katyn.
- Copernicus Was A Pole
Astronomer Copernicus was born in Poland. I guess I should have known this. However, I am not alone. A recent contestant on the American TV show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? thought that he might have been born in Italy. He decided to stop at $100,000...
- Treaty Of Rapallo 1922
At the start of World War Two, Germany and the Soviet Union worked together to invade and conquer Poland. However, there had been a history of German-Soviet cooperation dating from 1922. The Treaty of Rapallo enabled the German army, through secret agreements,...
- Pole Honors Germany's Red Baron
At least one Pole is attempting to honor a dead German from World War One. And not just any German but the infamous Red Baron. The article Pole honors Germany's Red Baron by Ryan Lucas has the details. Lucas wrote, "Baron Manfred von Richthofen buzzed...
- The Russo-finnish War
The Russo-Finnish War. This is a book review by S. J. Larly of the book A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War Of 1939 - 40 which was written by William R. Trotter. This is a substantial review which also gives a good overview of the Russo-Finnish...
- World War Ii - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is a detailed article on World War II at Wikipedia. As with all Wikipedia content, you can volunteer to edit this article if you want to do so. From the site: World War II was the most extensive...