Destroying Poland
Poland suffered more damage in World War II than any other European country. Entire cities disappeared from the face of the Earth. Almost 6 million Polish people were killed. Hundreds of thousands of others were injured. Many more faced starvation.
Our story of Poland’s destruction and desperate need for help from Dunkirk, NY, and elsewhere, begins in 1939. War clouds are gathering over Europe as Nazi Germany builds up a huge army and air force. Germany plans to get even with the rest of Europe, which punished it for starting World War I.
The Soviet Union sees those clouds, and wants to avoid war. On August 23, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin agrees to a deal with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. They sign the so-called Nonaggression Pact. It’s an agreement not to attack each other.
On the War Path
Hitler continues on the path to war. Nazi Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939. Britain and France respond by declaring war on Germany. World War II now is underway as Nazi ground troops and war planes attack Poland from the north, south, and west.
Stalin knows that Britain and France are busy fighting the Nazis. He hates Poland, which defeated the Soviets in a previous war, and takes advantage of the situation. Claiming that Poland once illegally annexed part of its land, the Soviet Union on September 17 invades Poland from the east.
Poland now is squeezed between two powerful armies, and battered on all sides. The Nazi army and Air Force leave a path of devastation as they move toward Warsaw, Poland’s capital. On October 6 the Nazis defeat the Polish army, capture Warsaw, and annex western Poland. The Soviet Union annexes parts of eastern Poland.
A Reign of Terror
The Nazis conduct a reign of terror against Polish citizens. It lasts for the next next 5 years. Poland, for instance, becomes the center of Adolf Hitler’s systematic extermination of Jewish people.
In 1941, the Nazis start building Polish concentration camps for that purpose. Among them are camps notorious for the Holocaust such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Majdanek. The Nazis deport Polish people, loading them onto trains headed for these death camps.
Nazi occupation forces also loot Poland. They steal food and other supplies for use by the army. They also send food from Polish farms back to Germany, for instance, while the Polish people starve.
Scorched Earth Policy
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany breaks the Nonaggression Pact and invades the Soviet Union. Almost 3 million Nazi soldiers pour into the Soviet Union. But the Soviet Red Army eventually drives the Nazis out, and chases them back east through Poland.
As the Nazis retreat, they adopt a military strategy that further damages Poland. It is a “scorched earth” policy. They destroying anything and everything that might be useful to the enemy, the Soviets. In doing so, the Nazis burn or blow-up food supplies, farms, towns, villages, roads, bridges.
Guerrilla War
Even after defeat of their regular army, the brave Polish people continue fighting. They organize a “resistance movement.” It’s a secret plan to hassle the Nazis and disrupt their rule of Poland. Polish resistance fighters use “guerrilla warfare.” That’s combat by civilians with ambushes, sabotage, raids, hit-and-run tactics, and other attacks.
The grows into Poland’s “Home Army.” Army leaders decide to make a major attack on the Nazis. They wait for a time when the Nazis are most vulnerable. That chance comes in the summer of 1944. The Red Army is defeating the Nazis, and has advanced to the suburbs of Warsaw, Poland’s capital.
So the Home Army attacks Warsaw. Leaders of this “Warsaw Uprising” think the Red Army is about to swarm into Warsaw. “We’ll only have to hold off the Nazis for a few days,” they think. “The Red Army will help us.”
Weep for Warsaw
Wrong!! The Red Army does not rush into Warsaw. Instead it camps in Warsaw’s suburbs and waits — for two months. That delay gives the Nazis time to regroup. By October, the Nazis defeat the Home Army and recapture Warsaw.
Warsaw was badly damaged in 1939 during the first German invasion. Nazi warplanes dropped bombs and ground troops shelled the city with artillery. More damage occurred in 1943 during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. That was a revolt by the city’s Jewish population. The Nazis had confined them to one part of the city, the “Warsaw Ghetto,” and horribly persecuted them. The Jews fought back and lost. Furious, the Nazis destroyed the ghetto.
More devastation comes after the Warsaw Uprising. To further punish the Polish people, the Nazis conducted a planned demolition of Warsaw. One of their leaders ordered: “The city must completely disappear from the surface of the earth.”
They deliberately demolish 85% of Warsaw — 85% of what was left of Warsaw after the earlier damage. Nazi forces intentionally destroy other Polish cities as they retreate back to Germany.
Poland’s damage was not limited to cities, buildings, homes, farms, and factories. Poland lost something more precious: More than 5 million people had been killed. The toll included many engineers, doctors, and other professionals. Without them, it would take Poland longer to recover and rebuild.
No End to Suffering
The Red Army’s defeat of the Nazis did not end Poland’s suffering. Nor did the end of WWII in Europe in May 1945. For the Soviets remained in control of Poland. And, remember: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin hated the Polish people.
Those bad feelings began long ago, and it was very personal. Stalin fought in a war with Poland when the Soviet Union was struggling to emerge. Poland won that war in 1921. Stalin was enraged, and pledged to get even.
Stalin’s revenge began in 1939 after invading eastern Poland. He ordered execution of thousands of Polish people and other cruelties. The liberation of Poland by the Soviet Union was a repeat of the 1939 conquest.
The Soviets once again looted all they could from Poland, and the people starved. They forced people to move out their homes, and were mean in other ways. The Soviets uprooted Polish industries, for instance, and relocated them to the east. That domination continued when WWII left Poland a Communist country under Soviet control.
Dunkirk-to-Poland
We’ve told the story of the Dunkirk-to-Dunkerque relief program and the Dunkirk-to-Anzio relief program. Dunkirk-to-Poland was nearly a repeat performance of those acts of community generosity. There were some differences.
Volunteers collected donations for Dunkirk-to-Poland in February and March of 1947, rather than October and November. We think that the Dunkirk Society, which organized the program, was in a bind in terms of scheduling.
Poland, for instance, needed help urgently. Immediate shipments of food, clothing, and other essentials would prevent much suffering. The Dunkirk Society also may have looking ahead to its third relief program, which became Dunkirk-to-Anzio later in 1947. How to schedule two major relief programs in the same year? Let’s finish one program now, and give everyone some space before tackling another.
House-to-House for Dunkirk-to-Poland
The Dunkirk Society set up donation centers in fire stations, stores, and other points throughout Dunkirk and Fredonia. People dropped off used clothing, shoes, toys, cash, and other gifts at these places. People also donated at their workplaces. Donations also came from stores, factories, social clubs, restaurants, labor unions, and other groups.
A special part of the fund drive took place on Sunday, March 2, 1947. The Dunkirk Society wanted to be sure that everyone had a chance to contribute. So volunteers started early in the morning, on foot, riding bicycles, in cars and trucks.
They stopped at 4,000 houses in a single day. That was almost every single house in Dunkirk. What if people were not at home? Newspaper stories alerted residents to leave donations on their front porches.
A Smash Success
On March 10, 1947, the Dunkirk-ro-Poland truck headed for New York City. It was laden with 25,000 pounds of food, clothing, blankets, and other goods left Dunkirk. The canned goods alone — vegetables, fruit, milk, juice — weighed 16,250 pounds.
Total value of all the donations was $150,000. In today’s money, that would equal more than $1.7 million. Dunkirk then had about 18,000 residents. How much did each of them donate to reach $1.7 million? Just do the math. It almost $100 for every adult, child, toddler, and infant.First stop for the donations was New York City. From there, everything was packed onto freight ships, which sailed for Poland.
Where in Poland? Dunkirk’s aid for Dunkerque and Anzio impacted specific cities. So far as we know, the $1.7 million (in today’s money) donated for Poland may have helped people in many of the 900 towns and cities that existed in Poland in 1947.
A Coat Speaks
We do know that Dunkirk’s aid had life-changing impacts in Gdynia, a seaport city near Gdansk. Gdansk was in the headlines in the 1980s. A shipyard worker in Gdansk named Lech Walesa started an uprising against Communist rule of Poland. Walesa founded “Solidarity,” a labor union movement spread. It helped end Communist domination of Eastern Europe.
How do we know? One generous Dunkirk resident left his name and address in the pocket of a coat donated during the Dunkirk-to-Poland relief campaign. The coat found its way to Felicya Gutkowska, of Gdynia.
And on November 5, 1947 she wrote the donor a “Thank You” note:
“My heart-felt thanks for the coat. Although slightly worn, to me it meant everything as I had nothing to wear back and forth to work. I have lost my husband, child, and parents…In 1939 our home was bombed…we were taken to a concentration camp by the Germans, where we suffered untold tortures. This week was mercy week and that is how I received a pair of shoes, stockings, and the coat which you so kindly donated. I was very happy to find your name and address in the pocket. . .”
Ms. Gutkowska went on to talk about her health and brother, the only family member who survived the devastation in Poland. She was touched by the donor’s and said she regarded him as a new member of her own family.