World War Two really started shortly after the end of the First World War, when Polish militias attacked German units in East Germany in an attempt to create facts of Polish territorial gains before the imminent referendums. The battles between Polish and German militias over these territories continued into 1921, when Germany, under the pressure of the Allied victors, finally gave up and let Poland have its spoils. But the territories conquered and at the end seceded to Poland were inhabited to no small degree by Germans, in some areas by a vast majority of them, as numerous ignored referendum results have proved. Hence, this ethnic conflict kept on festering, until it finally resurged in the late 1930s, when Poland implemented a policy of “ethnic pressure” to drive all ethnic Germans out of its conquered western territories. This policy escalated at the dawn of WWII into a violent ethnic cleansing.
By Karl Otto Braun ∙ April 1, 1985
During my career as a German diplomat, I had three superiors. The first was Alfred Rosenberg, head of the Foreign Political Office of the National Socialist Party. The next was Foreign Minister Freiherr Konstatin von Neurath, an “old school” conservative. The last was Joachim von Ribbentrop. After the war these men were condemned as criminals…
By Russ Granata ∙ December 1, 1984
Der Zweite Weltkrieg: Ursachen und Anlass [The Second World War: Origins And Cause] by Georg Franz-Willing. Leoni am Starnberger See: Druffel Verlag, 1979, 310pp, DM 29.50, ISBN 3-8061-0960-5. It is no secret that the bombardment of Germans has merely changed in form and intensity since the 1940s. Moscow and Washington both have seen to it…
By David L. Hoggan ∙ July 1, 1983
Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from David L. Hoggan's book The Forced War: The Origins and Originators of World War II. The complete book will be published in hardcover by the Institute for Historical Review in December 1983. Professor Hoggan's treatment of the Roosevelt/American role in his book is not limited to one section,…
By Mark Weber ∙ July 1, 1983
Major ceremonies were held in 1982 to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. With the exceptions of Washington and Lincoln, he was glorified and eulogized as no other president in American history. Even conservative President Ronald Reagan joined the chorus of applause. In early 1983, newspapers and television networks…
By Else Loeser ∙ January 1, 1983
Dedicated to the memory of the ethnic researcher Dr. Kurt Lueck, Posen, in gratitude for his scientific research into the German ethnic national areas of Poland. Foreword When I was asked about a year and a half ago whether or not I would consider giving a talk on the subject of Poland — in view…
By Alfred M. De Zayas ∙ January 1, 1989
First report of three judges from the military court at Prague, Hans Boetticher, Georg Hurtig, and Horst Reger. The report dated 29 September 1939 describes their work in the province of Posen between 18 and 28 September: “Witness depositions were not limited to ethnic Germans but also extended to Polish persons. Polish soldiers, especially the…
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