Bloody Sunday was a sequence of violent events that took place in Bydgoszcz, a Polish city with a sizable German minority, between 3 and 4 September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland.
The 3rd Light Division was raised in November 1938. In 1939 it fought in the Invasion of Poland. On 4 September 1939, soldiers from the division entered the region of Katowice where they met resistance from the local Polish population. In retribution 80 Polish prisoners of war were gathered in Kosciuszko Square by German soldiers and executed.
The 2nd Light Division was a motorized division created in 1938 during the German rearmament. It participated in the invasion of Poland. After the end of the Polish campaign the division was converted into a panzer division, forming the 7th Panzer Division.
The 4th Panzer Division was an armored division in the Army of Nazi Germany.
The 17th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army, active before and during World War II. Formed in 1934, it took part in most of the campaigns of the Wehrmacht and was decimated in January 1945. Reconstituted in Germany, it surrendered to the Allies in May of that year. The division was responsible for a number of war crimes.
During World War II, the German Wehrmacht committed systematic war crimes, including massacres, mass rape, looting, the exploitation of forced labour, the murder of three million Soviet prisoners of war, and participated in the extermination of Jews. While the Nazi Party's own SS forces was the organization most responsible for the Holocaust, the regular armed forces of the Wehrmacht committed many war crimes of their own, particularly on the Eastern Front.
The Przyszowice massacre was a massacre perpetrated by the Red Army against civilian inhabitants of the Polish village of Przyszowice in Upper Silesia during the period January 26 to January 28, 1945. Sources vary on the number of victims, which range from 54 to over 60 – and possibly as many as 69. The Institute of National Remembrance, a Polish organization that carried out research into these events, has declared that the Przyszowice massacre was a crime against humanity.
The Ciepielów massacre that took place on 8 September 1939 was one of the largest and most documented war crimes of the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, the forest near Ciepielów was the site of a mass murder of Polish prisoners of war from the Polish Upper Silesian 74th Infantry Regiment. The massacre was carried out by soldiers from the German Army's 15th Motorized Infantry Regiment, 29th Motorized Infantry Division, under the command of Colonel Walter Wessel.
Serock is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pruszcz, within Świecie County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) west of Pruszcz, 25 km (16 mi) west of Świecie, and 28 km (17 mi) north of Bydgoszcz.
Kajetanowice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gidle, within Radomsko County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) south of Gidle, 20 km (12 mi) south of Radomsko, and 99 km (62 mi) south of the regional capital Łódź.
Majdan Wielki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krasnobród, within Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. It lies approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) east of Krasnobród, 20 km (12 mi) south of Zamość, and 93 km (58 mi) south-east of the regional capital Lublin.
The Zambrów massacre was a war crime that took place on the night of 13–14 September 1939. It was one of the major war crimes of the Wehrmacht during the invasion of Poland. During that night, the makeshift prisoner-of-war camp in Zambrów was disturbed by a number of panicked horses, and more than 200 Polish soldiers, trying to move out of their way, were gunned down by German sentries. Some witnesses later said the horses had been purposely released into the camp by the German sentries, who used the incident as a pretext to massacre the prisoners.
The Katowice massacre or the Bloody Monday in Katowice that took place on 4 September 1939 was one of the largest war crimes of the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, German Wehrmacht soldiers aided by the Freikorps militia executed about 80 of the Polish defenders of the city. Those defenders were self-defense militia volunteers, including former Silesian Insurgents, Polish Boy and Girl Scouts, and possibly a number of Polish soldier stragglers from retreating Polish regular forces who joined the militia.
During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, Nazi Germany carried out a number of atrocities involving Polish prisoners of war (POWs). During that period, the Wehrmacht is estimated to have mass-murdered at least 3,000 Polish POWs, with the largest atrocities being the Ciepielów massacre of 8 September 1939 and the Zambrów massacre of 13–14 September. Most of those atrocities are classified as war crimes of the Wehrmacht. Jewish soldiers with the Polish Army were also more likely than others to be victims of various atrocities.
The Urycz massacre, which occurred on September 22, 1939, in the village of Urycz, stands as one of the most significant war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, between 73 and 100 Polish prisoners of war hailing from the 4th Podhale Rifles Regiment were confined to a barn and burned alive.
The Szczucin massacre, which occurred on September 12, 1939, in the village of Szczucin, was a war crime committed by the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, at least 40 Polish prisoners of war and around 30 civilian refugees were either shot or burned alive in the local school building. Later, 25 Jews who were brought there to bury the bodies of the earlier massacre victims were also executed by Wehrmacht soldiers.
The Torzeniec massacre, which occurred on September 1–2, 1939, in the village of Torzeniec was a war crime committed by the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. During these days, soldiers of the 10th Infantry Division killed 37 Poles, including 34 inhabitants of Torzeniec, while the village itself was partially burned.
The Wyszanów massacre, which occurred on September 2, 1939, in the village of Wyszanów was a war crime committed by the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, 22 Poles, mostly elderly people, women, and children, died from bullets, flames, and grenades thrown into the basements. Men from Wyszanów who were able to carry weapons had been deported to Germany the day before, and en route, two of them were killed by guards.
The Śladów massacre, occurring on September 18, 1939, near the village of Śladów, was a war crime committed by the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, a large group of Polish prisoners of war and civilian hostages were either shot or drowned in the Vistula River. According to the majority of Polish sources, the number of victims reached 300; however, this figure may have been exaggerated.
During World War II, Soviet Union, while publicly declaring its support for humane treatment of prisoners of war, routinely ignored them, committing various atrocities against POWs. These actions were carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and the Red Army. In some cases, the crimes were sanctioned or directly ordered by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet leadership.
