Germans in Katyn

Germans in Katyn. Documents on the execution of Polish prisoners of war in the autumn of 1941.
Compiled by: R. I., Kosolapov, V. E. Pershin, S. Yu. Rychenkov, V. A. Sakharov

Responsible for the issue: S. A. Lozhkin.

Moscow: ITRK Publishing House, 2010 - 280 p. ISBN 978-5-88010-266-2

Hitler about the Poles. October 2, 1940

Hitler about the Poles. October 2, 1940

Germans in Katyn. M.: ITRK. pp. 23-28

Archive: GA RF. F. R-9401 "Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR)". Op. 2. D. 100. L. 484-490. Copy copy. No. 5.

The task force of the NKVD in Berlin, in one of the safes of the destroyed building of Hitler's office, found a document containing Bormann's notes about the conversation that took place on October 2, 1940 at Hitler's apartment - about the treatment of the Polish population. In this case, I present the translation of the document. The original is in the NKVD of the USSR.

Translation from German.

Secret! Berlin, 2. 10. 1940

THE NOTE

On October 2, 1940, after dinner at the Fuhrer's apartment, a conversation arose about the nature of the governorate, about the treatment of the Poles, and about the transfer of the districts of Piotrkow and Tomaszow to the Warth region, already approved by the Fuhrer.

The conversation began with the Reichsminister Dr. Frank informing the Führer that his activities in the General Government could be called extremely successful. Jews in Warsaw and other cities are locked up in ghettos. Krakow will soon be cleared of them.

Reichsleiter von Schirach, who was sitting on the other side of the Führer, noticed that he had over 50,000 Jews in Vienna that Dr. Frank was supposed to pick up. Dr. Frank found it impossible! Gauleiter Koch pointed out that he had not yet evicted either Poles or Jews from the Ciechanów region; It goes without saying that these Jews and Poles must be received by the Government General. Dr. Frank began to object here also; he stressed that it was impossible to send Jews and Poles to him in the General Government in such numbers, since there was no way to accommodate them. On the other hand, the districts of Tomaszow and Piortkow should not be taken away from him, as provided for.

The Führer took a position of principle on this issue in the following way: he stressed that it was completely indifferent what the density of the population in the General Government would be; population density in Saxony reaches 347 people per sq. km, in the Rhine province it is 324, and in the Saar even 449 people per sq. km. It is completely incomprehensible why the population density in the General Government should be lower. People living in the Saarland and in Saxony could not live on agriculture alone; they had to manufacture and export cars, etc. to earn their living. People in the general government, i.e. the Poles are not skilled workers, like our German compatriots, and should not become one at all; in order to live, they must export their own labor power, themselves, so to speak. The Poles must thus go to the empire and work there in agriculture, on the roads and other unskilled jobs, in order to earn a living in this way; Poland must remain their place of residence, since we do not at all want to have them in Germany and do not want incest with our compatriots.

The Fuehrer emphasized further that the Poles, in contrast to our German workers, were born specifically for hard work; We must give our German workers every opportunity for advancement; in relation to the Poles, this is out of the question. It is even necessary that the standard of living in Poland be low, and it should not be raised.

The Government General should in no case be a closed and homogeneous economic area, it should not independently fully or partially produce the industrial products necessary for it, the Government General is a source of labor for unskilled work (brick production, road construction, etc. . etc.). It is impossible, the Fuhrer emphasized, to invest in a Slav anything other than what he is by nature. While our German workers are, as a rule, diligent and industrious by nature, the Poles are lazy and have to be forced to work. However, there are no prerequisites for the governorate to become an independent economic region, there are no minerals, and even if they were, the Poles are not capable of using them.

The Führer explained that the empire needed large landed estates to feed our big cities; large landed estates and other agricultural enterprises need labor to cultivate the land and harvest, and cheap labor ... As soon as the harvesting campaign is over, the workers will be able to return to Poland. If workers worked in agriculture all year round, they themselves would consume a significant part of the crop, so it would be extremely correct if seasonal workers arrived from Poland during the sowing and harvesting campaigns.

We have, on the one hand, an overpopulation of industrial areas, and, on the other hand, a shortage of labor in agriculture. Polish workers will be used here. Thus, it would be perfectly correct if there was a surplus of manpower in the governorate, then the necessary workers would indeed flow annually from there into the empire. It must certainly be borne in mind that there must be no Polish masters; where they will be - however cruel it may sound - they should be destroyed.

Naturally, there should be no incest with the Poles; therefore, it would be right if, together with the Polish reapers, Polish reapers would also arrive in the empire. It would be indifferent to us what they would do among themselves in their camps; no Protestant zealot should stick his nose into these matters.

The Führer emphasized once again that for the Poles there should be only one master - the German; two gentlemen, one next to the other, cannot and should not exist, therefore all representatives of the Polish intelligentsia must be destroyed. It sounds cruel, but such is the law of life.

The General Government is a Polish reserve, a large Polish labor camp. The Poles will also benefit from this, since we take care of their health and that they do not starve, etc.; but they must never be raised to a higher level, for then they will become anarchists and communists. Therefore, it will be right if the Poles remain Catholics; Polish priests will receive food from us, in exchange for which they will direct their sheep along the path we desire. Priests will be paid by us and for this they will preach what we want. If there is a priest who will act differently, then the conversation with him will be short. The task of the priest is to keep the Poles calm, stupid and stupid, this is entirely in our interests; if the Poles rise to a higher level of development,

For the rest, it will be sufficient if a Pole owns a small area in the general government, a large farm is not at all necessary; the money he needs to live, he must earn in Germany, we need just such a cheap labor force, its cheapness will benefit every German and every German worker.

There must be a strict German administration in the governorate to keep order among the Poles. For us, these reserves mean support for agriculture, especially our large estates, in addition, they are a source of labor.

Reich Minister Dr. Frank remarked that the Poles were earning too little in Germany, they could not even send one stamp home, so he had to support the families of workers living in Germany.

Gauleiter Koch objected that agricultural workers receive 60% of the wages of German agricultural workers, and this is undoubtedly correct, since the wages of Poles should be lower. It should be established that part of the salary of the Poles should be sent to the governorate by force.

Reichsminister Dr. Frank remarked once again that he must have clothes for his Poles, which could be obtained if the district of Tomaszow was left to him.

The Führer pointed to the low standard of living of many German peasants and agricultural workers, who only on a few days of the year can afford to cook meat dishes. Polish prisoners, according to some regulations, are supplied, unfortunately, much better.

In summary, the Fuhrer stated once again:

1) The last German worker and the last German peasant must always be economically 10% superior to any Pole.

2) It is necessary to find a way to ensure that the Pole living in Germany does not receive all his earnings, but part of it goes to his family in the General Government.

3) I do not want, stressed the Fuehrer, to have a German worker in general work more than eight hours when we again have normal conditions; however, if a Pole works 14 hours, despite this, he must earn less than a German worker.

4) The ideal picture is as follows: a Pole should own a small area in the General Government, which will provide, to a certain extent, food for him and his family. Money needed to buy clothes, extra food, etc. etc., he must earn in Germany. The Governorate should become a supply center for seasonal unskilled workers, especially agricultural workers. The existence of these workers will be fully ensured, since they will always be used as cheap labor.

Reichsminister Dr. Frank once again asked the Führer about the districts of Tomaszow and Piotrkow. The Führer decided that Dr. Frank should have another talk with Grazer; after that, he intends to hear both gentlemen once more on this matter.

M. Borman

Sent out to Comrade. Stalin, Molotov, Malenkov, Mikoyan. November 17, 1945 No. 1288/6