When Hitler’s blitzkrieg against Poland began on 1 September 1939 it swiftly became clear that Hitler was set not just on military victory but on killing Poland as an entity and absorbing it into Germany. Behind the tanks came SS Death’s Head units, under orders to sweep up, by stripping Poland of all possible leadership, as well as burying its history and cultural identity. In every town, city and village that lay in the path of German armies, schools, universities and town halls were closed and often burned, while teachers, priests, doctors, community elders were rounded up, tortured and
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