In the 1950s, German football suffered from the Second World War and its aftermath. Nazi party member Robert Hanft took over the management of Borussia Dortmund in 1952 with the goal of reviving his country's stagnant club sport while winning at all costs, just as Hitler had done before him in successfully taking over Poland within days of World War II , which began on September 1, 1939, when the Reichskriegsflagge started the military operations with resistance against Polish forces led by Field Marshal Edward Smigly-****ernicki, which eventually led to General Joachim Name and others issuing the battle command granted and Berlin until May 1945.