Poles in the Wehrmacht

The history of Poles in the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany, begins in 1939 and ends in 1945. Unlike several other European nations, occupied Poland never organized any armed units that cooperated with Nazi Germany. However, thousands of citizens of Polish Second Republic served in Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine or Waffen SS, and most of them were either Poles of German extraction (Volksdeutsche) or Ukrainians and Belarusians, living in southeastern part of pre-1939 Poland. Thousands of Poles (those who signed Volksliste) also forcibly served in German forces.

Waffen SS on the Eastern Front consisted to a large degree of non-Germans. There were Norwegian, Danish, Belgian, French, Dutch, Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian, Croatian, Latvian, Spanish or Estonian units, but there was not a single Polish one. However, this is partly because until late stages of the war, Adolf Hitler stubbornly refused to create such units. Had he agreed, the situation would have been possibly different.

Aftermath of the September Campaign

First ideas of creation of Polish units cooperating with the Wehrmacht appeared in the fall of 1939, after Polish September Campaign. Main supporter of this concept, right-wing politician Wladyslaw Studnicki, stated that in late fall of that year, various Polish activists would came to see him, telling that somebody should send a delegation to Berlin, whose purpose would be to save anything that could be saved. Studnicki and his cronies were counting on the inevitable Nazi - Soviet conflict, so as early as on November 20, 1939 he presented to the Germans “An appeal to re-establish the Polish Army”.

Studnicki wrote that the army would help the Germans in their struggle with the Soviets, and promised he would help find proper volunteers. According to him, the biggest misfortune for the Polish Nation would be Soviet occupation of the whole country and - as he stated - an army consisting of infantry and cavalry would not be a threat to the Germans.

German stance

Berlin, however, expressed no interest in re-establishment of the Polish Army and did not treat Studnicki seriously. In early 1940 Joseph Goebbels met with the Pole, telling him that such units were not considered necessary. It must be noted that Studnicki during the same meeting vehemently protested against Nazi atrocities in occupied Poland, for which later he was imprisoned in the infamous Pawiak jail in Warsaw.

According to some sources, right after the September Campaign, the Nazis, not knowing what to do with their part of Poland, were thinking about creating so-called “Rump State (Reststaat). They contacted Wincenty Witos, offering him the post of a prime minister, but he refused. Also, Joseph Stalin officially an ally of Germany at the time, opposed such ideas,Fact|date=October 2008 stating that Poland as such ceased to exist and there was no point in creating it again.

Volkslists

There were also thousands of Ethnic Poles who served in German forces during the war. Most of them were people who accepted so-called Volksliste. In several areas, mainly Upper Silesia and Zaolzie, Poles were forced to sign these documents. Rejection of Volksliste often led to deportation to a concentration camp. Many people were compelled by force, and many took Volksliste fearing consequences. Those who took Volksliste were later drafted to Wehrmacht and other German forces. According to some sources, the Volksliste was signed by up to 90% of inhabitants of Polish part of Upper Silesia (the Germans themselves were shocked by this number). Paradoxically - most of those who did not sign the list survived the war, as they were not called to the German Armed Forces.

Adolf Hitler and his Opinion

Several generals of the Wehrmacht highly appreciated Polish soldiers. Erich von dem Bach stated during the Warsaw Uprising: “The Poles are fighting like heroes”, general Walter von Reichenau said after the Battle of Mokra: “I have never seen soldiers fighting with such passion”.

Felix Steiner from Waffen SS wrote in his book “Die Freiwilligen der Waffen-SS. Idee und Opfergang” that he based his organization on the Legionnaires of Józef Piłsudski. According to him, the young Polish patriots and their leader were the ideal form of “kameradenschaft” - a specific union between soldiers and their officers, based on mutual understanding.

It is not known what Hitler thought about Poles as soldiers, but one fact is certain - he distrusted them. His opinion about Polish soldiers was based on notions of Erich Ludendorff, who reminded Hitler that during World War I majority of Poles did not want to fight for Germany.

On March 30, 1943 the Headquarters of the SS refused to create Polish units, citing the following reasons:

* thousands of Poles fled both German and Austrian armies in the years 1917–1918,

* racial and biological differences,

* propaganda reasons - creation of Polish units would mean that Poles and Germans should be officially treated as equal,

* unsupportive stance of SD,

* the fact that the Poles themselves were not willing to die for Germany.

Volunteers

It is impossible to establish how many Poles would have volunteered if such possibility had been created. Several historians, including Jerzy Kochanowski, claim that finding personnel would not have been difficult. In the spring of 1940, the Soviets easily convinced a group of captured Polish officers (such as Zygmunt Berling) to betray their fatherland and cooperate with them (those who refused to cooperate were murdered in the Katyn Massacre). Probably the Germans would have achieved same results. Also, some other reasons support this notion:

* in 1939 and early 1940 German terror in occupied territories was not fully developed yet,

* news about atrocities committed by Soviet occupiers in Eastern Poland were numerous,

* large segments of Polish population were strongly anti-Soviet.

German-Soviet War

When on June 22, 1941 Germany attacked Soviet Union (see: Operation Barbarossa), Studnicki renewed his proposal. However, Berlin refused again and Studnicki was imprisoned. In the summer of 1941 the Nazis placed huge screens in Warsaw, showing newsreels from the front. The speaker said that “all European nations were fighting the Bolsheviks but Poles”. This propaganda gesture would have meant that some efforts had been taken, but the Germans must have changed their minds, deciding to create Belarussian and Ukrainian units only.

Katyn Case

In May 1943, after discovery of graves of Polish Officers in Katyn (see: Katyn Massacre), German propaganda started indicating that Polish volunteers would be needed. There was a rumor that the Nazis offered leadership of the Division to General Wladyslaw Bortnowski, but he refused. Finally, on June 19, 1943 both Heinrich Himmler and Hans Frank suggested to Hitler that he should give permission for creation of Polish units. Frank explained that the discovery of Katyn made the Poles angry and willing to take revenge on the Soviets, but Hitler bluntly refused.

End of Occupation

Since spring of 1944, when the Germans realized that the war was lost, they started to look for ways of getting in touch with Polish politicians. According to reports sent to Government In Exile in London, Gestapo officials in several Polish cities were trying to talk about creating a common, anti-Communist front with the Poles, a thing that had been unheard of before. Also, the Nazis tried again to talk Wincenty Witos into issuing an appeal, but he refused.

Heinrich Himmler again came to Hitler asking for permission for organization of Polish units, but the Fuehrer stated that only Belarusians and Ukrainians, citizens of Polish Second Republic, were allowed to serve as auxiliaries. In the fall of 1944, after collapse of the Warsaw Uprising, Hitler finally allowed Poles to create their units.

On October 24, 1944, the Headquarters of Wehrmacht officially announced this decision. Polish volunteers were going to wear German uniforms with armband with description “Im Dienst der deutschen Wehrmacht” ("Serving the German Wehrmacht"). Also, in Krakow, a propaganda poster was printed, in which a Polish worker puts aside a shovel and takes a gun, handed to him by a German soldier. News about this idea generated confusion, as people were afraid of conscription. However, German officials placated the Poles stating that they did not treat it seriously.

Creation of Polish Unit

On November 4, 1944 Headquarters of the Central Group of German Army (Heeresgruppe Mitte) announced basic principles. Germans were hoping that some 12,000 Poles would volunteer. They were promised same treatment as German soldiers, including salaries, death insurance and health service.

In late fall of 1944, in several Polish towns offices for volunteers were created, some of them decorated with Polish flags. However, only 471 people signed up, in spite of German fabrications, stating that the Home Army announced its alliance with the Nazis. Desperate, the occupiers tried to use prisoners, but also with no success. Out of those who volunteered, most went AWOL after some time. In January 1945, in the course of the Vistula-Oder Offensive, the Red Army overran the remaining Polish territory still in German hands, thus rendering this attempt to enlist Poles into German service largely moot.

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* R. Majewski, Wrocław godzina "0", Wrocław 2002,
* http://www.odkrywca.pl/pokaz_watek.php?id=219303
* Jerzy Kochanowski. Wyrwy w szeregu. Polacy do Wehrmachtu, czyli pomysły na kolaborację, (Polityka 07/2001).
* http://www2.tygodnik.com.pl/tp/2811/kraj05.php
* http://www.wsp.krakow.pl/konspekt/14/esej.html
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