#OTD in 1939 - the foreign ministers of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact - or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - in Moscow. #BlackRibbonDay The Pact was a non-aggression treaty, by which the signatories agreed to settle their differences by negotiation for a period of ten years.

So far, so ordinary, but the Pact also had a Secret Protocol, which was much more sinister…

On this Day - 1940, Soviet forces began the first large-scale deportation of Poles from occupied eastern Poland, removing around 140,000 people in horrific conditions. The deportees were taken primarily to labour camps in Kazakhstan and Siberia. #Kresy An extract from my book “The Devils’ Alliance” describing the Soviet deportation process.

On this Day - 1939 - the British and French prime ministers and chiefs of staff met in the “Supreme War Council” at Abbéville in northern France. They discussed the progress of the ongoing German campaign in Poland and assistance for their ally. #Poland1939 #OTD French prime minister Edouard #Daladier said that the German advance was proceeding “as expected”, and stressed that he had “no intention” of throwing French forces against the German western front.

This was said in spite of a previous commitment to do just that.

On this Day - 1939 - Hitler’s tame filmmaker Leno Riefenstahl witnessed a German massacre of Polish Jews at Końskie, south of Warsaw. Her entourage recorded her reaction. #OTD #Poland1939 She was in #Końskie to interview the German commander, General Reichenau, for a propaganda broadcast, but instead was witness to a “reprisal action” against local Jews.

On this Day - German and Soviet units convened for a joint parade in the Polish city of #Brest. Here, the two commanders - General Heinz Guderian and Brigadier-General Semyon Krivoshein - share a joke on the reviewing stand. #Poland1939 #NaziSoviet Here a Soviet T-26 tank passes a waiting Wehrmacht motorcycle reconnaissance unit. Friendly cooperation between the two allies. #NaziSoviet

On this Day - 1939 - #Wehrmacht forces massacred some 358 Polish civilians and POWs at Śladów, west of Warsaw. (no photo available) It was one of the worst such massacres during the German invasion of Poland. #Poland1939 Prisoners and civilians were rounded up following an engagement with Polish forces and forced to bury the dead. They were told that they would be released afterwards.
Instead, they were led to the banks of the Vistula and machine-gunned into the river. #Poland1939

On this Day - 1939 - one of the most iconic photographs of #WW2 was taken in #Warsaw. It was taken by American photojournalist Julien Bryan, and it shows a 10-year-old girl, Kazimiera Mika, bending over the body of her sister, who had just been killed in a German air raid. The sisters had been with a group of other woman, digging for potatoes near Powązki cemetery, when they were targeted in a strafing attack by Luftwaffe aircraft. Two of them were killed. Bryan arrived soon after and took out his camera. #Poland1939

On this Day - 1939 - the British and French prime ministers and chiefs of staff met in the “Supreme War Council” at Abbéville. They discussed the progress of the ongoing German campaign in Poland and assistance for their ally. #Poland1939 French prime minister Daladier said that the German advance was proceeding “as expected”, and stressed that he had “no intention” of throwing French forces against the German western front.

This, in spite of a previous commitment to do just that.

On this Day - 1939 - Hitler’s filmmaker Leno Riefenstahl witnessed a German massacre of Polish Jews at Końskie, south of Warsaw. #Poland1939 She was there to interview the German commander, General Reichenau, for a propaganda broadcast, but instead was caught up in a “reprisal action” against local Jews. #Końskie

On this Day, 1939 - Polish defence at #Wizna, on the eastern Narew, came to an end with the surrender of the remaining bunkers overlooking the river valley. #Poland1939 After Polish sappers had destroyed the nearby bridge, the bunkers at #Wizna dominated the wide channel of the Narew, a river that the German 3rd Army needed to cross if it were to continue its advance southward. The Germans waited on a pontoon, but none was available.

#OTD 1940, Stalin's foreign minister Vyacheslav #Molotov arrived in #Berlin for talks with Hitler on the second phase of the German-Soviet strategic relationship. Staying at the Schloss Bellevue (now home to the German President), Molotov had two days of talks with Hitler and other senior Nazis.

Hitler had planned for his invasion of #Poland to start #OTD on this day in 1939 - however he was momentarily spooked by the Anglo-Polish alliance and the prospect of Mussolini's arbitration and so decided to rescind the invasion order... #WW2 One detachment of #German soldiers, however, had already left their starting positions when the halt order came through, and could not be reached by radio. The group under Lt. Hans-Albrecht Herzner was invading Poland on their own.

On this Day - 1939, the #Nazi-#Soviet Pact was announced in Moscow. As well as a 10-year Non-Aggression Pact, Stalin and Hitler agreed to divide central Europe between them. Here, Stalin toasts the pact with Hitler's photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. The Nazi-Soviet Pact gave #Hitler the green light for his plans to invade Poland: a week after its signature, German forces invaded their eastern neighbour. Poland's allies - Britain and France - responded by declaring war on Germany on 3 September. #WW2 in Europe had begun.