On this day 84 years ago, the Third Reich and the Slovak Republic invaded Poland

How many of us were already aware that Slovakian anticommunists were involved in the ‘German’ invasion of Poland? Not many, I suspect; I have almost never seen anybody even mention this. Fewer of us still must be familiar with the details.

One could justify this obscurity by claiming that the Slovakian anticommunists’ contributions to the invasion were ‘unimportant’ and therefore trivial, or that the Slovak Republic was nothing more than a de facto German state, but neither of those interpretations is convincing. Quoting James Mace Ward’s Priest, Politician, Collaborator, pages 191–2:

Tiso’s increased confidence showed in his dealings with Germany. In talks for implementing the Protection Agreement, the Slovaks grew stubborn, pushing the [Third Reich] to accept narrow interpretations of the text and dragging out negotiations. Tiso’s government, among other things, wanted [the Wehrmacht] in Slovakia withdrawn or, at the least, Slovak troops permitted into the Schutzzone.²⁰²

In one important conflict, Tiso won. The German High Command preferred a wartime Slovak army of only 50,000 men. He held out for three times more. Needing Slovakia as a staging ground for war on Poland, Hitler all but gave in, agreeing to a 125,000‐man limit. Otherwise, the High Command got almost all of their demands. In addition, Tiso’s régime was browbeaten into creating a Central Security Service.²⁰³

[…]

On 1 September, the first day of the Second World War, Slovak troops marched alongside German ones into Poland. During the campaign, Slovakia mobilized over 115,000 reservists, placing over 50,000 in operational units.

This act of war took place without the approval of the Slovak parliament, as constitutionally required. Tiso later claimed that he had not authorized the invasion, instructing Slovak soldiers instead only “to occupy” the border.²⁰⁷

General Čatloš told a different story, according to which the Germans at the last minute broke their promise to leave Slovak troops behind. Although Čatloš initiated the advance, he sought approval from Tiso, but the president left him hanging until the deed was done.²⁰⁸ Čatloš, like Tiso, was often an unreliable postwar witness. The general had actually been eager for action and gave orders to advance hours earlier than his story allowed.

But Tiso also had reasons for wanting to participate in the advance, especially his desire to strengthen the [Third Reich’s] commitment to Slovakia.²⁰⁹ Even though the testimony of both men thus must be discounted in part, Čatloš’s version fits Tiso’s pattern of shifting responsibility onto others while claiming ignorance.

The president knew that Hitler often broke promises. Yet Tiso neither sought reassurances that his troops would sit out the invasion nor devised command mechanisms to ensure that they did. Instead, he positioned himself to be surprised and ostensibly subordinated to events.²¹⁰

This, my beloved students, was the real joint invasion of Poland in 1939.

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Pictured: Wehrmacht soldiers and Slovakian soldiers showing good relations.

Quoting Břetislav Nakládal & Charles K. Kliment’s Germany’s First Ally: Armed Forces of the Slovak State, 1939–1945, page 61:

War with Poland — September 1 – October 1, 1939
Poland appropriated certain Slovak territories during the Munich crisis in September 1938. This gave the Slovak government a needed pretext to take part in the planned [Reich] invasion of Poland.

On August 23, 1939 Lt. Colonel Malár was named a commander of the Polish–Slovak border area. On August 24, all units were placed on war footing and their transport to the north began. Members of the Hlinka's Guard, beginning from August 24, replaced the army units on the Hungarian border and freed them for the oncoming campaign. On August 26, three classes of reservists were called to arms, augmented by another five classes on August 30.

What you are about to read is a striking example of fascist coordination; nothing comparable to this happened under the neutrality between the German Reich and the Soviet Union. Page 62:

On September 1, 1939 the Slovak Army had 13,035 men, 88 NCOs and 228 officers. The mobilization filled the ranks to 49,782 men, 291 NCOs and 1,232 officers. The headquarters of the Slovak Field Army was set up in Spišská Nová Ves. Troops were moved up to the Polish border on August 30.

The Slovak sector was part of the German Army Group South and specifically the 14th Army of General von List with its five infantry, three mountain, two Panzer and one light divisions. The Slovak army’s task was to protect the Eastern wing of the 14th Army and prevent Polish army penetration into Slovakia. It was assigned a Wehrmacht liaison staff of 120 members, led by General Ernst von Engelbrecht.

The Slovak army group BERNOLÁK was deployed as follows:

1st Division “Jánošík” (Commander Colonel Anton Pulanich) was in the area Spišská Nová Ves ‐ Prešov, 2nd Division "Škultéty" (Commander General Alexander Cunderlík) in the area Brezno nad Hronom ‐ Poprad, and the 3rd Division “Rázus” (Commander Lt. Colonel Augustin Malár) was in the border area east of the High Tatra Mountains. At the same time, the Slovak Government gave its approval for Wehrmacht formations to use Slovak territory for the planned invasion of Poland.

The Poles were aware of the concentration of the [fascist] armies on their border, and sent parts of the 5th and 10th Corps to the border area as army “Karpaty”. These were mainly infantry units with no armor and very little artillery, as all the available armor, artillery and cavalry units have been transferred to the Sanok area.

The 2nd Division was reinforced with an armored company, consisting of a platoon of four armored cars and a platoon of three LT vz.35 tanks. Another three OA vz.30 armored cars were assigned to a cavalry reconnaissance unit.

The war began on September 1, 1939. The Slovak infantry started their attack at 5.00 and quickly retook the former Slovak villages Javorina and Podspady. The 1st Division took Zakopané and penetrated about 30 km in the direction of Nowy Targ, but already by September 9 returned to Slovakia. The 3rd Division joined the German XVIII Mountain Corps and attacked in the direction Jaslo ‐ Krosno ‐ Sanok and fought several encounters with the Polish army. Its penetration was between 60 and 90 km deep.

On September 2, the leading Slovak units were on the line Bialowodska Dolina ‐ Javorina ‐ Jurgov ‐ Niedzice. Four of the armored cars, augmented by a cavalry squadron, were sent to Tylicz, which they reached on September 3. All four cars reached the main square but had to withdraw in the face of strong resistance and lack of support from the accompanying cavalry.

Slovak Army losses (per page 64): 18 dead, 46 wounded & 11 missing.

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Pictured: A platoon of LT vz.35 tanks in Poland, 1939. (The requisitioned civilian car in front is the Tatra Type 57 two‐seater with a rumble seat.)

Page 65:

The army participated in a large parade in Zakopané, and in Poprad, Spišská Nová Ves and other Slovak towns Slovak and [Reich] soldiers were decorated. Adolf Hitler decorated General Catloš and two other Slovak officers with the Iron Cross and sent a telegram of appreciation to President Tiso, who replied that the Slovak nation will never let the Führer down.

Later, on March 14, 1941, he proclaimed: “We remember that it was the German army led by Adolf Hitler which allowed the birth of our (Slovak) army. We remember that and we know if the German army will be victorious, it would form the basis of our future. Thus we hope for its victory and are willing to lend a helping hand.”

(Emphasis added in most cases.)

There is plenty more that I would like to discuss, most notably the Fascist colonization of Poland, but ~~that is a topic for another day~~ for the sake of brevity I chose to focus on the Slovak Army’s contributions.

Click here for other events that happened today (September 1).

1886: Shigeyasu Suzuki, lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army from December 1936 to December 1938, was born.
1895: Engelbert Zaschka, Axis inventor, was born.
1923: The first three combat legions of the Blackshirts were mobilized and sent to Libya.
1932: Kenkichi Ueda attached to the IJA’s General Staff.
1935: Robert von Greim received the rank of Oberstleutnant.
1936: U‐23 became assigned to the 1st Submarine Flotilla and Korvettenkapitän Eberhard Friedrich Clemens Godt became her commanding officer.
1937: The Spanish Nationalists, led by Generals Antonio Aranda and José Solchaga, launched an offensive through the mountains of Leon and along the coast from the east to capture Gijón. Gen. Aranda’s forces, however, were unable to break through the mountain passes until a Navarrese force, under Gen. Solchaga’s command, captured the village of Infiesto one month later, thus outflanking the mountain defences and forcing the Asturians into a retreat. Meanwhile, the IJA’s 5th Division and 11th Mixed Brigade, under Itagaki Seishiro’s command, marched from Beiping toward Chahar and Shanxi Provinces.
1938: Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein met with the Third Reich’s head of state at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden while officials announced in Austria that all religious and other private schools would be closed and education would be taken over by the NSDAP. Coincidentally, the Reich Economics Ministry set up a meeting to discuss the question of credits, possibly guaranteed by the state, for the purchase of ‘Jewish’ property. Citing public safety, Rome officially forbade “foreigners of the Jewish race to establish permanent residence on Italian soil, in Libya, or in Italy’s Aegean possessions”. Gen. Franz Halder became Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht (Oberkommando des Heeres and the first self‐identified Catholic to be assigned this position), succeeding General Ludwig Beck. The Fascists commissioned M1 into service under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans Bartels, and Masafumi Arima stepped down as the commanding officer of converted seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru and was made a commanding officer of Sasebo Naval Air Corps in the Empire of Japan.
1939: The Luftwaffe bombed the town of Wielu in Poland, causing 1,200 civilian casualties. Over Warsaw, Oberst Walter Grabmann’s Messerchmitt Bf 110 squadron (I.(Z)/Lg.1) led by Hauptmann Schleit, shot down five Polish PZL P.11 fighters whilst escorting the Heinkel He 111P bombers of II/KG.1. He sustained wounds as one of the P.11 fighters damaged his Bf 110 fighter. Berlin relieved Rome from having to fight in the war against Poland and possibly with the pseudodemocracies in writing, asking only for politico‐economic support.

London and Paris turned to Rome in response to a proposal to revamp the conditions of the Versailles Treaty rather than declaring war on the Third Reich. Meanwhile, Rome declared itself a nonbelligerent nation in this battle. As the ‘Free City’ of Danzig ceased to exist, Gauleiter Albert Forster’s title of State President of the ‘Free City’ of Danzig was abolished. He would soon be named the Gauleiter and Reichstatthalter of Danzig‐West Prussia.

As well, the Third Reich officially placed a curfew on Jews: 9 P.M. in the summer and 8 P.M. in the winter. Berlin likewise authorized Reichsleiter Bouhler and Dr. Brandt to ‘grant merciful deaths’ for the mentally ill and those who were suffering from incurable diseases, thus beginning Action T4. Reinhard Heydrich presided a meeting attended by the heads of Security Police and Commanders of Special Units, during which Berlin ordered the deportation of the remaining 30,000 Roma and Sinti from the German Reich to the nearly conquered territory of Poland.

The Iron Cross awards became established in the Third Reich as an award for those who displayed bravery in combat or in command of military personnel. Four grades were specified: Iron Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross.

Lastly, Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop warned his Chancellor that the invasion of Poland would compel France to fight. The Chancellor (exceptionally irritable, bitter and sharp with anyone advising caution) replied: ‘I have at last decided to do without the opinions of people who have misinformed me on a dozen occasions [so] I shall rely on my own judgement.’
1940: The coke‐fired two‐retort furnace in the Auschwitz crematorium went into service for the disposal of bodies. Meanwhile, formations of Fascist fighters arrived in Britain in the morning to lure British fighters, but the tactic failed. At 1100, 1330, and 1730 hours, large Fascist raids attacked Debden, Biggin Hill, Hawkinge, Lympne, Kenley, Detling, Eastchurch, Tand Sherburn, as well as the Tilbury Docks in the East End of London. The Luftwaffe lost seventeen fighters and eight bombers. Overnight, Fascist bombers attacked Kent, Bristol Channel, and South Wales. Lastly, the Regia Marina established a frogmen training school at the Naval Academy at Livorno under Lt. Wolk’s command.
1941: Berlin passed a law, to go into effect eighteen days later, whereby all Jews above the age of six in the Third Reich (including its occupied lands) were ordered to wear the yellow Star of David with a word for ‘Jew’ inscribed in black therein. Coincidentally, the 9th Company of German Police Battalion 322 participated in the extermination of more than nine hundred Jews from the Minsk area in Byelorussia. On the same day, the Police Regiment South reported shooting eighty‐eight Jews, and Battalion 320 reported exterminating three hundred eighty. Additionally, Alfons Bentele’s superiors assigned him the Majdanek concentration camp in occupied Poland.
1942: SS‐Obersturmführer Franz Reichleitner became the commandant of Sobibór in occupied Poland, replacing Franz Stangl, and Axis bombers attacked Lydd in southeastern England. After sundown and lasting until the next date, they attacked Doncaster. As well, Axis aircraft sank Soviet torpedo boat Purga on Lake Ladoga near Leningrad, and 1.Panzerarmee established a bridgehead across the Terek River near Mozdok in southern Russia. Hans‐Joachim Marseille flew three sorties and shot down a total of seventeen enemy aircraft between 0826 and 0839 hours while escorting Stuka dive bombers to El Taqua in Libya, seven P‐40 fighters between 1055 and 1103 hours near Alam Halfa, and five Hurricane fighters between 1747 and 1753 hours while escorting bombers toward El Imayid). His score at the day’s end stood at 121.

Martin Gottfried Weiss became Dachau’s commandant, and Kurt Fricke received the Order of Michael the Brave 3rd Class of Romania. Axis submarine U‐759 avoided a ramming attempt by the Allies but would succumb to depth charging by Morden; all forty‐three aboard died in U‐759's sinking. Fifty miles to the east, the Allies damaged U‐91, then fifteen miles east of Cape Coast, Gold Coast, U‐125 sank British ship Ilorin at 2206 hours, massacring thirty‐three but leaving four alive.
1943: Rudolf von Schmettow became the military governor of the Channel Islands for the second time, succeeding Erich Müller. Aside from that, the Empire of Japan’s 21st Air Flotilla at Saipan, Mariana Islands disbanded. Its two air groups, Air Group 253 (fighters) and Air Group 751 (medium bombers) transferred to Rabaul.
1944: U‐23 fired three torpedoes into the harbor of Constanța and reported three detonations at about 0333 hours. Two of them of them damaged berthing facilities, while another struck and sank the already damaged Romanian merchant ship Oituz. U‐23 departed at about 0400 hours and laid one EMS mine in the roads near Tuzla lighthouse about 10 kilometers to the south. Afterwards, several waves of V‐1 flying bombs were launched across the English Channel toward Britain, yet most failed to make their targets.
1981: Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, General Building Inspector for the Reich Capital, Head of Organization Todt, Inspector General of German Roadways, Inspector General for Water and Energy, Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production, and Reich Minister of Industry and Production, died of a stroke while revisiting London.