LOWER Sll..ESIA FROM NAZI GERMANY TO COMMUNIST POLAND, 1942-49

Lower Silesia froiD Nazi Germany to Com01unist Poland, 1942-49 Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach

M St. Martin's Press

© Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach 1994 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1994 978-0-333-53272-0

All ri~hts reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the pmvisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London Wl P 9HE.

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First published in Great Britain 1994 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

This book is published in the St Antony' siMacmiflan Series General Editor: Alex Pravda

A catal1>gue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-349-23218-5 ISBN 978-1-349-23216-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-23216-1

First published in the United States of America 1994 by Scholarly and Reference Division, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-08533-8

Library elf Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Siebel-Achenbach, Sebastian, 1958-Lower Silesia from Nazi Gem1any to communist Poland, 1942-49 I Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-08533-8 I. Silcsia, Lower (Poland and Gem1any)-History. DK460().S448S54 1994 943.8'5-dc20

I. Title.

92-14070 CIP

To Margot and Wigand whose generosity and confidence helped me over more than one hurdle and who provided much inspiration and courage

Contents

List of Maps, Tables, Documents and Illustrations viii

Preface X

List of Acronyms xiv

Glossary of Place Names xvii

Acknowledgements XX

1 Introduction 1

2 The Historical Context 6

3 Wartime Allied Negotations 31

4 Lower Silesia in the Second World War 56

5 Sovereignty Transfonned: Yalta and Potsdam 83

6 Expulsion of the Gennans 117

7 Polish Beginnings 149

8 The Politics of Lower Silesia 198

9 Diplomatic Revision 227

10 Nietler-Sil!sk in Perspective 266

Notes and References 294 Bibliography of Works Cited 342 Index 361

vii

List of Maps, Tables, Documents and Illustrations Maps

2.1 German Lower Silesia in 1937 2.2 Lower Silesian counties in 1941 3.1 British map outlining Polish-German frontier

configurations, 5 May 1944 5.1 American map detailing the potential territorial

concessions to Poland, 1945 7.1 Polish Lower Silesia in 1981

Tables

8 13

43

88 150

2.1 Silesian area, population, and density on 17 May 1939 15 2.2 Lower Silesians' occupational breakdown, 1925 15 2.3 Silesian per capita income levels, 1913-34 16 2.4 Breslau and Liegnitz electorial districts, election results,

1924-32 18 4.1 Red Army-Wehrmacht ratios, January 1945 56 6.1 Numbers evicted by Poland from the entire ZO and

Lower Silesia, 1945-49 144 6.2 Breakdown of the German Lower Silesian population 145 7.1 Lower Silesian livestock numbers, 1939-46 163 8.1 Polish referendum results, 8 July 1946 216 8.2 Polish election results, 19 January 1947 220

Documents

2.1 Soviet propaganda leaflet dropped into Silesia, 1 December 1944 28

4.1 Two public notices from Hanke, 22 and 28 January 1945 62 4.2 Red Army labour duty order in occupied Lower Silesia,

12 February 1945 66 4.3 Two Soviet propaganda leaflets dropped over •Fortress

Breslau' in March and April 1945 68 4.4 Proclamation by the Red Army to Schomer's troops, 8

May 1945 79 4.5 Capitulation order for •Fortress Breslau', 6 May 1945 81

viii

List of Maps, Tables, Documents and Illustrations ix

5.1 British policy Position on the Polish-German frontier, 14 July 1945 96

5.2 Foreign Office memorandum on the consequences of the envisioned frontier, 18 July 1945 97

5.3 Ambassador William A. Harriman's outline of the Truman-Bierut encounter, 24 July 1945 103

5.4 Ambassador William A. Harriman's translations of Mikolajczyk's two memoranda, 28 July 1945 104

5.5 Draft memorandum by Assistant Under-Secretary of State Oliver Charles Harvey concerning the transfer of German populations from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, 7 July 1945 111

6.1 Directive by Voivode Piaskowski to the inhabitants of Lower Silesia and southern Brandenburg in German and Polish, April 1945 118

6.2 Robert Murphy's dispatch to the State Department outlining the situation in the frontier town of Zittau with an enclosed German report of 20 June 1945 and a Polish expulsion decree of 21 June 1945 123

6.3 Representative list of Germans to be transported as deportees from Panthenau on 18 April 1946 141

7.1 Report on food situation in Lower Silesia, 20 August 1946 171

7.2 Ration· distribution in post-war Poland 176 7.3 UNRRA memorandum on PUR activities in Lower

Silesia, July 1946 190 8.1 US zonal intelligence report on political developments in

the ZO, 9 April 1947 222 9.1 Repatriation agreement, November 1945, and Robert

Murphy's analysis 230 9.2 Ambassador Lane's assessment of repatriation

agreement, 4 December 1945 241 9.3 Letter enclosing memorandum from Wolski about

revised population transfer figures, 8 April 1946 247

Dlustrations

6.1 Front portal of Auschwitz I 134 6.2 German civilians exhuming corpses 134 6.3 Kamienna Gora cemetery scene of April 1946 135 6.4 Display of alleged victims 135

Preface

The genesis of this work originated during the period of detente which saw the first thawing of the Cold War in Europe. During the 1970s, a palpable desire to overcome the legacy of the Second World War was evident, no more so than between two nations most closely associated with that conflagration: Poland and Germany. After a quarter of a century of mutual antipathy and mistrust, at long last these nations were communicating with one another and opening up a dialogue.

What is of interest is why it had taken so long for this rapprochement to occur. The hostility was not entirely explicable by reference to the Second World War, for the aggression between once equally antagonistic France and Germany had abated almost completely before the onset of detente. What had occurred between Germany and Poland to make this reconciliation so much more difficult and protracted?

Part of the mutual hostility arose as much from events that had transpired following the war as during it. By the early 1960s, historical analysis had conclusively highlighted German responsibility for the premeditated aggression and onerous occupation of much of Europe. The East Germans spuriously passed the blame of the Third Reich's guilt onto their Western kinsmen who acknowledged responsibility and showed heartfelt contrition for the transgressions of the entire nation. West Germans generally recognised that though their occupation by France and other tyrannised nations was at times harsh, it was not unjust. It was this willingness to accept chastisement that was instrumental in bringing about genuine reconciliation between these erstwhile enemies.

No similar development occurred between Eastern Europe and Germany during these formative years, aside from perfunctory agreements signed between communist brethren. Both sides were mired in scarcely relenting acrimony and mutual ignorance which the historical record could only gradually relieve. The inaccessibility of documentation or the wanton distortions afflicting much of what was written on their recent history restricted the information that each side possessed of the other. Consequently, the extent of the barbarity in occupied Poland came to the German public's attention incrementally whereas the magnitude of the cruelty inflicted on expelled Germans

X

Preface xi

following the war has only recently come into sharper focus in Poland. Although the Germans were first to be made aware of their misdeeds vis-a-vis their eastern neighbour and the obligation to make restitution for their crimes, it took until 1970 before the first concrete steps were taken. The tardiness of this long overdue initiative was partly due to the severity of the wounds the Germans had endured during the mass eviction; more time was required to heal these than the relatively superficial ones inflicted elsewhere. But there was also anger at the Polish communists' recalcitrance and refusal to reciprocate even tacit acknowledgement of their own transgressions towards their western neighbour.

Warsaw's reluctance to meet the Germans on the same morally­tainted mound was entirely understandable, since it felt that a comparison between the German occupation and its removal of a future irredentist threat was odious. More to the point, even a belated recognition that a wrong had been committed against the indigenous German population might have cast doubt on the legitimacy of Poland's territorial acquisition. Whereas Franco-German relations were not encumbered by significant boundary changes, this was precisely the most vexatious point which did more than anything else to keep Polish-German relations in a state of lingering animus. The validity, and hence the durability, of the Oder-Neisse frontier was the source of much of the rancour, many Germans refusing to relinquish entitlement to a quarter of what had been theirs along with a cultural heritage spanning seven centuries while Poles just as adamantly insisting on de jure recognition of their sovereignty over parts of East Prussia, Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Silesia as proper recompense for all the suffering Germany had inflicted and the only tangible gain the nation could claim as part of the victorious coalition. Though German revisionism was effectively countered by Polish possession under the watchful gaze of the superpowers, the West Germans steadfastly refused to capitulate, preferring to leave relations in abeyance until time conferred its own legitimacy.

Since the signing of the Warsaw Treaty in December 1970, mutual recriminations have eased considerably. The recent formal ratification of the permanence of their mutual border and the receding of the Cold War into oblivion has finally laid to rest the central issue which has bedevilled and impeded the establishment of friendlier relations. A residue of disillusionment remains, but by and large the Oder-Neisse line is accepted as being as final a demarcation as any now standing in Europe. With this recognition, perhaps greater information about their

xii Preface

mutual relations will become more widely disseminated, ushering in a veritable dialogue. In a small way, it is hoped that this book will make a contribution to that end.

Now that almost half a century has elapsed since these contested events took place, sufficient information has now come to light to be able to wipe away the grime and present a reasonably clear picture. Consciously, I have confined myself to a clarification of the facts, largely sidestepping questions of morality and ethics. Whether the territorial transfer and itinerant issues were sound - with the one side arguing that it was a just response to the excesses of a murderous regime and a practical necessity given the power wielded over them by a putative ally, while the other decrying it as retribution on a scarcely imaginable scale out of all proportion to the responsibilities shouldered by those affected and historically untenable - is a matter I have only fleetingly addressed in the final chapter. After all this time, an unequivocal answer is not readily apparent even if time has provided a solution. Throughout, I have attempted to retain a reasonable degree of impartiality to allow the reader to make up his or her own mind. Whether I have succeeded in this, I will leave you to determine.

To facilitate understanding and maintain a degree of neutrality, certain conventions were adopted. With regard to place-names, I have decided to cite the location in the language of the state which held sovereignty at the particular time being discussed. This is a needlessly contentious issue, but it is probably fairest if all those locations cited before the termination of the Potsdam Conference on 2 August 1945 are given in German, and all those after this date in Polish. As sovereignty was ceded de facto at this point, this would seem the proper time to alter the place-names of the locations. A table listing all locations in both languages will be found on pp. xvii-xix.

A further point of clarification is over the use of abbreviations and acronyms; they will be cited in their original language. For example: the Polish PKWN (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego - Polish Committee of National Liberation) will always be used instead of the abbreviated English equivalents, since use of the latter has led to unnecessary confusion in the past.

My thanks for assistance in the preparation of this manuscript go to my former supervisor, Mr Anthony J. Nicholls, for his constructive criticisms over the years, to Mrs Rosemary Thorp, of St Antony's College, Oxford, for retaining the faith that this work would eventually see the light of day, to Mr (soon to be Dr) Francis S. Wyman for many hours of learned discussion on the nature of the Cold War, and to

Preface xiii

Professor Dr Eberhard G. Schulz for his encouragement and generosity. But it is to my parents that I owe most appreciation for their years of patient physical and moral support, and it is to them that I dedicate this work. I should also like to express my appreciation to the many individuals who helped facilitate my numerous research trips and to all those unheralded librarians and archivists for making available the documents which are at the heart of this work.

London, Ontario SEBASTIAN SIEBEL-ACHENBACH

List of Acronyms

ACC AK AVNOJ

BAOR BRD

CFM COGA CORC COSSAC

CRX CSCE DDP

DDR

DNVP

DP DPOW

DVP EAC EEC Gestapo ICRC

IRO KPD

KPP

Allied Control Council Armia Krajowa (Home Army) Antifa8isticko Vijele Narodnog Oslobodjenja Jugoslavije (Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia) British Army on the Rhine Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany) Council of Foreign Ministers Control Office for Germany and Austria (British). Co-ordinating Committee, Allied Control Council Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander (Western front) Combined Repatriation Executive of the ACC Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe Deutsche Demokratische Partei (German Democratic Party) Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic) Deutschnationale Volkspartei (German National People's Party) Displaced person Displaced Persons and Prisoners of War Directorate, one of nine departments within the Allied Control Council in Berlin; also known as PW & DP Directorate Deutsche Volkspartei (German People's Party) European Advisory Commission European Economic Community Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret Police) International Committee of the Red Cross ( Comite International de Ia Croix-Rouge) International Refugee Organisation Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany) Komunistyczna Partia Polski (Communist Party of Poland)

xiv

KRN

MO MON

MZO

NATO ND NKVD

NSDAP

NSFO

OKW

OM GUS

ORMO

oss PAP PCIRO

PKWN

PPR

PPS PSL

PSL-NW

PUBP

PUR

PZPR

RAF

List of Acronyms XV

Krajowa Rada Narodowa (National Home Council, or the National Council for the Homeland) Milicja Obywatelska (Citizens' Militia) Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej (Ministry of National Defence) Ministerstwo Ziem Odzyskanych (Ministry of Recovered or Regained Territories) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Narodowa Demokracja (National Democracy (Party)) Narodovy Komisariat Vnutrennikh Dye/ (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party- 'Nazi' Party). Nationa/sozialistische FiihrungsofflZiere (National Socialist Leadership Officers) Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German Supreme Command) Office of Military Government of the United States' zone in Germany Ochotnicza Rezerwa Milicji Obywatelskiej (Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia) Office of Strategic Services (US) Polska Agencja Prasowa (Polish Press Agency) Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organisation Polski Komitet Wyzwo/enia Narodowego (Polish Committee of National Liberation) Polska Partia Robotnicza (Polish Workers' (Communist) Party) Polska Partia Socja/istyczna (Polish Socialist Party) Po/skie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Polish People's (Peasant) Movement) Po/skie Stronnictwo Ludowe - Nowe Wyzwo/enie (Polish People's (Peasant) Movement - New Liberation) P.owiatowy Urzt¢ Bezpiecznstwa Publicznego (County Offices of Public Security) Panstwowy Urzt¢ Repatriatyczny (Central Repatriation Office) Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (Polish United Workers' Party) Royal Air Force

xvi

Reg.Bez. RKFdV

RM RTRP

SA SBZ SD SED

SHAEF SL SMA SP SPD

ss Stavka

TRJN

UB UNHCR UNRRA USFET WOP Zentrum Zl zo

ZPP

List of Acronyms

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district) Reichskommissar fur die Festigung deutschen Vo/kstums (Reich Commissar for the strengthening of Germandom) Reichsmark (German currency until June 1948) Rzllf] Tymczasowy Rzeczypospo/itej Po/skiej (Provisional Government of the Polish Republic, January-June 1945) Sturmabteilung (Assault Forces) Sowjetische Besatzungszone (Soviet occupation zone) Sicherheitsdienst (Security service of the SS) Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Stronnictwo Ludowe (People's (Peasant) Movement) Soviet Military Administration Stronnictwo Pracy (Movement of Labour) Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) Schutzstaffe/ (Elite guard) Stavka Verkhovnovo G/avnokommandovaniya (Red Army Supreme Command) Tymczasowy Rzllf] Jednosci Narodowej (Provisional Government of National Unity, June 1945- January 1947) Urzllf] Bespieczenstwa (Security Office) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United States Forces, European Theater Wojsko Ochrony Pogranicza (Frontier Defence Force) Zentrumspartei (Centre Party (German Catholic Party)) Zloty (Polish currency, meaning 'piece of gold') Ziemie Odzyskane (Regained or Recovered Territories, also referred to as the Ziemie Zachodnie- Western Territories) Zwi~~Zek Patriotow Polskich (Union of Polish Patriots)

Glossary of Place Names German Other Languages Polish

Agnetendorf Jagniatk6w Allenstein Olsztyn Olsztyil. Bad Landeck 4dek Zdr6j Bad Reinerz Duszniki Zdr6j Bad Warmbrunn Cieplice Sl~kie-Zdr6j Breslau Wroclaw Wroclaw Breslau-K.rietern Wroclaw-Krzyki Brieg Brzeg Brockau Wroclaw-Broch6w Bromberg Bydgoszcz Bunzlau Boleslawiec Danzig Gdansk Gdansk Die ban Dziewin Dram burg Drawsko Pomorskie Dyhernfurth Brzeg Dolny Elbing Elbl~ Ermland Warmia Falkenberg Niemodlin Frankenstein ~bkowice Sl~kie Frankfurt/Oder Slubice Fraustadt Wschowa Freiburg in Schlesien Swiebodzice Freystadt Koruch6w Friedland Mierosz6w Glatz Klodzko Glatzer Nei.Be (eastern) Neisse Nysa Klodzka Glogau Glog6w Gorlitz Zgorzelec Goldberg Zlotoryja Gottesberg Bogusz6w-Gorce Greiff en berg Gryf6w Shtski GroB-Rosen Rogoznica GroB-Wartenberg Syc6w Grossen Krosno Odrzanskie Grottkau Grodk6w

xvii

xviii Glossary of Place Names

Grunberg Zielona G6ra Griissau Krzesz6w Guhrau G6ra Habelschwerdt Bystrzyca K.lodzka Haynau Chojn6w Heydebreck K~dzierzyn

Hirschberg Jelenia G6ra Hundsfeld Wrociaw-Psie Pole Jauer Jawor Jauemig Javomik Javomik Kanth K~ty Wrociawskie Kohlfurt Kaiawsk W~gliniec

Kolberg Koiobrzeg Konigsberg Kaliningrad Kr6lewiec Koslin Koszalin Kreuz Krzyz Kreuzburg Kluczbork Lamsdorf Lambinowice Landeshut Karnienna G6ra LandsbergfW arthe Gorz6w Wielkopolski Lauban Lubati Lausitzer NeiBe (western) Neisse Nysa Lui:ycka Lemberg L'vov Lw6w Leobschiitz Grubczyce Liebau Lubawka Liegnitz Legnica Linden Lipki Litzmannstadt Lodz L6dZ Lowen Lewin Brzeski Lowenberg Lw6wek Sl~ski Liiben Lubin Michelsdorf Miszkowice Militsch Milicz Mittelwalde Mi~lesie Miinsterberg Zi~bice Namslau Namysl6w Naumburg Nowogrodziec NeiBe Nysa Neumarkt Sroda Sl~ska Neumittelwalde Mi¢zyborz Neurode Nowa Ruda

Glossary of Place Names XIX

Neusalz Nowa Sol Neustadt Prudnik Niederschlesien Lower Silesia Dolny SlllSk Obemig Oborniki SlllSkie Oberschlesien Upper Silesia Gorny SlllSk Oels Olesnica Ohlau Olawa Oppeln Opole Opperau Wroclaw-Oporow Ottmachau Otmuchow Patschkau Paczkow Penzig Piensk Posen Poznan Poznan Preichau Przychowa Ratibor Raciborz Reichenbach Dziedoniow Rothenburg/Oder Czerwiensk Sagan Zagan Schlesien Silesia SlllSk Schmiedeberg Kowary Schneidemiihl Pita Schreiberhau Szklarska Porecha Schweidnitz Swidnica Sommerfeld Lubsko Sorau Zary Sprottau Szprotawa Steinau Scinawa Stettin Szczecin Strehlen Strzelin Striegau Strzegom Swinemiinde Swinoujscie Trachenberg Zmigrod Trebnitz Trzebnica Vilnius Vilnius Wilno Wahlstatt Legnickie Pole Waldenburg Walbrzych Winzig Winsko Wohlau Wolow Wiitende NeiBe Nysa Szalona Zedlitz Zakrzow Zobten Sobotka

Acknowledgements

Crown copyright material in the Public Record Office is reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

The author also wishes to thank the following institutions for allowing their materials to be reproduced in this book, though much of it is in the public domain in any event:

United Nations Archives, New York National Archives, Washington, DC Bundesarchiv, Koblenz Martin-Opitz-Bibliothek (Biicherei des Deutschen Ostens), Heme,

North Rhine-Westphalia Bibliothek fiir Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart Heimatortskarteien, Kirchlicher Suchdienst, Munich PPWK, Warsaw

XX