‘Poland was Like a Burning House’: Polish Canadians Remember Nazi-Soviet Invasion of 1939

A month after the invasion of Poland that began the Second World War German troops parade in front of Adolf Hitler and Nazi generals in Warsaw, Poland, on Oct. 5, 1939. Public Domain

The daughter of a Polish count and diplomat, Eva Konopacki was born to wealth and privilege, but in the early hours of Sept. 1, 1939, her world went up in smoke.

Now 94 and living in Ottawa, Konopacki remembers the invasion of her country as clearly as if it happened yesterday.