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• Weather data for 8 Sep 1939

• Werner Mölders crash landed his fighter aircraft after developing engine trouble; his back was injured, which kept him out of action for 11 days. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Polish defenders at Westerplatte, Danzig surrendered. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]

• German troops burned 200 Jews alive in a synagogue and executed 30 Jews in the public square in Bedzin, Poland. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Arthur Greiser was named the head of the military government in Poland. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• German troops neared the suburbs of Warsaw, and the Polish government evacuated to Lublin. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]

• Lavrentiy Beria organized two NKVD operational groups, to be based in Kiev in Ukraine and Minsk in Byelorussia, for near-future deployment to eastern Poland to arrest resistance elements. The two groups in Ukraine and Byelorussia were led by Ivan Serov and Lavrentiy Tsanava, respectively. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• King George VI of Britain suggested to Lord Hankey, Minister without Portfolio, that the Government might not reject any German peace proposals out of hand, but should instead say that "We are prepared to discuss terms with the German people, but not with Hitler or his regime". ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]

• US President Franklin Roosevelt declared a limited state of emergency. One of his orders of the day was to increase the US Marine Corps enlisted strength to be increased from 18,325 to 25,000, partially to be achieved by authorizing the recall of officers and men from the Marine Corps retired lists. ww2dbase [Main Article | Event | CPC]

8 Sep 1939 Interactive Map