Expulsion of Polish Population
Germany planned to completely remove the indigenous population of Poland. According to the Lebensraum ideology, their place was to be taken by the German military and civilian settlers. During the occupation, more than one million Poles were expelled by German authorities, including 923,000 Poles ethnically cleansed from territories Germany annexed into the Reich.
These expulsions were carried out so abruptly that ethnic Germans being resettled in the homes with half-eaten meals on tables and unmade beds where small children had been sleeping at the time of expulsion. Members of Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls were assigned the task of overseeing such evictions to ensure that the Poles left behind most of their belongings for the use of the settlers.
Read more about this topic: Nazi Crimes Against Ethnic Poles
Famous quotes containing the words expulsion, polish and/or population:
“The Expulsion from Eden is an act of vindictive womanish spite; the Fall of Man, as recounted in the Bible, comes nearer to the Fall of God.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)
“Use the stones of another hill to polish your own jade.”
—Chinese proverb.
“In our large cities, the population is godless, materialized,—no bond, no fellow-feeling, no enthusiasm. These are not men, but hungers, thirsts, fevers, and appetites walking. How is it people manage to live on,—so aimless as they are? After their peppercorn aims are gained, it seems as if the lime in their bones alone held them together, and not any worthy purpose.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)