The Seventieth Anniversary of the Invasion of Poland and the Start of World War II

September 1, 1939, began as a peaceful Sunday that left the world shocked and changed forever, when German troops blitzkrieged their way through the Polish countryside. This 1943 War Department film contains footage of artillery and infantry attacks which resulted in the siege and capture of Warsaw on September 27, 1939. Much of the footage was shot by German troops and was later captured by Allied Forces. Over six million Poles were eventually murdered.

Warsaw Marks 65 Years Since Revolt Against Nazis

People attend Holy Mass at the Warsaw Uprising Memorial to commemorate the Warsaw 1944 Uprising on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the revolt, in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, July 31, 2009. The fight of Warsaw residents against the occupying Nazis started on August 1, 1944. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

By Marta Kucharska (AP)

To the sounds of the national anthem, Poland's leaders and World War II veterans paid silent honor Saturday to the fighters of Warsaw's 1944 uprising against the city's Nazi occupiers.

President Lech Kaczynski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, flanked by veterans,laid wreaths at the monument to the fallen insurgents — most of them young people — at their mass grave in Warsaw's historic Powazki cemetery.

There were no speeches by politicians, to stress the solemn and historic character of the open-air ceremony. A military band played the national anthem and guards of honor fired three rounds into the air.

The doomed struggle to liberate Warsaw from the Germans remains a source of national pride.

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Russia Accuses Poland of Starting Second World War

The following suggests that the Russian Defense Ministry studied history under the same professors as President Obama, as evidenced by his speech at Cairo University.

Russia has accused Poland of provoking the outbreak of the Second World War by refusing to accede to the "very modest" demands of Nazi Germany.

From The Telegraph
By Adrian Blomfield

The Russian defence ministry posted a potentially inflammatory essay on its website which claimed Poland resisted Germany's ultimatums in 1939 only because it "wanted to obtain the status of a great power".

The lengthy diatribe, which is unlikely to be welcomed in Warsaw, also lashed out at Britain and France for giving the Poles "delusions of grandeur" by promising to intercede if the Nazis invaded.

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The Female 'Schindler'

From The Daily Beast

In CBS' The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, Anna Paquin brilliantly portrays an unsung Catholic Pole who saved Jews during World War II. Kati Marton, author of The Great Escape and Wallenberg, on why the movie is a must-see.

Sixty-four years later, the Holocaust still disgorges astonishing stories of treachery and man’s capacity for evil. We especially need these stories now, as there are ever fewer survivors left, eyewitness accounts yielding to the historians’ more detached version of events. For successive generations to grasp the enormity of the mass murder of millions in the heart of Europe, we need to hear the survivors’ memories. This Sunday, with The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, CBS presents such a story.

Watch the Trailer of The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

It's a deeply moving drama based on the little-known true story of Sendler, who is credited with rescuing 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. We are accustomed to books and films about violent Polish anti-Semitism, but The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler portrays a local Catholic who risked her life to save Jewish children.

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