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(As of September 17, there was no more Poland)

(Apologies for the delay in posts) September 17, 1939 signified the end of Poland as it was a month earlier. The reports from Warsaw were not encouraging and there was plenty of blame to go around.

But at this particular moment, things were not looking up for any satisfactory conclusion to the conflict.

John Gunther (Reporting from London): “This has been a hard day today, a bad day. We’ve seen something very terrible to watch. The death of a free country. The death of a nation. Poland was killed today. In effect, assassinated. For the fourth time in its unhappy history, Poland has been partitioned. . . . .for all intents and purposes the Poland we have known these past 20 years has ceased to be.”

And it would just get worse.

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(Berlin - chafing at the bit for the catastrophe to start)

The last diplomatic gestures exhausted, and Germany issuing a sixteen point list of demands for Poland, the evacuation from major cities of children and invalids began, with an estimated 3 million slated to evacuate London alone.

BBC Newsreader: “The German wireless tonight issued a sixteen point program, which it described as Germany’s reply to the latest British note. At what stage this sixteen point plan was advanced is not at present clear, because as of a short time ago it was known that the German government had sent to London no official reply to the note which was received in Berlin last night. Nor had Poland sent any reply to a British note informing her of the previous communication from Herr Hitler. Germany demanded One: that the free city of Danzig, on account of its purely German character and the unanimous will of its population, should return to the Reich unconditionally and forthwith. Two: that the corridor shall decide itself whether it shall belong to Germany or to Poland, and for this purpose a plebiscite shall be held. Three: That all Germans and Poles who have been resident in the corridor since the first of January 1918, or have been born there shall be entitled to vote in the plebiscite, and that all Germans who have been expelled from the corridor, or were forced to leave, shall return there in order to cast their votes.”

A list of impossible demands, making it clear that Germany was determined to go to war and invade Poland as quickly as possible. August 31st would be the last good day in Europe for a while.

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(In Warsaw an eerie and perplexing calm)

As diplomatic attempts kept going up to the eleventh hour, preparations were being made for the eventuality of war.

The news was filled with precaution and speculation. The broadcasts on this entry start with BBC World Service news, followed by a report from commentator Arthur Mann for Mutual and then Sigrid Schultz reporting from Berlin and finally a newscast from the North American service of Radio Berlin.

As it happened on August 28, 1939.

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(The Waiting Game)

As the threat of war became increasingly inevitable, the evacuations started, the recall of ambassadors and non-essential personnel, packing and going home. Waiting for the next shoe to drop.

The BBC World service reported the goings on during the day of August 27, 1939.

BBC Newsreader: “Railway traffic in Germany is to be still further restricted, and in future the railways will not undertake to carry any private passengers. The German Traffic Minister in a broadcast said that this step is being taken to avoid the serious delay in bringing food to the big cities. In some places the delay is leading to great disorganization. Germany has assured Denmark and Lithuania that she will respect their neutrality.”

Nobody blinked.