''Deutsche Vereinigung'' (DV), or the German Union ( pl, Zjednoczenie Niemieckie), was a

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

extreme right-wing political party founded in 1934 by members of the ethnic German minority residing in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

History

The organization was established on September 8, 1934, in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

after solving the "German Union in Sejm and Senate". The organization included German minority organizations from northern Poland, such as the "Block of Unity" operating in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

, "Young German Block" from

Grudziądz Grudziądz ( la, Graudentum, Graudentium, german: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its prov ...

and the "German Central Election Commission" operating in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

. Within 1,5 year, 150 branches were established, and by May 1934, the DV already had 16,474 members. At the turn of 1935/36, the number of members increased to 27,804. In the spring of 1939, the DV had about 35,000 members in the provinces of Poznań and Pomerania, which made it the second largest organization of the German minority in Poland. Organizationally, the DV, like other German organizations in pre-war Poland, was subject to the

Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle The ''Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle'' or VoMi (Coordination Center for Ethnic Germans) was a Nazi Party agency in Nazi Germany founded to manage the interests of the ''Volksdeutsche'', the population of ethnic Germans living outside the country. U ...

, headed by

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

Werner Lorenz Werner Lorenz (October 2, 1891 – March 13, 1974) was an SS functionary during the Nazi era. He was head of the ''Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle'' (VOMI) (Main Office for Ethnic Germans), an organization charged with resettling ethnic Germans in ...

. DV published three newspapers, "Deutsche Rundschau in Polen" (Bydgoszcz), "Posener Tageblatt" (Poznań) and "Pommereller Tageblatt" (

Tczew Tczew (, csb, Dërszewò; formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in Pomerelia, Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). The city is known for its Old Town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew ...

), which met primarily the goals of agitation. The German Union competed with another organization of the German minority in Poland - the

Jungdeutsche Partei ''Jungdeutsche Partei in Polen'' (JDP), or the Young German Party in Poland ( pl, Partia Młodoniemiecka w Polsce), was a Nazi German extreme right-wing political party founded in 1931 by members of the ethnic German minority residing in the Seco ...

. On January 21, 1940, the German Union was dissolved.

Bloody Sunday

On September 4, 1939, during the Bydgoszcz bloody Sunday, German saboteurs in the village of Prądy (Bydgoszcz County) fired on withdrawing units of the Polish 15th Infantry Division, in retaliation, 15 Germans were shot (including Ferdinand Dreger, Gustav Dreger, Gustav Rudolf Kopiske, Ferdinand Giese).

Uniforms and symbols

During the meetings the members of DV wore a uniform outfit consisting of black pants or a skirt, a white shirt and a black tie. Wearing these clothes in public places was forbidden and resulted in a fine for the infringement. The DV sign was a white arrow on the black background - the Tiwaz.

Notes and references

{{Authority control 1934 establishments in Poland Defunct political parties in Poland Far-right political parties in Poland German nationalist political parties Invasion of Poland Nationalist parties in Poland Nazi parties Poland in World War II Political parties established in 1934 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Interwar German political parties in Poland Polish Nazis

History

Bloody Sunday

Uniforms and symbols

See also

Notes and references