Britain, Home Front
C.S. Lewis preaches “Learning in War-Time” at Evenson in St. Mary the Virgin during the early stages of World War II on October 22, 1939. He preaches the sermon to those struggling with whether or not they should or could go on with the task of learning given that the war weighed heavily on the minds and hearts of England.
His conclusion was that the war presented no new reality, only something that awakened us to a reality that was always there: 'But there is no question of death or life for any of us, only a question of this death or of that–of a machine gun bullet now or a cancer forty years later. What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent; 100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased'. His point is to encourage Christians, no matter the circumstances, to get on with the task with which they have been handed and to perform their task as if they are working for the Lord. There is no time to wait around on security and safety, or for things to become 'normal', Life has never been normal. It has always been filled with crises.
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]German Raiders
The British steamer Trevanion (5299t) is sunk by the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic.
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| ]Occupied Poland
Elections are held in eastern Poland for the selection of deputies to local Soviets. The electorate has no voice in the nomination of candidates, who come mostly from the Soviet Union and are thus complete strangers to the voters. Voting is permitted only for the one candidate whose name appears on the ballot paper (Red Army occupation troops are also given the right to vote). The 'elected' deputies then proceed to pass resolutions providing for the 'admission' of their territories into the Soviet Union, for the confiscation of large estates, and for the nationalization of banks and industries. In addition, they also vote for the deportations of 'undesirable' and 'unreliable' elements from eastern Poland to the Soviet Gulag.
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