August 31st, 1939, Nazi operatives were posing as Polish officials. The frontier like border of Germany and Poland was a relatively open space. That morning, the Germans opened fire on a target — other Germans. The target was an army radio station, the attack itself was a farce. All the worlds a stage, and this attack was nothing more than a show

The attack was swift. The next day, Germany declared war and the Wehrmacht poured over the border. Polish forces, outnumbered in some areas by 40:1, tried to fend off the Germans. However, the mobility and communication abilities of the German armor was too much. Some like to laugh that the Polish tried to fight the German tanks with lance cavalry, however this is little more than rumor due to ceremonial pictures.

If the German advance was not enough, the Russians also pressed in from the East. Before the staged attack on the radio station, Hitler and Stalin had made a secret pack to split Polish territory between each other after a combined invasion.

Hitler portrayed the invasion as a defensive measure. He spoke to the German people that day, saying “in order to put an end to this frantic activity no other means is left to me now but to meet force with force.”

Although France and England would declare war on Germany two days later, neither country would preform any action to help. For all intents and purposes, Poland was alone. The worse was yet to come, however.

Once Poland was effectively occupied, the Nazis got to work implementing their malicious plans for Lebensraum. Elite German units known as Einsatzgrupen dispersed into the country side, slaughtering entire villages. Within the cities, martial law was implemented and Jews, Gypsies, and other groups that did not fit with Nazi ideology were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

In 1944, Warsaw would see a massive uprising as the Polish resistance hoped to break away from years of Nazi rule. The uprising saw the deaths of thousands on both sides as well as the subsequent slaughter of tens of thousands of Poles once the Germans suppressed the uprising.

Poland would see no relief after the war. As the Red Army pushes the Nazis out of Poland, Polish citizens saw one oppressor replaces by another. The Soviets would implement further harsh rule over the Poles, and a beautiful country with wonderful people would suffer more.

Let us not forget the significance of this day. September 1st, 1939 ushered in a massive change for the entire world. The Nazis and their allies would take the world down a dark path, one that would leave scars even today.