Opinions wanted

Hello Jan,

I'm sorry you were so offended by my statements. I only briefly
mentioned Warsaw as I did not have any good information at hand to
further clarify on it. And for this reason I should not have said that
there was house to house fighting in Warsaw, my mistake. I stuck
mostly with mentioning the conditions with the bombing of Rotterdam
instead. However, I understand that there are many sources that exist
which blatently contradict themselves on topics such as these. I would
still like to quote three sources I found with a quick search off the
internet.(no books as I am not at home to cite them)

1. http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/imt/tgmwc...08-77-06.shtml

From the Nuremberg Trials...see link for more citation info:

Q. "You never saw any such reactions on their part on these bombings
[Warsaw, Rotterdam, and Coventry], I take it?"

A. "I only know that Warsaw was a fortress which was held by the
Polish Army in very great strength, provided with excellent pieces of
artillery, that the forts were manned, and that two or three times
Adolf Hitler announced that the city should be evacuated by civilians.
That was refused. Only the foreign embassies were evacuated, while an
officer with a flag of truce entered. The Polish Army was in the city
defending it stubbornly in a very dense circle of forts. The outer
forts were very strongly manned and, from the inner town, heavy
artillery was firing towards the outskirts. The fortress of Warsaw was
therefore attacked, also by the Luftwaffe, but only after Hitler's
ultimatum had been rejected."

2. http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/Churchi...s_replies.html

Visit this link and scroll down to the area shaded in grey which
discusses the Luftwaffe attacks on Warsaw as well.

3. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/es...mbing/AP27.htm

Citations used for the writing of this WEB page on also found at the
link above:

"World War II began on September 1, 1939, in Poland when the German
Luftwaffe began to bomb military targets. When Warsaw continued to
fight, German leader Adolf Hitler approved the dropping of five tons
of bombs on the city, hastening Poland�s surrender. As German
tanks rolled through the rest of continental Europe, Hitler used the
example of the bombing of Warsaw to encourage submission. But with
minor exceptions, there were no more bombings of civilian targets on
either side. Hitler even released War Directive #2 that forbade
bombing attacks on France or England except as reprisals."


You wrote:
I hate to tell you that you are not alone. Many 'historicians' claimed
recently that Poland (and Holland in this case) were guilty by themselves
that were attacked. Strange thinking, indeed... If Germans were worried
about destroying Warsaw (Rotterdam, London etc.) THEY COULD SIMPLY NOT TO
INVADE POLAND!!

I never said I believe the Polish were guilty themselves of being
attacked and could not agree with you more that if Hitler had not
invaded Poland the bombing of Warsaw would not have happened. However
I was not and am not trying to debate if Germany should have or should
not have invaded Poland.

The point of this respons is not to start an argument about this
topic, simply to let everyone know that I have read sources that
contradict what was stated by Keith in the prior post regarding
Rotterdam. We could all continue argueing by stating all the sources
which back up our opinion, but this is not my intention by any means.
History is the interpretation of the past and therefore will always be
dependant on how "we" as individuals interpret it.

Finally,

You wrote:
NO regards, EOT
JasiekS [Jan Skowronski]
Warsaw, Poland

I'm not sure why you would write "NO regards" but I will end my
response...

WITH regards,
Ryan Muntener
Vancouver, Canada


"JasiekS" wrote in message ...
Uzytkownik "Ryan M." napisal w wiadomosci
m...
The Germans made efforts to avoid bombing Warsaw and Rotterdam from
the historical documents I have read.

I don't know what kind of historical documents you cite, but they are not
true - at least in Warsaw case. WWII began 1. September 1939 at 4:45 am
Warsaw time. Polish cities (including Warsaw) were bombed from the first day
with He-111 and later (as the front moved) Ju-87. First German troops
achieved Warsaw neigbarhood on 8. September, so between 1. and 8. September
Warsaw WAS NOT defended, because WAS NOT directly attacked. Maybe I should
read your statement 'IF Poland would have been surrended on 1. September
till 5:00 am THEN Warsaw were not bombed'. Sorry, I could not share your
point.

Rotterdam for example, was being
used as a defensive position by the allies and there was actual house
to house combat taking place in the city.

In 1939 Warsaw was not defended house to house. The city suffered damages
and surrended on 28. September. Wounds were deep but Warsaw was still alive.
House to house combat took place in 1943 (19. April-8. May; Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising), in 1944 (1. August-2. October; Warsaw Uprising) and 1945 (17.
January; liberation of Warsaw). German aerial attacks were limited to dive
bombing (in other case they could hit their own troops). After that Warsaw
was 80% destroyed.

[snip...]

Warsaw and Rotterdam were both cities
that were bombed because of the fact that the defending troops had
bunkered themselves down in the city itself.

About Warsaw - see above.

[snip...]

Sincerely,
Ryan Muntener

I hate to tell you that you are not alone. Many 'historicians' claimed
recently that Poland (and Holland in this case) were guilty by themselves
that were attacked. Strange thinking, indeed... If Germans were worried
about destroying Warsaw (Rotterdam, London etc.) THEY COULD SIMPLY NOT TO
INVADE POLAND!!

NO regards, EOT
JasiekS [Jan Skowronski]
Warsaw, Poland