On Sept. 17, 1939, Soviet troops invaded Poland from the east. Before this, Nazi Germany had invaded Poland on Sept.1. Prior to Poland being invaded, Austria and Czechoslovakia were claimed by Germany and Poland was next on the list. During Germany ́s invasion, the Poles were on the losing end and had to retreat, some as far as the eastern part of the country. 

The Soviets would claim they invaded to “liberate” their “Blood Brothers,¨ Ukrainians living in eastern Poland, which to them was an excuse for an invasion.

While Poland was being steamrolled by two giants and had hardly any outside support, their territory was captured. Both Communists and Nazis occupied the country, splitting it between the two invaders. Some of the Poles would surrender to the Soviets instead of being taken by the Nazis avoiding the harsh fate of being prisoners of war. 

The invasion of Poland came to an end on Oct. 6, 1939. Poland did put up a good fight, but not enough for the two behemoths crashing down upon them. Poland was just one of the many countries Germany occupied, and it surely wasn’t the last.