The Foreign Service Journal, September 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2019 45 Comes to Warsaw September1939 A riveting look back at the German invasion of Poland 80 years ago that ignited World War II. BY RAY WALSER W arsaw, Sept. 1, 1939, 5:30 a.m. The shriek of air raid sirens awakens Ambassador Anthony “Tony” J. Drexel Biddle Jr. Troubled by heightened German-Polish tensions, Adolf Hitler’s demands for territorial rectifications and the recent mobilization of the Polish Army, Biddle calls the duty officer at the Polish Foreign Ministry. Is this an attack? The answer: Yes, there are numerous reports of German incursions onto Polish soil. Electing to telephone rather than cable flash news, Biddle manages to reach Ambassador William C. Bullitt in Paris. Bullitt, in turn, places a trans-Atlantic call. FEATURE WAR U.S.HOLOCAUSTMEMORIALMUSEUM/JULIENBRYANARCHIVE Staff members drape a large American flag over the roof of the embassy in Warsaw in anticipation of German air attacks.