Luftwaffe targetting refugees

[Roberto]

And yet the Führer seems to have felt the necessity to make clear to them that they were to "close hearts to pity" ...

So that they would get the job they relished done with dispatch and fight the dangerous enemy before he could act.

That would hardly require exhorting “Junker reactionaries who desperately wanted to settle scores with Poland” to

Close heart to pity. Brutal proceeding. 80 million people must get their right. Their existence must be assured. Greatest harshness.

Why not? It was a roll of the dice, a new world war. It would not be easy. Temerity does not win battles.

"Temerity" = "Close heart to pity" = Brutal proceeding" = "Greatest harshness".

Interesting.

[alsaco]

So far I remember the question was, did german planes bomb or straff refugees.

I don't know for Poland.

But so far Belgians in North France and French and belgian refugees in other parts of France are in the scope of the querry, the answer is yes.

Regardless of any situation, german planes straffed particularly the roads out of Paris, the road to Auxerre from the north, roads south of Toul, and even after the armistice was annouced by Petain, and was in discussion roads by Bourges and Chateauroux.

I exclude the straffing of civilians crossing bridges, on the Yonne, Loire, Cher, killing peoples by hundreds, because these bridges, even if no troops were around should have been defended normally, and could help not only civilians but also organised units.

Blitzkrieg is also terror war, so far hampering deplacement of ennemy helps to speed forward without opposition.

[tonyh]

I have only read one account of Luftwaffe strafing of refugees and that was in France. And it was from a Luftwaffe pilot.

But I would doubt that the Luftwaffe would be alone in not strafing road traffic. All the combatant Nations strafed road traffic during the war. Its a general nuisance to your enemy as it blocks roads and hampers enemy traffic.

Tony

[Jurek]

My grandmother and her children were on a train full of refugees heading east from Warsaw trying to escape the nazis. The train was attacked by 2 Stukas with a resultant huge loss of life. My grandmother could never believe that she and her children survived this unscathed.

She told me this story many times when I was younger.

[tonyh]

.............

[tonyh]

This is not quite the same as fighter aircraft strafing road vehicles though. Trains are prized targets to all armies and airforces. A pilot isn't going to know the contents of the train. It could easily contain ammo as people.

Tony

[Jurek]

I agree, but a passenger train heading east away from the frontline is hardly likely to be carrying too much of military value. It could be argued that the target was the engine with the bonus of blowing up some tracks at the same time.

[Ogorek]

Poles who lived through the 1939 Campaign have numerous stories of civilian being attacked by air...... The Luftwaffe was certainly efficient at destroying the Polish rail system.... but the attacks on civilians.... where they inefficiency on the part of the "new and untested" Luftwaffe or just plain brutal and merciless to their despised Polish neighbor?

Under the thread :
[b]What image or event of 2nd World War has moved you the most? [/b]

Hetman posted a photo of a Polish girl weeping over her sister, killed while digging potatoes. Below is information I posted regarding this famous photo.

[b]Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 11:54 am [/b]

"The photo was taken by Julien Bryan, an American journalist who was in Warsaw in 1939, and first published in a book "SIEGE" in 1940. His account was ripped off by Herman Wouk and used in the book "WINDS OF WAR" (which I refer to as "WINDS OF WHOOPEE!")

SIEGE is not an easy book to find, but of interest, the book was re-printed in Warsaw in 1959 as "WARSAW 1939 Siege - 1959 Warsaw revisited," where in addition the original text, and many of the photos, Bryan sought out, and found many of the people he had photographed, including the then 12-year-old girl (Kazimera Mika) who was weeping over her older sister, killed among others when strafed by Stukas while digging potatoes near Pawazki cemetary. "

[ISU-152]

But i am opposed to selective punishment that only german war criminals are to be punished while soviet warciminals to be let scot free and granted immunity forever

What do you want to do to soviet "warcriminals"? Most of them are dead by now. So you want to award the punishment posthumously?

It's your usual stupid rant, Wildpigie.

[Marcus]

It's your usual stupid rant, Wildpigie.

There is no need for that unfriendly attitude so cool it.

/Marcus

[Fred]

question?

Evidence ?

I mean not to the strafing, which I have no doubt about, but to Beria's orders.

a:Just because something is written down in a book/doc. does it make it the truth?
b:Just because something is NOT written down has an event it really happen?


just curious/Fred.

[LAstry2]

Kazimera Mika survived the war; married and passed away at age 93....

[ewest89]

A few silly comments. My mother was a forced laborer in Germany during the war. Some British bombers appeared one day in a mission against a nearby rail line. A bomb fell short and detonated in the field where she was working. She was buried under dirt, removed by the owners, but otherwise unharmed.