''The Black Book of Poland'' is a 750-page report published in 1942 by the Ministry of Information of the
Polish government-in-exile
The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
, describing atrocities committed by Germany in
occupied Poland
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
in the 22 months between the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
in September 1939, and the end of June 1941.
All the estimates, presented in the book section by section, are based on data collected while the war in the East was in progress, and the killing of Jews by means of carbon monoxide gas during Operation Reinhard – launched in 1942 to implement the "
Final Solution
The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...
" – had only begun. All casualties are partly summarized. The book documents over 400,000 cases of deliberate killings – an average of 1,576 per day.
''The Black Book of Poland'' is considered a follow-up to ''
The Polish White Book
''The Polish White Book'' is a semi-official name of a series of comprehensive reports published during World War II by the Ministry of Information of the Polish government-in-exile in London, England, dealing with Polish-German relations before ...
'' of 1941.
Contents
''The Black Book'' is a collection of authenticated documents, depositions, eye-witness accounts, and Ministerial summaries, describing and illustrating with photographs, the
Nazi crimes against the Polish nation
Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder of ...
and
War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II
Around six million Polish citizensProject in PosterumRetrieved 20 September 2013.
The book is a sequel to ''The German Invasion of Poland'' compiled by the Polish government-in-exile and published in 1940, sometimes considered as the first volume of this publication series. The original volume deals with the war crimes of the September 1939 invasion of Poland. ''The Black Book'' by
G.P. Putnam's Sons
G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.
History
The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and ...
of New York (or the 'second volume' of ''The Black Book of Poland'') was published in London by Hutchinson under a different title: ''The German New Order in Poland'', with only 585 pages and 61 plates. ''The Black Book'' is composed of nine sections, preceded by an Introduction titled 'Hora Tenebrarum'. All sections include long Appendices.
Book sections
# ''Part I. Massacres and Tortures''
# ''Part II. The Expulsion of the Polish Population from its Land''
# ''Part III. The Persecution of the Jews, and the Ghettos''
# ''Part IV. The Robbery of Public and Private Property''
# ''Part V. The Economic Exploitation of Polish Territories under German Occupation''
# ''Part VI. Religious Persecution''
# ''Part VII. Humiliation and Degradation of the Polish Nation''
# ''Part VIII. The Destruction of Polish Culture''
# ''Part IX. Violations by the Reich of International Law''.
See also
*
Karski's reports
Karski's reports were a series of reports attributed to Jan Karski, an investigator working for the Polish government-in-exile during World War II, describing the situation in occupied Poland. They were some of the first documents on the Holoca ...