Gestapo–NKVD conferences: Difference between revisions
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The '''Gestapo–NKVD conferences''' were a series of security police meetings organized in late 1939 and early 1940 by [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and the Soviet Union, following the [[invasion of Poland]] in accordance with the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]].<ref name="Dębiński"/> The meetings enabled both parties to pursue specific goals and aims |
The '''Gestapo–NKVD conferences''' were a series of security police meetings organized in late 1939 and early 1940 by [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and the Soviet Union, following the [[invasion of Poland]] in accordance with the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]].<ref name="Dębiński"/> The meetings enabled both parties to pursue specific goals and aims.<ref name="Kalbarczyk2"/> The conferences were held by the [[Gestapo]] and the [[NKVD]] officials in several Polish cities. In spite of their differences on other issues, both [[Heinrich Himmler]] and [[Lavrentiy Beria]] had similar objectives as far as the fate of [[Second Polish Republic|the prewar Poland]] was concerned.<ref name="Rees"/><ref name="Kalbarczyk2"/><ref name="Paul"/> |
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The attack on Poland ended with the [[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk|Nazi–Soviet victory parade in Brześć]], which was held on 22 September 1939.<ref name="Magnuski"/> Brześć was the location of the first Nazi-Soviet meeting organized on 27 September 1939, |
The attack on Poland ended with the [[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk|Nazi–Soviet victory parade in Brześć]], which was held on 22 September 1939.<ref name="Magnuski"/> Brześć was the location of the first Nazi-Soviet meeting organized on 27 September 1939, prior to the signing of [[German–Soviet Frontier Treaty|mutual agreements]] in Moscow a day later.<ref name="Vishlyov"/> They met again in occupied [[Przemyśl]] at the end of November, because Przemyśl was a border crossing between the two powers.<ref name="Dębiński"/> The next series of meetings began in December 1939. The conferences were held in occupied [[Kraków]] in the [[General Government]] on 6–7 December 1939; and continued for the next two days in the resort town of [[Zakopane]] in the [[Tatra Mountains]] of southern Poland (100 km from Kraków) on 8–9 December 1939. The Zakopane Conference is the most remembered. From the Soviet side, several higher officers of the NKVD secret police participated in the meetings, while the German hosts provided a group of experts from the Gestapo.<ref name="Kalbarczyk2"/> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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After Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 <ref name="Zaloga"/><ref name="History0"/>. 16 days later the USSR decided to move troops into Eastern Poland in order to prevent German troops from entering the Soviet sphere of influence. Nazi Germany crossed into the Soviet sphere of influence in Lublin but their advance was halted by Soviet forces. The USSR didn't engage the Polish troops in battle with the Germans and allowed them to retreat into Romania where they were captured. Poland and its allies France and Great Britain declared war on Germany while the USSR stayed neutral. |
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[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-121-0011A-23, Polen, Siegesparade, Guderian, Kriwoschein.jpg|thumb|left|[[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk|German and Soviet military forces parade in Brześć]] side by side after their [[Invasion of Poland|joint attack on Poland]] in 1939. Their secret [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] required [[Heinz Guderian]] to hand the city over to the Red Army]] |
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The USSR and Germany began negotiations already during the conflict. The first Gestapo–NKVD meeting took place in [[Brześć nad Bugiem]] ([[Brest, Belarus|Brest]]) reportedly on 27 September 1939,<ref name="Dębiński"/> while some units of the [[Polish Army]] were still fighting (see: [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|Invasion of Poland]]) resulting in mass internment of soldiers and their extrajudicial shootings on both sides of the [[Curzon Line#World War II|Curzon Line]]. |
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==Conferences== |
==Conferences== |
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This one is the best known, and took place in [[Zakopane]],<ref name="Warsaw">{{cite web|url=http://www.warsawuprising.com/paper/jankowski1.htm |title=Warsaw Uprising Witnesses: Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski |publisher=Warsawuprising.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-05}}</ref> starting on 20 February 1940<ref name="Paul"/> in the villa "Pan Tadeusz", located at the ''Droga do Białego'' street close to the Dolina Białego valley. The German side was represented by [[Adolf Eichmann]] and an official by the name of Zimmermann, who later became chief of the [[Radom]] District of the [[General Government]] territory. The Soviet delegation was headed by Grigoriy Litvinov with—among others—Rita Zimmerman, director of a [[Kolyma]] gold mine.<ref name="Dębiński"/> |
This one is the best known, and took place in [[Zakopane]],<ref name="Warsaw">{{cite web|url=http://www.warsawuprising.com/paper/jankowski1.htm |title=Warsaw Uprising Witnesses: Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski |publisher=Warsawuprising.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-05}}</ref> starting on 20 February 1940<ref name="Paul"/> in the villa "Pan Tadeusz", located at the ''Droga do Białego'' street close to the Dolina Białego valley. The German side was represented by [[Adolf Eichmann]] and an official by the name of Zimmermann, who later became chief of the [[Radom]] District of the [[General Government]] territory. The Soviet delegation was headed by Grigoriy Litvinov with—among others—Rita Zimmerman, director of a [[Kolyma]] gold mine.<ref name="Dębiński"/> |
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According to several sources, one of the results of this conference was the German ''Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion'' (see: [[German AB Action operation in Poland]]),<ref name="Crimes0">Peter Jambrek, ed. (January–June 2008), [https://web.archive.org/web/20120117160751/http://www.mp.gov.si/fileadmin/mp.gov.si/pageuploads/2005/PDF/publikacije/Crimes_committed_by_Totalitarian_Regimes.pdf Crimes committed by Totalitarian Regimes] (PDF). Reports and proceedings; the European Commission. Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Retrieved 14 September 2015 via Internet Archive.</ref> elimination of Krakow intelligentsia [[Sonderaktion Krakau]] and the Soviet [[Katyn massacre]]<ref name="Paul"/><ref name="Conquest0">Conquest, Robert (1991). ''Stalin: Breaker of Nations'' Phoenix {{ISBN|1-84212-439-0}} Page 229</ref> |
According to several sources, one of the results of this conference was the German ''Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion'' (see: [[German AB Action operation in Poland]]),<ref name="Crimes0">Peter Jambrek, ed. (January–June 2008), [https://web.archive.org/web/20120117160751/http://www.mp.gov.si/fileadmin/mp.gov.si/pageuploads/2005/PDF/publikacije/Crimes_committed_by_Totalitarian_Regimes.pdf Crimes committed by Totalitarian Regimes] (PDF). Reports and proceedings; the European Commission. Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Retrieved 14 September 2015 via Internet Archive.</ref> elimination of Krakow intelligentsia [[Sonderaktion Krakau]] and the Soviet [[Katyn massacre]]<ref name="Paul"/><ref name="Conquest0">Conquest, Robert (1991). ''Stalin: Breaker of Nations'' Phoenix {{ISBN|1-84212-439-0}} Page 229</ref> Professor George Watson of [[Cambridge University]] concluded in his "Rehearsal for the Holocaust?" commentary (June 1981) that the fate of the interned Polish officers may have been decided at this conference.<ref name="Coatney"/><ref name="Watson"/> This is however disputed by other historians, who point out that there is no documentary evidence confirming any cooperation on that issue, that the existing Soviet documentation actually makes such a cooperation improbable. |
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The fourth and last meeting took place in March 1940 in [[Krakow]].<ref name="Stenton"/> According to some historians, it was part of the Zakopane Conference. This event was described by General [[Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski]], commander of [[Armia Krajowa]] in his book “Armia Podziemna” (“The Secret Army”). In it, he describes how a special delegation of NKVD came to Krakow, which was going to discuss with Gestapo how to act against the Polish resistance. The talks lasted for several weeks.<ref name="Bór"/><ref name="eesti">{{cite web|url=http://www.eesti.ca/?op=article&articleid=24922 |title=Nazi-Soviet complicity in Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact especially blatant in NKVD-Gestapo co-operation - EWR |publisher=Eesti.ca |date= |accessdate=2012-05-05}}</ref> |
The fourth and last meeting took place in March 1940 in [[Krakow]].<ref name="Stenton"/> According to some historians, it was part of the Zakopane Conference. This event was described by General [[Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski]], commander of [[Armia Krajowa]] in his book “Armia Podziemna” (“The Secret Army”). In it, he describes how a special delegation of NKVD came to Krakow, which was going to discuss with Gestapo how to act against the Polish resistance. The talks lasted for several weeks.<ref name="Bór"/><ref name="eesti">{{cite web|url=http://www.eesti.ca/?op=article&articleid=24922 |title=Nazi-Soviet complicity in Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact especially blatant in NKVD-Gestapo co-operation - EWR |publisher=Eesti.ca |date= |accessdate=2012-05-05}}</ref> |
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Bor-Komorowski's description is disputed by Russian historian Oleg Vishlyov, who claims, based on the original Soviet documents, that the conference was not between NKVD and Gestapo, but between Soviet and German commissions dealing with refugees in both occupied territories and that the topic of discussion was allegedly the 'refugee exchange'. According to that author the conference had nothing to do with repressions against Poles or with the Katyn massacre.<ref name="Vishlyov"/> |
Bor-Komorowski's description is disputed by Russian historian Oleg Vishlyov, who claims, based on the original Soviet documents, that the conference was not between NKVD and Gestapo, but between Soviet and German commissions dealing with refugees in both occupied territories and that the topic of discussion was allegedly the 'refugee exchange'. According to that author the conference had nothing to do with repressions against Poles or with the Katyn massacre.<ref name="Vishlyov"/> |
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Revision as of 16:49, 27 January 2019
Time | |
---|---|
Duration | 1939–1940 |
Type | Nazi–Soviet bilateral planning for population exchange and the persecution of Polish nationals in occupied territories |
Theme | Security police talks |
Cause | 1939 Invasion of Poland |
The Gestapo–NKVD conferences were a series of security police meetings organized in late 1939 and early 1940 by Germany and the Soviet Union, following the invasion of Poland in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.[1] The meetings enabled both parties to pursue specific goals and aims.[3] The conferences were held by the Gestapo and the NKVD officials in several Polish cities. In spite of their differences on other issues, both Heinrich Himmler and Lavrentiy Beria had similar objectives as far as the fate of the prewar Poland was concerned.[2][3][4]
The attack on Poland ended with the Nazi–Soviet victory parade in Brześć, which was held on 22 September 1939.[6] Brześć was the location of the first Nazi-Soviet meeting organized on 27 September 1939, prior to the signing of mutual agreements in Moscow a day later.[7] They met again in occupied Przemyśl at the end of November, because Przemyśl was a border crossing between the two powers.[1] The next series of meetings began in December 1939. The conferences were held in occupied Kraków in the General Government on 6–7 December 1939; and continued for the next two days in the resort town of Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains of southern Poland (100 km from Kraków) on 8–9 December 1939. The Zakopane Conference is the most remembered. From the Soviet side, several higher officers of the NKVD secret police participated in the meetings, while the German hosts provided a group of experts from the Gestapo.[3]
Background
After Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 [8][9]. 16 days later the USSR decided to move troops into Eastern Poland in order to prevent German troops from entering the Soviet sphere of influence. Nazi Germany crossed into the Soviet sphere of influence in Lublin but their advance was halted by Soviet forces. The USSR didn't engage the Polish troops in battle with the Germans and allowed them to retreat into Romania where they were captured. Poland and its allies France and Great Britain declared war on Germany while the USSR stayed neutral.
The USSR and Germany began negotiations already during the conflict. The first Gestapo–NKVD meeting took place in Brześć nad Bugiem (Brest) reportedly on 27 September 1939,[1] while some units of the Polish Army were still fighting (see: Invasion of Poland) resulting in mass internment of soldiers and their extrajudicial shootings on both sides of the Curzon Line.
Conferences
The next meeting took place some time at the end of November 1939 in Przemyśl,[1] shared by the German and the Soviet occupational forces between September 1939 and June 1941. Apart from talks of fighting Polish resistance, the Soviets and the Germans discussed ways of exchanging Polish POWs. Also, first discussions about the occupation of Poland were started. Some historians claim this meeting took place in Lwów.[2] It is also claimed a meeting was held in December.[4][10]
Kraków–Zakopane
This one is the best known, and took place in Zakopane,[12] starting on 20 February 1940[4] in the villa "Pan Tadeusz", located at the Droga do Białego street close to the Dolina Białego valley. The German side was represented by Adolf Eichmann and an official by the name of Zimmermann, who later became chief of the Radom District of the General Government territory. The Soviet delegation was headed by Grigoriy Litvinov with—among others—Rita Zimmerman, director of a Kolyma gold mine.[1]
According to several sources, one of the results of this conference was the German Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion (see: German AB Action operation in Poland),[13] elimination of Krakow intelligentsia Sonderaktion Krakau and the Soviet Katyn massacre[4][14] Professor George Watson of Cambridge University concluded in his "Rehearsal for the Holocaust?" commentary (June 1981) that the fate of the interned Polish officers may have been decided at this conference.[15][16] This is however disputed by other historians, who point out that there is no documentary evidence confirming any cooperation on that issue, that the existing Soviet documentation actually makes such a cooperation improbable.
The fourth and last meeting took place in March 1940 in Krakow.[5] According to some historians, it was part of the Zakopane Conference. This event was described by General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, commander of Armia Krajowa in his book “Armia Podziemna” (“The Secret Army”). In it, he describes how a special delegation of NKVD came to Krakow, which was going to discuss with Gestapo how to act against the Polish resistance. The talks lasted for several weeks.[17][18]
Bor-Komorowski's description is disputed by Russian historian Oleg Vishlyov, who claims, based on the original Soviet documents, that the conference was not between NKVD and Gestapo, but between Soviet and German commissions dealing with refugees in both occupied territories and that the topic of discussion was allegedly the 'refugee exchange'. According to that author the conference had nothing to do with repressions against Poles or with the Katyn massacre.[7]
See also
- Chronicles of Terror
- Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
- Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles
- Intelligenzaktion
- Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union
- Polish Operation of the NKVD (1937–38)
- Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)
- Katyn massacre
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Józef Dębiński (2007). "Decyzja władz sowieckich z 5 marca 1940 r. o zagładzie polskich jeńców wojennych" [Soviet decision on the murder of Polish prisoners of war]. Voskresenie - Catholic Magazine. Niedziela.pl. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2017-01-05 – via Internet Archive.
Pierwsza konferencja, dotycząca współpracy niemieckich i sowieckich służb bezpieczeństwa, miała miejsce 27 września 1939 r. w Brześciu n. Bugiem. Druga konferencja odbyła się w końcu listopada 1939 r. w Przemyślu, a dotyczyła wymiany jeńców i przemieszczeń ludności. Trzecia konferencja NKWD i Gestapo miała miejsce 20 lutego 1940 r. w Zakopanem.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Rees, Laurence (2008). "An alliance in all but name". World War Two Behind Closed Doors. BBC Books. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-563-49335-8. The Gestapo and the NKVD met in Lwów in October 1939.
- ^ a b c d e Kalbarczyk (2015). Zbrodnia. p. 19 (33 / 266 in PDF). Earlier historical assessments of the two winter conferences in Kraków and Zakopane suggesting that they might have been devoted to coordinating plans for joint destruction of Polish nationhood as well as discussing ways of dealing with the Polish resistance during World War II have been ruled out in contemporary research in favour of a more probable subject of a mass population transfer.
Nowsze badania przekonująco dowodzą, że hipotezy tego typu nie znajdują potwierdzenia w faktach. Sowiecko-niemieckie konferencje w Krakowie (6–7 grudnia 1939 r.) i Zakopanem (8–9 grudnia 1939 r.), na których – jak uważano w dawniejszej literaturze przedmiotu – uzgadniano antypolskie represje o charakterze policyjnym, były w istocie poświęcone wymianie ludności między ZSRS a III Rzeszą
- ^ a b c d e Mark Paul (2006). "Foreword (cooperation between the NKVD and the Gestapo)". Neighbours on the Eve of the Holocaust. Polish-Jewish Relations in Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, 1939-1941. Electronicmuseum.ca. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2015 – via Internet Archive.
While the Soviets had undertaken the extermination of captured Polish officers, the Germans carried out (starting March 31) a parallel 'Operation AB' aimed at destroying Poland's elites. — Mark Paul.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) See also: Commentary from Wojciech Materski (October 2008). [in:] Katyn: A Crime Without Punishment. ISBN 978-0300151855. (cited), about the lack of documentary evidence connecting the conferences to the advent of genocidal policies in Poland, which indicates that the mass murder operations were carried out by both sides independently. - ^ a b Stenton, Michael (2000). Radio London and Resistance in Occupied Europe. Oxford. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-19-820843-3.
- ^ Czerwony Blitzkrieg. Wrzesien 1939: Sowieckie Wojska Pancerne w Polsce [Red Blitzkrieg. September 1939: Soviet armoured troops in Poland]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Pelta. 1994. ISBN 978-83-85314-03-5. Scan of page 72 of the book, archived. Archived from the original on 2017-01-06.
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b Олег В. Вишлёв (Oleg Vishlyov), Накануне 22 июня 1941 года, М.: Наука, 2001, pages 119-123 (with links to chapters). Глава I: Один из параграфов соглашения предусматривал "очищение" городов и местечек, передаваемых Красной Армии немцами, от "саботажников", а также помощь Красной Армии немецким подразделениям в уничтожении (фернихтунг) "вражеского", то есть польского сопротивления.[74] Translate.
- ^ Zaloga, Steven J. (2002). Poland 1939: The birth of Blitzkrieg (Campaign). Osprey. ISBN 978-1841764085.
- ^ "1 September - This Day in History". Thehistorychannel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Timeline of World War II – Poland". PolandsHolocaust.org. 2005. Archived from the original on August 18, 2005 – via Internet Archive.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Secret Supplementary Protocol". Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939-1941. 28 September 1939.
- ^ "Warsaw Uprising Witnesses: Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski". Warsawuprising.com. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ Peter Jambrek, ed. (January–June 2008), Crimes committed by Totalitarian Regimes (PDF). Reports and proceedings; the European Commission. Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Retrieved 14 September 2015 via Internet Archive.
- ^ Conquest, Robert (1991). Stalin: Breaker of Nations Phoenix ISBN 1-84212-439-0 Page 229
- ^ Louis Robert Coatney, M.A. (1993). "The Katyn Massacre: an assessment of its significance". Western Illinois University, Department of History. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
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(help) - ^ George Watson. "Rehearsal for the Holocaust?". Available for purchase, from Commentary Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012 – via Archive.is.
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: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ Bór-Komorowski, Tadeusz (2011) [1950]. The Secret Army: The Memoirs of General Bor-Komorowski. Frontline Books. p. 46. ISBN 978-1848325951.
- ^ "Nazi-Soviet complicity in Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact especially blatant in NKVD-Gestapo co-operation - EWR". Eesti.ca. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
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Further reading
- Bor-Komorowski, Tadeusz (2011) [1951]. The Secret Army. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 1524738.
- ElectronicMuseum.ca. "Soviet Deportations Of Polish Nationals - Photo Album I". Toronto, Ontario. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013 – via Internet Archive.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - CommunistCrimes.org (2011). "Poland: 1939-1941. Historical overview". Tallinn, Estonia: The Unitas Foundation. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011 – via Internet Archive.
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