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war and social upheaval: World War II -- Poland ethnicity
World War II: Poland--Ethnicity
Figure 1.--Hitler used the alleged Polish mistreatment of ethnic Germans as part of the excuse to invade the country and in effect launch World War II. Here ethnic German boys somewhere in Poland during the German invasion welcome the arrival of German troops, in this case Luftwaffe men. Ann American editor captions this wire service photograph released by the Germans, "Soldier shares his meal: Somewhere in Poland the driver of a German military car offers food to a a youngster who wears the driver's helmet. Other youngster look on." The caption provided by the Germans read, "A youth of German extractions being offered food out of a plate by a German soldier." The photograph was published September 23, 1939, but would have been taken a few days earlier. .
Eastern Europe between Germany and Russia was an area of mixed ethnicity. The western part of the area was largely Polish. The eastern area was more mixed. One author refers to it as the 'Bloodlands' because of what transpired there during World War II. Poland was of historic origins, but was recreated by the Polish people and recognized by the Versailles Treaty (1919) ending World War I. A war with the Bolsheviks extended Poland's boundary east into areas with populations that were not predominately Polish. As a result, Poland during the inter-War era was a much-national, multi-ethnic, and milt-religious state. About 60 percent of the population was Polish-speaking and predominately Catholic. The Polish population predominated in western and central Poland. Further east the population was more varied. The largest minority was the Belorussians and Ukrainians in the east which constituted about 15 percent of the population. Poland also had the largest Jewish population in Europe--about 10 percent of the population. he Jews were scattered throughout the country, but mostly in urban areas, both cities and villages--especially Warsaw. Some 40 percent of the population of Warsaw was Jewish. There were other minorities, including Germans in the west and Lithuanians and Belorussians in the north and northeastern. Hitler used the supposed mistreatment of ethnic-Germans as an excuse to launch the War. Poland was invaded by the Germans (September 1, 1939). The Soviet Union followed suit (September 17). Both were determined to destroy the Polish nation. The NAZI obsession with race proved deadly in Poland. Rights and essential matters like rations were determined by ethnicity under German rule. Stalin was also concerned with ethnicity, but not because of race. He recognized the nationalist and religious factors associated with ethnicity and the impact on his ability to control an area. This is why he launched the Ukrainian famine (early 1930s). Animosities between the ethnic groups caused further conflict, especially animosity between Poles and Ukrainians. Despite plans to kills Ukrainians in large numbers, some Ukrainians cooperated with the Germans against Jews, Poles, and Russians. Generalplan Ost was a secret document, but many Ukrainians watching the Einsatzgruppen openly killing Jews asked the logical question, 'Are we next?' The Einsatzgruppen did not immediately begin killing Jews in large numbers as part of the NAZI-occupation of Poland (September 1939). The major effort was ghettoization. They did begin mass murder operations when the Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union which included eastern Poland (June 1941).
Sources
Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin (Basic Books: New York, 2010), 524p.
