Hello, welcome to the history hit World Wars Podcast, a podcast dedicated to that turbulent period in history between 1914 and 1945.

I'm James Rogers and you join me in Salerno, Italy, as I'm here to research Operation Avalanche, which was part of the Battle for Italy in

1943. But long before this, back in 1939, we had the invasion of Poland by Nazi forces and in this

podcast first recorded for Dan Snow's history here we're focusing on

Poland because prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in August 1939,

Hitler and Stalin agreed that controversial, some would argue Faustian Pact

that saw non-aggression between the Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany.

This was known as the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact.

Now a core part of this was the partition of Poland between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany

paving the way for Hitler to take his share of Poland

unopposed by the great powers.

With this in mind, and as we approach the 81st anniversary of Polish surrender on October

the 6th to the Germans, we have world-renowned

second world war historian and author Roger Morehouse who discusses the Polish campaign

separating myth from reality. Roger provides us with a comprehensive analysis,

outlining the abject horrors that the polls suffered

under the twin occupations of the Nazis and the Soviets. Now this is the start of the second world war but you're not even

now this is some this is as big as this is it this is the start of the second world war but you're

rather than writing it for the British point of view

you're reminding us that it was in fact the polls that were initially in in the

cross sets of Lez-Mermont. Yeah I think I mean the polls bless them I think they get a poor deal in a lot of things.

I mean, certainly the Anglo-Saxon perspective on history tends to stop, you know, kind of at Berlin,

...