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86-485: The government region was created on 26 October 1939, out of Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II . The region had an area of 12,000 km and a population of approximately 895,000, including 800,000 Poles , 80,000 Jews , and 15,000 Germans . The Polish population was subjected to various crimes , including mass arrests, roundups , deportations to forced labour and concentration camps (including teenagers), executions, massacres (also as part of

172-520: A century. It began with the concept of Pan-Germanism developed in the early 19th century and culminated in the racial policy of Nazi Germany that asserted the superiority of the Aryan race . The removal of Poles by Germany stemmed from historic ideas of expansionist nationalism . It was implemented at different levels and different stages by successive German governments. It ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The partitions of Poland had ended

258-412: 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

344-489: 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

430-567: A near-term complete Germanization of the annexed territories, measures there differed from those implemented in the General Government. Germans and the remaining Poles and Jews were strictly segregated. In case of the Jews, this was achieved by ghettoization . The German administration classified people based on political and racial criteria with Poles and Jews being considered " untermenschen " (subhumans) as opposed to Germans who according to

516-659: 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 km or 51.6% of pre-war Poland as per the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact ) or made into the German-controlled General Government occupation zone (95,500 km or 24.5% of pre-war Poland). A tiny portion of pre-war Poland (700 km )

602-643: Is also given by the Institute of National Remembrance . Heinemann and Łuczak 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 General Government. They were replaced with 38,000 ethnic Germans primarily from Bukovina . From the Zichenau and Suwałki areas of South East Prussia , 25,000 to 28,000 Poles were "evacuated", an additional 25,000 to 28,000 from

688-520: Is described by E.J. Feuchtwanger as one of the precedents to modern policies of ethnic cleansing . In 1887 Bernhard von Bülow , the future Chancellor of the German Empire , advocated expelling Poles by force from territories which were Polish-inhabited and slated to become part of Germany. In 1908, Germany legalized the eviction of Poles from their properties under pressure from pan- German nationalist groups who hoped this law would be used to reduce

774-548: The Intelligenzaktion and Aktion T4 ) and expulsions . The Germans operated jails and prisons in Ciechanów , Mława , Ostrołęka , Płock , Płońsk , Przasnysz , Pułtusk , Sierpc . The Germans closed Polish associations, institutions, cooperatives and press. Polish libraries, museums, archives and industrial infrastructure were either looted or destroyed. With German labor offices recruiting forced laborers established in

860-755: The Wehrmacht delegated civil administrative powers to Chiefs of Civil Administration (CdZ). Hitler appointed Arthur Greiser to become the CdZ of the Posen military district, and Danzig 's Gauleiter Albert Forster to become the CdZ of the West Prussian military district. On 3 October 1939, the military districts centered on and named " Lodz " and " Krakau " were set up under command of major generals Gerd von Rundstedt and Wilhelm List , and Hitler appointed Hans Frank and Arthur Seyß-Inquart as civil heads, respectively. Thus

946-535: 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

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1032-576: The First World War , which called for the removal of the Polish population from Polish territories first annexed by the Russian Empire during partitions and then by Germany. Before and after the 1939 invasion of Poland the Nazis exploited these ideas when creating their Lebensraum concept of territorial aggression. Large-scale expulsions of Poles occurred during World War II when Nazi Germany started

1118-592: The Generalplan Ost campaign of ethnic cleansing in all Polish areas occupied by, and formally annexed to Nazi Germany . Although the Nazis were not able to fully implement Generalplan Ost due to the war's turn, up to 2 million Poles were affected by wartime expulsions with additional millions displaced or murdered. Poles had constituted one of the largest minorities in the German Empire since its creation in 1871. This

1204-714: The Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941 Before the Nazi German invasion in September 1939 and the subsequent annexation in October, the territories held up to 10,568,000 people or some 30% of pre-1939 Poland '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. Heinemann (2003) gives identical numbers for Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and Warthegau . For East Upper Silesia , Heinemann gives numbers based on

1290-987: The Partitions of Poland and the Silesian Wars with Austria . The idea of pan-Germanism , demanding the unification of all Germans in one state, including the German diaspora east of the imperial border, grew out of Romantic nationalism . Some pan-Germanists believed that Germans were ethnically superior to other peoples — including Slavs , whom they viewed as inferior to the German "race" and culture. The Nazi concept of Lebensraum in turn demanded "living space" for German people, claiming overpopulation of Germany and alleged negative traits of heavy urbanisation in contrast to agricultural settlement. The desired territories were to be taken particularly from Poland. Both pan-Germanism and Lebensraum theory viewed Poles as an obstacle to German hegemony and prosperity as well as future expansion of

1376-686: The SS 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" from 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

1462-645: 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 ), which would have encompassed the areas lying west of Kraków up to the San river to the east of it. Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann on the other hand proposed that

1548-640: The Zamość region as part of Nazi plans for establishment of German colonies in the conquered territories. Zamość itself was to be renamed Himmlerstadt, later changed to Pflugstadt (Plough City), which was to symbolise the German "Plow" that was to "plough" the East. Additionally, almost 30,000 children were kidnapped by German authorities from their parents for potential Germanisation. This led to massive resistance (see Zamość Uprising ). In October 1940, 115,000 Poles were expelled from their homes in central Warsaw to make room for

1634-623: 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 (VOMI) and the 'Main Department of Race and Settlement' ( Rasse- und Siedlungs-Hauptamt , RuSHA ) of

1720-559: The Altreich. "Racially valuable" Poles were to be exempted from deportation and " racially valuable " 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,

1806-598: The Baltic States prior to the Soviet Union's take-over, and subjected to Germanization . In addition, other Germanic settlers such as Dutch, Danes and Swedes were envisioned to settle these lands. A small Dutch artisan colony was already established in Poznań in 1941. The Jewish and Polish population was subject to mass murder and expulsions already during the September invasion , triggering mass flight. The Jewish population

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1892-635: The Bialystock area attached in 1941. In Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia , 123,000 to 124,000 were displaced until the end of 1942, 53,000 of whom were deported to the General Government, 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 . Poles due be deported to

1978-470: The General Government 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 Nazi Germany were upheld in the Generalplan Ost but postponed to after

2064-564: The General Government 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 General Government, 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

2150-541: The General Government would be cleared of Poles, the region would be turned into a "purely German area" within 15–20 years and in place of 15 million Poles, 4–5 million Germans would live there, and the area would become "as German as the Rhineland . The Nazi plan to ethnically cleanse the territories occupied by Germany in Eastern Europe during World War II, was called the Generalplan Ost (GPO). Germanisation began with

2236-516: 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. the annexed parts are also referred to as "South East Prussia" ( German : Südostpreußen ) Gau Upper Silesia

2322-540: The General Government, 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 were deported to

2408-427: The General Government. 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

2494-775: The General Government. Another more than 400,000 Jews were later deported to Auschwitz, Treblinka or Chelmno (Kulmhof) concentration camps , and thousands had died in the ghettos . Of the deported Jews, more than 300,000 were from Warthegau , 2,000 from Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia , 85,000 from 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

2580-456: The General Government. 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

2666-511: 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 during colonisation action " Heim ins Reich " 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

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2752-858: The German invasion of the country, Nazi policies were enacted upon its Polish population on an unprecedented scale. According to Nazi ideology Poles, as Untermenschen , were seen as fit only for slavery and for further elimination in order to make room for the Germans. Adolf Hitler had plans for extensive colonisation of territories in the east of the Third Reich . Poland, itself, would – according to well documented German plans – have been cleared of Polish people altogether, as 20 million or so would have been expelled eventually. Up to 3 or 4 million Polish citizens (all peasants) believed to be descendants of German colonists and migrants and therefore considered "racially valuable" would be Germanised and dispersed among

2838-492: The German policy was to create lowly educated slaves out of Poles for basic work. 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

2924-599: The German population. Nazi leadership hoped that through expulsions to Siberia , famine , mass executions , and slave labour of any survivors, the Polish nation would be eventually completely destroyed. World War II expulsions took place within two specific territories: one area annexed to Reich in 1939 and 1941, and another, the General Government , precursor to further expansion of German administrative settlement area. Eventually, as Adolf Hitler explained in March 1941,

3010-742: The German state. In the territories annexed during the Partitions of Poland, German authorities sought to limit the number of ethnic Poles by their forced Germanisation and by a new wave of settlement by German colonists at their expense. Beginning with the Kulturkampf , laws were enacted to restrict Polish culture, religion, language, and rights to property. Bismarck initiated the Prussian deportations of 1885–1890, which affected some 30,000 Poles and Jews living in Germany who did not have German citizenship. This

3096-687: The Jewish Ghetto, constructed there by German authorities. (Jews were then expelled from their homes elsewhere and forced to move into the Ghetto.) When the Warsaw Uprising failed, 500,000 people were expelled from the city alone as punishment by German authorities. It is estimated that between 1.6 and 2 million people were expelled from their homes during the German occupation of Poland. The Nazi German organized expulsions—by themselves—affected 1,710,000 Poles directly. New estimates by Polish historians give

3182-721: 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 , and ~90,000 Jews . Heinemann and Encyclopaedia Judaica 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. Prof. Stanisław Waszak ( pl ) of Poznań University cited slightly differing estimates; first published in 1947: Census data

3268-985: The Nazi racial ideology were the ubermenschen " 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. Many Polish owned buildings and enterprises were confiscated, and all jewelry , furniture , money, clothing 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

3354-494: The Poles who remained were those with high birth rate, while those with few children 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 a 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,

3440-461: The Polish population, a German official Krumey ( de ) from occupied Łódź demanded that Polish women be kept at work until reaching 8.5 months of pregnancy . The aim was to help in miscarriage 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

3526-463: The Reich. Within the territories of the German protectorate called General Government there were two main areas of expulsions committed by the German state. The protectorate itself was seen as temporary measure, and served as a concentration camp for Poles to perform hard labour furthering German industry and war effort. Eventually it was to be cleared of Poles also. Some 116,000 Poles were expelled from

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3612-451: The Russian army, such as the 'Brusilov offensive', forced Germany to consider a quasi independent buffer state between the two empires, hopefully set up only in the former Russian Poland and linked to Germany by its own military means. The idea of reconstituting Congress Poland for the Poles after the war, was a cynical ploy which stemmed from a desire to push Russia's frontiers further East with

3698-591: The annexation of western Polish areas and the Free City of Danzig . A separate by-law stipulated the inclusion of the area around Suwalki (the Suwalki triangle ). The first two paragraphs of the decree established " Reichsgau Posen " in Greater Poland with the government regions ( Regierungsbezirk ) Hohensalza , Posen , and Kalisch, as well as " Reichsgau West Prussia " ( German : Westpreußen ) in Pomerelia with

3784-551: The annexed territories, and details the areas of colonists' origin as follows: 93,000 were from Bessarabia , 21,000 from Dobruja , 98,000 from Bukovina , 68,000 from Volhynia , 58,000 from Galicia , 130,000 from the Baltic states , 38,000 from eastern Poland , 72,000 from Sudetenland , and 13,000 from Slovenia . 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

3870-523: The beginning of World War II , nearly a quarter of the entire territory of the Second Polish Republic was annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under the German civil administration. The rest of Nazi-occupied Poland was renamed as the General Government district. The annexation was part of the "fourth partition of Poland" by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union , outlined months before

3956-428: 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 " (Warthegau). Reichsgau West Prussia was renamed "Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia". The remaining annexed areas were not made separate provinces but included in

4042-443: The children were taken by SS Lebensborn . Polish slave labourers naturally were forbidden to marry. 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 Łódź and Inowrocław there were more deaths than 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,

4128-520: The cities of Ciechanów , Ostrołęka and Płock , Poles from Regierungsbezirk Zichenau formed the majority of Polish forced laborers in the province of East Prussia. Regierungsbezirk Zichenau was dissolved in 1945 when East Prussia was overrun by the Soviet Red Army . The territory was then restored to Poland. Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany Following the Invasion of Poland at

4214-515: The classification of people suitable as defined on the Nazi Volksliste . About 1.7 million Poles were deemed Germanizable, including between one and two hundred thousand children who were taken from their parents. For the rest, expulsion was carried out. These expulsions were carried out so abruptly that ethnic Germans being resettled there were given homes with half-eaten meals on tables and unmade beds where small children had been sleeping at

4300-543: The end of 1944. RuS I and II were assigned to between 60% and 70% of the Baltic Germans and 44% of the Volhynian Germans, while many ethnic Germans from the Soviet Union were put in the lower categories. The segregation of Germans and Poles was achieved by a variety of measures limiting their social interaction. Łuczak described the segregation: Nazi Germany viewed Poles as subhuman, and such views were spread in

4386-449: The entirety of occupied Poland was divided into four military districts (West Prussia, Posen, Lodz, and Krakau). Frank was at the same time appointed "supreme chief administrator" for all occupied territories. After Hitler's peace offer was rejected by French prime minister Édouard Daladier on October 7 (rejected by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain on October 12) a decree was issued by Hitler on 8 October 1939, provided for

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4472-482: The existence of a sovereign Polish state in the 18th century. With the rise of German nationalism in mid 19th century, Poles faced increasing discrimination on formerly Polish lands. The first mass deportation of 30,000 Poles from territories controlled by the German Empire took place in 1885. While the ideas of expelling Poles can be found in German political discourse of the 19th century, these ideas matured into nascent plans advocated by German politicians during

4558-501: The existing provinces of East Prussia and Upper Silesia per § 4 of Hitler's decree. Arthur Greiser was made Gauleiter of Reichsgau Posen, and Albert Forster of Reichsgau West Prussia. After the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the district of Białystok , which included the Białystok , Bielsk Podlaski , Grajewo , Łomża , Sokółka , Volkovysk , and Grodno Counties,

4644-453: 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 ), Kalisch ( Kalisz ), Bromberg ( Bydgoszcz ), Danzig ( Gdańsk ), and Marienwerder ( Kwidzyn ). The annexed territories were twice as large as former Prussian conquests in the Partitions of Poland , also contained twice as many people. Compared to 1914,

4730-435: The invasion, in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Some smaller territories were incorporated directly into the existing Gaue East Prussia and Silesia , while the bulk of the land was used to create new Reichsgaue Danzig-West Prussia and Wartheland . Of those, 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

4816-412: The least amount of German effort. In reality, Germany planned to annex about 30,000 km from former Congress Poland for German colonisation. Most of the Polish population of those territories (about 2,000,000 people) was to be expelled into a small Polish puppet state. The remaining population was to be used as agricultural labour for new German colonists. With the occupation of Poland following

4902-601: The media. For example, in October 1939, Nazi propaganda was issued instructing Germans to view Poles, Jews and Gypsies as subhumans. 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 , 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. Because Nazi Germany envisioned

4988-659: The number of 2.478 million people expelled. Additionally, 2.5 to 3 million Poles were taken from Poland to Germany as slave labourers to support the Nazi war effort. These numbers do not include people arrested by the Germans and sent to Nazi concentration camps. In many instances, Poles were given between 15 minutes and 1 hour to collect their personal belongings (usually no more than 15 kilograms per person) before they were removed from their homes and transported east ( see: deportations ) On top of that about 5 million Poles were sent to German labor and concentration camps . A total of about 6 million Polish citizens were killed during

5074-494: The number of Poles in the East. In August 1914 the German imperial army bombed and burned down the city of Kalisz , chasing out tens of thousands of its Polish citizens. However, during World War I, Germany had a frantic need for extra manpower in the East and hoped to tap into the reservoir of military volunteers among the Poles by making promises of a future independent Polish state. This initiative (led by Bethmann) failed, producing only "a dribble of volunteers" in 1916, but it

5160-459: 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 (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)

5246-430: 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

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5332-525: 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 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

5418-428: The rate fell to 680 per 1000 births in 1944. 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 in the cities. 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 half

5504-427: 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 a result of expelling all Poles from higher classes into the General Government; as such

5590-523: The same time, the local German minority 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 . After the Vistula–Oder Offensive in early 1945, the Soviet Union took control over the territories. The ethnic German population either fled the Red Army or were later expelled and

5676-447: The territories became part of the People's Republic of Poland . Already in the fall of 1933 Adolf Hitler revealed to his closest associates his intentions to annex western Poland into an envisioned Greater Germany . In October 1939, a month after the invasion of Poland , Nazi Germany annexed an area of 92,500 square kilometres (35,700 sq mi) (23.7% of pre-war Poland ) with

5762-552: The time of expulsion. Members of Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls 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. According to Czesław Łuczak , Germans expelled the following numbers of Poles from territories annexed to the Reich in the period of 1939–1944: Combined with "wild expulsions", in four years 923,000 Poles were ethnically cleansed from territories Germany annexed into

5848-443: The time of expulsion. Members of Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls 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 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

5934-450: The war against Poland over prior to the annexation, which in their view made the convention non-applicable. On 8 and 13 September 1939, the German military district in the area of Posen , commanded by general Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg  [ de ] , and West Prussia , commanded by general Walter Heitz , were established in conquered Greater Poland and Pomerelia , respectively. Based on laws of 21 May 1935 and 1 June 1938,

6020-578: The war, adding to a pre-war population of 700,000. The increase of German population was most visible in the towns: in Poznań, the German population increased from ~6,000 in 1939 to 93,589 in 1944; in Łódź , 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

6106-551: 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 from a large area designated for German settlement. The removal of Poles consisted of such actions as ethnic cleansing , mass executions, organised 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

6192-477: Was a commitment very hard to retract. There were numerous mistakes made, such as the Oath Crisis , caused by poor wording of the oath of the Polish soldiers, which caused consternation among many Polish volunteers. In general, opinions of the German occupiers were mixed, between those who hoped that the Germans would set up a new Polish state, and those who feared German domination. In any case, successful attacks by

6278-586: Was a result of the earlier acquisitions made by Prussia , the state that initiated the Unification of Germany . The Electorate of Brandenburg (later Kingdom of Prussia), with its capital in Berlin after 1451, acquired historic lands with significant Polish population in a series of military operations, and, in the second half of the 18th century, had seized western territories of the Polish Kingdom by taking part in

6364-402: Was annexed by Slovakia . Since 1935, Nazi Germany was divided into provinces ( Gaue ) which had replaced the former German states and Prussian provinces . Of the territories annexed, some were attached to the already existing Gaue East Prussia and Silesia (later Upper Silesia ), while from others new Reichsgaue Danzig-West Prussia and Wartheland were constituted. Wartheland

6450-516: Was attached to (not incorporated into) East Prussia . Other Polish territories, first annexed by Soviet Union and then by Germany, was incorporated into Reichskommissariat Ostland (in the north), Reichskommissariat Ukraine (in the south) and the General Government ( Distrikt Galizien in the utmost south). The Nazi government intended to continue its incorporation of pre-war Polish territory into Germany. The rump General Government region of occupied Poland already under complete German civil control

6536-487: Was compiled by Nazi Germany in Danzig-West Prussia on 3 December, and in Warthegau and Upper Silesia on 17 December. A number of Poles tried to present themselves as Germans ( Volksdeutsche ) hoping to avoid the anti-Polish atrocities or were classified as Germans to meet quotas. On October 7, 1939, Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler as his settlement commissioner, responsible for all resettlement measures in

6622-520: Was created in 1941, before it was part of Gau Silesia the annexed parts are also referred to as "East Upper Silesia" ( German : Ostoberschlesien ) named after the chief city, Polish : Łódź . 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. not incorporated into, but administered by Gau East Prussia, attached after

6708-471: Was established by German authorities that coordinated forced labour together with German police units. 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 25 and men at the age of 28. Married couples were separated when subjected to forced labour in Germany , and calorie intake was lowered for Poles. The forced labour working hours for both parents often meant that

6794-415: Was expelled or deported, including those deported for slave labor in Germany or concentration camps. Eberhardt says a total of 1.053 million people were deported for forced labour from the annexed territories. 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

6880-520: Was introduced. Within Germany, OST-Arbeiters 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 institution. Children who failed were sent to the Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte , where they routinely died within a few months for lack of food. To further reduce

6966-639: 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 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

7052-455: Was the "incorporated Eastern territories" ( German : Eingegliederte Ostgebiete ). They planned for a complete Germanization of the annexed territories, considering them part of their lebensraum . The local Jewish population was forced to live in ghettos , and was gradually deported to concentration and extermination camps , the most infamous of which, Auschwitz , was located in annexed East Upper Silesia . The local Polish population

7138-466: Was the only Gau constituted solely from annexed territory, Danzig-West Prussia comprised also former German areas and the former Free City of Danzig . The occupied General Government remained outside Nazi Germany . The annexation violated international law (in particular, the Hague Convention IV 1907 ). Nazi Germany's officials discussed the convention and tried to circumvent it by declaring

7224-429: Was thought they would sabotage the action. The German state organization SD 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 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

7310-577: Was to be gradually enslaved, exterminated and eventually replaced by German settlers. The Polish elite especially became subject to mass murder, and an estimated 780,000 Poles were subject to expulsion , either to the General Government 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

7396-442: Was to be resettled but when that proved impossible exterminated . Nazi Concentration camps and extermination camps were set up within the annexed territories including Auschwitz (consisting of several subcamps), Chelmno (Kulmhof) , Potulice (Potulitz) and Soldau . 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

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