Jump to content

Polish prisoners of war in World War II

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Polish prisoners of war in World War II were soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces captured by Germany and the Soviet Union during and after their invasion of Poland in 1939 (see also Soviet invasion of Poland). Following the defeat of Poland, tens of thousands of Polish soldiers were interned in camps, with many subjected to forced labor, harsh conditions, and political repression. While some prisoners were later released or escaped to join resistance movements, others suffered severe mistreatment or were executed, most notably during the Katyn massacre.

Total numbers

[edit]

Polish POWs: all POWs after invasion of Poland: estimates range 650,000[1]-1 039 800[1] with the lower estimates based on number of soldiers held at POW camps and the higher, for all soldiers as well as similar groups (ex. policeman) taken into custody (many were quickly released). Out of these: 420,000[1]-694,000[2]: 28  held by Germany, and 125,000[3], 190,000,[3] 300,000[2]: 28  or 452 500[1] held by the USSR following the Soviet invasion of Poland.

More Polish soldiers would be captured later in the war as Poland created several armies in exile;[2]: 37  for example, 60,000 were captured after fall of France.[4]: 15  15,000 Polish partisans taken into custody after the Warsaw Uprising were recognized as prisoners of war and deported to POW camps.[2]: 294 

Tens of thousands of Polish POWs were "exchanged" between Germany and the USSR based on their domicile location within the relevant occupation zone.[2]: 35–36 

In Germany

[edit]
Main article: German atrocities committed against Polish prisoners of war

During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers became prisoners of war. During the invasion, Nazi Germany carried out a number of atrocities involving Polish prisoners of war (POWs).[2]: 28  The first documented massacres of Polish POWs took place as early as the first day of the war;[5] : 11  others followed (ex. the Serock massacre [pl] of 5 September).[6]: 31 [7] During that period, the Wehrmacht is estimated to have mass-murdered at least 3,000 Polish POWs,[8]: 121 [9]: 241  with the largest atrocities being the Ciepielów massacre of 8 September 1939 (~300 victims[2]: 29 ) and the Zambrów massacre of 13–14 September (~200 victims).[7] Most of those atrocities are classified as war crimes of the Wehrmacht.[7]

Polish POWs were initially held in temporary camps, and soon moved to more permanent ones (Oflags for officers and Stalags for soldiers of lower ranks).[2]: 33–34 

Conditions of Polish POWs have been described as "much worse" than those of Western Allies.[10][6]: 34 [2]: 36–37  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.[6]: 34  Many Polish POWs were used as forced laborers.[6]: 35 [2]: 10  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.[11][2]: 38–40  Few dozens Polish officers were executed after having been recaptured during the failed escape attempt in 1943 from the Oflag VI-B.[6]: 36 

In the Soviet Union

[edit]
Main article: Polish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union after 1939

As a result of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers became prisoners of war. Many of them were executed; 22,000 Polish military personnel and civilians perished in the Katyn massacre alone.[12][13] The Katyn massacre was covered up in communist regimes, including Poland, until the fall of communism, and was only discussed by the Western and Polish emigre historians until that time.[2]: 27 

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Straty osobowe wojsk polskich, niemieckich i sowieckich - Polskie miesiące". polskiemiesiace.ipn.gov.pl. 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Moore, Bob (2022-05-05). Prisoners of War: Europe: 1939-1956. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198840398.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-187597-7.
  3. ^ a b Tuszynski, Marek; Denda, Dale F. (1999). "Soviet War Crimes Against Poland During the Second World War and Its Aftermath: A Review of the Factual Record and Outstanding Questions". The Polish Review. 44 (2): 183–216. ISSN 0032-2970.
  4. ^ Rollings, Charles (2011-08-31). Prisoner Of War: Voices from Behind the Wire in the Second World War. Ebury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4464-9096-9.
  5. ^ Datner, Szymon (1962). Crimes Committed by the Wehrmacht During the September Campaign and the Period of Military Government. Drukarnia Univ.
  6. ^ a b c d e Chinnery, Philip D. (2018-04-30). Hitler's Atrocities Against Allied PoWs: War Crimes of the Third Reich. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5267-0189-3.
  7. ^ a b c Sudoł, Tomasz (2011). "Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu na jeńcach polskich we wrześniu 1939 roku" [Wehrmacht crimes against Polish prisoners of war in September 1939] (PDF). Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. 8–9 (129–130). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  8. ^ Snyder, Timothy (2 October 2012). Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-03297-6. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  9. ^ Böhler, Jochen (2006). Auftakt zum Vernichtungskrieg: die Wehrmacht in Polen 1939 (in German). Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-596-16307-6. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  10. ^ MacKenzie, S. P. (September 1994). "The Treatment of Prisoners of War in World War II". The Journal of Modern History. 66 (3): 487–520. doi:10.1086/244883. ISSN 0022-2801.
  11. ^ Ulrich Herbert (16 March 1999). "The Army of Millions of the Modern Slave State: Deported, used, forgotten: Who were the forced workers of the Third Reich, and what fate awaited them?". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  12. ^ Fischer, Benjamin B., "The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field", Studies in Intelligence, Winter 1999-2000.
  13. ^ Sanford, George (2005). Katyn and the Soviet Massacre of 1940: Truth, Justice and Memory. Routledge. pp. 20–24. ISBN 978-0-415-33873-8.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polish_prisoners_of_war_in_World_War_II&oldid=1263383102"