Wieluń, a Polish border town, was bombed three times by the German Luftwaffe on the 1st of September 1939. At least 70 % of the town’s buildings disappeared, despite the fact that there were no Polish troops or military targets in the town.

The Germans assigned a large role to their air force, the Luftwaffe, in their war plans for the aggression against Poland. In addition to military facilities, its targets were urban and rural buildings inhabited by civilians.  The air raids were intended to be terrorist in nature, sowing destruction and terror.

The announcement of these ruthless actions was made by one of the Luftwaffe commanders, General Albert Kesselring, saying to the graduates of military flight schools: ” When circling over the enemy’s cities and fields, you should suppress all feelings within yourselves. You must tell yourselves that the creatures you see are not human. Only the fighting Germans are people. For the German Luftwaffe there are neither so-called non-military objects nor emotional considerations. The enemy countries should be wiped off the face of the earth”.

Already on 1 September 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland, the Luftwaffe pilots bloodily put these words into practice. In the early morning, at about 5.30 a.m., Wieluń, located near the then Polish-German border, was attacked by 29 Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers from the 76th Regiment. Just over half an hour later, more than 20 more planes approached the city. At 14.00, a further 30 Stukas completed the destruction.

The result of the bestial air raids was the destruction of about 70-75% of the city’s buildings, including almost the entire market square. During the air raids, the Germans bombed the hospital buildings, even though they were marked with a red cross on the roof. The synagogue, built in 1842, suffered the same fate.  In addition, German airmen damaged the St Michael’s Church, which was later looted by the Germans and blown up in 1940.

The number of victims of the air raids is exactly unknown. Certainly 127 people were killed and identified by name, while the actual number reaches several hundred. More than 30 people died in the hospital alone.

None of the commanders of the raids or any of the Luftwaffe pilots involved in the crime in Wieluń were punished for it.