In a speech to his commanders-in-chief on August 22, 1939, Adolf Hitler declared that Germany’s imminent attack on Poland must be executed “with the greatest brutality and without mercy” (Richie, Alexandra. “Invasion of Poland.” The National WWII Museum—New Orleans). On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, rationalizing this action with a deliberately staged “attack” on a German radio station near the Polish border and with propaganda falsely accusing Poland of colluding with France and Great Britain to act against Germany. Faced with Germany’s new tactic, the Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” and a subsequent attack by the Soviet Union, the Polish army was soon defeated by the ravages of this deadly two-front war. Germany’s unprovoked attack on Poland marked the beginning of World War II. Poland was forced to surrender to Germany on September 28, 1939, after which the country was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. (“Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). 

As Germany annexed Poland and began to implement its brutal antisemitic policies, Jewish citizens were sequestered in ghettos, and the Nazi occupation soon created a wide range of forced-labor camps throughout Poland and used the Jewish people as an enslaved labor force to create munitions and other supplies for the war.