Why did Nazi Germany honour the Generva Convention?

[Tingkai]

Okay true, so that might make two countries, well five if you throw in the Baltic states. Compare that to Germany: Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belguim, Netherlands, Luxemburg, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Russia, and war against Britain and the US.

[Heresson]

Actually, germans didn't attack Baltic states, as they were earlier annexed by Soviet Union

[Tingkai]

I said that the Soviets invaded the Baltic so that would be five nations attacked by them, not the Germans.

[Heresson]

Sorry, my mistake,

[Tingkai]

No prob. I wasn't exactly clear.

[Ned]

Tingkai, I urge you to read that link provide to me by Shawn. Not only did Stalin kill the enemy in war, he slaughted his own people by the tens of millions for both political and ethnic cleansing purposes. Of course, Hitler was guilty of the same ethnic cleansing, but even he did not approach the scale of Stalin, who was the greatest mass murderer of WWII.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Ned
Tingkai, I urge you to read that link provide to me by Shawn. Not only did Stalin kill the enemy in war, he slaughted his own people by the tens of millions for both political and ethnic cleansing purposes. Of course, Hitler was guilty of the same ethnic cleansing, but even he did not approach the scale of Stalin, who was the greatest mass murderer of WWII.

As Tingkai stated, this was due to lack of opportunity, not will. The Germans were planning to starve most of the population in Western Russia, the Ukraine and Belarussia - that would have meant the death of 50 million or more, simply to make way.

Yes, Stalin killed the most people-but Hitler would have been far worse if he could.

[Ned]

Originally posted by GePap


As Tingkai stated, this was due to lack of opportunity, not will. The Germans were planning to starve most of the population in Western Russia, the Ukraine and Belarussia - that would have meant the death of 50 million or more, simply to make way.

Yes, Stalin killed the most people-but Hitler would have been far worse if he could.

No doubt you are right.

[Heresson]

Ned, reply to my post adressed to You

[Ned]

Heresson, did Hitler actually start moving/liquidating Poles from certain regions of Poland? If they did, this is new information to me.

[Heresson]

Of course they started,
Silesians, Kashubs and gorale were told they are German, so they needn't have been moved.
At least some of them. I know that dislocations took place there too.
Rather by a chance, because there's not much talking about it, and only when the Germans started demanding compensations for post-war relocations it was pointed out to them that they were doing that during the war. In fact, Erika Steinbach, the leader of German organisation of displaced from East, is a dotter of German officer who lived during the war in a house of displaced Poles.
She admitted it, in fact.

Parts of Poland that were incorporated directly to the Reich were supposed to be eventually cleared of Poles in the first turn.
I do not know much. I know that in various regions Poles had 15 minutes to pack and make room for German settlers (like Germans from Latvia).
I've heard about Zamosc region, because it was one of bigger actions.
This region had very good soil, so it was chosen to be the first one to be completely cleared out of Poles. There was heavy partisant activity, though, and German settlers were being under attack by peasants who escaped to the forests, so the action was not quite successful in the end.
However, even where Poles weren't systhematically murdered, the treatement was not quite according to any treaty I guess.
In a village next to my grandpa's, and where some my family has lived, a German soldier was found dead.
In return, Germans shot something like 143 guys - entire male population of the village.
And it is quite a common thing they did.
The actions were targetter rather against specific parts of population - politicians, people with higher education, clergy.
Also, they took 2,3 mln people for compulsory works.
300 000 Polish blond and blue-eyed children were "confiscated" as one may say, and given to German families - only 60 000 returned to Poland after the war.
I want our blond cuties back!
I think the number of people transfered from territories annected by Reich to General Gubern was 1mln or more, but I'd have to check that
Soviets deported over 1mln Poles, incl. my grandma, too.

[Ned]

One of my girlfriends was a Polish blond cutie. Real cute.

The Germans during WWII were more than just a bit amazing. But, apparently so was Stalin. When the Iron Curtain descended across Europe, apparently only the Western, non Communist, part got its nose rubbed into what the Nazi's did. This could help explain why the Serbs went on an ethnic cleansing campaign in the '90s. They had never been told that such actions were uncivilized because they were Communists and that is what Communists routinely did to peoples who were in the way.

[Mr. Harley]

Heresson - welcome to OT (off topic). It's nice getting someone who lives in one of the countries that experienced what the amateur historians (myself included ) have read about, but don't have the genuine - this is what WE lived through - perspective. Thanks for joining in.

[Heresson]

Thanks for thanking

But I've been posting here for 3 years, arguing with everyone

[Mr. Harley]

OK - I"m dense - it's probably the new icon that I didn't recognize (new for me, I've done OT intermittantly since July because of personal issues), plus when you asked us for advice whether you should move out of an apartment with an old lady into an apartment with a younger couple who might have hot lady friends. (made me think of a new person) I won't do it again.