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| '''Bromberg Bloody Sunday''' ({{lang-de|Bromberger Blutsonntag}}; {{lang-pl|Krwawa Niedziela}}) is an event |
'''Bromberg Bloody Sunday''' ({{lang-de|Bromberger Blutsonntag}}; {{lang-pl|Krwawa Niedziela}}) is an event that took place at the beginning of ]. On ], ], two days after the ], there was a highly controversial massacre in and around the town of ] (]: ''Bromberg'') in the ] ]. The number of casualties involved is disputed by historians. | ||
| == |
==Background== | ||
| ====Status of Bydgoszcz==== | |||
| As part of the ], the region was annexed in ] by the ] in the ]. It later became part of the ] in ]. After ] and the subsequent ], the region changed hands once more and was given to the ], in February ]. Already, a number of ethnic Germans had begun to leave the region; many German professionals such as doctors and lawyers were encouraged to do so and some believed that the "brain drain" would lead to Poland's instability. German propagandists encouraged the border crossings. | |||
| ====German and Polish relations==== | |||
| The region was part of the ] until being annexed in ] by the ] in the ]. It became part of the ] in ] and was returned to Poland in February ] after the signing of the ]. Many Poles of German ethnicity had already left the formerly German provinces that fell to Poland following ], in part due to German propaganda which asserted that without educated German professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc.), the ] would become unstable. The appendix concerning minority rights in the Treaty of Versailles was fully recognized by Poland until the admission of the ] into the ], when Poland withdrew its recognition of the particular appendix. However, the rights of minorities in both ] and Poland were to be based on amicable relations between the two countries. In March 1939 Polish-German relations deteriorated. | |||
| Concerning the relations between Poles and Germans, tensions had been off and on for many years. Historically, division along the lines of ] and ] played an important role. However, it has been noted that German Catholics in Bydgoszcz were estranged by their Polish counterparts.<ref>Roland Spickermann ''Orphans of the Kulturkampf: German Catholics in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) Regierungsbezirk, 1895-1910.'' German Studies Review, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Oct., 2000), pp. 507-531.</ref> ] and ] also heavily influenced relations. It has been argued that "resurgent Polish nationalism prompted Prussian Germanization policies in Posen", demonstrating that multiple factors are interlinked. | |||
| The German minority of western Poland was unwelcome and perceived as a ]. Ethnic tensions had existed off and on for many years, but the rise of ethnic nationalisms only complicated matters, especially with ] assuming control of the ] in Germany. | |||
| During the post-war period, minority rights in both the Second Republic of Poland and Weimar Germany were to be based on amicable relations between the two countries. Poland recognized the appendix of the Treaty of Versailles concerning minority rights until 1934, the same year that the ] joined the ]. In addition, Poland's economic situation agitated tensions amongst its minority groups. This was not only in regards to the Polish Germans; other minorities vocalized their sentiments, whether they were in support of an independent "greater Ukraine", a seperate Belarus or even an autonomous Jewish entity.<ref>Tadeusz Piotrowski, ''"Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947"''(London: McFarland & Company, 1998), pp. 5-10, 38.</ref> The result was a rise in Polish patriotism and identity politics and the German minority of western Poland was increasingly unwelcomed as a ]. The rise of the ] only complicated matters. ] revitalized the ], making an appeal to the Germans living outside of the Germany's post-World War I borders. Also, it was Hitler's explicit goal to reverse the work of the Treaty of Versailles and create a ] State. By March 1939, these ambitions, charges of atrocities on both sides of the border, distrust, rising nationalist sentiment and Poland's refusal to negotiate that led to the complete deterioration of Polish-German relations. | |||
| ==The Bydgoszcz incident: the prelude== | |||
| == Claims of atrocities == | |||
| ⚫ | Before and shortly after armed conflict erupted on September 1, 1939, both sides reported a number of atrocities. The Reich claimed that the worst persecutions of ethnic Germans took place between August 31 and September 6. However, the most influential event, shrouded in controversy, was that which occured on ], in Bydgoszcz. There are two diametrically opposed views of what took place prior to the massacres. Polish witnesses testified that early in the day, as a contingent of the Polish Army from ] was withdrawing through Bydgoszcz, it was allegedly attacked by Germans from within the area, reported to be shooting at soldiers and civilians from rooftops and church towers. ], a German historian, disagrees with these claims and attributes the situation to confusion and the disorganized state of the Polish paramilitary forces which were present. | ||
| A common argument for the lack of German provocation against the Polish army is the contention that no Germans in Poland had been allowed to possess weapons for years. The German population in the Bydgoszcz did not have instructions to contribute to the German military campaign in such a manor, and no ethnic Germans - even after the Wehrmacht passed through the town - spoke of participation in the event.<ref>Richard Blanke, ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 97, No. 2. Apr., 1992, pp. 580-582. See also: Wlodzimierz Jastrzebski,''Der Bromberger Blutsonntag: Legende und Wirklichkeit.'' and Andrzej Brozek, ''Niemcy zagraniczni w poliyce kolonizacji pruskich prowincji wschodnich (1886-1918)''</ref> This suggests that the Polish troops, if indeed initially fired upon, were being targetted by the German Wehrmacht or other Polish soldiers, as it is possible that the shots were fired in the confusion of the mass withdrawl.<ref>''Ibid''</ref> In other cities, however, German Poles acted as ]s and were provided weapons from outside. While there are German documents confirming the actions of saboteurs in other cities, no such documents are preserved in case of Bydgoszcz, though there is the possibility that German agents and even the ] were operating in the area. | |||
| ⚫ | The |
||
| ==The Polish response== | |||
| Polish soldiers assumed that German ]s were shooting at them and began house searches. In the next few hours a (disputed) number of local ethnic Germans were executed, most of them probably innocent of any involvement. Yet the scale of the event is controversial. ] estimates it as 2,000. Rasmus compared Bydgoszcz address books and data from 1939 with Nazi lists of supposed victims and found 358 identifiable people who died that day in Bydgoszcz, most of them women and children. ], a Polish historian who initially doubted this estimated scale of the event, later backed Rasmus' number, believing that local Polish administration was unable to control the vengeful mob and only later sanctioned what was in fact a ]. Jastrzębski, however, had a poor reputation among other Polish historians due to being a ] supporter, which undermined his credibility. | |||
| After the alleged attacks, Polish soldiers began a search for weapons and events spiralled out of control. | |||
| With no Polish legal force to protect them, a disputed number of local ethnic Germans were subject to hostilities, abused and even brutally murdered.<ref>The following are extremely graphic images of German victims reported to be from around the Bydgoszcz area. Though the credibility of the Reich foreign department should be taken into consideration, many of these bodies have been identified as belonging to certain families and survivors, with pictures of their mutilations, have sworn to their testimony. </ref> | |||
| <blockquote>Polish soldiers appeared in the home of Robert Kunde in Bromberg, 23...who, following a fruitless search for arms, made entries in the military passports of Kunde and his sons Richard and Wilhelm, marked the passport holders as "Suspects". A note was made on other pages of the military passports to the effect that the bearers were to be shot. The male members of the Kunde family, together with other minority Germans who had been herded together, were handed over to other members of the Polish military by the soldiers who had carried out the search, were driven into a wood where they were to be shot. Richard Kunde, together with another minority German from Bromberg, Grüning, was able to escape, whereas his father was later on found murdered.<ref>Extract from the files of the Criminal Police Office of the Reich -- Special commission in Bromberg -- Ref No. Tgb. V (RKPA) 1486/24. 39. The memo is signed by Dr. Wehner, Criminal Commissar. See also the </ref></blockquote> | |||
| The Nazis initially claimed that a total of 5,000 ethnic Germans died in Poland in September 1939. In 1940, their estimates stood at 58,000, and Hitler personally raised that number to over 60,000. De Zayas conservatively estimates the number to be 5,000. Although many of those killed were obviously victims of the war (cities underwent severe ] bombings and artillery barrages, civilians on the roads were strafed, etc.), there is no doubt that some ethnic Germans were victims of local acts of violence, of which Bydgoszcz was the best known example. | |||
| Although the Polish military authorities were in charge of conducting the searches, there is reason to believe angry mobs were also involved, particularly in the more gruesome of the reported cases.<ref>This refers to the autopsies conducted by medico-legal experts of the Military High Command for Bromberg. All work is under Dr. Panning, the Senior Medical Officer and Superintendent of the Medico-Legal Department of the Army Medical Academy, and the report can be found , in addition to the accompanying autopsy photos of Bydgoszcz regional victims | |||
| ⚫ | In an act of retaliation, 2,000 Polish civilians picked at random |
||
| </ref> Most of the victims are reported to have been innocent civilians. Seen as authority figures and the 'official link' to the German people, pastors were often singled out for brutality. Rounded up from the surrounding area and first concentrated in select cities such as Bydgoszcz, those who were not killed were sent on marches eastward, with an additional number of Germans being murdered along the way. | |||
| <blockquote>...after that a group of about 100 persons, mostly well-known citizens of the town, were driven out into the street and, under guard, we had to go through the Danzig-Elisabeth Strasse up to the barracks at the station all the time with raised hands. On the way the beasts threatened us with swords, daggers and axes; they spat on us and beat us -the poor boys could hardly go farther....the group had hardly got as far as No. 40 to 60, Kujawier Strasse, when shots were fired at us from the front and the rear. Many of us were murdered in a bestial manner. Driven together, we were now only about 150 and were dragged off further by a convoy. I covered my boys and was stabbed with a bayonet in the right upper thigh. Those who could not run and sat down, were knocked down with the butt, because after about two hours the Lieutenant forbade shooting because of the loud reports. Behind milestone No. 10 we had to go 2 miles to the left into the wood and were penned into a low, miserable, open cow stable; it was 5 o'clock Monday morning.<ref>''The Polish Atrocities Against the German Minority in Poland'' Compiled by Hans Schadewaldt (Berlin: German foreign office, 1940) pp. 35-54, cases 1 - 15. signed testimony of Herbert Matthes, Bromberg furniture maker </ref></blockquote> | |||
| ⚫ | ==German response== | ||
| ⚫ | In an act of retaliation, 2,000 Polish civilians were picked at random and executed by the Nazis, with further reprisals soon to follow. According to the book ''Masters of Death'' (published by Richard Rhodes in the ]: ), some of these victims | ||
| <blockquote>were a number of Boy Scouts, from twelve to sixteen years of age, who were set up in the marketplace against a wall and shot. No reason was given. A devoted priest who rushed to administer the Last Sacrament was shot too. He received five wounds. A Pole said afterwards that the sight of those children lying dead was the most piteous of all the horrors he saw. That week the murders continued. Thirty-four of the leading tradespeople and merchants of the town were shot, and many other leading citizens. The square was surrounded by troops with machine-guns.</blockquote> | <blockquote>were a number of Boy Scouts, from twelve to sixteen years of age, who were set up in the marketplace against a wall and shot. No reason was given. A devoted priest who rushed to administer the Last Sacrament was shot too. He received five wounds. A Pole said afterwards that the sight of those children lying dead was the most piteous of all the horrors he saw. That week the murders continued. Thirty-four of the leading tradespeople and merchants of the town were shot, and many other leading citizens. The square was surrounded by troops with machine-guns.</blockquote> | ||
| The troops then attacked the ], looting and ransacking the church. The priests were taken to a barn, where the local ]ish population was already imprisoned, and were all subjected to abuse. | The troops then attacked the ], looting and ransacking the church. The priests were taken to a barn, where the local ]ish population was already imprisoned, and were all subjected to abuse. | ||
| ⚫ | The early Polish claims of German atrocities against Poles in Bydgoszcz were cited as evidence given to the War Crimes Tribunals. A document produced by the Polish authorities reads:<ref>''Nuremberg Trial Proceedings.'' Vol. 9, day 88, Friday, ] ].</ref> | ||
| ==Reasoning== | |||
| A common argument for the lack of German provocation against the Polish army is the contention that no Germans in Poland had been allowed to possess weapons for years. However, it would not be realistic to believe that all weapons had been removed, as surely some had been hidden, rather than being turned in, if only for economic reasons. In addition, the German Reich prepared an organised guerilla force from ethnic Germans in Poland before the war called ]. It is also known that German ]s acting in other cities were provided weapons from outside, which might have also taken place in Bydgoszcz. While there are German documents confirming the actions of saboteurs in other cities, no such documents are preserved in case of Bydgoszcz; still, it would be highly unlikely for the German secret service to be passive in Bydgoszcz. | |||
| ⚫ | The early Polish claims of German atrocities against Poles in Bydgoszcz were cited as evidence given to the War Crimes Tribunals. A document produced by the Polish authorities reads: | ||
| :''On ] ], at 1015 in the morning, German Fifth Columnists attacked Polish units withdrawing from Bydgoszcz. During the fighting, 238 Polish soldiers and 223 German Fifth Columnists were killed. As a consequence of the entry of German troops into the town, mass executions, arrests, and deportations of Polish citizens to ] took place, which were carried out by German authorities, the ] and ]. 10,500 were murdered, and a further 13,000 died in the camps.'' | :''On ] ], at 1015 in the morning, German Fifth Columnists attacked Polish units withdrawing from Bydgoszcz. During the fighting, 238 Polish soldiers and 223 German Fifth Columnists were killed. As a consequence of the entry of German troops into the town, mass executions, arrests, and deportations of Polish citizens to ] took place, which were carried out by German authorities, the ] and ]. 10,500 were murdered, and a further 13,000 died in the camps.'' | ||
| The updated version of Polish claims is to be confirmed by the ]. | The updated version of Polish claims is to be confirmed by the ].<ref>''Dywersja czy masakra ?'' Włodzimierz Jastrzębski, Gdańsk 1988.</ref> | ||
| ==The debate in scholarship== | |||
| Source: ''Nuremberg Trial Proceedings.'' Vol. 9, day 88, Friday, ] ]. | |||
| Nazi propaganda announced a death toll of approximately 58,000 as a result of anti-German violence. Hitler personally raised that number to over 60,000.<ref>Richard Blanke, ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 97, No. 2. Apr., 1992, pp. 580-582. See also: Wlodzimierz Jastrzebski,''Der Bromberger Blutsonntag: Legende und Wirklichkeit.'' and Andrzej Brozek, ''Niemcy zagraniczni w poliyce kolonizacji pruskich prowincji wschodnich (1886-1918)''</ref> In the 1960's, ] effectively challenged this figure, dropping the estimate to as low as 2,000.<ref>''Ibid''</ref> However, the research was sponsored by the Instytut Zachodni (Polish Western Institute), a publisher with a reputation for reporting with a pro-Soviet and anti-German bias.<ref>''Ibid''</ref> Since then, further studies have been conducted. De Zayas estimates that 5,000 ethnic Germans were killed by nonmilitary circumstances. ] gives a range of 4,000 to 5,000 German civilian deaths, including 366 deaths in Bydgoszcz.<ref>''Ibid''</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | It is hard to say how many Germans died exclusively during marches; a few German historians claim the number as high as 1,700 and attribute it mainly to Polish atrocities, but the Polish argument points out that since these German Poles were marching during actual combat, most of the losses should be attributed to combat conditions, especially since many German witnesses confirm that columns were sometimes attacked by the Luftwaffe (which strafed many civilians on the roads) and artillery.{{fact}} Overall, German and Polish historians continue to argue with one another over the validity of their claims. | ||
| Literature: ''Dywersja czy masakra ?'' Włodzimierz Jastrzębski, Gdańsk 1988. | |||
| ⚫ | == |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| According to Nazi accounts: | |||
| :''In addition to the events in Bromberg, throughout western Poland a portion of the German residents were rounded up, jailed, marched eastward, shot and buried in nearby woods. This all occurred in the confusion of the military retreat. When advancing German forces neared the prisoner marches, they were some times executed as a spies, but more frequently released.'' | |||
| German and Polish historians continue to argue about the validity of these claims. | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> | |||
| <references /></div> | |||
| *{{pl icon}} {{cite book | last = Jastrzębski | first = Włodzimierz | title ="Dywersja czy masakra. Cywilna obrona Bydgoszczy we wrześniu 1939 r." | publisher = KAW | year = 1988 }} | *{{pl icon}} {{cite book | last = Jastrzębski | first = Włodzimierz | title ="Dywersja czy masakra. Cywilna obrona Bydgoszczy we wrześniu 1939 r." | publisher = KAW | year = 1988 }} | ||
Revision as of 12:12, 12 October 2006
Bromberg Bloody Sunday (Template:Lang-de; Template:Lang-pl) is an event that took place at the beginning of World War II. On September 3, 1939, two days after the German invasion of Poland, there was a highly controversial massacre in and around the town of Bydgoszcz (German: Bromberg) in the Polish Voivodship of Pomerania. The number of casualties involved is disputed by historians.
Background
Status of Bydgoszcz
As part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the region was annexed in 1772 by the Prussia in the First Partition of Poland. It later became part of the German Empire in 1870. After World War I and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, the region changed hands once more and was given to the Second Republic of Poland, in February 1920. Already, a number of ethnic Germans had begun to leave the region; many German professionals such as doctors and lawyers were encouraged to do so and some believed that the "brain drain" would lead to Poland's instability. German propagandists encouraged the border crossings.
German and Polish relations
Concerning the relations between Poles and Germans, tensions had been off and on for many years. Historically, division along the lines of Catholicism and Protestantism played an important role. However, it has been noted that German Catholics in Bydgoszcz were estranged by their Polish counterparts. Minority rights and nationalist sentiments also heavily influenced relations. It has been argued that "resurgent Polish nationalism prompted Prussian Germanization policies in Posen", demonstrating that multiple factors are interlinked.
During the post-war period, minority rights in both the Second Republic of Poland and Weimar Germany were to be based on amicable relations between the two countries. Poland recognized the appendix of the Treaty of Versailles concerning minority rights until 1934, the same year that the Soviet Union joined the League of Nations. In addition, Poland's economic situation agitated tensions amongst its minority groups. This was not only in regards to the Polish Germans; other minorities vocalized their sentiments, whether they were in support of an independent "greater Ukraine", a seperate Belarus or even an autonomous Jewish entity. The result was a rise in Polish patriotism and identity politics and the German minority of western Poland was increasingly unwelcomed as a fifth column. The rise of the Nazi Party only complicated matters. Adolf Hitler revitalized the Völkisch movement, making an appeal to the Germans living outside of the Germany's post-World War I borders. Also, it was Hitler's explicit goal to reverse the work of the Treaty of Versailles and create a Greater German State. By March 1939, these ambitions, charges of atrocities on both sides of the border, distrust, rising nationalist sentiment and Poland's refusal to negotiate that led to the complete deterioration of Polish-German relations.
The Bydgoszcz incident: the prelude
Before and shortly after armed conflict erupted on September 1, 1939, both sides reported a number of atrocities. The Reich claimed that the worst persecutions of ethnic Germans took place between August 31 and September 6. However, the most influential event, shrouded in controversy, was that which occured on September 3, in Bydgoszcz. There are two diametrically opposed views of what took place prior to the massacres. Polish witnesses testified that early in the day, as a contingent of the Polish Army from Pomerania was withdrawing through Bydgoszcz, it was allegedly attacked by Germans from within the area, reported to be shooting at soldiers and civilians from rooftops and church towers. Hugo Rasmus, a German historian, disagrees with these claims and attributes the situation to confusion and the disorganized state of the Polish paramilitary forces which were present.
A common argument for the lack of German provocation against the Polish army is the contention that no Germans in Poland had been allowed to possess weapons for years. The German population in the Bydgoszcz did not have instructions to contribute to the German military campaign in such a manor, and no ethnic Germans - even after the Wehrmacht passed through the town - spoke of participation in the event. This suggests that the Polish troops, if indeed initially fired upon, were being targetted by the German Wehrmacht or other Polish soldiers, as it is possible that the shots were fired in the confusion of the mass withdrawl. In other cities, however, German Poles acted as saboteurs and were provided weapons from outside. While there are German documents confirming the actions of saboteurs in other cities, no such documents are preserved in case of Bydgoszcz, though there is the possibility that German agents and even the Selbstschutz were operating in the area.
The Polish response
After the alleged attacks, Polish soldiers began a search for weapons and events spiralled out of control. With no Polish legal force to protect them, a disputed number of local ethnic Germans were subject to hostilities, abused and even brutally murdered.
Polish soldiers appeared in the home of Robert Kunde in Bromberg, 23...who, following a fruitless search for arms, made entries in the military passports of Kunde and his sons Richard and Wilhelm, marked the passport holders as "Suspects". A note was made on other pages of the military passports to the effect that the bearers were to be shot. The male members of the Kunde family, together with other minority Germans who had been herded together, were handed over to other members of the Polish military by the soldiers who had carried out the search, were driven into a wood where they were to be shot. Richard Kunde, together with another minority German from Bromberg, Grüning, was able to escape, whereas his father was later on found murdered.
Although the Polish military authorities were in charge of conducting the searches, there is reason to believe angry mobs were also involved, particularly in the more gruesome of the reported cases. Most of the victims are reported to have been innocent civilians. Seen as authority figures and the 'official link' to the German people, pastors were often singled out for brutality. Rounded up from the surrounding area and first concentrated in select cities such as Bydgoszcz, those who were not killed were sent on marches eastward, with an additional number of Germans being murdered along the way.
...after that a group of about 100 persons, mostly well-known citizens of the town, were driven out into the street and, under guard, we had to go through the Danzig-Elisabeth Strasse up to the barracks at the station all the time with raised hands. On the way the beasts threatened us with swords, daggers and axes; they spat on us and beat us -the poor boys could hardly go farther....the group had hardly got as far as No. 40 to 60, Kujawier Strasse, when shots were fired at us from the front and the rear. Many of us were murdered in a bestial manner. Driven together, we were now only about 150 and were dragged off further by a convoy. I covered my boys and was stabbed with a bayonet in the right upper thigh. Those who could not run and sat down, were knocked down with the butt, because after about two hours the Lieutenant forbade shooting because of the loud reports. Behind milestone No. 10 we had to go 2 miles to the left into the wood and were penned into a low, miserable, open cow stable; it was 5 o'clock Monday morning.
German response
In an act of retaliation, 2,000 Polish civilians were picked at random and executed by the Nazis, with further reprisals soon to follow. According to the book Masters of Death (published by Richard Rhodes in the New York Times: ), some of these victims
were a number of Boy Scouts, from twelve to sixteen years of age, who were set up in the marketplace against a wall and shot. No reason was given. A devoted priest who rushed to administer the Last Sacrament was shot too. He received five wounds. A Pole said afterwards that the sight of those children lying dead was the most piteous of all the horrors he saw. That week the murders continued. Thirty-four of the leading tradespeople and merchants of the town were shot, and many other leading citizens. The square was surrounded by troops with machine-guns.
The troops then attacked the Jesuits, looting and ransacking the church. The priests were taken to a barn, where the local Jewish population was already imprisoned, and were all subjected to abuse.
The early Polish claims of German atrocities against Poles in Bydgoszcz were cited as evidence given to the War Crimes Tribunals. A document produced by the Polish authorities reads:
- On September 3 1939, at 1015 in the morning, German Fifth Columnists attacked Polish units withdrawing from Bydgoszcz. During the fighting, 238 Polish soldiers and 223 German Fifth Columnists were killed. As a consequence of the entry of German troops into the town, mass executions, arrests, and deportations of Polish citizens to concentration camps took place, which were carried out by German authorities, the SS and Gestapo. 10,500 were murdered, and a further 13,000 died in the camps.
The updated version of Polish claims is to be confirmed by the Institute of National Remembrance.
The debate in scholarship
Nazi propaganda announced a death toll of approximately 58,000 as a result of anti-German violence. Hitler personally raised that number to over 60,000. In the 1960's, Karol Pospieszalski effectively challenged this figure, dropping the estimate to as low as 2,000. However, the research was sponsored by the Instytut Zachodni (Polish Western Institute), a publisher with a reputation for reporting with a pro-Soviet and anti-German bias. Since then, further studies have been conducted. De Zayas estimates that 5,000 ethnic Germans were killed by nonmilitary circumstances. Peter Aurich gives a range of 4,000 to 5,000 German civilian deaths, including 366 deaths in Bydgoszcz.
It is hard to say how many Germans died exclusively during marches; a few German historians claim the number as high as 1,700 and attribute it mainly to Polish atrocities, but the Polish argument points out that since these German Poles were marching during actual combat, most of the losses should be attributed to combat conditions, especially since many German witnesses confirm that columns were sometimes attacked by the Luftwaffe (which strafed many civilians on the roads) and artillery. Overall, German and Polish historians continue to argue with one another over the validity of their claims.
See also
References
- Roland Spickermann Orphans of the Kulturkampf: German Catholics in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) Regierungsbezirk, 1895-1910. German Studies Review, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Oct., 2000), pp. 507-531.
- Tadeusz Piotrowski, "Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947"(London: McFarland & Company, 1998), pp. 5-10, 38.
- Richard Blanke, The American Historical Review, Vol. 97, No. 2. Apr., 1992, pp. 580-582. See also: Wlodzimierz Jastrzebski,Der Bromberger Blutsonntag: Legende und Wirklichkeit. and Andrzej Brozek, Niemcy zagraniczni w poliyce kolonizacji pruskich prowincji wschodnich (1886-1918)
- Ibid
- The following are extremely graphic images of German victims reported to be from around the Bydgoszcz area. Though the credibility of the Reich foreign department should be taken into consideration, many of these bodies have been identified as belonging to certain families and survivors, with pictures of their mutilations, have sworn to their testimony.
- Extract from the files of the Criminal Police Office of the Reich -- Special commission in Bromberg -- Ref No. Tgb. V (RKPA) 1486/24. 39. The memo is signed by Dr. Wehner, Criminal Commissar. See also the scanned official documents
- This refers to the autopsies conducted by medico-legal experts of the Military High Command for Bromberg. All work is under Dr. Panning, the Senior Medical Officer and Superintendent of the Medico-Legal Department of the Army Medical Academy, and the report can be found here, in addition to the accompanying autopsy photos of Bydgoszcz regional victims (warning: very graphic)
- The Polish Atrocities Against the German Minority in Poland Compiled by Hans Schadewaldt (Berlin: German foreign office, 1940) pp. 35-54, cases 1 - 15. signed testimony of Herbert Matthes, Bromberg furniture maker
- Nuremberg Trial Proceedings. Vol. 9, day 88, Friday, 22 March 1946.
- Dywersja czy masakra ? Włodzimierz Jastrzębski, Gdańsk 1988.
- Richard Blanke, The American Historical Review, Vol. 97, No. 2. Apr., 1992, pp. 580-582. See also: Wlodzimierz Jastrzebski,Der Bromberger Blutsonntag: Legende und Wirklichkeit. and Andrzej Brozek, Niemcy zagraniczni w poliyce kolonizacji pruskich prowincji wschodnich (1886-1918)
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Template:Pl icon Jastrzębski, Włodzimierz (1988). "Dywersja czy masakra. Cywilna obrona Bydgoszczy we wrześniu 1939 r.". KAW.
External links
- Template:En icon Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, question to Göring (Nizkor)
- Template:En icon Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, question to Göring (Yale) (same material as above)
- Template:De icon A documentary about Bromberg/Bydgoszcz from a Polish/German cooperation