DW: Poland, Germany and the shadow of World War II
To this day, German-Polish ties are haunted by the events of World War II. The invasion of Poland cast a long shadow, as demonstrated by current demands for reparations and plans to erect a memorial to Polish victims.
Poland wasn't just the first country invaded by Germany in World War II. It also suffered the largest number of casualties as a proportion of its total population, in addition to the systematic, wholesale destruction of Polish towns, cities and cultural assets.
These days, however, 80 years after the invasion of Poland, few Germans realize the full extent of the damage wreaked upon their neighbor. Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, admitted as much on a recent visit to the country.
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Update: WWII: A memory battleground on the 80th anniversary (AP)
WNU Editor: Every Saturday night we light a candle in my home to remember someone who has passed on and/or a historical event. Tonight we are remembering the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War.
3 comments:
Well, Germany has apologized over and over. How come Russians never apologized for THEIR invasion of Poland? Just asking.. after all the Russians teamed up with Germans back then.. people forget
No innocents here. Poles were involved in a bit of an invasion of parts of Russia not long after the end of WWI. Sweden was an ally to this.
So Poland gets top billing?
What about Czechoslovakia? Were they not a country?
Taking over Czechoslovakia gave the Germans 20 to 24 divisions worth of equipment. Most of it was considered sub par and they gave it to Allie like Romania. More importantly the Germans got control of the Skoda works.
Back to the equipment the Germans came into possession of some good tanks
"After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland, France and the USSR. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_38(t)
The Czech tanks gave the Germans much needed armor. There was about parity in tanks during the invasion of France. Sure the Germans used their tanks better, but many of them were training tanks without guns. Without the Panzer 38(t) would the invasion have been possible.
If Britain had has a 1,000 troops in Czechoslovakia as a tripwire, the Germans would not have invaded.
If Woodrow Wilson had been an honest man, Hitler would not have had the Sudentenland pretext.
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