Figure 1.--

Virtually all of Europe including parts of the Soviet Union was occupied during World War II. This include Axis, Soviet, and allied occupation. Some countries were occupied twice and by two of the majpr beligerants. Some counries experienced partition and others annexation. The occuation policies differented greatly. The Axis (especially German) and Soviet occupation could be horific. The German policies had a strong racial component both between and within countries. The German occupation of Poland resulted in the murder of some 25 percent of the population during the 5 years of occupation. Other countries also suffered greatly, especially the oviet Union. . The Axis countries ironically were eventally most occupied by their Geramn ally. The Soviet occuoation policies were similar, but had more of a social-class orientation, although there was also am ethnic compnent. NKVD actions in several countries were similar to German SS actions, butte death tolls never reached the levels of the NAZI indidtrilized killing. The end result was hrific police state actions and loss of life. The occuption policies of the Western Allies were radically different, focused on saving life and restoring civil society with the ultimate goal of stablishing democractic governments.

Albania

Mussolini established a Fascist government under Shefqet Verlaci. Ironically, after the the Germans invaded and partioned Yugoslavia in 1941, the Albanians for the first time founded themselves united with the Albanians in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. We do not have a great deal of information about the Italian occupation. Nominallthe Albanian state ciontinued to exist. Italain King Victor Emanuel III became the King of Albania. The Italans attemprted to create Italian institutiions like the Allbanian Fasist Party and a Baillia-like youth group--the Albanian Lictor Youth (Giovent� del Littorio Albanese --GLA). Italian occupation, ended when they signed an armistace with the allies (September 1943). The Germans invaded Italy and seized control of Albania and other Italian-occupied regions of the Balkans.seized control. The Germans seized control after the Italian surrender (September 1943). The Germans dropped paratroopers into Tiran� before the Albanian guerrillas could seize the city. The Wehrmacht quickly droce the guerrillas back into the hills and to the south. The NAZIs announced plans to create a neutral Albania and proceeded to set up an Albanian puppet government, including police and military forces. The German approach in Albania was different than in most other occupied areas. This presumably reflects the rapidly deteriorating German military situation. Rather than dictate to the Albanians, they set up a government with a surprising degree of autonomy. And attempted to attract popular support by supporting populasr causes, especially union with Kosovo that had a substantial Albanian population. As a result the nationalist Balli Komb�tar units cooperated with the Germans in actions against the partisans (Communist resistance). In fact BK members were given prominent positions in the puppet givernment. The NAZIs to rule Albania created an Albanian National Committee. This Committe created a Regency that finctioned as a puppet government for Greater Albania created by the Italians.

Austria

There was considerable sentiment in both Germany and Austria after World War I to join the two German-speaking states. France adamently refused. Hitler after seizing power revived the issues. Austrain NAZIs were encouraged to promote the idea. Hitler and Austrian NAZIs throughout 1937 demanded an Anschluss with Austria. Belaegered Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg on March 9, 1938, announced plans to hold a plebiscite on the independence of Austria. Hitler used this opportunity to take action against the Austrian State. The NAZIs with the Wehrmacht on the border pressed Schuschnigg was pressed to resign. The NAZI surrogate, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, took over the chancellorship and formed a new government dominated by the Austrian NAZIs. The German Wehrmacht and the SS, armed with list of NAZI opponents, crossed the German-Austrian frontier (March 12). Hitler the following day on March 13, speaking before a jubilent crowd in Linz, announced the "Anschluss" (Annexation) of Austria into the German Reich. Joyous celebrations occurred throught Austria. Even while the celebrations were going on, the SS and local NAZIs began rounding up those who had opposed the NAZIs. Violence occured against the Jews. Jewish students and professors were attacked in universities. Jews at random were dragged into the streets to scrub the sidewalks on their hands and knees--surounded by taunting crowds. The Germam Anchluss mean that Rich policies were immeditely applied to Austria which became Ostmarch. This was not precisely an ocupation as most Austrians wanted to join Germany. At the end of the war, the Soviets entered from the east and the Americans from the south and west to occupy Austria. As in Germany there was suspsed to be a four power occupation, but in fact thare was a Soviet and Western Allied occupation with very different policies.

Belarus

The modern country of Belarus began World War II as part of the Soviet Union and part of Poland. Stalin had begun a crackdown on Belarus culture before the War. Along with the Germns, the Soviets invaded Poland launching the War (September 1939). The Soviet NKVD carried out a range of police actions in eastern Poland and annexed the area to the Bylorussian SSR. The Germans invaded the soviet Unin (June 1941) abd within two weeks had occupied what is now Belarus. The population of Belarus met the Germans with mixed feelings. The Soviet attrocities had caused much animosity. They were thus ambivalent to the arrival of the Germans. Some of the population attempted to retreat east deper into the Soviet Union. Others met the Germans with flowers dressed in their best clothes, naively hoping for liberation from Soviet tyranny. A collaboration movement developed in Belarus. Some estimate that some 120,000 Belarusians collaborated in variiusays with the Grmans, but this includes many who did so unwillingly. No one at this time outside of SS circkes knew of Generaplan Ost, the NAZI plan to murder much of the Slavic population of Eastern Europe. The Germans instead of attempting to gain the sympathy of the local population, committed even more terrible attrocities making for anti-Germn feeling. Hitler appointed Wilhelm Kube Generalkommissar to oversee Minsk German administration (August 31, 1941). And Kube's brutal rule also generated resistanve and a potent partisan movement. The underground resistance killed Kube (1943). In retaliation the Germans killed 1,000 hostages in Minsk. Normally theGermans used Jews as hotages to execute, but by 1943 most of the Jews in Belarus had already been murdered. The Germans launched a barbarous anti-patisan campaign. In addition to the fighting with the Germans, there was also fighting between ethnic groups, especially the Poles and Ukranians. Belarus and the surrounding area has been called the Bloodlands. Although not a country, the level of military activiies and barbarous activities, including the Holcaust and anti-partisan actions, necesitates attention to Belarus in any World War II history.

Belgium

The German occupation was severe in World War I, but not as brutal as suggested by British propaganda. The German Army did seize the food supply, but starvation was overted by American food aid. This time the Germans lived up to the World War I images. The German occupation policies were in part race based, thus the occupation while brutal and expoitive, did not aprroach the horrors in the East, except for Belgium's small Jewish population. There was some collaboraion with the NAZIs, especially at first when it looked like the NAZIs had won the War. Colaborationists organized Youth groups along the lines of the Hitler Youth. Many viewed the King as a colaborationist, but his role is complicated to assess. The Wehrmacht was the occupation authority. Fascist groups open colaborated with the German occupation authorities. Hendrik de Man served as a front man for the Germans. He dissolved the Belgian Workers Party (June 1940). King Leopold III met Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden (November 1940). He reportedly angered Hitler by asking for improved conditions for the Belgians. He managed to arrange the release of 50,000 Belgian POWs and an improved food supply for occupied Belgium. Differences existed between the Flemish and Waloons. As in other countries, the Germans though in racist terms. The NAZIs saw the Flemish as more salvagble racial stock than the Wallonians. The NAZIs replaced the Belgian and Luxemburgian Franc with the German Reichsmark (1941). King Leopold showed great courage by subsequently refusing to administer his country under German control and lend any appearance of legitimacy to the NAZI occupation government. King Leopold was held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war, first in his castle at Laeken, near Brussels. As the Allies approached Belgium he was moved deep in Germany itself. Attitudes toward the Germans began to change markedly (1942). Major factors included the consscription of Belgians for war work in the Reuch. German military reverses in the final months of the year. The German occupation was severe in World War I, but not as brutal as suggested by British propaganda. The German Army did seize the food supply, but starvation was overted by American food aid. This time the Germans lived up to the World War I images. The German occupation policies were in part race based, thus the occupation while brutal and expoitive, did not aprroach the horrors in the East, except for Belgium's small Jewish population. There was some collaboraion with the NAZIs, especially at first when it looked like the NAZIs had won the War. Colaborationists organized Youth groups along the lines of the Hitler Youth. Many viewed the King as a colaborationist, but his role is complicated to assess. The Wehrmacht was the occupation authority. Fascist groups open colaborated with the German occupation authorities. Hendrik de Man served as a front man for the Germans. He dissolved the Belgian Workers Party (June 1940). King Leopold III met Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden (November 1940). He reportedly angered Hitler by asking for improved conditions for the Belgians. He managed to arrange the release of 50,000 Belgian POWs and an improved food supply for occupied Belgium. Differences existed between the Flemish and Waloons. As in other countries, the Germans though in racist terms. The NAZIs saw the Flemish as more salvagble racial stock than the Wallonians. The NAZIs replaced the Belgian and Luxemburgian Franc with the German Reichsmark (1941). King Leopold showed great courage by subsequently refusing to administer his country under German control and lend any appearance of legitimacy to the NAZI occupation government. King Leopold was held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war, first in his castle at Laeken, near Brussels. As the Allies approached Belgium he was moved deep in Germany itself. Attitudes toward the Germans began to change markedly (1942). Major factors included the consscription of Belgians for war work in the Reuch. German military reverses in the final months of the year. >

Britain

Britain with one exception was not occupied by the Germans, thnks lrgely to tyhe Engluisg Channel wshicg stopped the Panzers. The Germans who after the fall of France excpected the British to reach an understanding. The British rembering the value of the accord with Hitler at Munich (September 1938), decided to defy him. Here Prime-Minister Churchill played a key role. The result was the Battle of Britain in preparation for Opperation Sea Lion--the invasion and occupation of Britain. With the fall of France, the Germans occupied the British Channel Islands. This was the only part of the British Isles occupied by the Germans during the War. This at does not mean that the Germans did not have plans for the the British. An Einsatzgruppe was prepared to deal with the Bitish after Operation sea Lion suceeded anf had detailed plans.

Bulgaria

The Germansforced Bulasia into the Axis. And Germam military units moved into Bulgaria and prepared for the invasion of Greece and Yugolalvia, The Germns also seixzed contol of the rail system, the main tranport system. They did not, however occuply and seize control of the country. As a result there were o transport of Jews from Bulgaria. As the Red Army entered the Balkans the Bulgriansexpelled the Germans (1944}. The Germans no longer had the military capbility to react to a country so deep in the Balkas. The Soviets as the Red Army drove into the country did occipy Bulgaria and establish a Communist police state.

Czechoslovakia

Hitler remiliatized the Rhineland (1935) and conducted the Anschluss bringing Austria into the Reich (April 1938). Hitler's next target was the Sudetenland. The Czechs were prepared to fight. The British and French were not. British Primeminister Nevil Chamberlin delivered the Sudetenland to Hitler at the Munich Conferece (October 1938). The Sudetenland was incorporated into the Reich. Slovakia suceeded and a pro-NAZI regime seized power. Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to seize the rest of the country (March 1939). Here Hitler step over another milestone, for the first time he seized control of non-Germans. NAZI policies varied depending on the area of Czecheslovakia (the Sudetenland, Bohemia and Moravia, and Slovakia). We note that some Czechs were forcibly removed from the Sudentenland, but we have few details at this time. NAZI policies in Bohemia and Moravia were much more begin that later implemented in Pland, but vecame more secere as the occupation progressed, especially after the appointment of Teynhard Heydrich as Governor. The Czechs as the first occupied country, were the first to be drafted for forced labor in Germany. The Czech arms industry played an importan role in the German war effirt. Hitler convinced that the Czeches were being treated to lightly, appointed Reinhard Heydrich to replace the first NAZI governor. His assasination by British-trained patriots ere the cause of horendous reprisals by the SS.

Denmark

The NAZIs invaded and conquered Poland and Demark within the space of a two months. While both countries were close to rach other on the Reich's northern and eastern border. The occupation regimes, however, could not be more different. The barbarity let loose on Poland was not in evidence in Demark. The difference was essentially that the Poles were Slavs and the Germans saw the Danes as fellow Teutons. General Falkenhorst gave clear orders to his men about how they should conduct themselves. The NAZIs allowed the Danish Government to continue to function under close supervision. In the case of Denmark, the German Foreign Ministry administered the occupation. The German occipation was overseen by a Reich Plenipoteniary. The first was a Foreign Ministry diplmat, CecilRenthe-Fink. He was replaced by Werner Best (November 1942). He was assisted by SS-officer Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Best was not given control over NAZI security forces operating in the country. Denmark continued to formally a sovereign state. This status was dramatically different than the other countries occupied by the NAZI. Racial affinities were the primary factor here as well as cultural afinities. The NAZIs did not ban political parties. Denmark remained a parlimentary democracy subject to a totalitarizn dictatorship. The Germans had the right to demand that any cabinent officer be removed. And they used this authority on several occassions. Minister of Trade John Christmas M�ller was found to be too pro-British. Minister of Justice Harald Petersen was found to lack resolution in dealing with Danes incolved in a brawl with German soldiers at a fooball game (Danes/Admiral Wien). The Germans demanded the military be reduced by half and placed significant contraints on the country's foreign policy. The Danes formed a four Party coalition government headed by Thorvald Stauning. Erik Scavenius was appointed foreign minister (July 1940). After the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), German authorities forced the Danish government to acquiese in the formation of a Danish unit to participate, albeit a volunteer unit. A few Danes volunteered and served with the Wehrmact on the Eastern front. German authorities also demanded that authorities ban the Communist Party. Under German pressure, the Danish Government joined the Anti-Comintern Pact (November 1941). Stauning died unexpectatly (May 1942). He was replaced by Vilhelm Buhl who, however, soon proved unacceptable to the Germans. They forced him to resign (November 1942). He was replaced by Foreign Miister Scavenius.

Estonia

Estonia like the other Baltic republics experienced three occipation regimes. The first was Soviet occuption (1940-41). Although independent for almost 20 years, the Soviets continued to see Estonia and the other Baltic Republics as lost provinces of Russia. Estonia was a small nation and in 1939 faced a Soviet Union that now had a massive army. The NAZI Blitzkrieg against Poland doomed Estonia. Following the NAZI success in Poland, Stalin ordered the Red Army to invade from the east. Within days the Soviets were making demands on the Estonians. The Soviets demanded bases in Estonia for the Red Army (September 24, 1939). The Government yielded to the Soviet ultimatum (September 28.) An estimated 25,000 Red Army soldiers entered Estonia (October 18). Some of the bases were used to launch air strikes against Finland uin the Winter War. Some Estonians went to Finland to fight the Soviets there. The Estonian Government had no real control on the number of Red Army personnel. One source estimates that there were 30,000 Red Army soldiers and 10,000 members of a labor batalion in Estonia (April 1940). The NAZIs launched their Western offensive (May 10) amd entered Paris (June 14). The French were forced to sign a humiliating armitice and it looked at the time like Britain would soon follow. The Allied military dissater removed in any reservations Stalin might have had about seizing the Baltic Republics. The Soviets presented a new ultimatum to Estonia demanding that a new government be appointed and that they accept the total occupation og the country (June 16). The Estonian Government complied (June 17). This essentially meant the end of the Estonian state. The Red Army occupation was accomplished with 160,000 men and 600 tanks. The Soviets used 5 divisions of the Air Force with 1,150 aircraft to control the whole Baltic air space. The Soviet Navy blockaded Estonian and other Baltic ports. The KGB was ordered to prepare to receive 58,000 prisoners of war. One author reports that about 130,000 Soviet soldiers, KGB personnel, and other specialists assigned to establish new Soviet administrative apparatus in Estonia. Arrests, deportment, and executions were to follow. [Walter] The second ocupation regime was the Germans (1941-44). Many Estonians saw the Germans as liberators from brutal Soviet occupation. Some Estonians inlisted in the German military and security forces. The NAZIs at first were not sure how to administer the occupied east. Estonia was incorporated into the NAZI Ostland. This included the Baltics and the northwestern Soviet Union. Ostland was administered by military officials. The NAZI occupation regime had a racial component. The Russians were Slavs and seen as subhumans. The NAZI goal was to substatially reduce the Slavic population and to use those who were not killed or deported for slave labor. The ethnic Baltic population includung the Estonians were accorded a higher status. The third occupation regime was the retyrn of the Soviets (1944). The resurgent Red Army drove the NAZIs out. The Red Army reached Estonia (September 1944). Many Estonians having experienced one Soviet invasion, wanted no pat of the Soviet Union. An estimated 70,000 Estonians left Estonia, many to neutral Sweden. Many of thesecrefugees eventually emmigrated to Canada and the United states. Estonia with the entry of the Red Army was restored as a Soviet Republic. The Western Allies had protested Soviet actions in the Baltics during 1940 and did not recognized Soviet annexation. The Allies had no military capability to contest the Soviet annexation. Estonians fought a guerilla war for independence after the War. The Amemericans with the outbreak of the Cold war did attempt clandestine aid to the Baltic republics. The Estonians, however, faced overwealming forces. An estimated 15,000 Estonians wre killed in the fighting.

Finland

The Soviet Union seized and annxed Karelia (southeastern Finland) during the Winter war (1939-40). This was not exctky an occupation in that the Soviets annexed the area. And vrtually the entire population fled the area before the arrival of the Soviets who settled the abandoned area with ethnic Russians. The Soviet treatment of ethnic Finns during the 1930s made it very clear to the Finns what their fate would be under Soviet control. The Finns during the Continuation War seized and resettled the area, but again fled as the Red Army drove back into Karelia (1944)

France

The terms of the June 1940 armistace between Germany and France divided France into an occupied and unoccupied zone, with a rigid demarcation or boundary line between the two. The Germans obrained direct control three-fifths of France, including northern and western France and the entire Atlantic coast which was critical to the Ferman war effort against Britain. The Atlantic coast region provided air bases for the Luftwaffe air campaign and the Kriegesmarine U-boat capaign. The rest of France was left to be administered by the Petain's Government at Vichy. Provisions of the armistice, the "surrender on demand clause", was an obligation to arrest and turn over anyone requested by the Germans. Thus the Germans to persue any one they wanted even in the unoccupied or Vichy zone. Initially this included Jews, Communists, Socialists, as well as political officials who had been outspokingly critical of the NAZIs. France was forced to disband its army, except for a minimal force of 100,000 men for maintaining domestic order. This was the same size force that Gerrmany had been allowed under the Versailles Peace Treaty. The 1.5 million French Prisioners of War (POWs) were to remain in Germanm prisoner of war camps. The French government agreed to stop military units from leaving France to fight with the British. France had to agree to pay for the cost the Germans incurred in occupying the country.

Germany

The Allied occupation of Germany proceeded differently in the Soviet and Western occupation zones. In the Soviet or Eastern Zone there were numerous rapes of German women in the first days of occupation. This was rape on a massive scale and included children and elderly women. Large numbers of pregnacies must have occurred. I am not sure if the women involved sought abortions or how they viewed the resulting children. After the first days of occupation Red Army brought their soldiers under control. Looting continued for some time. The Government persued a policy of reparations which included shipping whole factories to Russia. Soviet occupation forces were not supplied like the Western forces and there was much more living off the land. [Dulles] The Western Allies initially has separate occupation zones. Initially there was to be a British and an American zone, but plans were changes to accomodate a French zone. There were some differences in the three Western zones, but faced with Soviet pressure the Western Allies eventually combined their zones. The most immediate problem was food. About 60 the population of Germany were in the French, British, and American zones. Before the War, only about 40 percent of the food was produced in the west and the War damage had significantly impaired food production.

Greece

The Germans after defeating the Greeks and British, divided Greece into three occupation zones. The Germans zone included western Macedonia, Thessaloniki, a strip of land in eastern Thrace, the major Aegean Islands and Crete. The Bulgarians zone included eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The Italian zone included the Dodecanese Islands, the Ionian Islands, and a large section of mainland Greece including Athens. The Greek children were especially affected by the German occupation. The Gerrman occupation of Greece differed substanially from the occupation of Yugoslavia. Greece had a relatively homogeneous population, in sharrp contrast to Yugoslavia. There was also a central government that was weak and collaborationist. Not only did Greece pose a less difficult occupation problem that Yugoslavia, but the German occupiers had a much more favorable attitude tgoward the Greek people and their culture. There was a deep respect for the culture of ancient Hellas. Germany had been a major force in archeology. It was a German archeologist who found Troy and provded that is was not just a legend. Even the NAZIs strongly sypported archelogical studies--in part believing that archeology would confirm NAZI racial ideology. The German attitude toward the Yugoslavs. The NAZIs regarded the Yugoslavs as like the Russians, barbarian Slavic untermench. The Greek economy also made it easier for the Germans to control the population. Greece was not self sufficent in food production. Before the War, the Greeks imported food. After the occupation, this was no longer possible. Food could be usedto control the population. The NAZI program of plundering the occupied countries, made the situation in Greece even more difficult for the Greek peopkle. Large quantities of food were shipped from Greece to Germany. The result was a mass famine in Greece. The famine in Greece reached Athens in the winter of 1941. The famine was a man-made event resulting from the German ability to contol distribution of food. The Germans viewed Greece and other occupied countries as a source of food and resources that could be used to support the War effort. It should be stressed that not all Germans involved in the occupation behaved crudely. German Occupation officials reported to Berlin that more food was needed for the Greek people. These requests were ignored by NAZI officials in Berlin. NAZI officials in some occupied countries were interested in remaking those societies on the basis of the National Socialist principles implemented in Germany. This seems not to have been a major factor in Greece. The German priorities in Greece were clearly food, raw material, and laborers to support the German War economy. [Mazower] The Occupation was a very difficult period for the Greek people. Actual starvation claimed the most lives. There were many executions, including resistance fighters and even more civilian hostages. Large numbers of Greeks were deported to Germany to work as slave alorers. Thousands of children starved. Asylos were set up for the thousands of displaced children. Because of German policies, however, resources were unavailable to deal with the crisis.

Hungary

Hungary was another Axis ally eventully occupied by the Germans.

Iceland

Neutral Iceland was occupied by Britain after the German invasion of Denmark. Iceland at the yome was aelf governing territory of Denmark. As it had virtually no army, the British were afraid that the Germsns might seize it. The Icelanders did not resist and for the most part understood the British action. The British was were replced by the americans did not interfere on domestic Icelandic affairs or attempt to control the Government. But they did use it for naval and air bases to support the allied effort in the Battle of the atlantic.

Italy

The Allied Military Government (AMG) was first established in Sicily after the invasion (July 1943). The same basic system was used in Italy after the Armistace and Allied invasion (September 1943). The AMG attempted to cooperate with civilian authorities as much as possible. Article 37 of the Instrument of Surrender (September 29) gave the Allies the authority to establish a military government. The Allies created a Control Commission to administer the AMG (November 10, 1943). As in the rest of war-torn Europe, the economic conditions were very difficult. Italy was treated differently by the Allies than Germany and Japan. It is difficult to say if Italy was liberated or occupied. Before the War, Mussolini's Fascist seems to have had a firm grip on the population. This seems to have disappeared by the time the Allies arrived. Most Italians seem to have seen the Allies as liberators, in part because the Germans had occupied the country. Many Itlalians were also glad to see the allies arrive because as the front moved north it mean essentilly that the war was over. This was somewhat complicated because while the Communists cooperated with the Allies to fight the Germans, they wanted to create a Communist-controlled government after the War. Although there was no real Resistance movement in Italy before the Resistance, the Communists played a role in the resistance fighting after the Armistice. The guilt for the War was laid on Mussolini and the Fascists and not on the new government established after Mussolini and the Fascist fell from power. There was no elaborate proheam in Italy similar to the De-Nazification effort in Germany. After the War there was a referendum over the monarchy which resulted it its abolisment. The AMG Control Council was closed down after the finalization of the Italian Peace Treaty (1947). Allied occupation was more of a liberation than an occupation. >

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

The NAZis saw Luxembourg as a legitimate part of Germany. As a result, NAZI occupation authorities almost immediately began to violate the assurances provided the Grand Duchy about its independence. Gustav Simon, Gauleiter of Coblenz-Trier had the Grand Duchy added to his jurisdiction (July 25, 1940). (A Gauleiter was a NAZI govenor.) From the beginning, Simon's primary goal was to assimilate Luxembourg into the Reich. The NAZIs banned political parties, except for the Volksdeutsche Bewegung (VDB), a Nazi front group formed by Professor Damian Kratzenberg. The VDB�s goal and philosophy was embodied by its slogan, "home to the Reich". The VDB enrolled 84,000 members, a considerable number of people in Luxembourg. Most joined to ensure they could keep their jobs. The actual integration of Luxembourg into the Reich was carried out in a series od small steps. The Gestapo took charge of police functions from the gendarmery (August). German was made the official language in government offices. French had been the official language for 800 years and Letzebergesch, the local dialect. The speaking of both were banned. Children were most affected by changes in the schools. German was introduced as the official language of instruction in all schools. All publications including daily newspapers could only be published in German. Luxembourgers with French sounding names had to change them. There were also major economic changes. Luxembourg had a customs union with Belgium and used Belgian Francs as the official currency. The NAZIs incorporated the Grand Duchy into the German customs area. German Reichmarks replaced Belgian Francs and German currenc. Foreign exchange controls were introduced. Luxembourg suffered the highest fatality rate in percentage of population of all warring parties in Western Europe, with 2% of its population perishing during the occupation.

(The) Nethelands

The NAZIs occupied the Netherlands for 4 years. The Dutch for racial reasons were not one of the occupied countries targeted by the NAZIs for destruction. Children were still affected. Dutch Jews were arrested as were Dutch politicans that were anti-NAZI as well as Ressiastance members. Jewish children were the least likely to survive. Many children had fathers or brothers interned as POWs. Some parents and relatives were drafted for slave labor in Germany. Many Dutch government and cultural institutions, however, were allowed to function as long as they did not interfere with occupation policies. Unlike countries in the east, the schools, for example, were allowed to continue opoerating. A Dutch reader who was a schoolboy at the time tells us that during the occupation, "We were not bothered by their propaganda at school, but the teachers learned to keep their mouths shut in regards to the occupying forces. The general atmosphere was very anti-German and more anti-Nazi, but the Germans did not try to 'educate' Dutch children like they did in their own country." Of course if the War had gone differently, the NAZIs would have made major changes in Dutch schools along the lines of their own education ststem. I was a boy during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-45). Despite the German attitudes toward the Dutch racially, the Netherlands and Dutch children still endured severe privations during the War. A Dutch reader who was a boy during the War writes, "We suffered terribly and nearly died of starvation. I could write a book about it. We did not live far from a village, Putten, where the entire population was killed as a reprisal for the murder of some high ranking Germans in that area. As far as I know Putten was the only place in Holland where women and children were shot. But nearly every occupied country had its "Putten", Ouradour in France, Lidice in Czechoslovakia come to mind." [Stueck]

Norway

The German World War II occupation of Norway began wih the invasion of the neutrl country (April 9, 1940) and lasted until the liberation following the German surrender (May 8, 1945). Except for Polaand, Norway and Demarrk were the two countries occupied by the NAZI for the longest period. The character of the occupation, however, was very different because of the NAZI racial policis which saw the Nordic population of Norway and Denmark as having racial value. Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht during this period and for reasons known only to Hitler, it was proportionally the most heavily garrisoned country in the NAZI Empire. The Reichskommissariat Norwegen (Reich Commissariat of Norway) became the civil authority throughout the occupation. The Reichskommissariat worked with the collaborationist Quisling puppet government. Qisling entered the English language as synnomnous with traitor. Iinically, Quisling was frustrated that the Germns did not give him the power he sought. Thre were other NAZI-sympathizers, but not many. King Haarkon and the legitimate government managed to escape to Britain and set-up a government-in-exile in London. The NAZI occupation authorties appointed leaders and local officals. Quisling's pro-NAZI Nasjonal-Samling (NS) colleagues were appointed to head labor unions and other organizations. The Germans banned all political parties except the NS. They Reichskommissar Terboven ordered several important security operations. He imposed martial law on Trondheim in the north. He destroyed the village of Telav�g. NAZI authorities considered Norway to be a rich source of Nordic breeding stock. There were no organized kidnappings that we know of, but some sources say that Norway was not imune to occasional NAZI kidnappings. More importantly, there were extensive liasons between the large number od German soldiers and Norwegian girls. Norway is a small country. It also had a small Jewish population. The Jewish population in 1940 totaled about 2,100 people, about 1,500-1,600 were Norwegian citizens. Quisling immeiately fter the Germam invasion launched actions agains the country's Jres.

Poland

Hitler was insistent that Poland should be wiped off the map. After seizing Poland (September 1939), the Nazis created the so-called Generalgouvernement (General Government). This was NAZI occupied Poland. The term Generalgouvernement was selected as it was the term the Germans used for the administration they set up in the Polish territory seized from the Russians during World War I (1915). The General Government was divided into four districts: Krakow, Warsaw, Radom, and Lublin. The Governor-General, Frank, was located in Krakow. It was an autonomous part of "Greater Germany", similar to the status of occupied Czechoslovakia (Bohemia and Moravia). The NAZI General Government was central Poland. Western Poland (the Polish Corridor, Lodz and Polish Silesia were annexed into the German Reich. Eastern Poland was seized by the Soviets. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler by decree ordered the Polish voivodeships of Eastern Galicia (with a largely Ukrainian population) were added to the Government General as Galicia District. The NAZIs administed the Government General differently than other areas, in part because they could not find ny suitable Polish Quislings. It was not administered as a pupper state like Slovakia and Bohemia-Moravia. The NAZIs were not really interested in finding Poles to collaborate with. The NAZIs avoided even using the term Poland. The purpose of the occupation was to destroy Poland and much of the population that could not be aranized. There were no Polish puppet offucials. The Government was administered by Germans. Hitler appointed Hans Frank Governor-General (October 26, 1939). Frank served in that post until the Red Army approached Krakow in early 1945. He was known for his brutality. As Govenor General he oversaw one of the most brutal occupation regimes in history. An estimated 6.5 million Poles perished during the War, about a quarter of the population.

Romania

Soviet Union

The NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Radidly the Baltic Republics (occupied by the Soviets in 1940) and large areas came under NAZI control. The NAZIs employed the same ruthless tactics developed in Poland, but on a far larger scale. Heydrich in 1941 ordered the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) (SS Security Service) in 1941 to begin the necessary planning for the Germinization of occupied territories in the Soviet Union. The Reichs-Sicherheitsdienst (RSHA) (Reich Security Head Office). The initial report submitted in November 1941 by the RDHA estimated that 31 million peole should be "evacuated". The SS-RKF was ordered to extend its planning for the Germinization to the occupied area of the Soviet Union. [Padfield, p. 363.] There were differences of opinion within the SS and between the SS and Alfred Rosenberg's Ostministerium (Ministry for the Occupied East) over how to claim the East. There was agreement that large numers of Slavs had to be removed to Siberia. There were differences as to the extent to which forcible evictions should take place. Given the scale of movement involved, such discussions probably were not relistic. [Padfield, p. 363.] The NAZIs looked on the people of the Soviet Union in starkly racial terms. They were willing to work with the native Baltic population and some in the Baltics were willing to work with the NAZIs. The NAZIs were determined that the Slav population in Russia proper and the Ukraine would have to be substantially reduced. Some Slavs would be kept, at least for a while to serve as a slave population to do mannual labor, at least until the region could be Germanized.

Ukraine

Yugoslavia

Created: 6:01 AM 3/31/2015
Last updated: 12:24 AM 10/12/2021