World War II: The European Theater
The Third Reich in World War II: 1940
The Polish army suffered from Germany’s use of military equipment including the Panzer II Ausf.C (Pz.Kpfw. II c), 8.8cm Flak 18 and 3.7cm Pak 36 (Panzerabwehrkanone 36). These new weapons effectively killed soldiers and destroyed Polish air forces and tanks. The German Air Force was also far more powerful than the Polish Air Force, with the Bf 109 fighter, He 111 and Do 17 bomber. With the leadership of Hermann Göring, the Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (pictured lower left), German planes’, especially the Ju 87 dive bomber, precise strike capability and special whistling would have had a considerable impact on the morale of the Polish army (Der Kampf Im Westen).
This paragraph in the lower right photograph was written by Hasso von Wedel on his personal experience while attacking Poland. It depicted the Führer and his companions patrolling Warsaw on 30th September 1939, which is one month after the beginning of the war. The Operations Plan Map demonstrated that the German army launched attacks in three directions: north, south, and west, and attacked the main Polish troops gathered in the border area by encircling them on both sides. The Führer’s army occupied Warsaw on 5th October 1939 and On October 6, the last Polish army was routed at the Battle of Cork, and the German and Soviet armies occupied the whole of Poland. Although Poland had never had a government or organization representing the whole country come forward to announce its surrender, it has also symbolized the end of the war in Poland (Der Kampf Im Westen).
-Xinyi Wan
Stars and Stripes
The Stars and Stripes newspaper was founded in 1861, with its first newspaper published on November 9. The Stars and Stripes was an American military newspaper that was created to report on any issues or events involving the United States Military. This issue is important because it is covering all of the news concerning the end of the war. One of the big stories in this issue is the conditional surrender of the Third Reich. The most interesting new story in this section is the final battle of the war where the Russians fought Germany as the Americans watched.
Every war is violent, brutal and horrific; there is no such thing as a nice war. World War Two in particular was extremely violent. This war included horrific events such as the bombing of Pear Harbour, The Holocaust, D-Day, etc.
If there is anything that this photo can say it would be that if you were captured by the country you were fighting for there was little mercy. In this example, “Nazi Spy Pays Supreme Penalty,” a German spy had been caught by the U.S army. In response to finding out that he was a spy, they sentenced him to death.
- Cooper Campisi