Soviet Union invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939

On September 17, 1939, the Red Army invaded Poland, an event that resulted in the loss of Polish independence. Following the invasion, Polish President Ignacy Mościcki and the national government fled to Romania, where they were interned.

The invasion was part of a broader partition of Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. This action aimed to suppress Polish aspirations for freedom and establish regimes of terror. Historical consequences included the systematic elimination of the Polish elite, such as the execution of approximately 22,000 Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, Kharkiv, and Mednoye. Additionally, the Third Reich established the Auschwitz concentration camp, which initially served to target the Polish intelligentsia and Soviet prisoners of war before being repurposed.