Zdradzona Polska. Napaść Niemiec i Związku Sowieckiego na Polskę w 1939 roku

Campaign Chronicles

by David G. Williamson, Krzysztof Filip Rudolf (Translator)

Hitler's attack on Poland in 1939 was the first brutal act in six years of world war, but the campaign is often overshadowed by the momentous struggle that followed across the rest of Europe. David Williamson, in this timely and thought-provoking study, reconstructs each stage of the battle in graphic detail. He looks at the precarious situation of the Polish nation caught between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, reconsiders the pre-war policies of the other European powers, particularly France and Britain, and assesses the state of the opposing armed forces before the Germans launched Operation White. In a vivid and fast-moving narrative he follows the course of the campaign as it moved across Poland in September 1939.

His book should encourage a fresh understanding of the Polish-German war and of its significance for the wider conflagration that followed. Critical episodes in the German offensive are re-examined: the mock attack at Gleiwitz, the battles at Westerplatte and Bzura, the siege of Warsaw and the impact of the intervention of the Red Army. Throughout the narrative, first-hand accounts of soldiers and civilians who were caught up in events are used to give an insight into the experience of the war. The author dispels myths that persist about the course of the campaign - the apparent destruction of the Polish air force, the Poles' use of cavalry - and he draws attention to often overlooked flaws in German military organization. He also records the immediate aftermath of the Polish capitulation - the division of Poland between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union and the fate of the captured Polish troops.

• Full-length study of the opening campaign of the Second World War
• Dispels misunderstandings and myths associated with the campaign
• Reconsiders the performance of Polish and German armed forces
• Exposes the flaws in the German military machine
• Includes orders of battle and biographies of key personnel

Genres: History, Poland, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

About the author

David G. Williamson is the former head of history and politics at Highgate School.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a free copy in return for an open and honest review.

Detailed Military book looking the origins of this conflict and the build up after Munich agreement to the 1st September and the false promises given by British and French governments and under resourced Polish forces. Found this book very interesting

[Kevin W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good higher-level view of the September Campaign. The author didn't get into the finer battle details, but I'm OK with that. Everyone knows that Germany started things by invading Poland, but maybe alot of casual WWII (or general history) readers might not know that the Soviets probably treated the Poles even worse.

Good anecdotes regarding the Polish Calvary vs German forces, even armoured units. And no, contrary to popular belief, the Poles did not attack German tanks on their horses.

Everyone thinks that Germany, and Russia, just rolled through Poland, this author does a good job at detailing the resistance the Poles put up. Keep in mind that Germany overran France in a shorter time, even though France had more troops than Germany. The Poles had fewer troops and lasted longer. Who knows how much more resistance they could have put up if the Soviets had stayed out of Poland.

In summary, a good, quick read if someone is interested in the higher-level overview of the Spetember Campaign. If you're looking for greater battle details, there's better choices out there.

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. This is a slim volume (170 pages). Williamson is able to translate Polish primary sources to liven up the corpus, but seems to have no desire to incorporate any secondary material into his bibliography. His treatment of the German campaign focusses on the traditional large-scale German pincer movements and Polish counter-manoeuvres, but the reader is left with one map of 1939 Poland and a single map showing the final position of defeat of each Polish Army.

Now onto the good stuff. The campaign chronicle in se is a good foundation for in-depth study, with clear recapitulations as to the outcome of all these advances. It is also preceeded by a decent comparison of all three belligerent forces as they developped during the interwar period. For the benefit of the less polophile reader, the Polish part comes with an encyclopedic intro to the country's reformation as a state in the wake of the Austro-Hungarian implosion.

A hefty dozen of individual memoirs and eyewitnesses breathe life into the text, with a few cocky young Wehrmacht recruits thrown in for good measure. The lesser known aspects of the Polish campaign are present such as the naval siege of the Hel peninsula, the escape of Polish submarines to neutral countries or the relatively intact emigration of the Polish Air Force.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Romania playing a role into the survival of the Polish Armed Forces, as the High Command retreated to the southeastern border ahead of the joint German-Russian invasion. The subsequent odyssey via the Balkan to (French) Beirut and hence to France or Great Britain is mind-boggling.

Concerning these allies, the book offers a righteous aroma of l'Albion perfide as they never made good their repeated promises or threats of intervention. From their point of view, the Chamberlain cabinet was still committed to re-armament and there was little to spare that wouldn't endager the material effectiveness of its own forces. Still....

Myths reinforce one another, as do truths. Poland is one of the better examples of the war. The Wehrmacht wasn't the well-tuned Blitzkrieg machine of popular lore, nor did Polish cavalry execute lance charges against PzkW's. In reality, the Polish cavalry fought as mounted infantry, coupling mobility with anti-tank firepower on terrain that was too marshy or rugged to facilitate wheeled transport. The German tank unts, for their part, suffered mass mechanical breakdown. The Sitzkrieg was a necessary breathing spell for them; without Czech Skoda tanks they couldn't have amassed enough penetration power to successfully invade the West.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There seems to be a tendency for reviewers with some connection to the Polish community to give virtually anything about Poland 5 stars. There is a corresponding dearth of review, and more synopsis and/or promotion, endorsement or testimonial. This is not a 5 star book. It has some flaws, but it is most definitely a solid 3.5 or 4. I gave it a 4 because I couldn't give it a 3.5.
While I applaud anything that will dispel the myths surrounding Polish experience in WW II, and promote a better understanding of their significant contributions, not everything is worthy of accolades. The author is an expert in German history, having published an impressive amount of scholarship on the German experience in both world wars. Having said this, his present effort couldn’t decide whether it should be history or something published for more of a mass market audience. So, while he provides a list of sources, he does not provide endnotes, which to my mind would have added a great deal. To be sure, he is careful to source much of his material, but endnotes are not simply vehicles to list where a scholar procures material, but are also used to contextualize and explain what may not always be clear to readers.
In a valuable contextualization Williamson goes back to the Pilusdski years and his post WW I legacy in setting the stage for the territorial ambitions of both Russia and Germany with respect to Polish land. He also goes to great lengths to dispel some of the most enduring and ridiculous myths about the Polish Calvary and the Polish air force. Bravo for that effort, the long lasting effort by some at making Poles look like yokels with respect to warfare must be contained and the more the myths are dismissed and illuminated for what they are, the better.
Bravo also to Williamson for being faithful to Polish names with all their diacritics. In contradistinction to Norman Davies, Williamson has enough respect for his audience to not resort to ridiculous linguistic “dummying down.” He is also a much, much better writer than Davies; being far more accessible and less boring. He focuses on the military aspects of the Soviet and Nazi invasions of 1939 bit he also introduces a human element. The reminiscences of the survivors in his aftermath section are rich and adding a human face, they enhance the history of the time and the aftermath of the betrayal of Poland.
The photos are most informative; especially the one of a POW camp/detention center in Kutno. My father was in such a center in Działdowo after the fall of Modlin from which he escaped. Until I saw this photo, it always puzzled me as to how he could have in his words “walked out.”
Having said that, I think that he pays short shrift to the betrayal aspect and does not develop that theme in a particularly robust way. Moreover, there are some editing hiccups. For example, in one section the word Angers is used in lieu of Anders. Also, in listing General Anders in his Appendix, he has his rank as Lieutenant General. He erroneously calls the Russo-Polish War (of 1919-20) the Soviet-Polish War. The Soviet Union was not founded until 1922.

[Derek Weese · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Poles, at one point in time in their tragic history, were one of the most powerful nations in Europe. But by the early 1700's their power was waning and the Austrians, Russians and Prussians conspired to carve their kingdom up amongst themselves, a deed accomplished by the mid 1700's. Poland would have a brief period of freedom in the Napoleonic Wars when Napoleon, after thrashing the Russians, created the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. But Napoleons eventual defeat meant the occupation of Poland by Russia.
During WWI the Poles fought for several of the powers though with less than enthusiasm. Finally, in 1919, Poland was created as a free and independent nation once again. Herein lay the seeds of their future tragedy.
The Versailles Treaty, which created Poland out of the remnants of the Hapsburg Empire, Germany and Russia, sought to use Poland as a buffer state to exist in between Russia and Germany in the hopes of creating a greater form of regional stability. As in so much with the Treaty, however, it's good intentions simply dissolved in the face of cold, hard reality.
Russia emerged from its Civil War as a Communist state, one that wanted it's share of Poland back and willing to grab it by force. At first the Soviet invasion, taking place in 1920, was successful pushing the Poles back to Warsaw. But the Poles won a spectacular victory near their capital, crushing three Soviet armies and even pushing into Ukraine (Polish units would get as far as Kiev before being forced to turn back). This astounding military success compelled the Poles to use their military to confront many of their state problems, with some successes (except in the case of German Freikorps units barring them from portions of Silesia). The success at Warsaw, however, gave the Poles a false sense of military superiority, and ensured Soviet dreams of revenge.
The Soviet dreams of revenge were mirrored by Germany's. Much of western Poland was former German territory, and the Poles were none too gentle with their Volksdeutsch populations. Even before the Nazi's rise to power, there were many in Germany who called for Poland's destruction. Poland also had to worry about her eastern frontiers, largely made up of lands grabbed from Russia and Ukraine. In short, Poland was a mess, and she was destined to be the targets of two, very hostile neighbors. But this was only a problem if either the Soviet Union or Germany restored their power.
Unfortunately they did.
Early Nazi diplomatic successes and the annexing of territory that had formerly belonged to the old Imperial German state by Hitler began to worry the Poles. However, the Poles and Germans did sign a non-aggression pact not long before the outbreak of war, and the Poles began to undergo the process of military modernization. However it was a slow process and as nowhere near complete by the war. The pressure from Germany, despite the pact, began to increase over the issue of Danzig and the 'Polish Corridor'; a strip of land given to Poland that broke away East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Poland refused to cede the strip to Germany, even despite the dangling carrot of a 25 year renewal of the treaty between them. Then again, Hitler had a habit of ignoring compacts.
The true nail in Poland's coffin, however, was the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed in August of 1939 wherein both nations agreed to partition Poland between them.
When the Germans invaded on September 1, the Poles fought heroically and determinedly. But by the 17th, the Red Army crossed their eastern frontier and the game was up.
During the fighting itself the Poles did very well, giving the Germans numerous bloody noses and even doing well against the overwhelming numbers of the Red Army for a time. Still, despite their own bravery, they were simply overwhelmed.
This is a good, short, high level book on the subject which is largely ignored in the overall historiography of WWII. The author points out several things that should be considered.
First: The Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe were not the battle hardened, masters of war in 1939 that they were in 1941. The Polish Campaign showcased that, despite a harsh and realistic training regimen, severe discipline, and a highly educated and largely independent Officer Corps, nothing beats actual battle experience. Many times the untested Germans would make mistakes, rash decisions and just plain get thrashed. However, and this is key, they learned from their mistakes, and soberly applied the lessons learned in Poland to refine their forces.
Second: All three sides committed ghastly atrocities against one another. The Poles rounded up, shot and deported quite a few ethnic Germans and even some Ukrainians during the course of the fighting and both the Germans and Soviets were brutal in victory with atrocities being the norm upon occupation of a town or city.
Third: The Poles fought on. After the loss of their country thousands managed to flee to Romania and Hungary where they eventually made their way to France and England. Poles, formerly POW's in Soviet hands were released to form the Free Polish Army and they fought gloriously in N. Africa, Italy, Normandy, Holland and Germany itself.
Still, despite their bravery, heroism and gallantry, the Poles were doomed to spend most of a century under an occupiers boot. Poland would not be free again till the fall of the Soviet Union.
Current events show that, not only is the story of Poland important to us now, but that the study of military history, especially European military history, should not go out of fashion. With events escalating in Ukraine to the point where war could be a possibility, it will behoove many to re-learn the art of war once again. For no one is this more true than the Poles.
Overall a good little book. I still am hoping for a larger, more detailed study of the war, its operations, strategies and individual actions to come out some point soon in the future.

[Heinz Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very similar in outline and organization to the work by Zaloga and Madej. In fact it discusses the same topics in the same order, down to the Polish Order of Battle pre-campaign.
As such, if you have the older Zaloga/Madej volume, this one may be too similar to be of interest. However, this book isn't without value.
The campaign narrative, while similarly focused on the Operational/Strategic level as the other work, does interlace personal accounts of Polish and German soldiers and civilians that adds a human dramatic element absent in the book written by Zaloga and Madej. The air war in particular is greatly fleshed out in Williamson's book as is the role, or rather, the non-role, played by Poland's useless allies the British and French.
The Western Allies rightfully receive very harsh treatment in this little book from Williamson for their utter cowardly failure to aid physically Poland besides the 1930's equivalent of hopes and prayers.
Also covered in some length in this volume that receives only a paragraph mention in the other work is the Soviet invasion beginning September 17, 1939. The doomed resistance of the Polish National Guard against the Red Army is given more than just a couple of pages, and this alone would be enough to recommend this volume to those interested.
The 1939 Polish Campaign was the forging of the Wehrmacht into the ruthlessly efficient machine of war of popular conception. The Poles, though outnumbered and outgunned, fought brilliantly on a tactical level even if they were hopelessly outmaneuvered operationally, and doomed strategically.
What the Germans had going for them was speed, and the use of the Luftwaffe as both aerial artillery (a three dimensional element to the battlefield that the Poles couldn't truly counter) and as another arm of operational warfare; striking targets deep behind the front that the Poles needed for their logistical and strategic infrastructure.
And of course the Germans vastly outnumbered the Poles in terms of armor. However, the vaunted Panzers of 1939 were far from truly being vaunt worthy, and the Poles taught the Germans some very painful lessons in combined arms operations and why one should never plow into a massive urban center with tanks sans infantry support.
One can make the very convincing case that it was the fires of the brief war with Poland in 1939 that made the Germans the fearsome opponents that they are known as. The lessons assimilated and absorbed in Poland led to the amazing against the odds victory the Germans won in the West against the Western Allies in a manner of weeks.
This book also highlights in brief the terrible nature of the German and Soviet occupations, the flight of a large number of Polish military refugees to Romania, Sweden, and Britain, as well as briefly mentions the Soviet use of Polish forces later in the war against the Germans.
While it is a relatively short book, main text is 170 pages, it is dense in it's material and is worth the read. It loses a star mainly for being too much of a rehash of the Zaloga and Madej book in the first third.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction for those who just think it was the Nazis that invaded Poland during WW2, this also brings in how the Nazis ally Soviet Russia invaded the Eastern Borderlands of Poland on 17th September 1939.

This book explores the flaws in both the battle plans of the Poles and the Germans, and considers their performance.

[Ben Bergonzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two stories in one, the first, the German Blitzkrieg into Poland that launched World War 2 has been told exhaustively, but the second is much less well known - the Russian invasion of the Eastern Polish provinces that were stolen within days in 1939 and have never, despite Operation Barbarossa, despite the end of World War II and despite the collapse of the Soviet system, had the slightest chance of being restored. It was for the latter that I bought the book. There is a chapter called The Second Russian Polish War September 17th-30th which is informative but brief. If ever there was a need, and a time, for a fuller historical account of a military operation, we need it for this one.
Still the book is good value with detailed and well-sourced accounts of the two campaigns, careful scrutiny of the legends that have arisen (eg that Polish Cavalry charged tanks or that their air force was destroyed on the ground), and frank accounts of the violent relationship between Poles and Ukranians at that time, ruthlessly exploited by both Nazis and Soviets. The survivors' verbatim testimony of their experiences, though upsetting reading, are particularly welcome. My only reservation is the shortage of maps in the book. Otherwise, a very worthwhile book.

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author David G. Williamson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G...) published the book “Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939 (Campaign Chronicles)” in 2012. Mr. Williamson has published five books.

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this book as ‘G’. This book tells a detailed story of the invasion of Poland in September of 1939.

The book is a little dry as too many history books tend to be. It does start with a background of Poland going back to WWI. The book gives details about the Germans and Russian invasions as well as how the Polish defense.

I enjoyed the 6+ hours I spent reading this 241-page history. While dry, it is still very readable. I learned far more about the operations in 1939 Poland than I had read before. The cover art is OK, but seems a little dull to me. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

[Norbert Niedźwiedź · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandfather - WW II Polish veteran had given me this book when I was a young, careless ignorant (still guilty of it but less). I found the book dusty in my family house where it waited for me 10 years. Sadly my grandad passed away and I can’t discuss it with him although I would like that so much, maybe as much as he wanted to talk about it but I was busy with trivial stuff. Let’s hurry to love people, they go away so soon. RIP grandpa. Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna

[David Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on the first campaign of World War Two. The Poland campaign. September 1939. The Germans had issues. The Poles had issues eg no radios . When the world dismembered Czechoslovakia the Polish government should have been on the side of the Czechs. Instead they took Teschen as part of the peace deal.

The. British and French could have done more to help the Poles. But the crooks are the German and Russian governments. The poles fought bravely against two invasions.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is not the most exciting book to read, it offers a very detailed account of the invasion of Poland on both the Western and Eastern fronts, and clears up some common misconceptions about the capabilities of the Polish military at the time.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. I did not know the history of Poland before WWII and this section was eye-opening for me.