The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company brings you the sound of war.
The actual sound record of World War II. 2,191 days from the time Hitler's Panzer divisions
moved across the Polish borders to the ceremony of the Japanese surrender aboard the United
States Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
World War II, the most terrible period of death and destruction in the long history
of man.
World War II, a drama preserved for all time through the medium of radio.
An era never to be forgotten.
Tonight, Poland in misery.
I am speaking to you from the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street.
This morning, the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government.
It is September 3rd, 1939.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is broadcasting to the British Empire and the world.
It is the climax of three days of drama that will have its conclusion exactly six years
later.
This is the beginning of World War II.
A brief recapitulation of the events leading up to this moment.
Two days earlier on September 1st at 5.45 a.m., German armies moved across the Polish borders
from the north, south, and west.
Four hours and 15 minutes after the attack, Chancellor Adolf Hitler spoke to the Council
of Ministers of the Reichstag.
If Poland should try to destroy Gdansk economically on the path of the great political measures,
then Germany could no longer see it as idle.
I told the Polish ambassador three weeks ago that if the situation continued as it was,
Gdansk would be persecuted and it would be attempted by Poland to ruin Gdansk economically.
The situation could not be tolerated.
German armies moved quickly through Poland.
Throughout September 1st, France and Great Britain did not move.
Emergency sessions were being held in Paris and London.
The two allies would march unless Germany withdrew its troops from Poland.
And now here's a special bulletin from the Associated Press.
Paris.
The French government announced today that Robert Colander, French ambassador to Berlin,
would call on Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister, at noon, 6 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time, 7 a.m. New York Time, today to demand a reply to France's ultimatum for
the withdrawal of German troops from Poland.
This French action was ordered taken just three hours after Sir Neville Henderson, the
British ambassador to Berlin, had informed the German government at 4 a.m. New York Time
that a state of war would exist between Britain and Germany as of 6 a.m. Eastern Daylight
Saving Time unless Germany gave a satisfactory reply.
It is Sunday, September 3rd, 1939.
The day is cool and clear in London, and the citizens of the city and the island would
normally be quietly returning from church.
There is more movement than usual.
At 11.15 a.m., Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain will speak to the Empire and the world.
It is now two days, five and a half hours, since the German attack on Poland.
Many Polish soldiers and civilians have been killed.
Much territory has been captured by the Germans.
Much destruction has fallen upon Polish cities.
Great Britain and France are ready to march.
For Prime Minister Chamberlain, it is an unbelievable nightmare.
Less than one year before, upon returning from his second of three trips to Chancellor
Adolf Hitler's headquarters, he was one of those mainly responsible for the destruction
of the Czechoslovakian nation by adhering to the British and French policy of appeasement.
We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German naval agreement as symbolic
of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.
Now Germany had moved against Poland, and Great Britain must honor its ties with the
Polish nation.
The declaration of war speech he made has rarely been heard in its entirety.
All the disillusion, humiliation, and defeat can be heard in his voice as he speaks.
You will now hear a statement by the Prime Minister.
I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street.
This morning, the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note,
stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once
to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this
country is at war with Germany.
You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace
has failed.
Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have
done if it would have been more successful.
Up to the very last, it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honorable
settlement between Germany and Poland.
But Hitler would not have it.
He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened.
And although he now says he put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by the Poles,
that is not a true statement.
The proposals were never shown to the Poles, nor to us.
And though they were announced in the German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not
wait to hear comments on them, but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier the
next morning.
His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will
ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will.
He can only be stopped by force.
And we in France are today in fulfillment of our obligations going to the aid of Poland
who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack upon her people.
We have a clear conscience.
We have done all that any country could do to establish peace.
But a situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted, and no people
or country could feel itself safe, has become intolerable.
And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with
calmness and courage.
At such a moment as this, the assurances of support which we have received from the Empire
are a source of profound encouragement to us.
When I finish speaking, certain detailed announcements will be made on behalf of the government.
Give these your close attention.
Now may God bless you all.
And may he defend the right.
For it is evil things that we shall be fighting against.
Drink force, bad faith, injustice, oppression, and persecution.
And against them I am certain that the right will prevail.
It shall ever be to Prime Minister Chamberlain's credit that he did his duty as he saw fit.
Winston Churchill would say fourteen months later in memoriam, the only guide to a man
is his conscience.
The only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions.
Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be
sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity and authority.
And we here assembled this morning, members of all parties without single exception, feel
that we do ourselves and our country honor in saluting the memory of one whom Disraeli
would have called an English worthy.
The war is on.
The British monarch George VI speaks to the empire.
For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war.
Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between
ourselves and those who are now our enemies.
But it has been in vain.
We have been forced into a conflict.
For we are called with our allies to meet the challenge of a principle which if it were
to prevail, it would be fatal to any civilized order in the world.
We are called with our allies to meet the challenge of a principle which if it were to prevail,
it would be fatal to any civilized order in the world.
The war was underway.
With
its beginning came a new form of communication.
The radio war corresponded.
In all previous history, war was reported by writers and the history of the conflict
as we know it was left for us in the written word.
Now through radio came the spoken word and news as it happened was communicated to every
home.
One of the best known news commentators was later to become head of the United States
Office of War Information.
His name was Elmer Davis.
He was at his post as Prime Minister Chamberlain and King George spoke.
We have Hitler's statement that it strongly implies that he intends to stand on the defense
in the West.
His troops are invading Poland.
It would be very difficult at present as our military experts have told you for the French
and British to give any effective aid to Poland except possibly by air.
And there Hitler has announced that he will bomb only military objectives although dispatches
from Poland indicate that many civilians have been killed and wounded in the air operations
and it will be difficult for the British and French to make any attacks on Germany without
immediately provoking reprisals and which each side will undoubtedly accuse the other
of having been the first to attack women and children.
The tone of Mr. Chamberlain was that of a very tired and very saddened man.
Clear up till yesterday it looked as if he might make greater sacrifices for the sake
of peace, as if there might be some possible concession this time as there had been the
time before.
And you will remember that yesterday it was Mr. Greenwood, the leader of the opposition,
who got the cheers in the House of Commons when he rose to speak and cries of, Speak
for England.
The German armies moved across Poland, a combination of might and power unseen and unheard of in
all previous military history.
A new word entered the language of war, blitzkrieg, lightning war, gone with the static unmoving
lines of trench warfare.
In its stead was the awesome power of the mechanized army, tanks, motorized artillery,
armored cars, and the terrible new weapon of destruction, the dive bomber.
The Poles were being annihilated.
It is September 17, 1939.
Now more terrible news for the Poles.
Russia invaded Poland from the east.
Now the squeeze began.
In two days the Russian armies with little opposition took over half of Poland.
The Poles were of strong heart.
They fought well for their homeland, but they were no match for the onrushing waves of mechanized
might.
France and Great Britain could not effectively come to their aid.
Before one month would go by, Chancellor Adolf Hitler would make a victory speech.
Today there are thousands of columns proceeding along the border which our troops have reached
by Kutno, by Lemberg, and by Breslytow, and these troops are now retreating from the regions
from which they have been captured.
I do not know how many captives have been made, but I do know one thing, and that is
that in a very few days those remaining in Poland in the army will capitulate, will lay
down their weapons, and will also be taken captive.
He has just said that when we succeeded in conquering a state of 36 million inhabitants
in one month without any defeat, then that is not only luck, but our wonderful accomplishment
in the field of military campaign.
The war was a strange one.
There were still signs of the chivalry of years gone by.
Both German and allied gunners seemed reluctant to hit the enemy.
Artillerymen in both the Maginot and Siegfried lines conspicuously avoided the pinpoint accuracy
science had afforded their weapons.
There was not a British casualty until three months and nine days after the war began.
An ironical note, years later at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
said, if the French had attacked us during the Polish campaign, we would not have had
a real defense.
To attack Poland, we had to leave the western borders unattended.
The French could have crossed the Rhine with no opposition.
Though the military action was slow, Great Britain made preparations for the eventual
death and destruction that would soon rain upon them.
The children of the Empire were evacuated to the United States and other countries of
the Empire.
As Christmas 1939 neared, families were reunited by transatlantic telephone calls.
Hello, Mom.
Hello, Daddy.
How are you?
Fine, thanks.
How are you?
I hope you're having a merry Christmas.
Mrs. Violet?
Yes.
Come on, I don't need something now.
Just a moment.
Mrs. Violet, just a moment.
We'll have Violet for you in just a minute.
Here's Ronnie.
He'll come in a minute.
Here's Ronnie who wants to add a word and then we'll come back to Violet.
Hello, Mom.
Hello, Tom.
How are you?
I'm going to cry.
On the home island, the royal family stood as the symbol of strength and courage.
They would share the dangers that would confront all their subjects.
A princess, later to become queen, spoke to the children of the Empire.
Princess Elizabeth.
I can truthfully say to you all that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage.
We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen.
And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the
world of tomorrow a better and happier place.
My sister is by my side and we are both going to say good night to you.
Come on, Margaret.
Good night, children.
Good night and good luck to you all.
The year was coming to a close.
Total war would soon plunge the world into terrible agony.
For the conquered Poles, there was death, misery, and destruction.
Poland was in torment.
Winston Churchill would salute the gallant Poles.
Our thoughts go out tonight, not only to those valiant exiled Poles whom we have learned
to like and respect in the British islands and who stand armed in the ranks of the armies
of liberation, but even more to those who are gripped at home in the merciless oppression
of the Huns all over Europe, races and states whose culture and history made them a part
of the general life of Christendom in centuries when the Prussians were no better than a barbarous
tribe and the German Empire no more than an agglomeration of pumpernickel principalities
are now prostrate under the dark cruel yoke of Hitler and his Nazi gang.
The atrocities committed by Hitler upon the Poles, the ravaging of their country, the
scattering of their homes, the affronts to their religion, the enslavement of their manpower,
exceed in severity and in scale the villainies perpetrated by Hitler in any other conquered
land.
It is to you, Poles in Poland, who bear the full brunt of the Nazi oppression that the
hearts of the British and American democracies go out in a full and generous tide.
We send you our message of hope and encouragement tonight, knowing that the Poles will never
despair and that the soul of Poland will remain unconquerable.
This war against the mechanized barbarians, who slave-hearted themselves are fitted only
to carry their curse to others, this war will be long and hard, but the end is sure.
The end will reward all toil, all disappointment, all suffering in those who faithfully serve
the cause of European and world freedom.
A day will dawn, perhaps sooner than we now have a right to hope, when the insane attempt
to found oppression domination on racial hatred, on the armored vehicle, on the secret police,
on the alien overseer, and on still more filthy quiznings, will pass like a monstrous dream.
And in that morning of hope and freedom, not only the embattled and at last well-armed
democracies, but all that is noble and fearless in the new world as well as in the old, will
salute the rise of Poland to be a nation once again.
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company has brought you Poland in Misery, the actual voices
and sounds of the most dramatic and tragic period of our time.
This program was written, produced and directed by Bud Greenspan.
My name is David Perry.