One of the most ruthlessly conceived and executed invations in the annals of warfare, Hitler's Polish campaign unleased a blitzkreig in which SS troops, police squads and the army itself waged an ethnic war of unprecedented brutality. Tens of thousands of Poles - 80 per cent of whom were Christian - were summarily executed in acts of collective punishment. After six weeks, a country was crushed and the world was a war. Usually given short shrift in most histories of World War II, the invasion of Poland was more than a series of opening salvos; it was a testing ground for German brutalities to come. In this study of the invasion, the author provides a comprehensive study of the Polish campaign, including disturbing insights into its racist ideological underpinnings. Rossino tells how this invasion melded the ideology of the Nazi party with Germany's military yearning for empire in the East. The Polish campaign was important as the first step in Hitler's drive for "living space" for Germans in Eastern Europe, and as the blitzkreig decimated urban residential areas, civilians soon became indistinguishable from combatants.
In addition to describing military operations, Rossino also provides close analysis of SS plans to murder Polish leaders, German army reprisal policies, and the close collaboration of Wehrmacht and SS forces in the subjugation and execution of Polish citizens. Rossino considers both top-level decision making and the experiences of German soldiers as he explores the mentality of those who perpetrated crimes against civilians. He particularly investigates the links between Nazi racial-political policies and military action to show that Poland was merely the German army's dress rehearsal for the later slaughter of other Slavs and Jews during the Russian campaign. By providing a detailed examination of atrocities committed by both military and SS personnel, he shows that the Wehrmacht's criminality was clearly evident at the beginning of the war. The book is a reconstruction of history that reveals the extent to which Nazi philosophy drove the German war machine.