In Poland, discussions about the sense of the Warsaw Uprising continue to this day. Its critics argue that had it not been for the uprising, Poland would have kept its capital intact, as would the French, Paris. Only that in 1939 Warsaw was a city of rubble, the sight of which terrified even ... the Germans themselves!
A moving image of Warsaw immediately after its occupation by the Germans (which happened on October 1, 1939) was painted in a private letter to his wife by a German general, Helmuth Stieff. The content of this document was recently reprinted in Jochen Böhler's book "Invasion 1939" . Here are some of the most striking passages:
Warsaw itself makes a gloomy impression. There is no home that does not suffer. Entire neighborhoods are in ruins or only rubble remains. The houses that are still suitable for confusion (about 50 percent) show signs of fire to a greater or lesser extent. (…)
Bombing of Warsaw in September 1939
Perhaps the strangest feeling is that we live lavishly in ruins, and that's only because we are occupiers. The millionth mass of the population somehow vegetates somewhere [nearby] and you don't know for what.
The townspeople are going through a drama that is hard to describe. It is also not known exactly how it will all turn out. Even a rich nation and rich country would have a hard time rebuilding it all which took many years of work of the whole nation to get up at all. Meanwhile, the Polish state no longer exists, and there is no possibility of earning money, as all production plants have been destroyed.
Even if someone still has money and capital, they barely have enough for now. There are also no lenders who would support the reconstruction work, because even with the best intentions, such investments exceed our possibilities. There is also no public social welfare, because who is supposed to allocate adequate funds for it? Who has the money to put new glass in windows, to repair light wires in houses, to repair damaged roofs? No one! Warsaw is a city and its people doomed .
The burning Royal Castle after the shelling of German artillery on September 17, 1939.
It's so horrible that you can't even enjoy life for a moment while being here - that you get depressed eating a roast goose in the magnificent hotel room while the ladies maybe three months ago they belonged to an exquisite company, they must now sell themselves for a commissary to our compatriots in order to be able to continue vegetating at all.
War - if it has such consequences - is something terrible, and the last war had similar consequences. At that time, however, it was certain that the reconstruction would begin afterwards, because someone - whether it was the old or the new country - would be interested in it or would have at least adequate resources for this purpose. However, whoever has seen the ruins of Warsaw with his own eyes will find such a scenario unrealistic.
When we walk the streets here, we don't feel like winners, but feel guilty! And this is by no means just my feeling - the gentlemen who have to live here also feel the same as me. In addition, there are all these incredible things that take place on the margins, and which we have to look at with our arms folded! (...) Such extermination of entire families, together with women and children, can only be committed by subhumans who no longer deserve to be called Germans. I'm ashamed to be German .
Even if only a handful of Germans felt so clearly ashamed, a large part of the public was shocked at what their beloved Führer had led to. Perhaps only the propaganda apparatus was unaware of the prevailing mood.
The bombing of Warsaw was presented as "an impressive achievement of the Luftwaffe". This is why the propaganda film Feuertaufe was created ("Baptism of fire") from April 1940, which, however, turned out to be ... a total flop. The sight of the destroyed Warsaw evoked sympathy rather than pride in the audience. Even members of the fascist secret police admitted it in their reports.
One can only wonder about one thing. If the fate of Warsaw really touched ordinary Germans so much, why did no one try to stop further German conquests? After all, the Wehrmacht entered Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Yugoslavia, Greece without any obstacles ...
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Trivia is the essence of our website. Short materials devoted to interesting anecdotes, surprising details from the past, strange news from the old press. Reading that will take you no more than 3 minutes, based on single sources. This particular material is based on:
- Jochen Böhler, The invasion of 1939. Germany against Poland (Wydawnictwo Znak, 2011).