The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945
Page 10
This decision was communicated to the press in an official statement from Premier Edouard Daladier’s office as follows:
“On account of the international situation the French Government has decided to complete military measures already taken by calling up an additional contingent of reserve soldiers.”
During last night notices were posted on the walls of town halls and public buildings throughout the country calling up men whose mobilization number is 3 or 4. It is estimated that about 600,000 men of varying age and trained for different military work will be affected. These little notices are printed on white paper bordered by red, white and blue and under crossed flags of the republic.
Another notice posted during the night and also signed by the Minister of War, who is also Premier Daladier, announced that from today requisition of automobiles and other military requirements would be made.
Paris is still largely deserted, many families not having as yet returned from vacation, and the news that categories 3 and 4 are being called up and subsequent posting of notices attracted very little attention. Heavy rain kept the people off the streets and the city was unusually quiet all last evening.
It was expected that further measures of mobilization would be deferred until after today’s Cabinet meeting, for which President Albert Lebrun returned from his vacation last night, but reports of the French and British Ambassadors in Berlin confirmed the need for the greatest urgency.
FRAIL HOPES FOR PEACE
Despite the apparent gravity of the situation it should be added that all hope has not yet been abandoned that war can be avoided. This hope may be based on frail foundations, but these are not in official circles considered entirely unsubstantial.
The first among them is the fact that the German Government, army and people must know that annexation of Danzig and all the rest that Germany is now claiming from Poland cannot be expected without war—as Chancellor Hitler promised his people would be the case. The Polish Government has given assurances again to France that she intends to stand firm against invaders, and the French and British Governments have repeated their promise to Warsaw that, if the Poles resist, these governments will keep their promise.
Second, although an uncertain element in the situation that may make for peace is the attitude of Soviet Russia. It was believed here by many that the Soviet Government’s real aim in getting Foreign Minister Joachim von Rippentrop to Moscow while continuing conversations with the British and French military and naval missions was to try to stage a “Soviet Munich” and take a dominant diplomatic position in the world as a peacemaker.
If Russia succeeded, it was argued, she would have a great measure of popular opinion in the world behind her. If she failed she would be able to draw profit from the aftermath of a war between “capitalist countries” from which she would remain aloof.
French Ambassador Andre FranCois-Poncet had a long interview yesterday in Rome with Foreign Minister Count Ciano of Italy. His report has not been received.
Contradicting whatever frail hopes may be founded on this diplomatic activity, are reports confirming the steady massing of German troops on the Polish frontier and elsewhere, and multiplication and exaggeration of frontier “incidents” in the German press. It is probable that more people here now believe that war cannot be avoided than that it can, and the government is necessarily acting on the supposition that it cannot. What is obvious is that there is going to be no hesitancy and no weakness on the part of France.
If Herr Hitler still expects to obtain another conquest without war it is clear that he is mistaken.
The two categories of reservists called up will be at their posts along the whole of the frontier by Saturday and ready, under the command of General Gamelin, to meet any situation.
FRANCE NOW IS CONFIDENT
It is well worth remarking that there has been no general exodus of the civil population as yet from the east and north of France, such as there was last September. Among the public there was a feeling last September—which was not unfounded—that in the air, especially, France was not ready to meet a German attack. This year there is complete confidence in the efficacy of all arms and not only in the ultimate outcome if the test comes, but even in the initial repulse of the aggressor.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
Border Clashes Increase
Wireless to The New York Times.
BERLIN, Sept. 1—An increasing number of border incidents involving shooting and mutual Polish-German casualties are reported by the German press and radio. The most serious is reported from Gleiwitz, a German city on the line where the southwestern portion of Poland meets the Reich.
At 8 P.M., according to the semiofficial news agency, a group of Polish insurrectionists forced an entrance into the Gleiwitz radio station, overpowering the watchmen and beating and generally mishandling the attendants. The Gleiwitz station was relaying a Breslau station’s program, which was broken off by the Poles.
German troops entering Poland on September 1, 1939.
They proceeded to broadcast a prepared proclamation, partly in Polish and partly in German, announcing themselves as “the Polish Volunteer Corps of Upper Silesia speaking from the Polish station in Gleiwitz.” The city, they alleged, was in Polish hands.
Gleiwitz’s surprised radio listeners notified the police, who halted the broadcast and exchanged fire with the insurrectionists, killing one and capturing the rest. The police are said to have discovered that the attackers were assisted by regular Polish troops.
The Gleiwitz incident is alleged here to have been the signal “for a general attack by Polish franctireurs on German territory.”
Two other points—Pitschen, near Kreuzburg, and Hochlinden, northeast of Ratibor, both in the same vicinity as Gleiwitz, were the scenes of violations of the German boundary, it is claimed, with fighting at both places still under way.
The attackers were all said to be heavily armed and supported by details of the regular Polish Army.
But it is further reported that German border guards repulsed all the attempts.
Polish insurrectionists and soldiers are alleged to have stormed the Hoch-linden Custom House, which was recaptured by Germans after a battle lasting for an hour and a half. The number of dead and wounded was not determined because of darkness, but fourteen Poles, including six soldiers, were captured.
MANY CASUALTIES REPORTED
In the Pitschen incident a band of 100 Poles, including soldiers, were said to have been surprised two kilometers on the German side of the frontier. They are accused of opening the fire, which was returned, resulting in the death of two Poles and the capture of fifteen, while the Germans lost one dead and many wounded.
Since Saturday Neuberstisch, near Gleiwitz, is said to have been subjected daily to Polish rifle and grenade attacks. These have seriously damaged property and communications.
Polish bands assisted by soldiers are also said to have attacked the railroad station in the Alt Eiche district of Rosenberg in East Prussia. They were repulsed by German machine gunners, the Poles losing an unknown number of men, the Germans one dead and one wounded, says the report.
In Katowice a Polish customs official is accused of forcing a German woman into Polish territory, although her companion escaped. Nothing is known of the whereabouts of the supposedly kidnapped woman.
Poles are accused also of endeavoring to cross the border and attempting to set fire to German houses. Germans report many attacks against Germans within Poland.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
HITLER GIVES WORD
In a Proclamation He Accuses Warsaw Of Appeal to Arms
By OTTO D. TOLISCHUS
Special Cable to The New York Times.
BERLIN, Sept. 1—Charging that Germany had been attacked, Chancellor Hitler at 5:11 o’clock this morning issued a proclamation to the army declaring that from now on force will be met with force and calling on the armed forces “to fulfill their duty to the end.”
T
he text of the proclamation reads:
To the defense forces: The Polish nation refused my efforts for a peaceful regulation of neighborly relations; instead it has appealed to weapons.
Germans in Poland are persecuted with a bloody terror and are driven from their homes. The series of border violations, which are unbearable to a great power, prove that the Poles no longer are willing to respect the German frontier. In order to put an end to this frantic activity no other means is left to me now than to meet force with force.
‘BATTLE FOR HONOR’
German defense forces will carry on the battle for the honor of the living rights of the reawakened German people with firm determination. I expect every German soldier, in view of the great tradition of eternal German soldiery, to do his duty until the end.
Remember always in all situations you are the representatives of National Socialist Greater Germany!
Long live our people and our Reich!
Berlin, Sept. 1, 1939.
ADOLF HITLER
The commander-in-chief of the air force issued a decree effective immediately prohibiting the passage of any airplanes over German territory excepting those of the Reich air force or the government.
This morning the naval authorities ordered all German mercantile ships in the Baltic Sea not to run to Danzig or Polish ports. Anti-air raid defenses were mobilized throughout the country early this morning.
A formal declaration of war against Poland had not yet been declared up to 8 o’clock [3 A.M. New York time] this morning and the question of whether the two countries are in a state of active belligerency is still open.
REICHSTAG WILL MEET TODAY
Foreign correspondents at an official conference at the Reich Press Ministry at 8:30 o’clock [3:30 A.M. New York time] were told that they would receive every opportunity to facilitate the transmission of dispatches. Wireless stations have been instructed to speed up communications and the Ministry is installing additional batteries of telephones.
The Reichstag has been summoned to meet at 10 o’clock [5 A.M. New York time] to receive a more formal declaration from Herr Hitler.
When Herr Hitler made his announcement Berlin’s streets were still deserted except for the conventional early traffic, and there were no outward signs that the nation was finding itself in the first stages of war.
The government area was completely deserted, and the two guards doing sentry duty in front of the Chancellery remained their usual mute symbol of authority. It was only when official placards containing the orders to the populace began to appear on the billboards that early workers became aware of the situation.
Chapter 1
“CAN THE UNITED STATES KEEP OUT OF WAR?”
September–October 1939
In the early morning on September 1, 1939 German forces began a carefully planned campaign to destroy the Polish armed forces in a series of rapid and destructive operations. The news, when it came, had not been unexpected, for the European crisis had intensified in the last days of August. In New York it was just after midnight and The Times rushed out an extra edition under the front-page headline “German Army Attacks Poland.” Details were sent through by Otto Tolischus in Berlin (soon to be expelled by the Germans) and confirmed by The Times’s Polish correspondent Jerzy Szapiro, who found himself under bombardment in Warsaw. The German campaign made rapid progress, but in London and Paris, already being evacuated in case of bombing, Hitler was being asked to withdraw his forces and avoid further war. His refusal resulted in two ultimatums. The British one ran out at 11 a.m. on September 3, the French one at 5 p.m. the same day. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain solemnly announced over the radio that Britain was at war and his broadcast was reprinted in full on the front page of The Times that same day. Neither of the Western powers took immediate action to help the Poles, whose forces were swept aside in four weeks of bitter fighting. On September 17 the Soviet armed forces moved into eastern Poland under their agreement with Hitler and by September 27 all Polish resistance had ended
For the United States the crisis in Europe posed many dangers. Neutrality legislation, which had been signed into law in 1937, insured that the United States would not become involved in any war by taking sides or supplying arms. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was under strong pressure to declare U.S. neutrality formally in September 1939, and although he did so, he wanted to keep open the possibility of selling resources to the democracies. The isolationist mood in the United States, which The Times campaigned against, was strong. When The Times asked on September 3 “Can the United States Keep Out of War?,” the overwhelming answer from the public would have been “yes.” For Americans there was not just anxiety over German ambitions, but fear of what Japan might do in Asia and uncertainty over Soviet intentions following Stalin’s decision to throw in his lot with Hitler. There was also widespread fascination in America with the war, evident in the extensive news coverage devoted by The Times to the opening weeks of the conflict.
The historian Allan Nevins asked whether civilization could survive a second war, a question widely debated in Europe in the 1930s. Nevins concluded that it might, but only because civilization somehow always had survived in the past. The Times published the assertion by the exiled Communist Leon Trotsky that sooner or later the United States would have to join in the war; though Trotsky was an unlikely ally for America’s interventionists. Nevertheless, there still existed the possibility that the war might end as suddenly as it had begun. In October Hitler made veiled offers to the West to abandon the conflict now that he had seized his Polish prize. Demands that the West should make peace came from Francisco Franco, recent victor in the Spanish Civil War, the pope, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands, even from Moscow. For all the popular hostility to Chamberlain as an appeaser, then and now, he was adamant in October 1939 that there should be no negotiating with Hitler. By late October American public opinion held that U.S. involvement in the war could be avoided altogether. A Gallup Poll showed that 54 percent were sure the United States could keep out of the conflict. This was not yet world war. If Britain and France had made peace, there would have been no world war at all.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
GERMAN ARMY ATTACKS POLAND
HOSTILITIES BEGUN
Warsaw Reports German Offensive Moving on Three Objectives
By Jerzy Szapiro
Wireless to The New York Times.
WARSAW, Poland, Sept. 1—War began at 5 o’clock this morning with German planes attacking Gdynia, Cracow and Katowice.
At Gdynia three bombs exploded in the sea.
The regular German Army started an offensive in the direction of Dzialdowka—in Upper Silesia and Czestochowa. The German plan apparently is to cut off Western Poland along the line of Dzialdowka-Lodz-Czestochowa.
The offensive is developing from East Prussia, toward Silesia and northwards from Slovakia.
At 9 o’clock an attempt was made to bombard Warsaw. The planes, however, did not reach even the suburbs.
A military attack on the garrison at Westerplatte in the Danzig area was repulsed.
The Foreign Office at 8:45 A.M. issues a communiqué saying that military action had begun in Westerplatte in the Danzig area as well as in Buschkowa near Gdynia, and in Dzialowka, Chojnice and Lowa.
Hostilities have begun and Poland has been attacked, said the communiqué.
Three cities in Upper Silesia suffered artillery bombardment, particulars of which are lacking, it was said.
While this dispatch was being telephoned, the air-raid sirens sounded in Warsaw.
DANZIG FIGHTING REPORTED
WARSAW, Poland, Sept. 1 (AP)—It was reported today that Tczew and Czestochowa were bombed by German airplanes early this morning.
There was no official confirmation of the bombing.
Fighting was reported at Danzig.
It was reported officially that German troops had attacked Polish defenses near Mlawa, bordering the southern part of East Prussia. The
re was no announcement of the damage resulting from the bombing.
Mist and clouds were overhanging the city. A light drizzle apparently afforded momentary protection against air raids. Warsaw went to work as usual.
ROOSEVELT WARNS NAVY
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (AP)—President Roosevelt directed today that all naval ships and army commands be notified at once by radio of German-Polish hostilities.
The White House issued the following announcement:
“The President received word at 2:50 A.M. Eastern standard time by telephone from Ambassador Biddle at Warsaw and through Ambassador Bullitt in Paris that Germany has invaded Poland and that four Polish cities are being bombed.
“The President directed all naval ships and army commands be notified by radio at once.
“There probably will be a further announcement by the State Department in a few hours.”
The announcement was issued by William Hassett, acting White House press secretary, after the President telephoned him at his home.
White House offices had been dark during the night, but Mr. Roosevelt himself was keeping in constant touch with European developments. Across the street from the Executive Mansion there were few lights burning in the rambling State Department Building.
One factor creating immediate concern in the capital was the presence of many Americans in Europe who have been unable to obtain passenger space on transatlantic liners.