The Catholic Thing has an article about the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland, the first of which began 70 years ago today.

"By the time Polish resistance ended on October 5, 200,000 Poles were dead or wounded and 400,000 were taken prisoner....Hitler, who despised Poland and held that all Poles were subhuman, ordered his invading army to kill “without pity or mercy, all men, women and children of Polish descent or language.” In the first thirty days of occupation, the Wehrmacht destroyed 531 towns and villages and murdered over 16,000 civilians. Hitler’s aim was more than expanding Germany’s borders; he wanted the “annihilation of living forces” by means of extermination and enslavement."