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The history of Germans in Poland dates back almost a millennium. Poland was at one point Europe's most multiethnic state during the medieval period. Its territory covered an immense plain with no natural boundaries, with a thinly scattered population of many ethnic groups, including the Poles themselves, Germans in the cities of West Prussia ...
Cavalry of Poland during a parade in Warsaw, August 1939. During the German invasion of Poland in 1939, cavalry formed 10% of the Polish Army. [2] Cavalry units were organised in 11 cavalry brigades, each composed of 3 to 4 cavalry regiments with organic artillery, armoured unit and infantry battalion. Two additional brigades had recently been ...
The German newcomers accounted for 179,910, while Polish newcomers numbered over 10,000. [3] Without these "new voters", the pro-German vote would have had a majority of 58,336 instead of the final 228,246. [3] The plebiscite took place as arranged on 20 March. A total of 707,605 votes were cast for Germany and 479,359 for Poland. [3]
Following the partitions, the Prussian authorities started the policy of settling German speaking ethnic groups in these areas. Frederick the Great, in an effort to populate his sparsely populated kingdom, settled around 300,000 colonists in all provinces of Prussia, most of which were of a German ethnic background, and aimed at a removal of the Polish nobility, which he treated with contempt.
By Victory Day 1945, nearly a third of the Polish soldiers in the West had formerly served in the German military. [3] On the Eastern Front, prisoner-of-war camps for Wehrmacht soldiers were a substantial recruitment pool for the Polish Armed Forces in the East. [4] The term "grandfather in the Wehrmacht" has become a slur in Poland. [1]
The German soldiers of Polish extraction (about 30 in number), quickly separated from the rest of the Germans and went to the market, where they engaged in conversation with the local population and drank beer with them. German soldiers remained separated and struggled to engage in conversations which were carried out in Polish. [1]
A History of Poland, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2004, ISBN 0-333-97254-6; Sanford, George. Historical Dictionary of Poland. Scarecrow Press, 2003. 291 pp. Wandycz, Piotr S. "Poland's Place in Europe in the Concepts of Piłsudski and Dmowski," East European Politics & Societies (1990) 4#3 pp 451–468. Wróbel, Piotr.
Over 3,000 Germans, including soldiers and support formations such as the Danzig Police, had been tied up in the week-long operation against the small Polish garrison; about half of the Germans (570 on land, over 900 at sea) had taken part in direct action. German casualties totalled 50 killed (16 from the Kriegsmarine [18]) and 150 wounded. [36]