Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany

At the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas

Second Polish Republic

The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

were annexed by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

and placed directly under German civil administration, while the rest of Nazi occupied Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

was named as General Government

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

. The annexation was part of the "fourth" partition of Poland by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

and the Soviet Union, outlined months before the invasion, in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...

.

Some smaller territories were incorporated directly into the already existing Gaue East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

and Silesia

Province of Silesia

The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...

, while the bulk of the land was used to create new Reichsgau

Reichsgau

A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945...

e Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was a Nazi German province created on 8 October 1939 from the territory of the annexed Free City of Danzig, the annexed Polish province Greater Pomeranian Voivodship , and the Nazi German Regierungsbezirk West Prussia of Gau East Prussia. Before 2 November 1939,...

and Wartheland

Reichsgau Wartheland

Reichsgau Wartheland was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939. It comprised the Greater Poland and adjacent areas, and only in part matched the area of the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen...

. Of those, Reichsgau Wartheland

Reichsgau Wartheland

was the largest and the only one comprising solely the annexed territory.

The official term used by the Nazi authorities for these areas was the "incorporated Eastern territories" (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

: Eingegliederten Ostgebieten). They planned

Generalplan Ost

Generalplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...

for a complete Germanization of the annexed territories, considering them part of their lebensraum

Lebensraum

was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...

. The local Jewish population

History of the Jews in Poland

The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...

was forced to live in ghetto

Ghetto

A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...

s, and was gradually deported to concentration and extermination camps

Nazi concentration camps

Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...

, the most infamous of which, Auschwitz

Auschwitz concentration camp

Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...

, was located in annexed East Upper Silesia

East Upper Silesia

East Upper Silesia is a term denoting the easternmost extremity of Silesia, that is the eastern part of the Upper Silesian region with the city of Katowice . The term is used primarily to denote those areas that became part of the Second Polish Republic on 20 June 1922, as a consequence of the...

. The local Polish population was to be gradually replaced by German settlers. The Polish elite

Intelligenzaktion

Intelligenzaktion was a genocidal action of Nazi Germany targeting Polish elites as part of elimination of potentially dangerous elements. It was an early measure of the Generalplan Ost. About 60,000 people were killed as the result of this operation...

especially became subject to mass murder, and an estimated 780,000 Poles were subject to expulsion

Expulsion of Poles by Germany

The Expulsion of Poles by Germany was a prolonged anti-Polish campaign of ethnic cleansing by violent and terror-inspiring means lasting nearly a century. It began with the concept of Pan-Germanism developed in early 19th century and continued in the racial policy of Nazi Germany asserting the...

, either to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

or to the Altreich for forced labour. The remaining Polish population was strictly segregated from the German population and subject to a variety of repressive measures. These included forced labour and their exclusion from all political and many cultural aspects of society. At the same time, the local German minority

German minority in Poland

The registered German minority in Poland consists of 152,900 people, according to a 2002 census.The German language is used in certain areas in Opole Voivodeship , where most of the minority resides...

was granted several privileges, and their number was steadily raised by the settlement of ethnic Germans, including those displaced by the Nazi-Soviet population transfers

Nazi-Soviet population transfers

The Nazi–Soviet population transfers were a series of population transfers between 1939 and 1941 of tens of thousands of ethnic Germans and ethnic Russians in an agreement according to the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.-...

.

After Vistula-Oder offensive

Vistula-Oder Offensive

The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...

in early 1945, the Soviet Union took control over the territories. The ethnic German population either fled

Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II

The flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II...

the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

or were later expelled and the territories became part of the People's Republic of Poland

People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...

Background

Already in the fall of 1933 Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

revealed to his closest associates his intentions to annex western Poland into an envisioned Greater Germany. After the invasion of Poland

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...

in September 1939, the Third Reich,in October annexed an area of 92,500 km² (23.7% of pre-war Poland

Second Polish Republic

) with a population of about 10,000,000 people (30% of the pre-war Polish population). The remainder of the Polish territory was either annexed by the Soviet Union (201,000 km² or 51.6% of pre-war Poland as per the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

) or made into the German-controlled General Government

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

occupation zone (95,500 km² or 24.5% of pre-war Poland). A tiny portion of pre-war Poland (700 km²) was annexed by Nazi Slovakia.

Since 1935, Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

was divided into provinces (Gaue) which had replaced the former German states and Prussian provinces

Provinces of Prussia

The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in...

. Of the territories annexed, some were attached to the already existing Gaue East Prussia

East Prussia

and Silesia

Province of Silesia

(later Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

), while from others new Reichsgau
Reichsgau
A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945...

e Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

and Wartheland

Reichsgau Wartheland

were constituted. Wartheland was the only Gau constituted solely from annexed territory, Danzig-West Prussia comprised also former German areas and the former Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

. The occupied General government

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

remained outside the Third Reich.

The annexation violated international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

(in particular, the Hague Convention IV 1907). Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

's officials discussed the convention and tried to circumvent it by declaring the war against Poland over prior to the annexation, which in their view made the convention non-applicable.

Administration

Military and early civil administration, September 1939

On 8 and 13 September 1939, the German military districts of "Posen" (Poznan), commanded by general Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg, and "Westpreußen" (West Prussia), commanded by general Walter Heitz

Walter Heitz

Walter Heitz was a German Generaloberst, serving during World War II. Heitz commanded the VIII. Armeekorps on the Eastern Front...

, were established in conquered Greater Poland

Greater Poland

Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...

and Pomerelia

Pomerelia

Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...

, respectively. Based on laws of 21 May 1935 and 1 June 1938, the German military, Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

, shared its administrative powers with civilian "chief civil administrators" (Chefs der Zivilverwaltung, CdZ). Hitler appointed Arthur Greiser

Arthur Greiser

Arthur Greiser was a Nazi German politician and SS Obergruppenfuhrer. He was one of the persons primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust in Poland and numerous other war crimes and crimes against humanity, for which he was tried, convicted and executed by hanging after World War...

to become the CdZ of the Posen military district, and Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

's Gauleiter

Gauleiter

A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...

Albert Forster

Albert Maria Forster was a Nazi German politician. Under his administration as the Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia during the Second World War, the local non-German population suffered ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and forceful Germanisation...

to become the CdZ of the West Prussian military district. On 3 October 1939, the military districts "Lodz" (Łódź) and "Krakau" (Kraków) were set up under command of major generals Gerd von Rundstedt

Gerd von Rundstedt

Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....

and Wilhelm List, and Hitler appointed Hans Frank

Hans Frank

Hans Michael Frank was a German lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany...

and Arthur Seyß-Inquart as civil heads, respectively. Frank was at the same time appointed "supreme chief administrator" for all occupied territories.

Hitler's annexation decree, October 1939

A decree issued by Hitler on 8 October 1939 provided for the annexation of former western Polish areas and the former Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

, and a separate by-law stipulated the inclusion of the area around Suwalki

Suwalki

Suwałki is a town in northeastern Poland with 69,340 inhabitants . The Czarna Hańcza river flows through the town. It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centres of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Until 1999 the town was the capital of Suwałki Voivodeship...

(the Suwalki triangle).

The first two paragraphs of the decree established "Reichsgau Posen" in Greater Poland

Greater Poland

with the government regions (Regierungsbezirk

Regierungsbezirk

In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...

) Hohensalza, Posen, and Kalisch, as well as "Reichsgau West Prussia" in Pomerelia

Pomerelia

with the government regions Bromberg, Danzig, and Marienwerder. These government regions were named after the German language names of their chief cities: Hohensalza (Inowrocław), Posen (Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

), Kalisch (Kalisz

Kalisz

Kalisz is a city in central Poland with 106,857 inhabitants , the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce...

), Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), Danzig (Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

), and Marienwerder (Kwidzyn

Kwidzyn

Kwidzyn is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa river, with 40,008 inhabitants . It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elbląg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.-History:...

). The annexed territories were twice as large as former Prussian conquests in the Partitions of Poland

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

, also contained twice as many people. Compared to 1914, the border of Reich was extended eastwards by some 150–200 km on average. Despite this fact, Germany used old Prussian propaganda of creating a "German living wall" in Polish territories. On 29 January 1940, Reichsgau Posen was renamed "Reichsgau Wartheland

Reichsgau Wartheland

" (Warthegau). Reichsgau West Prussia was renamed "Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia".

The remaining annexed areas were not made separate provinces but included in the existing provinces of East Prussia

East Prussia

and Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

per §4 of Hitler's decree. Arthur Greiser was made Gauleiter

Gauleiter

A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...

of Reichsgau Posen, and Albert Forster of Reichsgau West Prussia.

Administrative changes following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, June 1941

After the German attack on the Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

in June 1941, the district of Białystok, which included the Białystok, Bielsk Podlaski

Bielsk Podlaski

-Roads and Highways:Bielsk Podlaski is at the intersection of two National Road and a Voivodeship Road:* National Road 19 - Kuźnica Białystoka Border Crossing - Kuźnica - Białystok - Bielsk Podlaski - Siemiatycze - Międzyrzec Podlaski - Kock - Lubartów - Lublin - Kraśnik - Janów Lubelski - Nisko...

, Grajewo

Grajewo

Grajewo , is a town in north-eastern Poland with 23,302 inhabitants .It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship ; previously, it was in Łomża Voivodeship...

, Łomża, Sokółka, Volkovysk, and Grodno Counties, was attached to (not incorporated into) East Prussia

East Prussia

. Other Polish territories, first annexed by Soviet Union and then by Germany, was incorporated into Reichskommissariat Ostland

Reichskommissariat Ostland

Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...

(in the north), Reichskommissariat Ukraine

Reichskommissariat Ukraine

Reichskommissariat Ukraine , literally "Reich Commissariat of Ukraine", was the civilian occupation regime of much of German-occupied Ukraine during World War II. Between September 1941 and March 1944, the Reichskommissariat was administered by Reichskommissar Erich Koch as a colony...

(in the south) and the General Government

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

(Distrikt Galizien in the utmost south).

Planned extension of annexation plans

The Nazi government intended to continue its incorporation of pre-war Polish territory into the Third Reich. The rump General Government

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

region of occupied Poland already under complete German civil control was merely seen as a transitional form of government, before the area's complete future integration into the Greater German Reich (Grossdeutsches Reich). The German bureaucrats subsequently discussed various proposals for the dismemberment of the remaining territories.

Hans Frank

Hans Frank

Hans Michael Frank was a German lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany...

advocated for the transformation of some or all of his province into a "Vandalengau", in honor of the East Germanic Vandal tribes who in Ancient Times had dwelt in the Vistula river basin before the Barbarian migrations. In late 1939 a sixteen-man commission was also active to chart the boundaries of a projected Reichsgau Beskidenland (named after the Beskid mountain range

Beskids

The Beskids , ) is a traditional name for a series of Eastern European mountain ranges.- Definition :The Beskids are approximately 600 km in length and 50–70 km in width...

), which would have encompassed the areas lying west of Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

up to the San river

San River

The San is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the Vistula River, with a length of 433 km and a basin area of 16,861 km2...

to the east of it.

Nazi Party Secretary

Party Chancellery

Party Chancellery , until 1941 Staff of the Deputy Führer , was the name of the head office of the German Nazi Party .-Organization:...

Martin Bormann

Martin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...

on the other hand proposed that the General Government would in the near future be turned into 3-5 Reichsgaue or Reichsobergaue, including the Galician district. Leaving such discussions open for the conclusion of the war, Hitler never officially adopted or implemented any of these suggestions, instead retaining the status quo of using the areas as a labor reservoir.

Administrative divisions

Nazi German administrative units		Annexed administrative units
Reichsgau Reichsgau A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945... /Gau (province)	Regierungsbezirk Regierungsbezirk In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte... (government region)	Polish voivodeship Voivodeship Voivodship is a term denoting the position of, or more commonly the area administered by, a voivod. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Serbia.... / State	Counties
Reichsgau Wartheland Reichsgau Wartheland Reichsgau Wartheland was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939. It comprised the Greater Poland and adjacent areas, and only in part matched the area of the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen... (Warthegau) initially Reichsgau Posen	Posen Hohensalza Litzmannstadt⁵	Poznań	all counties
		Łódź	most counties
		Pomeranian	five counties
		Warsaw	one county
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was a Nazi German province created on 8 October 1939 from the territory of the annexed Free City of Danzig, the annexed Polish province Greater Pomeranian Voivodship , and the Nazi German Regierungsbezirk West Prussia of Gau East Prussia. Before 2 November 1939,... ¹ (Danzig-Westpreußen) initially Reichsgau West Prussia	Bromberg Danzig¹ Marienwerder¹	Greater Pomeranian	most counties
	Bromberg Danzig¹ Marienwerder¹	Free City of Danzig Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
East Prussia East Prussia East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia... ¹ (Ostpreußen) southernmost part²	Zichenau Gumbinnen¹	Warsaw	Ciechanów Ciechanów Ciechanów is a town in north-central Poland with 45,900 inhabitants . It is situated in Masovian Voivodeship . It was previously the capital of Ciechanów Voivodeship.-History:The grad numbered approximately 3,000 armed men.... , Działdowo, Maków Maków Maków may refer to the following places:Maków Mazowiecki, a town in Masovian Voivodeship Maków, Masovian Voivodeship Maków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship Maków, Łódź Voivodeship... , Mława, Płock, Płońsk, Przasnysz Przasnysz Przasnysz is a town in Poland. Located in the Masovian Voivodship, about 110 km north of Warsaw and about 115 km south of Olsztyn, it's the capital of Przasnysz County. It has 18,093 inhabitants . One of the most important towns in Mazovia during the Middle Ages. City laws - 1427.-Famous... , Sierpc Sierpc Sierpc is a town in Poland, in the north-west part of the Masovian Voivodeship, about 125 km northwest of Warsaw. It is the capital of Sierpc County. Its population is 18,777 . It is located near the national road No 10, which connects Warsaw and Toruń... ; parts of Łomża, Ostrołęka, Pułtusk, Sochaczew Sochaczew Sochaczew is a town in central Poland, with 38,300 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously in Skierniewice Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sochaczew County.... , Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
	Zichenau Gumbinnen¹	Białystok	Suwałki and part of Augustów Augustów Augustów is a town in north-eastern Poland with 29,600 inhabitants . It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , having previously been in Suwałki Voivodeship . It is the seat of Augustów County and of Gmina Augustów.In 1970 Augustów became...
	Bezirk Białystok (attached in 1941)⁶	Białystok	Białystok, Bielsk Podlaski Bielsk Podlaski -Roads and Highways:Bielsk Podlaski is at the intersection of two National Road and a Voivodeship Road:* National Road 19 - Kuźnica Białystoka Border Crossing - Kuźnica - Białystok - Bielsk Podlaski - Siemiatycze - Międzyrzec Podlaski - Kock - Lubartów - Lublin - Kraśnik - Janów Lubelski - Nisko... , Grajewo Grajewo Grajewo , is a town in north-eastern Poland with 23,302 inhabitants .It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship ; previously, it was in Łomża Voivodeship... , Łomża, Sokółka, Volkovysk, Grodno
(Upper) Silesia Province of Upper Silesia The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln... ^1,3 (Oberschlesien) easternmost part⁴	Kattowitz Oppeln¹	Silesian
		Kielce	Będzin Bedzin Będzin is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza river , the city borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metro area with a population of about 2 million.It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its... , Olkusz Olkusz Olkusz is a town in south Poland with 37,696 inhabitants . Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship , it is the capital of Olkusz County... , Sosnowiec Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a combined population of over two million people located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river .It is situated in... , Zawiercie Zawiercie Zawiercie is a city in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland with 55,800 inhabitants . It is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa highland near the source of the Warta River...
		Kraków	Chrzanów Chrzanów Chrzanów is a town in south Poland with 39,704 inhabitants . It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and is the capital of Chrzanów County.- To 1809:... , Oświęcim Oswiecim Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :... , Żywiec Zywiec Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants . Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship....
¹ Gau or Regierungsbezirk only partially comprised annexed territory ² the annexed parts are also referred to as "South East Prussia" ³ Gau Upper Silesia Upper Silesia Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of... was created in 1941, before it was part of Gau Silesia Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th... ⁴ the annexed parts are also referred to as "East Upper Silesia" ⁵ named after the chief city, . This area was joined into the Warthegau on 9 November 1939; on 12 April 1940 Łódź's name was rendered Litzmannstadt, thus the Regierungsbezirk's name was changed accordingly. ⁶ not incorporated into, but administered by Gau East Prussia, attached after the Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941 Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

Demography in 1939

Prior to the Nazi German invasion

Invasion of Poland (1939)

in September 1939 and the subsequent annexation in October, the territories consisted a total of up to 10,568,000 people or some 30% of pre-1939 Poland

Second Polish Republic

's population. Due to flights, war losses, natural migration and the lack of contemporary reliable data, demographics especially in the border regions can only be estimated.

Area and population data in 1939 of Nazi German Gaue that included annexed territory: Estimates according to Nazi German Nazi Germany Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by... Bureau for Racial Policies, 25 November 1939
Gau/Reichsgau	East Prussia East Prussia East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...	Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was a Nazi German province created on 8 October 1939 from the territory of the annexed Free City of Danzig, the annexed Polish province Greater Pomeranian Voivodship , and the Nazi German Regierungsbezirk West Prussia of Gau East Prussia. Before 2 November 1939,...	Reichsgau Wartheland Reichsgau Wartheland Reichsgau Wartheland was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939. It comprised the Greater Poland and adjacent areas, and only in part matched the area of the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen...	Province of Silesia Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...	Total of the four provinces	Only annexed parts of these provinces
Area (km²)	52,099	25,705	40,309	46,908	165,021	86,295
Total population	3,113,000	2,156,000	4,203,000	7,258,000	16,729,000	9,082,000
Persons per km² Population density Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...	61	84	104	155	101	105
Germans Germans The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....	2,004,768	817,474	309,002	3,813,930	8,145,174	597,784
% Germans	71%	38%	7%	66%	49%	7%
Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...	79,198	23,302	322,947	123,202	548,649	494,913
% Jews	3%	1%	8%	2%	3%	5%
Poles Poles thumb\|right\|180px\|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...	810,834	1,310,099	3,558,489	2,184,329	7,863,751	7,817,377
% Poles	26%	61%	85%	30%	47%	86%
Other	17,773	4,666	11,984	136,578	171,001	171,001

Heinemann (2003) gives identical numbers for Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

and Warthegau. For East Upper Silesia

East Upper Silesia

, Heinemann gives numbers based on the Nazi census of December 1939, that claimed they were 2.43 million people, of whom ~1.08 million were ethnic Germans, ~930,000 Poles

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, and ~90,000 Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

. Heinemann and Encyclopaedia Judaica

Encyclopaedia Judaica

The Encyclopaedia Judaica is a 26-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people and their faith, Judaism. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, language, scripture, and religious teachings...

also give a higher estimate regarding the Jewish population, whose number they put between 560,000 and 586,628 people. Eberhardt (2006) confirms the number given by the Bureau for Racial Policy by saying about 600,000 people were Germans.

Waszak (1970) cited slightly differing estimates, first published in 1947:

Area and population data in 1939 of Nazi German Gaue that included annexed territory: Estimates of 1947 as cited by Stanisław Waszak, *Demographic Picture of the German Occupation* (1970)
Gau	Total population	Poles	Germans	Jews	Ukrainians	Others
Wartheland	4.933.600	4.220.200	324.600	384.500	-	4.300
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...	2.632.630	2.404.670	98.204	124.877	1.202	3.677
Danzig-West Prussia	1.571.215	1.393.717	158.377	14.458	1.648	3.020
East Prussia East Prussia East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...	1.001.560	886.061	18.400	79.098	8.0099	9.902
Total	10.139.005	8.904.648	599.576	602.953	10.949	20.899

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

data was compiled by the Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

in Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

on 3 December, and in Warthegau and Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

on 17 December. A number of Poles tried to present themselves as Germans (Volksdeutsche

Volksdeutsche

Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...

) hoping to avoid the anti-Polish atrocities that occurred during the invasion. The Nazis classified people based on racial criteria with Poles and Jews being considered "untermenschen" (subhumans) as opposed to Germans who according to the Nazis' ideology at the time were "herrenvolk" (master race). This classification had not only ideological meaning but was expressed in all aspects of practical daily life and treatment of the population.

Nazi Germanization plans by expulsion, resettlement and genocide

On October 7, 1939, Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

as his settlement commissioner, responsible for all resettlement measures in the Altreich and the annexed territories as well as the Nazi-Soviet population exchanges. For his new office, Himmler chose the title Reichskommissar für die Festigung deutschen Volkstums ("Reich's commissioner for strengthening Germandom", RKF). The RKF staff (Stabshauptamt RKF) through the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle

Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle

The Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle was an NSDAP agency founded to manage the interests of the Volksdeutsche who lived outside the borders of Nazi Germany....

(VOMI) and the 'Main Department of Race and Settlement' (Rasse- und Siedlungs-Hauptamt, RuSHA

RuSHA

The Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt-SS , , was the organization responsible for "safeguarding the racial 'purity' of the SS" within Nazi Germany....

) of the SS

Schutzstaffel

The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

planned and executed the war-time resettlement and extermination process in the annexed territories. In October 1939, Himmler ordered the immediate expulsion of all Jews from the annexed territories, all "Congress Poles"

Congress Poland

The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...

from Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

, and all "Reich's enemies" from the Warthegau, South East Prussia and East Upper Silesia. The term "Reich enemies" was applied to all Poles with higher education, engaged in pre-war in any patriotic organisations or initiatives and generally those who manifested Polish patriotism. Those expelled were to be deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

.

This directive was superseded by another RKF-directive of early 1940, ordering the immediate expulsion of the remaining Jews and the replacement of 3.4 million Poles with Germans settlers in the long run. This RKF scenario envisioned, as a first step, the settlement of 100,000 German families within the next three years. In this early stage, planners believed the settlers would be relocated from the Altreich. "Racially valuable" Poles were to be exempted from deportation and "racially valuable

Nazism and race

Nazism developed several theories concerning races. The Nazis claimed to scientifically measure a strict hierarchy of human race; at the top was the master race, the "Aryan race", narrowly defined by the Nazis as being identical with the Nordic race, followed by lesser races.At the bottom of this...

" ethnic Germans were also to be settled. Himmler said he wanted to "create a blonde province here". Responsible for "racial evaluation" were 'Central Bureau for Immigration' (Einwandererzentralstelle, EWZ) and 'Central Bureau for Resettlement' (Umwandererzentralstelle, UWZ) of the SS' RuSHA. The annexed territories were to be Germanised in rural areas within 5 years and in urban areas within 10 years, the General Gouvernment in 15 years

In practice, the war-time population shift in the annexed territories did not take on its planned extent, either in regard to the number of expelled Poles and the resettled Germans, or in regard to the origin of the settled Germans which was the Soviet Union. Plans for a resettlement of Germans from the Third Reich were upheld in the Generalplan Ost

Generalplan Ost

but postponed to after the war. This plan envisioned the elimination of all Jews and, in the long run, the deportation of initially 31 million, later 51 million Slavs to Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

from a large area designated for German settlement. The removal of Poles consisted of such actions as ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....

, mass executions, organized famine and eradication of national groups by scattering them in isolated pockets for labour. About 350,000 ethnic Germans were settled in Poland after Nazi propaganda persuaded them to leave the Baltic States prior to the Soviet Union's take-over, and subjected to Germanization.

In addition, other Germanic

Germanic peoples

The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...

settlers such as Dutch, Danes and Swedes were envisioned to settle these lands. A small Dutch artisan colony was already established in Poznań

Poznan

in 1941.

Expulsion and genocide of Poles and Jews

The Jewish and Polish population was subject to mass murder and expulsions already during the September invasion

Invasion of Poland (1939)

, triggering mass flight. The Jewish population was to be exterminated immediately during the Holocaust, only a few survived. Major concentration camps and extermination camps set up within the annexed territories were Auschwitz

Auschwitz concentration camp

Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...

(consisting of several subcamps), Chelmno (Kulmhof)

Chelmno extermination camp

Chełmno extermination camp, also known as the Kulmhof concentration camp, was a Nazi German extermination camp that was situated 50 kilometres from Łódź, near a small village called Chełmno nad Nerem . After annexation by Germany Kulmhof was included into Reichsgau Wartheland in 1939...

, Potulice (Potulitz)

Potulice concentration camp

The Potulice concentration camp was established during World War II by German state authorities in occupied Poland in Potulice near Nakło. It is notable as a detention centre for Polish children that underwent the Nazi experiment in forced Germanisation....

, Stutthof

Stutthof concentration camp

Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...

, and Soldau

Soldau concentration camp

The Soldau concentration camp was a concentration camp established by Nazi Germany during World War II in Działdowo , which after the occupation of Poland was part of East Prussia....

.

According to Heinemann, about 780,000 ethnic Poles in the annexed territories lost their homes between 1939 and 1944. Of these, at least 250,000 were deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

, 310,000 were displaced or forced into Polenlager camps within the respective Gau, and the others were subject to forced labour either within the annexed territories or in the Altreich. Heinemann says that according to Madajczyk, 987,217 were displaced in the annexed territories and the Zamość region, including Jews. People were sometimes arrested from the street in so-called łapanki.

Heinemann further says that an additional 110,000 Jews

Jews

were deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

. Another more than 400,000 Jews were later deported to Auschwitz, Treblinka or Chelmno (Kulmhof)

Chelmno extermination camp

concentration camps, and thousands had died in the ghetto

Ghetto

s. Of the deported Jews, more than 300,000 were from Warthegau, 2,000 from Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

, 85,000 from East Upper Silesia

East Upper Silesia

, 30,000 from the Zichenau district and 200,000 from the Białystok district both in South East Prussia.

Eberhardt cites numbers provided by Jastrzębski, 1968, who says that according to RKF documents, 365,000 were deported between 1939 and 1944. Jastrzębski notes that adding the numbers retrieved from documents of local authorities yields a higher total of 414,820 deported, and estimates a total of about 450,000 including unplanned and undocumented expulsions. Eberhardt notes that on top of these numbers, many had fled, and cites numbers provided by Czesław Łuczak

Czesław Łuczak

Czesław Łuczak was a Polish historian. He was a rector of the Adam Mickiewicz University from 1965 to 1972, and from 1969 to 1981 and from 1987 to 1991, director the University's Institute of History...

(1979), who estimates that between 918,000 and 928,000 were deported or evicted from the annexed territories between 1939 and 1944. A similar estimate (923,000) is also given by the Institute of National Remembrance

Institute of National Remembrance

Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is a Polish government-affiliated research institute with lustration prerogatives and prosecution powers founded by specific legislation. It specialises in the legal and historical sciences and...

Heinemann and Łuczak ak as cited by Eberhardt detail the expulsions as follows: 81,000 Poles were displaced from their homes in East Upper Silesia, 22,000 of whom were deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

. They were replaced with 38,000 ethnic Germans primarily from Bukovina

Bukovina

Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...

. From the Zichenau and Suwałki areas of South East Prussia

East Prussia

, 25,000 to 28,000 Poles were "evacuated", an additional 25,000 to 28,000 from the Bialystock area attached in 1941. In Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia

, 123,000 to 124,000 were displaced until the end of 1942, 53,000 of whom were deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

, the others were forced into camps where they were "racially evaluated". In the Warthegau, 630,000 were displaced between 1939 and 1944. Additionally, Łuczak estimates that between 30,000 and 40,000 were subject to "wild" expulsions primarily in Pomerelia

Pomerelia

.

Poles due be deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

were first put in camps where they were subject to racial evaluation (Durchschleusung) by the UWZ similar to the Durchschleusung of ethnic Germans (see below). Those deemed "capable of re-Germanization" (wiedereindeutschungsfähig) were not deported to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

, but instead to the Altreich. Those that resisted Germanization were to be put in concentration camps, or executed; their children might be taken for Germanization and adoption. A total of 1.5 million people was expelled or deported, including those deported for slave labor in Germany or concentration and extermination camps. Eberhardt says a total of 1.053 million people were deported for forced labour from the annexed territories.

German colonization and settlement

Throughout the war, the annexed Polish territories were subject to German colonization. The goal of Germany was to assimilate the territories politically, culturally, socially, and economically into the German Reich. According to Esch, because of the lack of settlers from the Altreich, the colonists were primarily ethnic Germans from areas further East. These ethnic Germans were resettled durning colonisation action "Heim ins Reich

Heim ins Reich

The Heim ins Reich initiative was a policy pursued by Adolf Hitler starting in 1938 and was one of the factors leading to World War II. The initiative attempted to convince people of German descent living outside of the German Reich that they should strive to bring these regions "home" into a...

" in homes from which the Poles had been expelled, often so abruptly that they found half-eaten meals on tables and unmade beds where small children had been sleeping at the time of expulsion. Members of Hitler Youth

Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...

and the League of German Girls

League of German Girls

The League of German Girls or League of German Maidens , was the girl's wing of the overall Nazi party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only female youth organization in Nazi Germany....

were assigned the task of overseeing such evictions to ensure that the Poles left behind most of their belongings for the use of the settlers.

Eberhardt cites estimates for the ethnic German

Ethnic German

Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...

influx provided by Szobak, Łuczak, and a collective report, ranging from 404,612 (Szobak) to 631,500 (Łuczak). Anna Bramwell says 591,000 ethnic Germans moved into the annexed territories, and details the areas of colonists' origin as follows: 93,000 were from Bessarabia

Bessarabia

Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....

, 21,000 from Dobruja

Dobruja

Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...

, 98,000 from Bukovina

Bukovina

, 68,000 from Volhynia

Volhynia

Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...

, 58,000 from Galicia

District Galicia

The District of Galicia was an administrative unit of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Ukraine from 1941 to 1944 centered in Lemberg ....

, 130,000 from the Baltic states

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

, 38,000 from eastern Poland

Kresy

The Polish term Kresy refers to a land considered by Poles as historical eastern provinces of their country. Today, it makes western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania, with such major cities, as Lviv, Vilnius, and Hrodna. This territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian...

, 72,000 from Sudetenland

Sudetenland

Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...

, and 13,000 from Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

./

Additionally some 400,000 German officials, technical staff, and clerks were sent to those areas in order to administer them, according to "Atlas Ziem Polski" citing a joint Polish-German scholarly publication on the aspect of population changes during the war Eberhardt estimates that the total influx from the Altreich was about 500,000 people.

Duiker and Spielvogel note that up to two million Germans had been settled in pre-war Poland by 1942. Eberhardt gives a total of two million Germans present in the area of all pre-war Poland by the end of the war, 1.3 million of whom moved in during the war, adding to a pre-war population

German minority in Poland

of 700,000.

Number of German colonists settled as per Piotr Eberhardt, Political Migrations in Poland, 1939–1948, Warsaw 2006
Area	Number of German colonists
Warthegau	536,951
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was a Nazi German province created on 8 October 1939 from the territory of the annexed Free City of Danzig, the annexed Polish province Greater Pomeranian Voivodship , and the Nazi German Regierungsbezirk West Prussia of Gau East Prussia. Before 2 November 1939,...	50,204
East Upper Silesia East Upper Silesia East Upper Silesia is a term denoting the easternmost extremity of Silesia, that is the eastern part of the Upper Silesian region with the city of Katowice . The term is used primarily to denote those areas that became part of the Second Polish Republic on 20 June 1922, as a consequence of the...	36,870
Regierungsbezirk Zichenau	7,460

The increase of German population was most visible in the towns: in Poznań

Poznan

, the German population increased from ~6,000 in 1939 to 93,589 in 1944; in Łódż, from ~60,000 to 140,721; and in Inowrocław, from 956 to 10,713. In Warthegau, where most Germans were settled, the share of the German population increased from 6.6% in 1939 to 21.2% in 1943.

Only those Germans deemed "racially valuable" were allowed to settle. People were "evaluated" and classified in the Durchschleusung process in which they were assigned to the categories RuS I ("most valuable") to IV ("not valuable"). Only RuS I to III were allowed to settle, those who found themselves in RuSIV were either classified as "A"-cases and brought to the Altreich for "non-selfdetermined work and re-education", or classified as "S"-cases who were either sent back to their original Eastern European homelands or "evacuated" to the Generalgouvernement

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

. Initially, people classified as RuS III were to be deported to the Altreich for forced labour, yet since January 1940 were allowed to settle on smaller farms (20 hectare compared to 50 hectare farms for RuS I and II). This change was based on a personal order by Himmler and led to a more restrictive categorization by the classifying officials. About a million ethnic Germans had been subjected to Durchschleusung by the end of 1944. RuS I and II were assigned to between 60% and 70% of the Baltic Germans and 44% of the Volhynia

Volhynia

n Germans, while many ethnic Germans from the Soviet Union were put in the lower categories.

Ethnic segregation

The segregation of Germans and Poles was achieved by a variety of measures limiting their social interaction.

Łuczak (1987) described the segregation:

"Access to a variety of cinemas, theatres, museums, hotels, cafes, restaurants, parks, playgrounds, public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

such as first and second class train departments and best city trolleys, public bathhouses, beaches, public phones and public benches was granted only to Germans, while forbidden by law for Poles and Jews. Poles were not allowed to attend German-held masses. Attending cultural activities or events for non-Germans was punishable, for example in Poznań, four young Polish women who attended an opera were sentenced by German court for 4 months of penal work camp Other laws made it obligatory for Poles to give way to Germans in every occasion on sidewalks, and all Poles were to bow down to Germans as form of greeting. Support for Nazi policies was high among the German minority in the annexed territories Nevertheless as part of their racial policies the German officials forbid friendly or supportive contacts by Germans to Poles and Jews were dealt with quickly and harshly by the authorities by imprisonment in concentration camps, confiscation of property or death sentences. Intimate contacts of Germans and Poles were forbidden, a Polish women caught in an affair with a German were arrested and in some cases forced into a brothel."

Madajczyk (1970) noted that 529 cases of such relations were reported by German police in 1941, out of 786,000 Germans located in Wartheland. Occasionally, signs were posted in public places reading: "Entrance is forbidden to Poles, Jews, and dogs". When Germans wanted to silence Poles and Jews, they used such expressions, as "stop barking" or "shut your snouts".

Part of the population was classified as Volksdeutsche

Volksdeutsche

, mostly German ethnic minority. Some Poles were classified as such as well, either by their own free will or by force which included death threats.

Repressions against Polish and Jewish population

Because the Nazi Germany envisioned a near-term complete Germanization of the annexed territories, measures there differed from those implemented in the General Gouvernment. Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

and the remaining Poles

Poles

and Jews

Jews

were strictly segregated. In case of the Jews, this was achieved by ghetto

Ghetto

ization.

The German administration classified people based on racial criteria with Poles and Jews being considered "untermenschen" (subhumans) as opposed to Germans who according to the Nazi's ideology at the time were "herrenvolk" (master race). This classification had not only ideological meaning but was expressed in all aspects of practical daily life and treatment of the population. Three main goals were formulated by German authorities in regards to Polish population: Gradual biological eradication of Polish nation, expulsion out of the annexed areas and use of Poles as forced labour, and changing remaining Poles into obedient low-skilled workers by draconian means.

Economic discrimination

Many Polish owned buildings and enterprises were confiscated, and all jewelry, furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

, money, clothing

Clothing

Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

were subject to forced confiscation. All executive positions which were formerly occupied by Poles and Jews were given to Germans. Poles were forbidden to own rural and industrial enterprises, transport firms, building firms, workshops. The Nazis seized tens of thousands of Polish enterprises, from large industrial firms to small shops, without payment to the owners. Higher taxes and obligatory contributions were enforced on Polish population. Polish workers were stripped from any right to holidays or leave from work. Payment for overtime hours in work was abolished in general, only after working 61 hours in week were Poles allowed to receive a 10% higher compensation in pay (Germans were paid 100%). All employed Poles were given the lowest possible pay for their work. Overall the German policy was to create lowly educated slaves out of Poles for basic work.

Slave labour

While in General Government all Poles from age of 14 to 65 were subject to forced labour on behalf of Nazi German state, in annexed territories children had to work from the age of 9 (and in rural areas from the age of 7-8), additionally the duty to perform slave labour for Germans was extended to the age of 70 for men in annexed territories.
A network of outposts overseeing gathering of labour force was established by German authortities that coordinated forced labour together with German police units.

Number of Poles sent to slave labour from annexed territories according to Nazi German estimates as cited by Madajczyk (1970)
Time period	Number of Poles from annexed territories subjected to slave labour
13 VII 1942	827.000
20 XI 1942	896.000
15 II 1943	934.000
31 VIII 1943	1.066.000
30 VI 1944	1.033.000
7 VII 1944	-
15 VIII 1944	1.015.000
30 IX 1944	1.053.000

Reducing biological growth of Polish population

To reduce the biological growth of the Polish people, a partial ban of marriage was introduced—Polish women were allowed to marry only at the age of 26 and men at the age of 28. Married couples were separated when subjected to forced labour in Germany

OST-Arbeiter

OST-Arbeiter was a designation for slave workers gathered from Eastern Europe to do forced labor in Germany during World War II. The Ostarbeiters were mostly from the territory of Reichskommissariat Ukraine . Ukrainians made up the largest portion although many Belarusians, Russians, Poles and...

, and calorie intake was lowered for Poles. The forced labour working hours for both parents often meant that a child or infant was left without care and incidents and infant deaths soared. The supply of dairy and fat products for Polish children were just one-fifth of that for German children.
Likewise, the winter brought many deaths, as Germans limited the available heating supplies to 1/4 of that available to Germans. A strict ban on collecting coal left by trucks and supply wagons on the streets by non-Germans was introduced.

Within Germany, OST-Arbeiter

OST-Arbeiter

s could be aborted, even against their will and contrary to the usual Nazi law against abortions. Only if the parents appeared to be of "good blood" was the child to be born, and if deemed satisfactory, was removed to a Lebensborn

Lebensborn

Lebensborn was a Nazi programme set up by SS leader Heinrich Himmler that provided maternity homes and financial assistance to the wives of SS members and to unmarried mothers, and also ran orphanages and relocation programmes for children.Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded...

institution. Children who failed were sent to the Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte

Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte

Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte , also Säuglingsheim, Entbindungsheim, were Third Reich institutions where babies and children, abducted from Eastern European forced laborers from 1943 to 1945, were kept.-Nazi policy:...

, where they routinely died within a few months for lack of food.

To further reduce the Polish population, a German official Krumey from occupied Łódż demanded that Polish women be kept at work until reaching 8.5 months of pregnancy

Pregnancy

Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

. The aim was to help in miscarriage

Miscarriage

Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...

and provoke ‘accidents’ that would result in failed birth. Nevertheless, German officials remained extremely worried about Polish birth rate and various other ideas floated among German leadership how to not only reduce pregnancy, but to prevent it. Among the proposals were: garrisoning the population in labour camps, making the age of allowing marriage much higher, creating labour battalions out of the Polish population, introducing a child tax, performing abortions, an extended forced work duty during Polish lifetimes, combined with relocation to work camps, and finally sterilization

Compulsory sterilization

Compulsory sterilization also known as forced sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization...

of Polish women. Doubts about the ability to perform mass sterilization hindered this idea, however, as 55% of available doctors in certain parts of annexed territories were Poles and it was thought they would sabotage the action. The German state organization SD

Sicherheitsdienst

Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...

performed its own study on the problem. Among the things it concluded was the fact that the number of Poles was wrongly estimated in initial years; however, both the birth rate

Birth rate

Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...

and survival of German children was higher than that of the Poles. The proposed solution to Polish problem was mass sterilization of lower classes (named "primitives" by the report), sending married Poles to slave labour in Reich. An original idea was proposed by Karl Zieger, who believed those measures to be futile. Instead, he postulated that whole Polish villages should be moved and scattered into the Reich itself.

The Nazis fell into a trap of perception—the seemingly high birth rate of Poles was one of consequences of expelling all Poles from higher classes into General Gouvernment--as such the Poles who remained were the ones with high birth rate, while those with few kids were no longer present. Stripping Poles of all cultural activity by the Germans and leaving them to spend all time outside of work in homes, led to conditions favourable to sex and the rising birth rate. One practice that had terrible effects on Polish women was the refusal for female slave workers to travel home for birth. Pregnancies by Polish women-workers were subject to abortion, and in case of birth, the children were taken by SS Lebensborn

Lebensborn

. Polish slave labourers naturally were forbidden to engage in marriage. The harsh nature of the German occupation however reduced the birth rate. In Poznań, at the end of the war, the birth rate was near zero; in Łódż and Innowrocław, the birth rate was negative-they were more deaths then births. In comparison, the birth rate of Germans rose until the end of the war. From 1939's birth rate survival of 850 live births per 1000 births, the rate fell to 680 per 1000 births in 1944.

Discrimination against the Polish language

A ban on the use of the Polish language was implemented in all institutions and offices in annexed territories, as well in certain public places like public transport

Public transport

in the cities.

A particular form of oppression was a law ordering the Poles to use German in all contacts with officials under penalty of imprisonment. Poles who did not know German had to hire a translator; however, such jobs were restricted by German authorities, and Poles with knowledge of German who helped their countrymen for free were imprisoned. This law covered all contacts between Poles and Germans and made it difficult, if not impossible, for Poles to pay obligatory taxes (which were higher for Poles) and various state-imposed donations for German society by Poles. A total ban on Polish language was proposed during the war, but as the areas still contained a large number of Poles, it was determined to be impractical at the time of the proposal. A particular form of harassment was a law requiring imprisoned Poles to communicate with their families solely in German. In practice, this meant that many families received no information on their relatives as correspondence in Polish was confiscated.

Discrimination in education

Education standards for Poles

Education in Poland during World War II

This article covers the topic of underground education in Poland during World War II. Secret learning prepared new cadres for the post-war reconstruction of Poland and countered the German and Soviet threat to exterminate the Polish culture....

were significantly lowered, so that future Poles would become slaves to Germans. All Polish schools and cultural institutions were closed. Teaching of history, literature and geography to Poles was prohibited. Further education for "racially valuable" children was to be provided by removing the child to Germany for Germanization.

In some regions, schools for children were established where according to directives of Himmler:

Writing and reading were not taught. Even so, such schools covered a small number of Polish children, for example in Łódż only one-tenth of children between 9 and 13 attended them. Often under the cover of education, the Germans organised child labour, sending the children to perform hard physical work.

The Polish population was banned from performing or creating any type of music and from owning radio receivers. Distribution of Polish books was forbidden and persecuted by the German police; at the same time, Polish libraries were closed and many of their possessions destroyed. Millions of books were lost in this manner. Lending Polish books was a punishable offense for which one could be sentenced to concentration camps. Additionally, education that would enable Poles possessing skills needed in manufacturing and trade was forbidden. Poles were banned from undertaking any exams for craftsmen. Throughout the whole occupation, this law was strictly observed.

In Poznań, Germans collected all Polish books and burned them.

In 1939 Polish teachers created Secret Teaching Organization

Secret Teaching Organization

Secret Teaching Organization was an underground Polish educational organization created in 1939 after the German invasion of Poland to provide underground education in occupied Poland....

an underground Polish educational organization to provide underground education

Education in Poland during World War II

in occupied Poland. Thousands of its members were arrested and killed by the Germans. It is estimated that about 15% of Polish teachers or 8,000 died during the occupation period. Extermination of teachers and scientists was a part of nazi plan of elimination all Polish intelligentia durning action Intelligenzaktion

Intelligenzaktion

Religion

The German state's fight during the war to destroy the Polish nation covered religious life of Poles as well, especially in areas where in the past Poles and the German state clashed already in a struggle for existence in events like Kulturkampf

Kulturkampf

The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...

. In those places the Catholic Church mobilised Polish resistance during Prussian partitions and served as a stronghold for Polish identity. Due to this Nazis targeted it in annexed territories. In General Government the attitude of Nazis was different as it was to serve as temporary work camp and reservation for Poles and they wanted Church's religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

to serve as tool to control Poles (this also meant extermination and terror against priests as well opposing Nazi plans) existence The Nazi fight against Polish parts of Catholic Church was also problem for the German Catholic Church, where many priests supported nationalists claims of Germany during the war and were faced with split of Church itself as Polish Catholics were persecuted. Overall the German hierarchy silently accepted (and in some cases supported or encouraged) the discrimination and treatment of Poles as untermenschen, with notable individual exceptions who either protested or tried to help their fellow church members of non-German ethnicity. In time, as the war continued the growing split between German Catholics and the persecuted Polish church facing destruction worried the Vatican and the Pope himself. The annexed parts of Poland covered the dioceses located in Gniezno

Gniezno

Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...

, Poznań

Poznan

, Chełmno, Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

, Włocławek, most of Łódż and Płock as well parts of the Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

diocese, Łomża, Częstochowa

Czestochowa

Częstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...

and Kielce

Kielce

Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...

. The German authorities in line with the policy of total Germanization aimed to completely destroy Polish church in those locations and replace it with German priests and structures. Polish priests were to be either expelled or exterminated

The main contact point for the Nazis in those plans was German bishop Splett, who held close relations to Nazi Albert Forster, and pursued plans to replace Polish clergy with German one. Another notable German member of the clergy was bishop Bertram who personally contacted Vatican with the request to Germanize Polish church organization Only when position of German Church became threatened itself Bertram called for freedom of faith. Their work was helped by the fact that as German terror grew and became widely known many high-ranking members of Polish clergy sought refugee abroad to save themselves (Germans were murdering elites of Polish nation as part of their plans) and their deputies were prevented from taking office. The earliest victim was Pomorze region where almost every Polish church was closed down, robbed and turned ever into some kind of warehouse, stable or depot. Polish priests faced three waves of arrests after initial massacres. Those who were arrested ended in concentration camps of Dachau and Stutthof

Stutthof concentration camp

. Monasteries were closed, their collection of arts and books stolen or destroyed by the Germans. Splett cooperated with Forster and introduced 200 German priests into Chełmno diocese where he took office from December 1939. Under his reign Polish priesthood was oppressed, and prayers and masses under his direction praised Hitler. He also issued a ban against use of Polish language in churches. When he banned confessions in Polish in May 1940 Vatican intervened and ordered that the ban be lifted. Not only did Splett defend his ban, he argued it was to "protect" people making the confessions. After this argument he tried to claim that confessions in Polish are used for "nationalistic means". Eventually Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

accepted his explanatio Besides banning Polish language, Splett ordered removal of Polish signs and names in graveyards from monuments and graves and in all churches under his jurisdiction. Albert Forster praised Splett's work for Germany

In Wartheland the Germans decided against using German priests for Germanisation. The Polish church was to disappear completely. On 13 September 1941 a decree was issued in which the German administration rejected the existence of church as legal entity in that region. Three weeks later majority of Polish priests were sent to concentration camps. Out of 6 bishops in the region, only one managed to remain-Walenty Dymek. It was Dymek who through his energetic protests finally started worrying the Vatican that it would eventually lose all of the Polish churches in the region-in no less than 2–3 months. The Vatican, concerned about the possibility of development of German National Catholic Church, intervened and as first step appointed two administrators-one for German and one for Polish population in the region, with Dyme appointed as administrator over Polish population. The condition of the Church in Warthegau region was catastrophic-till 1944 up to 1,300 churches and temples were closed, with 500 turned into warehouses, two were simply blown up by the Germans, others were given to Evangelical Church

Evangelical Church in Germany

The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

. Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

s in Poznań and Włocławek were robbed from their relics and art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

. Part of the looted art

Looted art

Looted art has been a consequence of looting during war, natural disaster and riot for centuries. Looting of art, archaeology and other cultural property may be an opportunistic criminal act, or may be a more organized case of unlawful or unethical pillage by the victor of a conflict."Looted art"...

was destroyed by the Germans. In Gniezno the basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

was devastated. In Poznań Catholic press and organizations which formed the religious centre in the religion were destroyed. Most of religious monuments, rural crosses, small chapels were eradicated from the region as well. Access to masses was hindered, and often Germans subjected Polish worshippers leaving the church to łapanka. Up to 80% of Polish priests were to be expelled, and massive arrests followed.

Eventually Germans abandoned any public justification or explanations regarding arrests and expulsions. From 2,500 priests in the Warthegau region 752 perished and 1/3 survived the war in prisons and concentration camps. In Poznań out of 800 Polish priests in 1939, only 34 remained in 1943. In Upper Silesia Bishop of Katowice Adamski ordered Poles to pray in German and identify as Germans. Throughout the war Adamski encouraged this with acceptance of Polish Government in Exile, in order to save the local population from German genocide. In monasteries he brought Germans who would represent them to German officials. Nevertheless at least 60 were closed. To avoid accusations of personal interests, after issuing this call he publicly declared himself Polish Despite Adamski's actions the Upper Silesian Polish church was also subject of repression-43 priests were murdered in concentration camps and prisons, 2 died in executions for their collaboration with Polish resistance, 13 were expelled to General Gouvernment (including 2 bishops), several were stripped of their function.

Many Polish priests were arrested and put into concentration camps or prisons or murdered in executions. Historic churches were destroyed, and in several cases Germans defiled icons or religious items symbolic for Polish people. Poles were forbidden to attend funerals of other Poles unless they were direct and close family of the person which died. Several Polish churches were closed down. Selected Polish religious songs banned, while books containing them were confiscated and destroyed. Polish religious organisations were dissolved. In many places objects of religious worship of significance to Poles were destroyed or defiled.

Number of Polish priests killed within the territories annexed into German Reich according to Czesław Madajczyk (1970)

Location of the church diocese	Number of priests in 1939	Number of priests who perished	Number of priests who perished (percentage)	Number of priests murdered	Number of priests who died in prisons and concentration camps
Chełmno	634	303	47,8	230	73
Katowice Katowice Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...	489	43	8,7	6	37
Kielce Kielce Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...	357	13	3,6	2	11
Kraków Kraków Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...	680	30	4,4	3	27
Łomża	292	48	16,4	12	36
Łódź	347	126	36,8	9	119
Gniezno Gniezno Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...	369	180	48,8	17	163
Płock	382	109	28,5	4	105
Poznań Poznan Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...	681	212	31,1	1	211
Włocławek	433	213	49,2	32	181
Warszawa	657	82	12,4	32	50

Judicial system

In judicial system the proceedings against Poles were shortened. In court Poles had no legal protection. Public whipping, beatings of Poles were allowed by German authorities. Public beatings of Poles by Germans were accepted by law as long as the beating did not "lower the productivity of a Pole". German criminal law was introduced on Polish territories annexed to Reich on 6 VI 1940. It contained several parts based solely on racial and ethnic category of the person subject to trial. Special courts were established which were granted right to pass death sentences in quick and easy way. The idea that Poles and Jews just like Germans could stand before the same court was unacceptable to German authorities. The base idea of the law was to put as many as possible violations against German occupation under penalty. Prison as punishment was considered unsuitable and death sentence and whipping preferred in designed projects of the law. Additionally hard labour and very hard labour were introduced as methods of punishment. The core ideology of the law and its motivation was based on racist ideology. As the German Interior Ministry explained the foundation of the law was "Polish guilt which can’t be washed away, and that proves Poles are not worthy of Europe" and that the atrocious nature of Poles is the starting point of the German penal law

Penal law

In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs...

. The new law gave almost unlimited right to pass death sentences against Poles and imprisonment in concentration camps. For example in Katowice a special German court passed in 40% of cases deportation to Auschwitz as punishment, and in 60% of cases death penalty.
In Białystok in proceedings under the supervision of Alfred Konig, 80% of accused were sentenced to death and 15% - to concentration camps.

The harshness of German law was demonstrated by such cases, as 5 months of penal camp for a woman who smiled to English POW's in Ostrów Wielkopolski

Ostrów Wielkopolski

Ostrów Wielkopolski is a town in central Poland with 72,360 inhabitants , situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship; the seat of Ostrów Wielkopolski County.-History:Recently, a small fortified dwelling dating from the 10th century was discovered on the north-east side of...

. A 15-year-old girl who gave a cigarette to a POW was sentenced

Sentenced

Sentenced was a Finnish heavy metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989, in the town of Muhos, Finland, and broke up in 2005.-Early years :...

for 3 months imprisonment in concentration camp. In order to intimidate Polish population a law was passed that ordered obligatory participation in mass executions.

Kidnapping and murder of Polish children

Polish children were kidnapped for Germanization, forced labour and medical experiments

Kidnapping of Polish children by Nazi Germany

Kidnapping of Eastern European children by Nazi Germany , part of the Generalplan Ost , involved taking children from Eastern Europe and moving them to Nazi Germany for the purpose of Germanization, or conversion into Germans....

. in annexed territories. They were forbidden to enter playgrounds for German children and their healthcare was lowered resulting in rising deaths among the young.

As the war continued the attitude of Poles changed from hostility to hatred towards the Germans, and while already animosity existed due to German oppression of Poles in 19th century, the racist and genocidal actions of German state during Second World War heightened this conflict to another level.

Consequences

The repressive system unified Polish reaction to German occupation, which went above political and ideological differences. The German actions of forced resettlement and deportations in territories annexed by Third Reich in the end brought disadvantageous consequences for the German population. The precedent they created was used as justification in the later relocation of the German population

Status of German minority

In accordance with Nazi racial theory, the Nazis set out to cull German blood out of the mixed population, if necessary by force. Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

declared that no drop of German blood would be lost or left behind for an alien race.

This began with the Volksliste
Volksliste
The Deutsche Volksliste was a Nazi institution whose purpose was the classification of inhabitants of German occupied territories into categories of desirability according to criteria systematized by Heinrich Himmler. The institution was first established in occupied western Poland...

, the classification of people deemed of German blood into those Germans who had collaborated before the war; those still regarding themselves as German, but who had been neutral; partially Polonized but Germanizable; and those Germans who had been absorbed into Polish nationality. Any person classified as German who resisted was to be deported to a concentration camp. Himmler himself oversaw cases of obstinate Germans, and gave orders for concentration camps, or separation of families, or forced labor, in efforts to break down resistance.

Numerous cultural events were organized for German community. A network of public schools engaging in various forms of education was set up across the territories. Reich University of Posen was set up in Poznań

Poznan

replacing the former Polish one. At this university, studies of Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

were conducted, including theories on extermination of non-Germans and means to Germanize the region. Chairs for race policy and Jewish history were established Local Germans organized in Selbstschutz

Selbstschutz

Selbstschutz stands for two organisations:# A name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by ethnic Germans in Central and Eastern Europe# A name for self-defence measures and units in ethnic German, Austrian, and Swiss civil defence....

paramilitia units engaged in arresting Jews and Poles, the oversight of their expulsions, and murder.

Nazi Germany put the Germans in a position to economically exploit the Polish society, and provided them with privileges and a comparably high standard of living at the expense of the Poles, to ensure their loyalty. While certain conditions under Nazi rule were limiting the freedoms of Germans, such as the dissolution of various German religious and political associations, the Nazi regime provided for political, cultural, and material benefits. Germans received executive positions from which people classified as "Untermenschen" were removed. German was made the only official language. Germans received the right to enter any Polish home at will to perform revision and identification of people living there at any time, and could acquire possessions from Poles and Jews with little effort and mostly without payment or at a low price. For example, a German could easily request a Polish house or apartment from the government, even if Poles were still living there. As the overwhelming majority of Germans in annexed authorities supported Nazi authorities and their policies, this gave the Nazi politicians a degree of self-confidence based on popular support. In Warthegau alone out of 309,002 Germans, 180,000 served in various organizations that provided assistance and were vital to Nazi plans against Poles and Jews. They provided invaluable due to their knowledge of local conditions and society. Motives for cooperation ranged from ideological support for Nazism to material opportunism.

Polish diaries and memoirs from the era remember Volksdeutsche

Volksdeutsche

as particularly brutal and ruthless group. Pomerania was noted as a region with very strong pro-Nazi German society by Polish observers as well as Łódż. Support for German nationalism was especially evident in regards to young part of the population, which was strongly influenced by Nazis ideology. The mass conscription of young Germans in military by 1942 was greeted with relief by the Polish population. When trains with wounded and crippled German soldiers started returning from Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

they were welcomed alongside train tracks by groups of celebrating Polish population. Local Germans were rewarded for their support in genocide of Jews and Poles and invasion of Poland by high positions in administration and increased their wealth by confiscations of Polish and Jewish property. The German colonists were of wide origin and their image varied. The ones from Bessarabia were considered the worst. In all however was noted an infinite support for Hitler and belief in German state's supremacy, Many were thankful for material benefits provided by German state. In time their attitude towards local Poles grew in harshness and ruthlessness. While some initially talked to Poles, in time as they soaked up Nazi ideology, this stopped, and some turned to violence against Poles. On farms the Poles were treated by Germans as farm animals, and some Germans treated their dogs more humanely than Polish slave labourers.

Case study-Mława district

A case study of relationship of Germans towards Poles was conducted by Polish Home Army unit in Mława. From the start of the war till spring 1942 Polish Underground performed a thorough analysis of 1,100 Germans and their actions and behaviour towards Polish population. Out of those, 9 Germans engaged in friendly relationship with Poles or tried to help them (among those were 3 craftsmen, 3 policeman, 1 camp guard, 1 administration official). The group who took supported Nazis and engaged in despicable acts was much larger.

Post-war changes

None of the Nazi-ordered territorial changes were recognized by the Allies of World War II

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

, and the annexed territories became the center of the Peoples' Republic of Poland after World War II. Germans living in the formerly annexed territories fled or were expelled to post-war Germany

Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II

The flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II...

. In post-war communist Poland, some captured German Nazis and collaborators were put on trial

Pursuit of Nazi collaborators

The pursuit of Nazi collaborators refers to the post-World War II pursuit and apprehension of individuals who were not citizens of the Third Reich at the outbreak of World War II and collaborated with the Nazi regime during the war...

. West Germany did not extradite people charged in Communist Poland.

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Background

Administration

Military and early civil administration, September 1939

Hitler's annexation decree, October 1939

Administrative changes following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, June 1941

Planned extension of annexation plans

Administrative divisions

Demography in 1939

Nazi Germanization plans by expulsion, resettlement and genocide

Expulsion and genocide of Poles and Jews

German colonization and settlement

Ethnic segregation

Repressions against Polish and Jewish population

Economic discrimination

Slave labour

Reducing biological growth of Polish population

Discrimination against the Polish language

Discrimination in education

Religion

Judicial system

Kidnapping and murder of Polish children

Consequences

Status of German minority

Case study-Mława district

Post-war changes

See also

External links