A World War II Miracle & a Giveaway

Hi, Cindy Stewart here. I’m excited to join the Heroes, Heroines, & History blog and look forward to interacting with you on the 1^st day of each month. I write inspirational historical fiction set during World War II. Through my research, I’ve uncovered obscure events and new stories which bring history to life for me. The war caused great devastation, and we should never forget these horrors. But even during the worst tragedies, God’s hand is evident, working through people and events, transforming the outcome for future generations. I plan to share these miraculous stories with you.

What big mistake did Hitler make in 1939 that contributed to his eventual defeat?

Today we will focus on an event Hitler encouraged and later came to regret. An event which saved tens of thousands of lives and aided the Allies in their future victory.

The map below illustrates the boundaries of European countries in early 1938 before Hitler began his conquests. Notice that Poland is sandwiched between Germany to the west and the USSR to the east and bordered by Czechoslovakia and Romania in the south. 



By Dros Catalin. Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons

  

Before the end of 1938, Germany took possession of Austria and the Sudetenland (the mountainous area of western Czechoslovakia) without opposition. Hitler then devised a way to take over the great Czechoslovakian iron works, armament factories, and huge supplies of modern military equipment in addition to more land. He encouraged the Hungarian government to invade the eastern tail of Czechoslovakia and reclaim the territory of Carpathian-Ruthenia lost after World War I.

In March of 1939, the Hungarians acted upon Hitler’s suggestion and repossessed their former lands in the Carpathian Mountains. Hitler took advantage of the distraction, and the Germans marched into Prague, seizing the whole western half of Czechoslovakia. The middle of the divided country became “Slovakia” and a protectorate of Germany. The rest of the world responded with outrage but didn’t move to stop these advances. As seen on the map below, Hungary gained a common border with Poland.

Professor John L Heineman, Boston College

  And then almost 6 months later . . . on September 1^st . . .

      the Germans unleashed the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht on Poland, giving birth to the blitzkrieg, “lightning war.” The English and French had urged the Polish government not to mobilize its troops and further enrage Hitler. The Poles had ignored the warnings and secretly mobilized half of their armed forces by August 31^st. The Luftwaffe bombed trains, stations, and rail lines, preventing many of the remaining troops from reaching their battle stations. Refugees clogged the roads, making it even more difficult for defense forces to engage the enemy.



Polish Soldier 1939
Wikimedia Commons

What the Polish soldiers lacked in numbers and equipment they made up for in bravery and sheer determination. They held the enemy back longer than Hitler had expected. However, armed with the most modern equipment (including the newly acquired arsenal from Czechoslovakia), the German troops attacked from multiple points, broke through weak spots where the Polish Armies were spread out, and encircled hundreds of thousands of troops. The Poles tenaciously fought an army almost twice their size and an air force five times greater.

By September 9^th Hitler was impatient to finish the Polish campaign. The Germans asked the Hungarian government for permission to transport soldiers to Poland on a rail line through Hungary. The Hungarians denied passage. Even though they had signed a trade agreement with Germany, the Hungarians considered Poland their friend. If German troops set foot in Hungary, the government would consider it an act of war.

Polish POWs - Wikimedia Commons

The Germans advanced across Poland, and on September 11^th Polish Commander-in-Chief Marshal Rydz-Śmigły ordered his remaining troops to retreat to the Romanian border in southeast Poland. He expected new military equipment to arrive from France and England via Romania. He also planned to organize a counterattack from the east when France opened an offensive from the west as they had promised. 

 

Then on September 17^th, the unthinkable happened. . . .

The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east and captured Polish troops. Upon hearing the news, Rydz-Śmigły ordered
all Polish units to cross the border into Hungary or Romania by any means possible. Although many soldiers, airmen, and civilians escaped into Romania, the Soviets quickly sealed the Polish-Romanian border, leaving Hungary as the only other escape route in the south.

The Hungarians officially opened their border with Poland on September 18^th, and tens of thousands without passports or visas crossed safely. Whole military units escaped to fight another day.

Polish Soldiers - Wikimedia Commons

Both Romania and Hungary followed the Geneva Convention and established refugee camps for civilian refugees and internment camps for soldiers. Refugees who could fend for themselves passed through Hungary and Yugoslavia to Italy and France. Hungarian citizens housed civilians in their homes and transported them to the Yugoslavian border where they found transportation further west. The Hungarian government didn’t stop “refugees” dressed in civilian clothing from leaving the country. In fact, the Hungarians sent civilian clothing to the Polish Embassy, enabling tens of thousands of soldiers to make their way to France and rejoin the Polish Army and Air Force.

Graves of Polish Soldiers (1939)
By Сергей Семёнов (User:Stauffenberg (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

The Polish Armed Forces joined the Allies and became the fourth largest Allied military force to serve in World War II. And they served with distinction.

If the escape route through Hungary had not been available, how much longer would the war in Europe have lasted? How many more civilian lives would have been lost?



Used by Permission from Budby via flikr

Sources: No Greater Ally (Kenneth K. Koskodan)

Poland Betrayed (David G. Wiliamson)

Man of Steel and Honour: General Stanislaw Maczek (Evan McGilvray)

Hungarian History (http://www.hungarianhistory.com/lib/kapronczay/kapronczay2.pdf)

Cindy Stewart, a high school teacher, church pianist, and inspirational historical fiction author, was the historical category winner for ACFW’s 2014 First Impressions writing contest, a 2014 Bronze Medalist in My Book Therapy’s Frasier contest, and tied for second place in the 2015 South Carolina ACFW First Five Pages contest. Cindy is passionate about revealing God’s handiwork in history. She resides in North Georgia with her husband and college sweetheart of thirty-four years and has a married daughter, son-in-law, and three adorable grandchildren. She’s currently polishing her first novel, Abounding Hope, set in Eastern Europe at the start of WW II. 

Giveaway  Leave a comment below to enter the drawing for a hard copy of Kristy Cambron's WWII novel, The Butterfly and the Violin. Share on FB and/or Twitter and let me know for an extra entry. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address and let me know if you shared. Giveaway ends 1/3/16 at 9 PM EST.