During the military campaign in September, Warsaw got through many serious bombings. In the memory of Warsaw’s inhabitants there remained especially the day of 17 September 1939, when there was partly ruined and fired the Warsaw’s and Poland’s symbol- the Royal Castle- the former residence of the Polish Kings. However, no other attack was similar to this of 25 September 1939. That day, over Warsaw there appeared approximately 400 Luftwaffe bombers. The city was regularly bombed with even thousands of loads’ tones which were to collapse and fire the city’s objects. The aims of the air- ride were the public buildings, blocks of flats, churches and purposely the hospitals standing out with the Red Cross’s symbols. The German pilots were shooting dead the Warsaw’s civilians from the board weapons. The Warsaw’s bombing was actually the first flat air- ride in the history, and it is estimated that there were killed even about 20 000 people.

National content – the bombardment of Warsaw On 1 September 1939, with no previous warning German army attacks Poland. At 4.48 first shots are fired at Military Transit Depot Westerplatte. Simultaneously, along the entire border Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe invade the sovereign Polish territory. From day one, Germans test their new blitzkrieg tactics. Towns and villages are bombed and set ablaze, with defenceless refugees being shot at from the air. Many acts of mass-violence and mass executions are perpetrated. Warsaw, the capital of the Second Republic of Poland is first air-raided already on 1 September around 6:00 in the morning. At first, its residents are disoriented. However, the new grim reality quickly hits their realization. On 6 September, the President issues the general mobilization order, commanding all healthy and strong men to leave the city and to head eastward with the aim to join the newly forming armies. Results surpass even the highest expectations. The general effort of the patriotic capital surprises even military authorities. Within several days following 4 September, the armed forces amassed for defence triple. Everyone, including ordinary civilians flings oneself to help the defenders. The prospect of losing independence after 123 years of annexations causes the sheer thought to fill one with terror. People will go to any length to prevent finding themselves under the yoke of an invader. This is about honour and preservation of independence as well as about the national identity. Although superiority of the German army is significant, nobody even thinks about a possibility of a quick capitulation. Warsaw is on fire, with sanitary conditions deteriorating and food supply depleting, pipelines failing, still more frequent gas shortages, and streets covering up with heaps of bodies. Nonetheless, Poles are still fighting, showing a worthy example of their boundless patriotism. In the meantime, the hitherto allies of Poland, that is Great Britain and France, declare war on the Third Reich on 3 September. However, this is as far as their help gets. Poland received no material or military help, contrary to what the powers promised at the signing of the mutual help agreement. Only the French occupied several villages in Germany which they soon relinquished. Whereas British bombers dropped leaflets on German cities. This period lasting until April at the western front is called ’the strange war’, as it led to no military activity whatsoever. England and France gave no prominent help to the bleeding Poland and abandoned it in its fight against the aggressor. Meanwhile, on 17 September 1939, from behind the eastern border another painful blow descended on Poland. The Red army invaded its territory, which de facto meant the division of Poland among two aggressors. On 28 September 1939, the first German troops enter the ruined Warsaw. Poland lost the September campaign, but it had not lost the war yet. The conspiratorial fight with the invader had just started.