The first shot of the war was fired from the German battleship the Schleiswig Holstein while stationed across from the Westerplatte. Shots were fired at 4:47 on September 1st, 1939. 5 days later Westerplatte surrendered.
The incident, which triggered the Second World War, was a simulated attack by the Germans. They shot prisoners from nearby concentration camps after they dressed them in Polish Military uniforms. A Polish-speaking German then did the broadcast, making it seem as though the Polish had attacked first.
Displaying the Swastika symbol in Germany is now forbidden.
During the period 1939-1944 Twenty Blenheim fighter-bombers were shot down by friendly fire due to misidentification.
Up till 1933 the German S.A. were equipped with revolvers and machine guns made in the USA.
In 1938 302,535 Germans were in protective custody in Germany for their political views. By the end of the war, over 800,000 Germans had spent time in prison or in camps.
A German financial aid was given to young couples to encourage them to marry and have children in order to raise the birth rate. 694,367 marriages: 485,285 children.
Many German women didn't want their best clothes lost or burned so they wore them almost constantly. In the air-raid shelters, it seemed that all females had put on a fur coat.
Between 1933 and 1944 a total of 13,405 death sentences were passed in Germany.
BRITAN.
The first bombing raid on Britan was on August 25/26, 1940, just 2 days after the bombing of London. Of the 81 bombers that took part, 27 failed to find the target, and 5 were shot down.
Throughout the war, Berlin suffered 363 air raids.
In six months, from May to November 1940, the Royal Air Force (RAF) killed less Germans than car crashes. For the same period of time, the German Air Force killed around 15,000 British.
The first British air attack on a mainland population center, 36 RAF planes bombed the rail yards of Manchen Gladbach.