The Bombing of Frampol occurred during the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939. On 13 September, the town of Frampol with a population of 4,000 was bombed by the German bombers of

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

's 8th Air Corps, under General Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen. The town had no military value, and the bombing was seen as a practice run for future missions.

The bombardment

According to Polish journalist Pawel Puzio and local historian Ryszard Jasinski no units of the

Polish army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

were stationed in Frampol and the town did not have any military facilities. The Luftwaffe likely selected Frampol for an experimental bombing since the town had an extensive market square with a

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...

, making it appear as a large bullseye, and there were no

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

units located at Frampol.Dariusz Tyminski and Grzegorz Slizewski, "13 September 1939, the town of Frampol" in th
Poland 1939 - The Diary of Luftwaffe Atrocities.
In his 1968 book, ''Augen am Himmel'' (''Eyes on the Sky''), German writer Wolfgang Schreyer wrote: "Frampol was chosen as an experimental object, because test bombers, flying at low speed, weren't endangered by AA fire. Also, the centrally placed town hall was an ideal orientation point for the crews. We watched possibility of orientation after visible signs, and also the size of village, what guaranteed that bombs nevertheless fall down on Frampol. From one side it should make easier the note of probe, from second side it should confirm the efficiency of used bombs." British historian Norman Davies writes in '' Europe at War 1939–1945: No Simple Victory'': "Frampol was chosen partly because it was completely defenceless, and partly because its baroque street plan presented a perfect geometric grid for calculations and measurements." The first German reconnaissance plane appeared over Frampol on 9 September 1939 taking reconnaissance photographs of the location then on 11 and 12 September the town was bombed. The first raids did not cause any significant damage, but the subsequent bombing on 13 September completely destroyed the town. According to Davies, 125 bombers dropped 700 tons of explosives during bombing, which lasted for several hours. Furthermore, German fighter pilots trained

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such a ...

techniques on refugees who were trying to flee from the city.

Aftermath

After the bombing, on 18 September, a German reconnaissance plane again appeared over Frampol to take photographs of the destruction. According to Davies, Frampol lost 90% of its buildings and 50% of the population became casualties. Only two streets remained untouched, including some houses on the outskirts. Today Frampol's population is still much lower at about 1.400 people.

In popular culture

The bombing of Frampol plays an important part in the short story "The Little Shoemakers" by

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...

. Isaac Bashevis Singer also wrote "The Tale of Three Wishes" A Tale of Three Wishes by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Illustrated by Irene Lieblich in which artist Irene Lieblich beautifully illustrates the Market Of Frampol, a direct reflection of her memories of Frampol.

The bombardment

Aftermath

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading