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An intense process of
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...
was carried out by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in German-occupied Poland during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, with the ultimate goal of eliminating Polish culture and people. This included the mass-murder of Polish intellectuals and the kidnapping of Polish children.


Ideological background

"
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
in
Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...
proclaimed, language-exclusive
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...
does not equate to total Germanisation, an alien nation, which expresses its thought in non-
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
form, degrades the greatness and honour of the German nation. The implementation of Germanisation requires a change of character of the occupied nation via partial expulsion of the Polish populous and the assimilation of the rest, deemed upon their "racially worthy" elements."
The greatest fervour of Germanisation was implemented in those regions seized by the German ''
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
'' during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Frequently in his public rallies,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
called for the displacement and liquidation of
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
inhabiting
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. On November 25, 1939, at the NSDAP Office of Racial Policy, a codification was formed codifying Erhard Wetzel and Günther Hecht's memorandum entitled "The Question of the treatment of the population of the former Polish territories in accordance to racial politics" (''"Die Frage der Behandlung der Bevölkerung der ehemaligen polnischen Gebiete nach rassepolitischen Gesichtspunkten"''), which openly expressed:
"Those
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
suitable for Germanisation shall receive German surnames after having undergone the complete process of Germanisation, that will take two to three generations. The administrative, trade and common language shall be German, whilst administrators on former Polish soil may only be German. ..Our pursuance is to Germanise as rapidly the Germanisable populous. ..The decisively Polish elements must be expelled. ..Poles may not take part in secondary, vocational schools, nor higher education. ..Church service must not be undertaken in Polish. Any type of association, corporation and religious or church gatherings are forbiden, whilst Polish restaurants, cafés and cinemas shall be closed down, in addition, all Polish press and book publications must be abolished. ..Those people who are incapable of being renationalised, must be subject to culture of the shallowest nature. ..In that populous categorised for expulsion, racially-worthy children no greater than 8-10 years of age, should be selected and relocated to the Reich. ..No contact is permitted with their Polish kin. ..Otherwise, expel: all
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
, that settled on the terrain of the New Reich after October 1, 1918, all Polish intelligentsia, Polish activists, those so-called neutral Poles that fail to Germanise, all
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
..and all Polish-Jewish inhabitants. ..There will be no Polish journalists, nor will there be any Polish book and newspaper publications."


"Divide and rule"

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
used the ancient
divide and rule The term divide and conquer in politics refers to an entity gaining and maintaining political power by using divisive measures. This includes the exploitation of existing divisions within a political group by its political opponents, and also ...
strategy in
Occupied Poland ' (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV 2 (Norway), TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. ...
. In accordance to the aforesaid strategy,
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...
was sanctioned on the Polish population on a regional basis. The best known operation was named goralenvolk.
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, in his strictly secret memorandum, entitled ''Gedanken über die Behandlung Fremdvölkischer im Osten'' ("Thoughts on Treatment of Alien Races in the East", dated May 25, 1940, described the German tactic against Poland: "We have to divide Poland into as many ethnic groups, regions and divided groups as it is possible". Likewise, in his reflections, entitled: "A few thoughts on the treatment of aliens in the East" (''Einige Gedanken über die Behandlung der Fremdenvölker im Osten''), Himmler writes: "We have to aim to recognise and retain as many different nationalities, that is besides the Poles and Jews, also Ukrainians, Belarusians,
Gorals The Gorals (; Goral ethnolect: ''Górole''; ; Cieszyn Silesian dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also anglicized as the Highlanders, are an ethnographic group with historical ties to the Vlachs. The Goral people are primarily found in thei ...
,
Lemkos Lemkos (; ; ; ) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region (; ) of Carpathian Rus', an ethnographic region in the Carpathian Mountains and foothills spanning Ukraine, Slovakia, and Poland. Lemkos are often considered to be a sub-group of ...
and
Kashubians The Kashubians (; ; ), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is ...
. If one kind find other breakaway nationalitiesthose also. ..What I am trying to state is, it is not in our interest to unite national groups and foment and gradually increase national identity and the development of national culture, on the contrary, to divide it into many parts and fractures. ..Within ..4 to 5 years e.g. the term
Kashubians The Kashubians (; ; ), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is ...
must be unknown, for the Kashubian nation will be no more (this especially refers to Western Prussia). In the long term, we must also liquidate the Ukrainian, Goral and Lemko identity on our territory. What was said about those national offshoots similarly largely refers to the Poles."


Germanisation of placenames

On August 1, 1940, in
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
,
Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...
and Josef Bühler headed a conference concerning the
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...
of Polish place names in the General Governate, it was decided that every central square would be renamed to "Adolf Hitler Platz" and those roads heading to which shall be called ''Reichsstrasse'', ''Strasse der Wehrmacht'' as well as ''Strasse der Bewegung''. Nearly all settlement names in areas annexed by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and the General Governate were Germanised. For example,
Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
was renamed ''Litzmannstadt'', in 1941,
Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...
was changed into ''Reichshof'' whilst
Zamość Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021. Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
, whom the Germans believed to be a German settlement, was to be renamed ''Himmlerstadt'', as to honour
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
. Street names were also Germanised, firstly by adding a second German name, and later removing the Polish counterpart. During the
German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, all Germanised street names were written in the Gothic script. Nearly every main street was renamed "Hitlerstraße" in honour of
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. In Łódź, on September 7, 1939, the chief of the police ordered to remove all signboards that bore a Polish word, as well as the removal of products that carried a Polish-branded label.


Destruction of Polish culture and science

On October 31, 1939
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
stated: "The Poles fundamentally should not have theatres, cinemas .. All schools and seminaries must be closed down in the General Governate .. Poles should be left with such educational institutions that will punish the hopelessness of their national status."
Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...
commanded that all educational institutions above elementary must be liquidated. The teaching of history was forbidden. The occupying authorities of the German General Governate brought into being operations that would inhibit the cultural development of the forcefully subordinated Polish population in the long-run. The main guidelines were formed by Dr. E. Weltz and Dr. G. Hecht's national politics programme from November 25, 1939, based on Adolf Hitler's statements made at the November 23, 1939, conference of the Ministry of Interior Affairs. The document concluded, inter alia:
"Universities and other higher education institutions, vocational schools, as well as secondary schools were always centres of Polish chauvinistic upbringing and therefore must be closed down. Only primary schools may be permitted, teaching only the most primitive of subjects: arithmetic, reading and writing. Education in fields of greater nationalist reals, like geography, history, history of literature and gymnastics, must be prohibited."
The Minister of Education, K. Szelągowski along with other higher administrators were sent to a concentration camp in Sachsenhausen. Thereupon, higher education institutions and secondary schools were liquidated. The General Superintendent Frank, on June 18, 1940, decided to resume the operation of primary and vocational schools with a limited educational level, limited to that of German technical schools. More drastic decisions in the sphere of education were proposed by
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, who in a document from May 15, 1940, proposed to reduce the level of education in the General Governate to four-year primary schools, students would be taught numbers up to 500, writing of the surname and the enforcement of a tract that God's command against the Poles is total servitude, honesty, urgency and kindness towards the Germans.


Biological extermination

"Only a nation, whose underlying inclinations are destroyed, will allow itself to be thrown into slavery."
The Germanisation of the Polish populace included limitedly planned and systemised elimination of the
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
. During the German
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, divisions of the ''
Einsatzgruppen (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...
'' were placed within the ''
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
'', in accordance to the Special Prosecution Book for Poland composed via interviews with the German minority in the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
, carried out the murder of the Polish
intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
during the ''
Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...
''. After the defeat of the Polish military, the extermination of the Polish intellectual elite was realised via operations like
Operation Tannenberg Operation Tannenberg (, ) was one of the first Anti-Polish sentiment, anti-Polish extermination actions by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland from September 1939 to January 1940. The operation was conducted ...
, ''AB-Aktion'', that would deprive Poland its political, scientific, social, cultural and militaristic elite. Comprehensively, the ''
Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...
'' led to the deaths of 100,000 Poles, of which around 50,000 were murdered via the so-called "direct action" (i.a.
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...
), whilst the other 50,000 were sent to concentration camps, of which only an exiguous amount survived. Territory that was directly incorporated into Nazi Germany suffered the greatest, where 40,000 were murdered and 20,000 were sent to concentration camps.


Expulsions

An extensive forced population transfer was conducted by
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The expulsions were part of a long-term plan, ''
Generalplan Ost The (; ), abbreviated GPO, was Nazi Germany's plan for the settlement and "Germanization" of captured territory in Eastern Europe, involving the genocide, extermination and large-scale ethnic cleansing of Slavs, Eastern European Jews, and o ...
'', that would turn the Polish nation into a primitive, cultureless kind, that would be denationalisable and be controlled with ease.
Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...
, the General Superintendent of the General Governate, at a hearing on March 11, 1942, asserted: "...our aim ..should be the complete clearance of the Vistulan Land 'Weichselland''including Galicia. This will only be feasible with time, when the inhabiting nations are expelledthe Poles and Ukrainians. It is no doubt, that such changes will take decades, yet this is the only right path, all else is defective."


Kidnapping of children

Part of the ''
Generalplan Ost The (; ), abbreviated GPO, was Nazi Germany's plan for the settlement and "Germanization" of captured territory in Eastern Europe, involving the genocide, extermination and large-scale ethnic cleansing of Slavs, Eastern European Jews, and o ...
'' (GPO) involved in taking children regarded as "Aryan-looking" from the rest of Europe and moving them to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
for the purpose of
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...
, or indoctrination into becoming culturally German. At more than 200,000 victims, occupied Poland had the largest proportion of children taken.Volker R. Berghahn, "Germans and Poles 1871–1945", in ''Germany and Eastern Europe: Cultural Identities and Cultural Differences''. New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1999. Limited preview.
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germanisation in Poland (1939-1945) Germanization * * Generalplan Ost Cultural history of Poland during World War II