Why did Poland fight?

Poland still had the hope that the British and French would come to thier aid by opening up a new front in the West. Both England and France expected the Poles to hold out for at least 4 to 6 months but they didnt last that many weeks. Both UK and France felt that the Poles would hold out long enough for them to begin offensive operations, albeit, the Whermacht proved them wrong. As to why they kept on fighting? I think its called patriotism.

First of all, Germany ATTACKED. What would you have the Poles do, stand still to make it easier to shoot them?

Given the subsequent conduct of the Germans in Poland during their occupation, the Poles literally had NOTHING to lose by fighting.

Do you suppose that the Einsatzgruppen would NOT have murdered Poles (and Polish Jews) if they had NOT fought?

Poland still had the hope that the British and French would come to thier aid by opening up a new front in the West. Both England and France expected the Poles to hold out for at least 4 to 6 months but they didnt last that many weeks. Both UK and France felt that the Poles would hold out long enough for them to begin offensive operations, albeit, the Whermacht proved them wrong. As to why they kept on fighting? I think its called patriotism.

First of all, Germany ATTACKED. What would you have the Poles do, stand still to make it easier to shoot them?

Given the subsequent conduct of the Germans in Poland during their occupation, the Poles literally had NOTHING to lose by fighting.

Do you suppose that the Einsatzgruppen would NOT have murdered Poles (and Polish Jews) if they had NOT fought?

I bet many asked the same about Finland in 1939.

National pride. The Poles, despite being maligned by many as weak people are actually a proud, stubborn nation trapped between 2 of the least friendly nations on earth (at least historically). It was a result of poor strategic decisions by the Polish generals that led to the rapid conquest of Poland. A decision to defend the whole nation instead of laying behind strategic rivers and fighting for time until France and Britain could help them cost them their country. Peacefull capitulation didn't spare the Slovaks persecution, it wouldn't have spared the Poles either.

Strange question. They had NO chance if they did not fight. By fighting there was at least a minimal chance of defending their country successfully.

The Poles were really between a rock and a hard place. Their air force was obsolescent and their armored forces little more than a technical demonstration.

Still what REALLY killed the Poles in '40 was the Soviet attack from the rear. That effectively made it IMPOSSIBLE to hold out. Without it, the Poles might well have held on for considerably longer.

They fought on in the East to avoid the retribution of their recent victims.

They fought on in the West for essentially nothing beyond the vanity of Hitler.

Even had the Morganthau Plan been implemented, it would have made most German occupations look like living in the lap of luxury, the occupation of Poland in particular.

Where did slave labor fit into the Morganthau Plan?

Where did involuntary human medical experimentation fit into the Morganthau Plan?

Where did involuntary sterilization fit into the Morganthau Plan?

Where did gas chambers fit into the Morganthau Plan?

Having started the war in the first place was NOT.

This is not really true. As I have pointed out any number of times here and elsewhere the lessons of WW2, if any, are that it is good to be separated from nasty people by lots of water. If you are not then it is good to be really good at fighting and invading other countries. If you aren't it is next best not to resist at all. If you don't like this the worst option is to resist poorly. The people who suffered the most in WW2 were those who put up a half-arsed fight. Not the aggressors, the Germans, Italians and even the Japanese, came out of the war reasonably intact. Not those who were separated by lots of water so that no real fighting took place on their soil. The Brits and Americans did fine. But those who tried to fight and did a bad job of it - the Yugoslavs, the Chinese, the Soviet peoples and the Poles. The West Europeans collapsed quickly and didn't make a fuss thereafter. So they came out of the war fine. Mostly without their Jews of course. But as most Poles were not Jews and mostly didn't like their Jews any- way (and indeed some of the resisting groups also killed them when a chance appeared) I don't imagine it bothered them much.

Yes. Well they would have murdered all the Jews regardless, but they would probably have left the Catholic Poles alone. Oppressed them a lot I suppose. Deported them to Russia if the Nazis won the war perhaps. Who can say. But killed them? Not likely. Compare and contrast with the Czechs, who have done very nicely out of not ever resisting anyone who wants their lands.

Some say that about rape. They apparently felt it was honorable to defend their homes, as they were also promised aid from Britain and France. You know, those guys that sold Czechoslovakia down the river