Class 7
Elementary School in Łuków
25 June 1946
The German invasion of Poland in 1939
On 1 September 1939, the Germans crossed the Polish borders in military formation and their squadrons showered our towns and villages with a hail of bombs. A horse ran through the field with a plough, the cattle fled from the pasture. Every living thing was frightened, trying to run away. The streets were empty, we only heard the groans of the wounded and the whistle of bullets. The Polish troops were scattered all over the roads and fields. Many soldiers were marched into captivity and transported deep into Germany. A couple of days later, every town and village was full of German soldiers.
In the east, the second enemy army crossed the Polish border and captured many Polish soldiers. The Polish lands were now torn in two. The Germans introduced new laws and regulations, deported the inhabitants and replaced them with German families. They oppressed and persecuted the poor Polish nation. The Germans started building many new prisons and filling them with Polish prisoners.
After some time, the prisons were not enough, so the Germans started setting up camps with hundreds of barracks arranged into rows and a crematorium chimney erected in the most important section. Such camps were surrounded by barbed wire. The Germans had no mercy – they filled the camps with masses of people, burning in the crematorium those who had died in terrible pain and agony. The Germans were trying to exterminate the Poles as quickly as possible, so they were constantly placing people under arrest.
On top of that – they started sending Polish youths for labor to Germany. The Polish youths started hiding, so the Germans organized round-ups to transport them as prisoners to Germany, where they were treated in a brutal manner.
During the war, the Polish Army was established in foreign lands in order to get rid of the enemy from our country with the help of the Soviet troops. After five years of enslavement, the Polish nation was finally able to put on their ceremonial clothes. The white and red flags were flying, hung from every building. Nowadays, the Germans are humble and they are not going to start a new war any time soon.