For a long time, historians talked only about the service of the Poles in the armies that fought against Nazi Germany, including Polish formations on the territory of the USSR. This was largely due to the creation of socialist Poland (when it was tacitly decided to forget about the sins of pre-war Poland) and the historical concept, from which it followed that the Poles were exclusively victims of Nazi Germany. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Poles fought in the Wehrmacht, SS and police on the side of the Third Reich.
Poles in the Wehrmacht and SS
For the leadership of the Third Reich, the Poles were historical enemies. However, firstly, the Nazis tried to colonize Poland, and for this they used the principle of "divide and rule". The Germans distinguished various Slavic ethnic groups that had not yet become part of the Polish nation. In particular, the Kashubians - in Pomorie, the Mazurs - in Prussia, the Silesians - in Western Poland (Silesia), the Gurals (highlanders) - in the Polish Tatras. Polish Protestants also stood out. These ethnic groups related to Poles and Protestants were considered to be privileged groups related to the Germans. Many Silesians or Kashubians saw in the loyalty of the German administration a possibility of national revival, which did not exist during the Great Poland policy of 1919-1939.
Secondly, in the war on the Eastern Front, where losses were constantly growing, Berlin needed manpower. Therefore, the Nazis turned a blind eye to the service of the Poles in the Wehrmacht (as well as the Jews). At the same time, some of the Poles enlisted in the army as Germans. In the fall of 1939, a census was held, where people had to decide on their nationality, many called themselves Germans in order to avoid repression. And those who called themselves Germans fell under the law on universal military service.
As a result, the Poles served everywhere: on the Western and Eastern Fronts, in Africa with Rommel and in the occupation forces in Greece. The Slavs were considered good soldiers, disciplined and brave. Usually they were simple workers and peasants, good "material" for the infantry. Thousands of Silesians were awarded the Iron Crosses, several hundred received the Knight's Crosses, the highest German military award. However, the Slavs were not nominated for non-commissioned officer and officer positions, they did not trust them, they were afraid of their transfer to Polish units that fought for the USSR and for the Western democracies. The Germans did not create separate Silesian or Pomeranian units. Also, the Poles did not serve in the tank forces, the Air Force, the Navy, and the special services. This was largely due to the lack of knowledge of the German language. There was no time to teach them the language. They taught only the most elementary expressions and commands. They were even allowed to speak Polish.
The exact number of Polish citizens who wore German uniforms is unknown. The Germans counted only the Poles, who were drafted before the autumn of 1943. Then, 200 thousand soldiers were taken from the Polish Upper Silesia and Pomerania, which were annexed to the Third Reich. However, recruitment to the Wehrmacht continued further, and on an even wider scale. As a result, by the end of 1944, up to 450 thousand citizens of pre-war Poland were drafted into the Wehrmacht. According to Professor Ryszard Kaczmarek, director of the Institute of History at the University of Silesia, author of the book Poles in the Wehrmacht, about half a million Poles from Upper Silesia and Pomerania passed through the German armed forces. The rest of the Poles who lived in the territory of the General Government were not drafted into the armed forces of the Third Reich. Killed, when compared with the losses of the Wehrmacht, up to 250 thousand Poles. It is also known that the Red Army captured, according to incomplete data, over 60 thousand Wehrmacht servicemen of Polish nationality; the western allies captured more than 68 thousand Poles; about 89 thousand more people went over to the army of Anders (some deserted, some came from prisoner of war camps).
It is also known about the presence of Poles in the SS troops. During the battles on the Russian front, Polish volunteers were noted in the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head", in the 4th SS Police Grenadier Division, in the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division and in the 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "January 30 ".
At the final stage of the war, the so-called więtokrzyskie Brigade, or the “Brigade of the Holy Cross,” formed from Polish Nazis who adhered to radical anti-communist and anti-Semitic views, and who took part in the genocide of Jews, were admitted to the SS troops. Its commander was Colonel Anthony Shatsky. The więtokrzysk brigade, created in the summer of 1944 (over 800 fighters), fought against pro-communist military formations in Poland (Ludov's army), Soviet partisans. In January 1945, the brigade entered hostilities with Soviet troops and became part of the German forces. From its composition, sabotage groups were formed for actions in the rear of the Red Army.
Together with the Germans, the brigade of the Holy Cross retreated from Poland to the territory of the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (occupied Czechoslovakia). There, her soldiers and officers received the status of SS volunteers, were partly dressed in SS uniforms, but with Polish insignia. The composition of the brigade was replenished by Polish refugees and grew to 4 thousand people. In April, the brigade was sent to the front, its task was to guard the rear in the frontline zone, fight against Czech partisans and Soviet reconnaissance groups. In early May 1945, the Polish SS men retreated westward to meet the advancing Americans. On the way, to alleviate their fate, they liberated part of the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Golisov. The Americans received the Polish SS men, entrusted them with the protection of German prisoners of war, and then allowed them to take refuge in the American occupation zone. In post-war Poland, servicemen of the Holy Cross Brigade were convicted in absentia.
Polish police
In the fall of 1939, the Germans began to form a Polish auxiliary police - the "Polish Police of the General Government" (Polnische Polizei im Generalgouvernement). The former police officers of the Polish Republic were taken into its ranks. By February 1940, the Polish police numbered 8, 7 thousand people, in 1943 - 16 thousand people. By the color of the uniform, she was called the "blue police". She was involved in criminal offenses and smuggling. Also, the Polish police were involved by the Germans in the security, guard and patrol service, participated in the arrests, deportations of Jews, and the protection of Jewish ghettos. After the war, 2 thousand former "blue" police officers were recognized as war criminals, about 600 people were sentenced to death.
In the spring of 1943, with the beginning of the extermination of the Polish population of Volhynia by the bandits of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the German authorities formed Polish police battalions. They were supposed to replace the Ukrainian police battalions in Volyn, which were part of the General Government and went over to the side of the UPA. The Poles joined the 102nd, 103rd, 104th police battalions of mixed composition, as well as the police battalion of the 27th Volyn Infantry Division. In addition, 2 Polish police battalions were created - 107th (450 people) and 202nd (600 people). They, together with the German troops and the police, fought with the UPA units. Also, Polish police battalions interacted with Polish self-defense units and participated in punitive operations against the West Russian population. The police battalions were subordinate to the SS command in Volhynia and in the Belarusian Polesie.
The Polish police were dressed in the uniform of the German military police. At first they had Soviet captured weapons, then they received German carbines, submachine guns and light machine guns.
At the beginning of 1944, soldiers of the 107th Polish Police Battalion went over to the side of the Home Army. The soldiers of the 202nd battalion in May 1944 became part of the SS troops, and in August 1944 the battalion was defeated and scattered in battles with the Red Army in the Warsaw region.
Jewish police
Also, citizens of the former Polish Republic served in the Jewish police. After the occupation, the entire Jewish population of Poland was forcibly concentrated in special and protected areas - the ghetto. These areas had internal self-government and their own law enforcement service (Judischer Ordnungsdienst). The ghetto police recruited former employees of the Polish police, soldiers and officers of the Polish army, Jews by nationality. The Jewish police ensured the protection of order inside the ghetto, took part in raids, escorts during the resettlement and deportation of Jews, ensured the execution of orders of the German authorities, etc. Ordinary police officers did not have firearms, only clubs, officers were armed with pistols. There were about 2,500 police officers in the largest Warsaw ghetto, 1,200 in the Lodz ghetto, and 150 in Krakow.
During arrests, round-ups, deportations, etc., the Jewish police purposefully and rigidly followed the orders of the Germans. Some collaborators were sentenced to death and killed by Jewish Resistance fighters. A small part of the police, from the rank and file, tried to help the destroyed tribesmen. With the destruction of the ghetto, the Nazis also liquidated the Jewish police, most of its members were killed. After the war, Israel's intelligence services sought out and prosecuted the surviving members of the Jewish police and other traitors.
After the end of World War II, Poland became part of the socialist camp. Therefore, it was decided not to stir up the dark past of Poland and its citizens. The historical theory was accepted that the Poles were exclusively victims of Hitlerite Germany. This view also dominates in modern Poland. The Polish soldiers of the Wehrmacht and other units of the Third Reich themselves tried not to remember the shameful service. The participants in the war wrote memoirs about the service in the army of Anders, the 1st Polish army as part of the Red Army (1st Army of the Polish Army), in partisan detachments. They tried not to talk about service in the Wehrmacht. Those who were captured in the West after the war and returned to their homeland underwent a rehabilitation procedure. Usually there were no problems with this. They were ordinary hard workers, miners, peasants, people far from politics and ashamed of the countless crimes that the Nazis committed.
