To the editor:

The note in 2 Day’s History Journal (LJW, Friday) states Warsaw, Poland, surrendered Sept. 27, 1939, “after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.”

It is true that Poland fought both German and Soviet invaders in September 1939, but Warsaw, the capital, lay in the German partition, so it was besieged for three weeks by the Germans. It surrendered when there was no more food, water or power.

Also, 2day’s History Journal (LJW, Saturday) states that on Sept. 28, 1939, “Germany and the Soviet Union agreed on a plan to partition Poland.” In fact, they signed a treaty replacing the secret protocol to the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of Aug. 23, 1939, which divided Poland down the middle. In the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship treaty of Sept. 28, 1939, Stalin gave up part of the Polish lands he got earlier in exchange for predominant Soviet influence in Lithuania. This was one day after the surrender of Warsaw to the Germans. The new boundary between the Germans and Soviets in Poland is almost the same as of the postwar frontier between Poland and Russia.

Anna M. Cienciala,

Lawrence