Discovery Channel - Europes Secret Armies Resisting Hitler (2004) Part 3 The Polish Resistance

The armies of the countries of mainland Europe were powerless to stop Hitler's war machine as it crushed all in its path during the early months of World War 2. The terrifying tactic of 'Blitzkrieg' saw city after city fall beneath the Nazi jackboot. The people of previously free counties began to look for a way to fight back. There were ways to defeat an army other than on the battlefield. Europe's Secret Armies is a thrilling exploration of the stories behind the resistance and partisan groups that formed to fight a hated oppressor. These were civilian armies; made up of ordinary men and women left with no other option but to go underground to strike back. The series hears from those who were not content to bend the knee or were not prepared to be part of Adof Hitler's ever-growing Third Reich. Freedom fighters risked torture, imprisonment and death throughout Europe France's Maquis, the mountaineers of Crete, heroes and heroines from the Low Countries, Norway, Poland rose up, not least inside the tyrant's own land, Germany. Includes archival footage, re-creations, and interviews with actual resistance fighters.

Part 3 The Polish Resistance

The Polish people were among the first to feel the full heart-stopping force of the German Wermacht. This is the story of the ways in which they fought back, including the Ghetto Uprising of 1943 - 'it's happened, the Jews have started fighting“ - an event that even Goebbels admitted led to a 'truly grotesque situation'. Unlike many of the other European countries that suffered invasion during World War Two, Poland had the unenviable task of fighting foes on two fronts; the Germans from the west and the Russians from the east. As a direct result the Polish resistance fashioned itself into one of the most professional and successful underground forces in Europe. From S.O.E. trained 'Cichociemni' to the Jewish population in the Warsaw ghettos, the spirit of the Polish people proved indestructible beneath the Nazi jackboot. Featuring interviews with surviving veterans, as well as rare archive footage and new location footage.

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