In September 1939, the German army occupies western and central Poland.

“It was a sunny day in ‘golden autumn,’ as we called the season in Poland, when we heard the sound of heavy aircraft. The roar of engines was unusually loud and menacing. We all ran outside the house to look at the sky. Suddenly, darkness spread over us. I felt wrapped in a thick, smoky black cloud…. German troops, who appeared to me to be all the same height, marched triumphantly toward Warsaw, singing.”

Elsa Thon