During theGerman invasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II,Nazi Germany carried out a number of atrocities involving Polishprisoners of war (POWs). During that period, the Wehrmacht is estimated to have mass-murdered at least 3,000 Polish POWs, with the largest atrocities being theCiepielów massacre of 8 September 1939 (~300 victims) and theZambrów massacre of 13–14 September (~200 victims). Most of those atrocities are classified aswar crimes of the Wehrmacht. Jewish soldiers with the Polish Army were also more likely than others to be victims of various atrocities.
A number of other atrocities against Polish POWs occurred later in the war, particularly on theEastern Front, with the largest atrocities in 1945 committed atPodgaje (~200 victims) andHorka (~300 victims).
Before the war began, the Wehrmacht high command issued manyradical and racist communiqués to its soldiers. In them, it warned soldiers against the alleged "fanatic" hatred of Poles towards the Germans and warned them to expect guerrilla warfare, sabotage and diversion, likely to be organized by Polish soldiers dressed in civilian clothes. This mentality likely increased the number of atrocities committed by the Germans on both Polish prisoners of war and civilians.[1][2]: 31 According toGeoffrey P. Megargee, such war crimes were the result of contempt for Poles and Polish soldiers, encouraged byNazi propaganda, which described them as German-hatingUntermenschen; and lack of preparation, resources, and will to secure surrendered Polish soldiers. In addition, plans formulated by theGerman General Staff, prior to the invasion, authorized theSS to carry out security tasks on behalf of the army that included the imprisonment or execution of Polish citizens, whether Jewish or gentile.[3]: 13
Further, German officers often treated Polish soldiers of disorganized units captured behind German lines aspartisans, not asregular soldiers, and felt justified in ordering theirsummary executions.[1] On 4 September 1939, theEinsatzgruppen operating in Poland received an instruction to immediately court-martial and execute all alleged Polish partisans (Freischärler). In fact, this instruction led to mass executions of members belonging to Polish paramilitary formations and ad-hoc citizens watches (Straże Obywatelskie). These individuals were routinely labeled as "partisans" and summarily executed, even though they openly carried weapons and wore identifying marks or armbands as required by theHague Convention.[4]: 65–66, 90–92
Numerous examples exist in which Polish soldiers were killed after capture.[5]: 11 [6]: 179–185 Polish historianSzymon Datner listed 64 "instances of Polish prisoners being shot in captivity", and a number of other executions "where there had been some supposed provocation".[2]: 30 Timothy Snyder, an American historian wrote that over 3,000 Polish POWs were killed in at least 63 separate shooting actions in which they were often forced to take their uniforms off.[7]: 121 German historianJochen Böhler also provided the same estimate, writing that the Wehrmacht mass murdered at least 3,000 Polish POWs during the campaign.[8]: 241 Polish-American historianTadeusz Piotrowski estimated the victims to be 1,000 POWs executed by the German army in September 1939, several hundred more executed byGestapo, and about 1,200 members of theNational Defense, as well as other volunteers like the post office workers involved in theDefence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig.[9]: 23 Bob Moore suggested an even higher estimate, writing that "some 10,000 Polish servicemen who should have been considered as prisoners of war died at the hands of their captors during and immediately after the five weeks of war."[2]: 33
Already on the first day of invasion (1 September 1939), Polish POWs were murdered by theWehrmacht at:Pilchowice,Czuchów, Gierałtowice, Bojków,Lubliniec, Kochcice, Zawiść, Ornontowice andWyry.[5]: 11
Polish historianTomasz Sudoł notes that several dozen of larger incidents can be documented, and that the number of smaller incidents – such as executions of individual soldiers – is "significant", but hard to estimate.[1] With regards to the larger incidents, he mentions, chronologically, the massacres at:
There were also incidents such as theKatowice massacre on 4 September, where among the 80 or so victims of local militia, it is estimated that there were some Polish soldiers who failed to evacuate with the larger formations.[1][9]: 23
In addition to massacres of POWs, there have been instances of refusal to provide medical aid to wounded soldiers, torture and other abuse of prisoners and repression against families and other relatives of the soldiers.[1]
The prisoners in the temporary POW camp inŻyrardów, captured after theBattle of the Bzura, were denied any food and starved for ten days.[8]: 189 In some cases Polish POWs were burned alive. Units of thePolish 7th Infantry Division were massacred after being captured in several individual acts of revenge for their resistance in combat. On 11 September,Wehrmacht soldiers threw hand grenades into a school building where they kept Polish POWs.[11]: 20–35 [12]: 67–74 In one documented incident, German tanks shelled a clearly marked Polish field hospital.[7]: 121 On 14 September 1939, troops of the206th Infantry Division perpetrated a massacre of 30 Polish POWs and 23 civilians inOlszewo, in revenge for the losses suffered in the battle against theSuwalska Cavalry Brigade.[13]
Most of those atrocities are classified aswar crimes of the Wehrmacht, as they occurred during the period of military occupation of Poland (untll 25 September).[1]
German atrocities against Polish POWs have been discussed in the context of German later and evenmore extreme atrocities against Soviet POWs, as setting the stage for them.[2]: 27–28, 483 [14]: 34 [6]: 179–185 They have also led a number of historians to conclude that Germany violated theGeneva convection from early days of the war.[15]: xv–xvi [16][2]: 30, 32–33 [6]: 179–185
As a prelude toThe Holocaust, Polish POWs of Jewish origin were routinely selected and shot on the spot.[1][17]
In transit camps for the Polish prisoners of war (German transit camps for prisoners of war [de],Durchgangslagers or Dulags) as well as inStalags where privates and non-commissioned officers were held, the German military authorities established "inner ghettos" where Jewish POWs, were segregated from non-Jewish soldiers of thePolish Armed Forces. The treatment of Jewish POWs was harsher, and they were often assigned the most strenuous and degrading labor tasks. The Germans had plans to establish "inner ghettos" inOflags as well, but in many cases they encountered opposition from Polish officers. Ultimately, for reasons unknown, "inner ghettos" for Jewish officers were only created in certain Oflags.[18]
In December 1939 the German military authorities initiated the process of releasing the Jewish privates and NCOs from Stalags.[18] In most cases, these soldiers were transferred to thelabor camp at Lipowa Street inLublin, which at that time also served as a transit camp for Jewish POWs. Due to the harsh conditions during transportation, many of them perished from freezing temperatures or died of starvation in the freight cars. The fate of approximately 500 Jewish POWs, who before the war had resided inPolish territories now annexed by Nazi Germany, was particularly tragic. In February 1940, as theJudenrat in Lublin refused to accommodate them, the Germans forced the POWs to undertake a march on foot, enduring freezing temperatures, to the city ofBiała Podlaska, located 130 kilometers away. During this "death march", several hundred POWs were murdered. The remaining POWs were transferred from Lipowa Street camp to ghettos in theGeneral Government before the end of May 1940.[19] WhenOperation Reinhard commenced, they shared the same fate as other Jews.[18]
Between December 1940 and February 1941, a minimum of 2,120 Jewish POWs, who had previously lived inPolish territories that were annexed by the Soviet Union, were permanently imprisoned at the Lipowa Street camp. The majority of them were murdered during theoperation Harvest Festival in November 1943.[20]
The fate of the Jewish officers was different. They remained in Oflags and majority of them survived the war.[18][21]: 236
Polish POWs were held in German camps (Oflags for officers andStalags for soldiers of lower ranks). Polish POWs at POW camps, temporary or long-term, have been poorly treated; Bob Moore noted that "some of the [poor] conditions could be ascribed to the speed of the German victory and the lack of adequate preparation, [but] there is no doubt that ill-treatment was also deliberately inflicted."[2]: 30 Conditions of Polish POWs have been described as "much worse" than those of Western Allies[22][14]: 34 [2]: 36–37 with numerous infractions of the conditions stipulated by theGeneva convection.[2]: 33 Some prisoners died due to malnutrition and environmental conditions;[2]: 34–35 for example in January 1940 a group of 2,000 sick POWs were decreed to be released and transported from Germany to Poland; however, a tenth of them have frozen to death during the transport.[14]: 34 Some POWs were used asforced laborers.[22][14]: 35 [2]: 38–40 Within several months, almost all non-officer prisoners of war (estimates range at 300,000-480,000) were stripped of their POW status and forced to work in Nazi Germany.[23][2]: 38–40 Few dozens Polish officers were executed after having been recaptured during the failed escape attempt in 1943 from theOflag VI-B.[14]: 36
Germanyconscripted some Poles into its army; subsequently, some switched sides and joined the Allies side. Germans treated those who have been captured not as POWs but as deserters, to be put on trial.[2]: 38
On 1 August 1944, the PolishHome Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) initiated anuprising against the Nazis in Warsaw. In accordance with the Hague Convention, the insurgents openly carried weapons and wore identifying white and red Home Army armbands.[24] On 30 August 1944, the governments of the United States and United Kingdom officially recognized the Home Army as an integral part of thePolish Armed Forces in the West. They also issued a warning that any reprisals against its soldiers would be punished after the war.[25] Additionally, on 3 September 1944, theDeutsches Nachrichtenbüro [de] issued a communique acknowledging thecombatant status of Home Army members. However, despite these declarations, the German forces continued to execute captured insurgents, including the wounded, until the final days of the uprising.[24][25]
On 2 September 1944, following the capture of Warsaw'sOld Town, German forces and their collaborators massacred at least 1,000 Polish POWs.[26] Among the victims were predominantly severely wounded soldiers who had been left behind after the evacuation of Home Army forces through the city's sewers toŚródmieście. The methods of execution included shooting and burning individuals alive. In some instances, Polish nurses who had stayed with the wounded soldiers were raped and subsequently executed.[27]
Executions of POWs and massacres in military hospitals also took place during the battles in other districts of Warsaw, includingWola,Ochota,Mokotów,Powiśle,Solec.[25][28] In the case of the latter, after the district was ultimately captured by German forces on 23 September 1944, some victims, including five nurses and military chaplain FrJózef Stanek, were hanged by SS members. On 27 September 1944, following the fall of Mokotów, approximately 140 AK soldiers who had become disoriented in the sewers and mistakenly surfaced near the German barracks were executed by members of theOrdnungspolizei at Dworkowa Street.[25]
Captured insurgents were routinely executed by German forces until the end of September 1944.[29] However, when the negotiations on the capitulation of Warsaw started, a different approach was adopted. According to the capitulation treaty, which was signed on October 3, 1944, the German side agreed to respect the combatant status of AK soldiers.[30] Consequently, after thecapitulation of the Polish forces in Warsaw, approximately 15,000 insurgents, including around 900 officers, were taken captive and sent to POW camps in Germany.[25][2]: 294
Polish prisoners of war were also executed later in the war. Piotrowski writes that "some Polish officers captured in 1944 in Hungary and several hundred POWs from thePolish People's Army captured in 1944–45 were also killed." In February 1945, during the breakthrough of thePomeranian Wall, approximately 150–200 POWs were executed by the Germans inPodgaje, an event known as thePodgaje massacre of 2 February 1945.[9]: 23 [31]
Some Polish POWs were executed after being captured trying to escape from German internment camps, including 37 officers captured during the escape fromGerman prisoner-of-war campOflag VI-B inDössel in 1943,[32][33][34] andsix Polish airman among the few dozen of Allied victims of the Great Escape in 1944 from the campStalag Luft III inŻagań (theStalag Luft III murders).[35]
During theBattle of Bautzen in April 1945, Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units committed numerous war crimes against POWs and wounded soldiers from thePolish Second Army. One of the most notorious crimes occurred on 26 April 1945, near the village ofHorka, close toCrostwitz. In that location, Wehrmacht soldiers massacred the hospital column of the Polish 15th Sanitary Battalion, resulting in the deaths of around 300 POWs, including wounded soldiers and members of the medical personnel (theHorka massacre [pl]).[36]
German atrocities committed against Polish prisoners of war have been poorly documented until recently. Much of the wartime documentation written by the Polish Red Cross was lost during the war, and the prisoner-of-war massacres from 1939 were often overshadowed by the subsequent crimes committed on civilian population.[1]
Even after the war ended, as late as mid-1970s, some German courts dismissed accusations that German troops committed war crimes, claimed that the executed individuals were not wearing military uniforms, or that the evidence of atrocities is lacking or poorly documented.[1]
Much of the pioneering research on this topic was done in the mid-20th century by Polish historianSzymon Datner.[1] More recent research into this has been carried out by German historianJochen Böhler.[1][37][38][39] Tomasz Sudoł, writing in 2011, noted that the topic of German atrocities committed against Polish prisoners of war is still an understudied field with a number of questions waiting to be properly researched.[1]