Theo Young-Smith

Heroically, I think, Tom, in a word. We heard from the mayor, Stefan Starzynski, at the very beginning. He musters the population of the city to dig anti-tank ditches and to put up barricades and all this stuff. And they actually do hold off the first German attack. The Germans surround, they then surround the city with infantry and with panzers.

And Hitler says, we will starve and bomb and pummel it into submission. The Poles asked the Germans, they sent a message saying, can we at least evacuate our civilian population? And the Germans said, no, no way. So on the 10th of September, Warsaw became the first capital in Europe to be subjected to relentless bombing raids. We'll come to them in a second.

And Hitler says, we will starve and bomb and pummel it into submission. The Poles asked the Germans, they sent a message saying, can we at least evacuate our civilian population? And the Germans said, no, no way. So on the 10th of September, Warsaw became the first capital in Europe to be subjected to relentless bombing raids. We'll come to them in a second.

And Hitler says, we will starve and bomb and pummel it into submission. The Poles asked the Germans, they sent a message saying, can we at least evacuate our civilian population? And the Germans said, no, no way. So on the 10th of September, Warsaw became the first capital in Europe to be subjected to relentless bombing raids. We'll come to them in a second.

But it does come as a surprise to the Poles because the Poles, of course, don't know what was decided in Moscow. Stalin has been biding his time for two weeks.

But it does come as a surprise to the Poles because the Poles, of course, don't know what was decided in Moscow. Stalin has been biding his time for two weeks.

But it does come as a surprise to the Poles because the Poles, of course, don't know what was decided in Moscow. Stalin has been biding his time for two weeks.

He's been distracted because the Red Army has actually been fighting the Japanese in the Far East, a place called Khalkhin Gol in Mongolia, not really reported in the West at all, but very important in the long run because it actually persuades the Japanese to switch their attention from fighting the Russians to fighting further south in Asia.

He's been distracted because the Red Army has actually been fighting the Japanese in the Far East, a place called Khalkhin Gol in Mongolia, not really reported in the West at all, but very important in the long run because it actually persuades the Japanese to switch their attention from fighting the Russians to fighting further south in Asia.

He's been distracted because the Red Army has actually been fighting the Japanese in the Far East, a place called Khalkhin Gol in Mongolia, not really reported in the West at all, but very important in the long run because it actually persuades the Japanese to switch their attention from fighting the Russians to fighting further south in Asia.

Anyway, when that's all over, on the morning of the 17th of September, Molotov, his foreign minister, calls the Polish ambassador in Moscow and says to him, Poland is clearly disintegrated. Poland is dead. Poland is full of our Ukrainian and Belarusian kith and kin, and we feel honor bound to protect them, and therefore we're sending in the Red Army.

Anyway, when that's all over, on the morning of the 17th of September, Molotov, his foreign minister, calls the Polish ambassador in Moscow and says to him, Poland is clearly disintegrated. Poland is dead. Poland is full of our Ukrainian and Belarusian kith and kin, and we feel honor bound to protect them, and therefore we're sending in the Red Army.

Anyway, when that's all over, on the morning of the 17th of September, Molotov, his foreign minister, calls the Polish ambassador in Moscow and says to him, Poland is clearly disintegrated. Poland is dead. Poland is full of our Ukrainian and Belarusian kith and kin, and we feel honor bound to protect them, and therefore we're sending in the Red Army.

And this is a very familiar argument to the Poles, as Halit Kuchanski says in her book. It's the same argument the Russians had used in 1795 to justify the third partition of Poland. So the Polish ambassador thinks, oh, Here we go again. Here we go again, yeah. Exactly. The Red Army crossed the border immediately. Almost 40 divisions in total coming from Belarus and Ukraine.

And this is a very familiar argument to the Poles, as Halit Kuchanski says in her book. It's the same argument the Russians had used in 1795 to justify the third partition of Poland. So the Polish ambassador thinks, oh, Here we go again. Here we go again, yeah. Exactly. The Red Army crossed the border immediately. Almost 40 divisions in total coming from Belarus and Ukraine.

And this is a very familiar argument to the Poles, as Halit Kuchanski says in her book. It's the same argument the Russians had used in 1795 to justify the third partition of Poland. So the Polish ambassador thinks, oh, Here we go again. Here we go again, yeah. Exactly. The Red Army crossed the border immediately. Almost 40 divisions in total coming from Belarus and Ukraine.

The Poles were staggered. The Poles didn't know how to react. Are they coming to help us? Are they coming to attack us? Even many Soviet soldiers themselves were actually not sure which shades of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Are we the goodies? Are we the baddies? Yeah. What side they're on. The Polish commanders said to them, don't resist. It's pointless. Fall back.

The Poles were staggered. The Poles didn't know how to react. Are they coming to help us? Are they coming to attack us? Even many Soviet soldiers themselves were actually not sure which shades of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Are we the goodies? Are we the baddies? Yeah. What side they're on. The Polish commanders said to them, don't resist. It's pointless. Fall back.

The Poles were staggered. The Poles didn't know how to react. Are they coming to help us? Are they coming to attack us? Even many Soviet soldiers themselves were actually not sure which shades of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Are we the goodies? Are we the baddies? Yeah. What side they're on. The Polish commanders said to them, don't resist. It's pointless. Fall back.

And actually at this point, the Polish commanders say to their army, we need to actually get out of Poland to save the army. So they start to retreat south towards the Romanian border. The British and the French are staggered by this. So they had no inkling that it was coming. They didn't. They didn't know it was coming at all. The fabled British spy service. Has not covered itself in glory.