Poles in The Wehrmacht - German Stance

German Stance

At the end of the Polish September Campaign, some German politicians had proposed the creation of a polnische Reststaat ("Polish Rump State"), i.e. a memorandum of Hans Adolf von Moltke on September 23, 1939, and Hitler's Speech of October 6, 1939, to the Reichstag, Berlin ("der entstehende polnische Reststaat"). The Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete ("General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories") was established by the Führer's decree of October 12, 1939, which came into force on October 26, 1939. The Germans contacted Wincenty Witos, offering him the post of Prime Minister, but he declined the offer. Joseph Stalin, at that time an ally of Nazi Germany, opposed such an idea, stating that Poland had ceased to exist and there was no point in re-creating it. During that time the name "Poland" was forbidden in the Soviet Union.

Władysław Studnicki, a pro-German Polish activist and publicist during the interwar period as early as November 20, 1939 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 the Soviet occupation of the whole country and - as he stated - an army consisting of infantry and cavalry would not be a significant threat to the Germans. Berlin, however, expressed no interest in re-establishing the Polish Army. In early 1940 Joseph Goebbels met with Studnicki, telling him that such units were not considered necessary. Studnicki, during the same meeting, vehemently protested against Nazi atrocities in occupied Poland, for which he was later imprisoned in the infamous Pawiak jail in Warsaw.