Andrzej Kolodziejczyk - Poland

 Andrzej Kolodziejczyk - Poland

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Poland, Nazis, and World War II

I was forwarded this article in NPR talking about how the government of Poland is poised to pass a law making it a criminal offense to claim "...Poland was complicit in the Nazi atrocities committed on Polish soil during World War II."  First allow me to say that I am not a fan of any law that attempts to restrict or regulate academic inquiry or the exploration of history.  Frankly such a law seems to imply more a fear of something being discovered or a high degree of prickliness about the past.  But the broader issue I wanted to address in this blog post is the question, can one argue that Poland has any complicity in the actions conducted by the Nazis during World War II on its soil.  My contention is that this conversation is actually particularly valuable because it forces those considering it to answer the question of what exactly makes a nation-state complicit in events that occur when it is occupied.

First off Poland (technically the Second Polish Republic) existed as a sovereign nation from 1918 to 1939, and gained its independence from a mix of the Versailles Treaty and armed resistance after the end of World War I.  That independence ended de facto by early October 1939 when the last organized and formal units of the Polish army were defeated in the field of battle and some dispersed to continue fighting through guerrilla actions.  By 30 September 1939 the Polish government-in-exile was formed with its wartime leader taking the oath of office in the Polish embassy in Paris.  This action was undertaken within the bounds of the Polish republic's constitution at the time.  This government in exile was recognized by nations outside of Germany and its allies.

Now what makes Poland unique in World War II is that, unlike every other nation Germany successfully invaded and overran, the Nazi German government did not create a puppet government to oversee Poland incorporating elements of the Polish citizenry to lead it.  Every other nation the German's occupied had at least a fig-leaf of a government with some local citizens providing token leadership or its pre-invasion government was allowed to continue operations with German controls upon its functions.  Poland though had territory directly annexed to Germany and the non-annexed bits were put under the control of a special Nazi created government called the General Government.

The General Government was under the control of Hans Frank, who held the rank of Gauleiter, which although it had different technical duties depending on location, time period, and ambient Nazi administrative chaos factor in his case meant he was the head of all civilian government operations in the General Government.  Below him every official within the General Government, above the lowest ranks of civil administration were filled with German officials.  Higher education institutions were closed, the judiciary was modified so that only Poles answered to Polish judges, matters involving German interests were overseen by a parallel court system.  Although Polish police officers were retained (and history indicates probably took part in anti-Jewish violence and roundups) Polish police officials and officers were installed Germans.  (Polish policemen were restricted to the rank of patrolman.)  The Polish police department was also nationalized to further German ambitions.

Now individual Poles and organized groups of Poles did engage in actions that supported the Nazis, of that there is no historical question.  But I think I can say comfortably that the Polish state can probably be found to not be responsible for what the Nazis did on Polish soil.  I'll admit it is reading the events of World War II in Poland with a very narrow lens, and if anyone has information about the Polish state supporting the Nazi actions during the occupation I'm interested in learning about it.

Sources

• Wikipedia article on General Government
• Wikipedia article on Polish police during the Occupation, the Blue Police
• Wikipedia article on Hans Frank
• Wikipedia article on Gauleiter
• Time article on the law 

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Polish hunk Krzysztof Piekarz

Country: Poland
Birthdate: 1985
Height: 185cm/6'1''
Off season weight: 120kg/265lb
Competition weight: +100kg/+220lb

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Some Random, Rare Images From WW2: Part 1

German soldiers take cover against a destroyed Soviet KV-1 tank in Lake Ladoga, Leningrad, September 15, 1943.

The Battle at Okinawa was bloody. It convinced the Americans that the Japanese would not surrender with a fight. Seen in the image is an wounded American soldier.

German soldier captured at Anzio, Italy in 1944 escorted by an American soldier.

Romanian soldiers with a ZB 20 machine gun at Stalingrad in 1942. The flanks of the Germans were covered by ill-armed Romanians and Italians which allowed the Red Army to cut off the Sixth Army in November 1942.

Polish POW carry loaves of bread escorted by a German soldier. The defeat in September 1939 was very bitter for the proud Polish.

A German soldier stands guard over a captured Polish 75 mm anti-aircraft gun atop a railroad car in 1939

A German U-Boat crew surrender to Polish sailors at the British port of Portland. The U-Boat captain is Lieutenant zur See Uwe Kock

German general Guderian and Red Army Commander Vladimir Yulianovich Borovitsky at Brest on September 21, 1939 to work out the German and Soviet boundary demarcation of occupied Poland

German soldier beside a Tiger tank and a destroyed Soviet KV-1 tank at Lake Ladoga, Leningrad, September 1943.

German soldiers of a machine gun unit change their position at Stalingrad. October 1942.

The German U-Boat building yard at Bremen after it was occupied by the Allies. May 5, 1945. In the background from left to right in the center - U-3060 and U-3062, in the foreground from left to right - U-3061 and U-3063.

Waffen SS Colonel Max Wunsche, commander of the 12th SS Regiment of the Hitlerjugend Division (bandaged head) with men of the 25th regiment of the SS at Po (village in France) on June 9, 1944. Partly seen on the right side of the image is Rudolf, son of German foreign minister von Ribbentrop.

Franco did not officially involve Spain on the Axis side, but Spanish volunteers did fight in the Wehrmacht. It was called the "Blue Division"(the 250th infantry division). Here a soldier is seen by the grave of a comrade.

Hungarian soldiers on bicycles on the eastern front.

Curious Parisians atop a destroyed German Panther tank. 1944

German soldiers examine a captured French armored car, Panhard 178. May-June 1940

Fritz Sauckel after he was hanged on October 16, 1946.  Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel was a German Nazi politician, Gauleiter of Thuringia and the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment from 1942 until the end of the Second World War. Sauckel was among the 24 persons accused in the Nuremberg Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to death by hanging. Last words: "I respect the American officers and soldiers, but not the American justice system"

Polish soldiers captured by the Germans after the fall of Poland. 1939. The bitterness of defeat shows on the faces of the proud men.

German soldiers walk the streets of the Dutch village of Wagenborgen as dead Dutch soldiers lie. May 1940.

German soldiers adjust their Flak 36 anti-aircraft gun at Novorossiysk, Russia. September, 1942.

Three Canadian soldiers captured  by the Germans during the Dieppe Raid. The Raid was a disaster for the Allies

A German Stuka Dive Bomber flies over Valletta, the capital of British Malta in 1941.

Waffen SS soldiers in Hungary in 1945. It was a desperate losing battle for these tough, motivated fighters.

British POW in North Africa covered by Italian soldiers. December 1941. The prisoners were captured during the advance of Italian troops in Cyrenaica during the battle at Bir el Gubi.

A destroyed Berlin in May 1945. German civilians walk dazed as the occupying Russian soldiers look on.

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Some Random Rare Images Of The Second World War: Part 2

Some Random Rare Images Of The Second World War: Part 3

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