The bombing of Wieluń. Beginning of World War II. 80th Anniversary 1939-2019

Cinematographer / Editor: Artur Nawojski
Music / Sound Design: Szymon Kusior
Historical Consultation: Jan Książek
Film illustrating the depth of destruction in Wieluń after the bombing of the town by the German Luftwaffe in the first moments of World War II #WieluńWeRemember
Fragment of the book "Wieluń hekatomba. The beginning of a total war" by prof. Tadeusz Olejnik:
There were no Polish troops in the town, nor was it, because of its closeness to the Polish-German border, a support base for the Polish Army or any kind of a bulwark in the defence system of Polish borderline. The plans of the Polish command specified that the defence was to be organised at the Warta and the Widawka rivers, so nearly 30 km east of Wieluń. Therefore, it can be stated that there were no military reasons for the raid on the defenceless town.
The first bomb raid took place at about 4:40. According to the eyewitnesses, the first to be attacked were the following: the hospital, the synagogue, the students’ residence hall at H. Sienkiewicza Street, the parish church, the Starosty Office building and the houses within the area of the Old Market (Legionów Square) and at the streets Palestrancka, Okólna, Barycz and Reformacka. The bombs also fell near the church and convent of the Bernardine Sisters and the evangelical church, but failed to destroy the buildings.
The shock was absolute. People, overwhelmed by panic, and many of them still wearing their nightwear, ran into the streets in great numbers. One could hear shrieks of terror and wounded people calling for help. Meanwhile, the fighter planes, not having to shield the bombers’ attacks from the Polish planes as there were not any in Wieluń area, were hedgehopping over the town and shooting the running men, women and children. The terror was augmented by the sound of Udet sirens, so called ‘Jericho trumpets’ fitted in the planes. All the eyewitnesses confirm that it was the time when hell began. Whoever was alive was running away from that hell, out of the town,
in an attempt to save their life.
After the first unexpected raid the planes returned over the town and dropped bombs again and again. The whole town centre was in ruins and under the debris of the destroyed houses there were hundreds of killed and wounded people. During one of the first raids the planes dropped 29 half-tonne demolition bombs and 112 50-kilogram tactical bombs. In the logbook of one of the squadrons it was noted: No enemy has been found (keine besondere Feind beobachtung).
In several bomb raids on the town, during which Wieluń was hit with demolition bombs of enormous explosive power (500 kg), the oldest historic part of the town was almost completely burnt or turned into a huge pile of rubble. The greatest destruction occurred in the Old and New Market and the following streets: H. Sienkiewicza, Śląska, G. Narutowicza, Augustianska, Palestrancka, Różana, Okólna, and Barycz, and, to a lesser degree, Królewska, Krakowskie Przedmieście, Reformacka, Rudzka (now 18 Stycznia) and Targowa. The buildings at the streets leading to and out of town, namely, Częstochowska, Sieradzka, Joanny Żubrowej, 3 Maja, Turowska and POW, suffered the relatively smallest destruction.
As a result of several air raids about 75% of the buildings were in ruins; besides, the historic town centre suffered the greatest destruction.
Eyewitnesses call the bombing of the town a horror. Those who managed to save their lives watched the raids as passive witnesses hidden in potato fields on the outskirts of the town. In front of their eyes Wieluń was being laid waste, the monuments of Polish culture were being destroyed, and helpless civilians massacred.
A fact which is particularly tragic is the dropping of the first World War II German Air Force bombs on All Saints Hospital, despite it being marked by the Red Cross emblems. Several dozen patients and the hospital staff were the first civilian victims of World War II unleashed by the Nazis. (...)
Basing on quite reliable accounts of Dr Zygmunt Patryn, the feldsher Stanisław Cierkosz and pastor Henryk Wendt it is estimated that nearly 1200 town inhabitants - Catholics, Jews and Protestants - lost their lives in the air raids.
In relation to the pre-war number of town inhabitants it was a very high percentage, as it made 8% of the population. Not many Polish cities suffered such a great population loss.