polish-victims

Article >> https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/polish-victims

Polish is my heritage and it is with sorrow when I think about the millions of nonJewish Poles who were systematically killed by the Nazis because they considered Polish people to be “racially inferior.” The German occupation of Poland was exceptionally brutal. As the result of Nazi policies, it is estimated that the Germans killed between 1.8 million and as high as 3 million non-Jewish Polish civilians during World War II.
In addition, the Germans murdered at least 3 million Jewish citizens of Poland.

Following the military defeat of Poland in September 1939, the Germans launched a campaign of terror intended to destroy the Polish nation and culture and to reduce the Poles to a leaderless population of peasants and workers laboring for German masters. Therefore, mass killings of intellectuals, teachers, clergy removed societal influence and guidance for the people.

Then, Hitler intended to “Germanize” Poland by replacing the Polish population with German colonists. Only enough Poles would be retained as were needed for basic labor, the rest would be driven out or killed. Hundreds of thousands of Polish civilians were forced from their villages and homes, families were broken up and many victims were sent to concentration camps or to forced labor; over 20,000 children were shipped to the Reich as suitable for “Germanization.” All efforts were made to destroy the Polish nation and culture whicj included removing or destroying Polish landmarks and statues of famous Poles ( ** happening in America 2020**)

While the war lasted, Germany needed Polish labor. Nazi officials imposed a labor obligation upon able-bodied Poles that came to include children as young as 12. The German authorities dictated where and how Poles were employed and could conscript Poles to perform labor in the Reich. Police grabbed Poles off streets and trains, from marketplaces and churches, and in raids on villages and neighborhoods to fill labor quotas. German officials sent Poles who tried to avoid labor conscription to concentration camps and punished their families.