Poland's struggle : before, during and after the Second World War / Andrew Rawson.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Poland is not yet lost : establishing an independent state, 1918 to 1933 -- Between Hitler and Stalin : political unrest, 1933-1939 -- Breaking the German codes : the Polish code-breakers and Enigma -- Case White versus Plan West : the opposing armies and their plans -- Treacherous neighbours : the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, August 1939 -- Speak the same language : the invasion of Poland, September 1939 -- Establishing a greater Reich : implementing Nazi and Soviet policies -- There must be no Polish leaders : eliminating the Intelligentsia -- Fighting back at home : resistance groups until the summer of 1943 -- Fighting back from abroad : Poland's free forces in exile -- A great Polish labour camp : the repression and elimination of Polish Catholics -- Burn out this plague dump : creating and controlling the Jewish ghettos -- Operation Reinhard : organising the Jewish question -- The battle for Poland : Operation Barbarossa and the Polish People's Army -- Sabotage and uprising : the Underground State and the home army -- We saved you from the Nazis : ethnic cleansing and Polish communities abroad -- Putting a saddle on a cow : adapting to post-war communism, 1945-1953 -- Because freedom is priceless : the struggle for democracy, 1953 to 1991.

"Poland was re-created as an independent nation at the end of the First World War, but it soon faced problems as Nazi Germany set about expanding its control on Europe. The Wehrmacht's attack on 1 September 1939 was followed by a Red Army invasion two weeks later.The people of Poland were then subjected to a terrifying campaign of murder, imprisonment and enslavement which only increased as the war dragged on. Polish Catholics faced violence and deportation as they adapted to the draconian laws implemented by the German authorities. Meanwhile, the Polish Jews were forced into ghettos while the plans for the Final Solution were implemented. They then faced annihilation in the Holocaust, code named Operation Reinhard.Despite the dangers, many Poles joined the underground war against their oppressors, while those who escaped sought to fight for their nation's freedom from abroad. They sent intelligence to the west, attacked German installations, carried out assassinations and rose up to confront their enemy, all against impossible odds. The advance of the Red Army brought new problems, as the Soviet's dreaded NKVD introduced its own form of terror, hunting down anyone who fought for an independent nation.The story concludes with Poland's experience behind the Iron Curtain, ending with the return of democracy by 1991."