1939 in Poland

1939
in
Poland

Decades:
  • 1910s
  • 1920s
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
See also:

Political incumbents

On September 30, 1939, the last government of the Second Polish Republic which resided in Warsaw was dissolved. The government was originally designed on May 15, 1936, by president of Poland Ignacy Mościcki under prime minister Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski.

Members of the government

Other personalities

Events

January

  • January 1. Józef Beck welcomes the new year in Monte Carlo, while president Ignacy Mościcki stays in Jaworzyna near Zakopane
  • January 2. Flu epidemic in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, where 25% of residents are sick
  • January 3. In Warsaw a funeral of Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski (who died on December 31, 1938), takes place. The service is led by primate August Hlond, and by bishop Antoni Szlagowski
  • January 4. Józef Beck arrives in Munich
  • January 5. Minister Józef Beck meets Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden. Apart from Hitler and Beck, the meeting is attended by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hans von Moltke, Polish ambassador to Berlin Józef Lipski, and Józef Beck's chef de cabinet, Michal Lubienski. The meeting lasts three hours
  • January 6. In Munich, minister Beck meets Joachim von Ribbentrop
  • January 7. In Warsaw, a funeral of Roman Dmowski takes place. Jadwiga Wajs gets married in Łódź
  • January 8. President Mościcki returns to Warsaw, where he meets foreign diplomats and ambassadors to Poland. On the same day, Jurgis Šaulys, a Lithuanian envoy, begins his mission in Warsaw
  • January 25. Joachim von Ribbentrop comes by train to Warsaw, he arrives at Warsaw Główna rail station 4:50 p.m.
  • January 26. Joachim von Ribbentrop meets Ignacy Mościcki, Józef Beck and Edward Rydz-Śmigły
  • January 27. Joachim von Ribbentrop leaves Warsaw and returns to Berlin

February

March

April

May

  • May 2. Polish Council of Ministers approves a bill according to which the President can issue decrees. A local election in Volhynia takes place
  • May 3. A military parade, to commemorate the Constitution Day, takes place in Warsaw
  • May 4. Marshall Edward Rydz-Śmigły meets schoolchildren from Warsaw and Zaolzie
  • May 5. Józef Beck delivers a famous speech in the Sejm, in which he rejects Hitler's demands towards Poland
  • May 7. Mass patriotic demonstrations of peasants and workers take place across Poland, with the biggest in Warsaw and Tarnów
  • May 9. General Stasys Raštikis, Defense Minister of Lithuania, comes to Warsaw
  • May 11. Polish ambassador in Moscow, Wacław Grzybowski, meets Vyacheslav Molotov
  • May 12. A mutual help agreement between France and Poland is signed in Paris by Polish ambassador Juliusz Łukasiewicz and French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georges Bonnet
  • May 13. Galeazzo Ciano informs Józef Beck that in case of future Polish-German conflict, Italy will support Germany
  • May 15. General Tadeusz Kasprzycki begins in Paris negotiations about military help with General Maurice Gamelin
  • May 16. General Wacław Stachiewicz orders his subordinates to create a plan of fortifications along the Polish-German border
  • May 18. Floods in Poland, in the areas of Kielce and Lwów
  • May 19. Polish-French military negotiations end in Paris. Both sides pledge to help each other in case of war
  • May 23. Polish-British military negotiations begin in Warsaw. Józef Beck meets General Józef Haller
  • May 26. Nationwide local elections are finished, with Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego winning 48% of votes. A Polish Institute is opened in Budapest
  • May 30. The funeral of Aleksander Bruckner takes place in Berlin

June

  • June 2. A new ambassador of the Soviet Union, Nikolai Sharonov, comes to Warsaw and begins his mission
  • June 6. A dangerous fire in the unfinished complex of the Warsaw Główna rail station
  • June 7. Seven people die, when an express train Katowice – Warszawa derails near Pruszków
  • June 11. President Ignacy Mościcki begins a tour of the Central Industrial Area
  • June 13. A delegation of the Polish government, under Adam Koc, comes to London, to negotiate a loan for Polish Army
  • June 15. Polish Airlines open new connections: Gdynia – Warsaw – BudapestVenice – Rome, and Warsaw – Budapest – Belgrad
  • June 16. A heat wave in Poland, with temperatures ranging from 35 C in Zaleszczyki, to 21 in Poznań, Toruń and Gdynia. Representatives of Polonia from the United States collect $750 000 to the National Defence Fund
  • June 21. A Convention of 300 Polish rabbis begins in Wilno
  • June 23. In Polish schools, summer vacation begins
  • June 24. Annual Days of the Sea begin in Gdynia. General Louis Faury visits Polish garrisons
  • June 26. Florian Znaniecki leaves Poland for a series of lectures at American universities
  • June 29. Jan Kiepura, together with wife Marta Eggerth, sing to thousands of people on the Old Town Market Place, Warsaw. All profits were given to the National Defence Fund

July

August

  • August 1. Officers of Polish Police arrest in Lwów around 30 activists of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
  • August 2. In London, governments of Poland and Great Britain sign an agreement according to which Poland gets a loan in the amount of 8 million British pounds (200 million Polish zlotys). Poland initially demanded four times as much. On the same day, Benedictine monks return to the abbey in Tyniec
  • August 4. Polish customs officers in the Free City of Danzig are informed that they no longer can make inspections in the port. On the next day, under Polish pressure, the Senate of Danzig voids the decision
  • August 6. In Kraków, the 25th anniversary of First Cadre Company's departure is celebrated with estimated 200 000 watching the parade
  • August 8. A Polish-Hungarian celebration takes place at the Cross of the Legions in eastern Carpathians
  • August 9. Polish chargé d'affaires in Berlin, Stefan Lubomirski, meets Ernst von Weizsäcker, who hands Lubomirski a note from von Ribbentrop about tense situation in the Free City of Danzig
  • August 10. In Warsaw, Tomasz Arciszewski meets German chargé d'affaires, Johan von Wuhlisch. On the same day, Gauleiter Albert Forster makes a speech in Danzig, telling the crowds that the city will soon return to Germany
  • August 11. A conference of Józef Beck, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Ignacy Mościcki, Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły, takes place at the Warsaw Castle
  • August 12. In Moscow, talks between military delegations of France, Great Britain and Soviet Union begin
  • August 13. Partial mobilization of the Polish Army
  • August 15. Poland celebrates 19th anniversary of the Miracle at the Vistula (see: Battle of Warsaw (1920)), with the biggest demonstration taking place in Radzymin. On the same day in Moscow, Vyacheslav Molotov talks with German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Friedrich Schullenburg. Schullenburg informs Molotov about von Ribbentrop's willingness to come to Moscow
  • August 17. French government grants Polish government credit in the amount of 430 million French francs
  • August 19. In Warsaw, Józef Beck, talking to British ambassador Howard Kennard and French ambassador Leon Noel, says that Polish government will not give permission for the Red Army to enter Polish territory in case of war with Germany. On the same day, Northern Trade Fair opens in Wilno
  • August 20. In Katowice, funeral of Wojciech Korfanty takes place
First page of an official order of Adolf Hitler dated 31.08.1939 for an attack against Poland – beginning of World War II
  • August 22. Heat in Poland, with temperatures reaching up to 31 degrees Celsius in Pomerania. Edward Rydz-Śmigły orders alarm mobilization in military districts along western border of Poland. Joachim von Ribbentrop leaves Berlin for Moscow
  • August 23. In Moscow, Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is signed
  • August 24. In the morning, secret mobilization takes place in Poland, which covers around 75% of the Polish Army manpower
  • August 25. Pact of mutual help between Poland and Great Britain is signed in London. In Moscow, Soviet-French-British negotiations end. German battleship Schleswig-Holstein anchores in the channel near Westerplatte
  • August 26. Adolf Hitler changes his order and attack on Poland is postponed to September 1. Nevertheless, some Wehrmacht units attack, especially in the south. Józef Beck meets Soviet ambassador, Nikolai Sharonov
  • August 28. German chargé d'affaires, Ernst Krummer meets Jan Szembek. Krummer declares that the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is unilaterally abrogated by Adolf Hitler. On the same day, Hitler speaks at Reichstag, and the speech is broadcast by the radio (see: List of Adolf Hitler speeches). 20 people die in the Tarnów rail station bomb attack
  • August 30. The Polish destroyers ORP Burza, ORP Błyskawica and ORP Grom are ordered to execute the Peking Plan, and the warships head for Great Britain. A mobilisation of the Polish Army is ordered
  • August 31. Gleiwitz incident. Polish ambassador in Berlin, Józef Lipski, for the last time sees Joachim von Ribbentrop. At 12:40 pm, Adolf Hitler gives an order to attack Poland on September 1, at 4:45 am

September

October

  • October 1. In Paris, a Government in Exile, under General Wladyslaw Sikorski, is sworn
  • October 2. Polish Army garrison in Hel capitulate. Governments of the United States and France officially recognize the government of General Sikorski. battle of Kock begins
  • October 4. In Wilno, the NKVD incarcerates Colonel Zygmunt Berling
  • October 5. Adolf Hitler greets German troops during the parade of victory in Warsaw. Battle of Kock ends
  • October 7. Adolf Hitler orders Heinrich Himmler to organize mass expulsions of Poles from western part of the occupied country. In Eastern Poland, electoral campaign begins
  • October 8. Upon decree of Hitler, Western provinces of Poland, with the population of 10 million and the area of 91 000 km2., together with the cities of Poznań, Gdynia, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Łódź and Katowice are incorporated into the Third Reich
  • October 10. In Kiev, Soviet authorities arrest consul of Poland, Janusz Matuszynski, who vanishes without a trace
  • October 11. General Kazimierz Sosnkowski reaches Paris
  • October 12. General Government, with capital in Kraków, is created
  • October 16. Polish consul in Kaunas, Franciszek Charwat, leaves Lithuania, after both countries broke diplomatic relations when Lithuania incorporated the area of Wilno
  • October 19. The Germans transport to Berlin archives of the Polish Foreign Ministry
  • October 22. "Elections" in the Soviet-occupied areas of eastern Poland, marked by terror of the NKVD troops
  • October 23. Last Polish Army unit in Eastern Poland is dissolved near Orany. It was commanded by Colonel Wladyslaw Wysocki
  • October 24. Nikita Khrushchev, talking to General Wladyslaw Langner assures him that officers of the Polish Army, kept by the Soviets, will be released (see: Katyn Massacre)
  • October 25. Since September 1, the Germans, in 700 mass executions, murdered around 16 000 Polish civilians
  • October 26. Hans Frank is appointed Governor-General of the Germany-occupied territories. In Lwów, first meeting of the People's Assembly of Western Ukraine takes place
  • October 27. Stefan Starzyński is arrested in Warsaw. In Lwów, the NKVD arrests General Marian Zegota-Januszajtis
  • October 28. Lithuanian Army units enter Wilno. According to German data, there are 360 000 Jews in Warsaw. In Białystok, first meeting of the People's Assembly of Western Belarus takes place

November

December

Arts and literature

Awards

New books

Film

Sports

January

February

  • February 4. In the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Group C (Basel) beats the Netherlands 9-0
  • February 5. In the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Basel loses 0–4 to Canada
  • February 7. In the second round of the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Basel loses to Switzerland 0-4
  • February 8. In the second round of the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Basel beats Hungary 5-3
  • February 9. In the second round of the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Basel loses to the United States 0-4
  • February 10. In the consolidation round of the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Zürich beats Hungary 3-0
  • February 11. Skiing championships of the world (FIS), begin in Zakopane
  • February 12. In the consolidation round of the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships, Poland in Zürich loses to Germany 0–4, finishing sixth overall
  • February 12. In Poznań, in an international boxing match, Poland beats Hungary 14-2

March

April

May

  • May 3. In Kraków, in the Polish Football League game, Wisla Kraków beats Pogon Lwów 2-1 (att. 4000). In international tennis game, Poland beats Romania 3–1. In Warsaw and major Polish cities (Kraków, Lwów, Wilno, Poznań, Toruń, Gdynia, Białystok, Zakopane, Lublin, Brzesc, Grudziądz, Slonim), National Running Day competitions take place, with numerous athletes participating
  • May 7. In games of the Polish Football League, Warszawianka Warszawa beats Polonia Warszawa 5-1 (att. 8000), Ruch Chorzów beats Garbarnia Kraków 5-0 (att. 5000), Wisla Kraków beats Cracovia Kraków 5-1 (att. 8000), Pogon Lwów ties at home with Union-Touring Łódź 2-2 (att. 2000) and Warta Poznań beats at home AKS Chorzów 2-1 (att. 5000). In Warsaw, in the Davis Cup match, Poland beats the Netherlands 4-1
  • May 14. In Warsaw, in an international football friendly, the team of the city of Warsaw beats the team of the city of Kaunas 5-2
  • May 19. A Davis Cup game Poland-Germany begins
  • May 21. In games of the Polish Football League, Warszawianka Warszawa loses at home 0–4 to AKS Chorzów (att. 3000), Ruch Chorzów routs at home Union-Touring Łódź 12-1 (with 10 goals by Ernest Wilimowski, att. 2000), Pogon Lwów beats away Warta Poznań 1–0, and Wisla Kraków ties 1–1 with Garbarnia Kraków (att. 6000)
  • May 22. In Kaunas, during the Basketball Championships of Europe, basketball team of Poland beats Estonia 40-36
  • May 23. In Kaunas, basketball team of Poland beats France 38-36
  • May 24. In Kaunas, basketball team of Poland loses to Lithuania 18-46
  • May 25. In Kaunas, basketball team of Poland beats Hungary 42-20
  • May 27. In Łódź, in a football friendly, Poland ties 3–3 with Belgium, with two goals by Ernst Willimowski and one by Jerzy Wostal. On the same day in Lwów, events marking 35th anniversary of Pogon Lwów take place
  • May 28. Polish national basketball team finishes the Eurobasket 1939 on the third spot, behind Lithuania and Latvia

June

  • June 4. In Warsaw, in a football friendly, Poland ties 1–1 with Switzerland, with a goal by Leonard Piątek
  • June 8. In a game of the Polish Football League, Wisla Kraków loses at home 0–1 to Ruch Chorzów (att. 7000)
  • June 11. In games of the Polish Football League, Warta Poznań beats at home Warszawianka Warszawa 4-2 (att. 3500), Garbarnia Kraków loses at home to Cracovia 1-2 (att. 4000), Polonia Warszawa routs at home Union-Touring Łódź 6-1 (att. 4000) and AKS Chorzów beats at home Pogon Lwów 2-0 (att. 5000)
  • June 18. In games of the Polish Football League, Pogon Lwów beats at home Cracovia Kraków 3–0, Warta Poznań ties away with Ruch Chorzów 1-1 (att. 6000), Wisla Kraków beats in Warsaw Warszawianka Warszawa 1-0 (att. 2500), Garbarnia Kraków ties at home 2–2 with Polonia Warszawa (att. 2000) and AKS Chorzów beats in Łódź Union Touring 7-1 (att. 3000). On the same day, handball team of Poland beats Sweden in Katowice 8-6
  • June 25. In an international women's track and field match in Bergamo, Poland loses to Italy 33–51. In games of the Polish Football League, Polonia Warszawa beats at home Wisla Kraków 5-4 (att. 6000), AKS Chorzów ties at home 0–0 with Warszawianka Warszawa (att. 2000), Cracovia Kraków loses at home 2–5 to Ruch Chorzów (att. 6000), Pogon Lwów beats in Łódź Union-Touring 2-1 (att. 1500) and Warta Poznań beats at home Garbarnia Kraków 5-0 (att. 4000). In Łódź, ŁKS Łódź becomes man's handball champion of Poland. Second is Pogon Katowice, third AZS Warszawa, and fourth, AZS Lwów

July

August

September

Births

Deaths

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