text
stringlengths
8
3.87k
22.56425666809082 91 WikiText2
1200 The occupiers looted and destroyed much of Poland 's cultural and historical heritage , while persecuting and murdering members of the Polish cultural elite . Most Polish schools were closed , and those that remained open saw their curricula altered significantly .
38.27564239501953 42 WikiText2
1201 Nevertheless , underground organizations and individuals – in particular the Polish Underground State – saved much of Poland 's most valuable cultural treasures , and worked to salvage as many cultural institutions and artifacts as possible . The Catholic Church and wealthy individuals contributed to the survival...
57.49602508544922 87 WikiText2
1202 = = Background = =
1387.2071533203125 5 WikiText2
1203 In 1795 Poland ceased to exist as an sovereign nation and throughout the 19th century remained partitioned by degrees between Prussian , Austrian and Russian empires . Not until the end of World War I was independence restored and the nation reunited , although the drawing of boundary lines was , of necessity , a...
51.640716552734375 76 WikiText2
1204 On 1 September 1939 , Germany invaded Poland , initiating World War II in Europe , and on 17 September , pursuant to the Molotov @-@ Ribbentrop Pact , Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union . Subsequently Poland was partitioned again – between these two powers – and remained under occupation for most of the war ....
26.96435546875 218 WikiText2
1205 = = Destruction of Polish culture = =
1269.150390625 8 WikiText2
1206 = = = German occupation = = =
214.70779418945312 8 WikiText2
1207 = = = = Policy = = = =
55.22535705566406 9 WikiText2
1208 Germany 's policy toward the Polish nation and its culture evolved during the course of the war . Many German officials and military officers were initially not given any clear guidelines on the treatment of Polish cultural institutions , but this quickly changed . Immediately following the invasion of Poland in ...
42.20734405517578 152 WikiText2
1209 Much of the German policy on Polish culture was formulated during a meeting between the governor of the General Government , Hans Frank , and Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels , at Łódź on 31 October 1939 . Goebbels declared that " The Polish nation is not worthy to be called a cultured nation " . He an...
39.53733444213867 165 WikiText2
1210 In March 1940 , all cultural activities came under the control of the General Government 's Department of People 's Education and Propaganda ( Abteilung für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda ) , whose name was changed a year later to the " Chief Propaganda Department " ( Hauptabteilung Propaganda ) . Further directi...
44.20409393310547 259 WikiText2
1211 In 1941 , German policy evolved further , calling for the complete destruction of the Polish people , whom the Nazis regarded as " subhumans " ( Untermenschen ) . Within ten to twenty years , the Polish territories under German occupation were to be entirely cleared of ethnic Poles and settled by German colonists...
49.8669319152832 146 WikiText2
1212 Given that the Second Polish Republic was a multicultural state , German policies and propaganda also sought to create and encourage conflicts between ethnic groups , fueling tension between Poles and Jews , and between Poles and Ukrainians . In Łódź , the Germans forced Jews to help destroy a monument to a Polis...
39.449642181396484 174 WikiText2
1213 = = = = Plunder = = = =
65.05970001220703 9 WikiText2
1214 In 1939 , as the occupation regime was being established , the Nazis confiscated Polish state property and much private property . Countless art objects were looted and taken to Germany , in line with a plan that had been drawn up well in advance of the invasion . The looting was supervised by experts of the SS @...
31.53468132019043 286 WikiText2
1215 = = = = Destruction = = = =
86.53433227539062 9 WikiText2
1216 Many places of learning and culture — universities , schools , libraries , museums , theaters and cinemas — were either closed or designated as " Nur für Deutsche " ( For Germans Only ) . Twenty @-@ five museums and a host of other institutions were destroyed during the war . According to one estimate , by war 's...
37.369239807128906 144 WikiText2
1217 Many university professors , as well as teachers , lawyers , artists , writers , priests and other members of the Polish intelligentsia were arrested and executed , or transported to concentration camps , during operations such as AB @-@ Aktion . This particular campaign resulted in the infamous Sonderaktion Krak...
38.729251861572266 156 WikiText2
1218 As part of their program to suppress Polish culture , the German Nazis attempted to destroy Christianity in Poland , with a particular emphasis on the Roman Catholic Church . In some parts of occupied Poland , Poles were restricted , or even forbidden , from attending religious services . At the same time , churc...
29.758129119873047 146 WikiText2
1219 To forestall the rise of a new generation of educated Poles , German officials decreed that the schooling of Polish children would be limited to a few years of elementary education . Reichsführer @-@ SS Heinrich Himmler wrote , in a memorandum of May 1940 : " The sole purpose of this schooling is to teach them si...
29.551145553588867 382 WikiText2
1220 The state of Polish primary schools was somewhat better in the General Government , though by the end of 1940 , only 30 % of prewar schools were operational , and only 28 % of prewar Polish children attended them . A German police memorandum of August 1943 described the situation as follows :
46.8093376159668 54 WikiText2
1221 Pupils sit crammed together without necessary materials , and often without skilled teaching staff . Moreover , the Polish schools are closed during at least five months out of the ten months of the school year due to lack of coal or other fuel . Of twenty @-@ thirty spacious school buildings which Kraków had bef...
82.65247344970703 99 WikiText2
1222 In the General Government , the remaining schools were subjugated to the German educational system , and the number and competence of their Polish staff was steadily scaled down . All universities and most secondary schools were closed , if not immediately after the invasion , then by mid @-@ 1940 . By late 1940 ...
41.25902557373047 278 WikiText2
1223 The Germans were especially active in the destruction of Jewish culture in Poland ; nearly all of the wooden synagogues there were destroyed . Moreover , the sale of Jewish literature was banned throughout Poland .
47.28489685058594 36 WikiText2
1224 Polish literature faced a similar fate in territories annexed by Germany , where the sale of Polish books was forbidden . The public destruction of Polish books was not limited to those seized from libraries , but also included those books that were confiscated from private homes . The last Polish book titles not...
34.35530090332031 220 WikiText2
1225 Polish flags and other symbols were confiscated . The war on the Polish language included the tearing down of signs in Polish and the banning of Polish speech in public places . Persons who spoke Polish in the streets were often insulted and even physically assaulted . The Germanization of place names prevailed ....
32.77717971801758 111 WikiText2
1226 = = = = Censorship and propaganda = = = =
55.69579315185547 11 WikiText2
1227 The Germans prohibited publication of any regular Polish @-@ language book , literary study or scholarly paper . In 1940 , several German @-@ controlled printing houses began operating in occupied Poland , publishing items such as Polish @-@ German dictionaries and antisemitic and anticommunist novels .
91.91502380371094 53 WikiText2
1228 Censorship at first targeted books that were considered to be " serious " , including scientific and educational texts and texts that were thought to promote Polish patriotism ; only fiction that was free of anti @-@ German overtones was permitted . Banned literature included maps , atlases and English- and Frenc...
54.44654083251953 191 WikiText2
1229 Poles were forbidden , under penalty of death , to own radios . The press was reduced from over 2 @,@ 000 publications to a few dozen , all censored by the Germans . All pre @-@ war newspapers were closed , and the few that were published during the occupation were new creations under the total control of the Ger...
51.55978012084961 320 WikiText2
1230 Music was the least restricted of cultural activities , probably because Hans Frank regarded himself as a fan of serious music . In time , he ordered the creation of the Orchestra and Symphony of the General Government in its capital , Kraków . Numerous musical performances were permitted in cafes and churches , ...
61.61171340942383 113 WikiText2
1231 The development of Nazi propaganda in occupied Poland can be divided into two main phases . Initial efforts were directed towards creating a negative image of pre @-@ war Poland , and later efforts were aimed at fostering anti @-@ Soviet , antisemitic , and pro @-@ German attitudes .
37.41889953613281 56 WikiText2
1232 = = = Soviet occupation = = =
247.3102264404297 8 WikiText2
1233 After the Soviet invasion of Poland ( beginning 17 September 1939 ) that followed the German invasion that had marked the start of World War II ( beginning 1 September 1939 ) , the Soviet Union annexed the eastern parts ( " Kresy " ) of the Second Polish Republic , comprising 201 @,@ 015 square kilometres ( 77 @,...
43.63483428955078 122 WikiText2
1234 The Soviet authorities regarded service to the prewar Polish state as a " crime against revolution " and " counter @-@ revolutionary activity " and arrested many members of the Polish intelligentsia , politicians , civil servants and academics , as well as ordinary persons suspected of posing a threat to Soviet r...
53.79922103881836 97 WikiText2
1235 The Soviets quickly Sovietized the annexed lands , introducing compulsory collectivization . They proceeded to confiscate , nationalize and redistribute private and state @-@ owned Polish property . In the process , they banned political parties and public associations and imprisoned or executed their leaders as ...
49.105438232421875 163 WikiText2
1236 The Soviet authorities sought to remove all trace of the Polish history of the area now under their control . The name " Poland " was banned . Polish monuments were torn down . All institutions of the dismantled Polish state , including the Lwów University , were closed , then reopened , mostly with new Russian d...
44.79313278198242 221 WikiText2
1237 All publications and media were subjected to censorship . The Soviets sought to recruit Polish left @-@ wing intellectuals who were willing to cooperate . Soon after the Soviet invasion , the Writers ' Association of Soviet Ukraine created a local chapter in Lwów ; there was a Polish @-@ language theater and radi...
63.94369125366211 104 WikiText2
1238 The Soviet propaganda @-@ motivated support for Polish @-@ language cultural activities , however , clashed with the official policy of Russification . The Soviets at first intended to phase out the Polish language and so banned Polish from schools , street signs , and other aspects of life . This policy was , ho...
48.758670806884766 175 WikiText2
1239 Many Polish writers collaborated with the Soviets , writing pro @-@ Soviet propaganda . They included Jerzy Borejsza , Tadeusz Boy @-@ Żeleński , Kazimierz Brandys , Janina Broniewska , Jan Brzoza , Teodor Bujnicki , Leon Chwistek , Zuzanna Ginczanka , Halina Górska , Mieczysław Jastrun , Stefan Jędrychowski , St...
54.56703186035156 134 WikiText2
1240 Other Polish writers , however , rejected the Soviet persuasions and instead published underground : Jadwiga Czechowiczówna , Jerzy Hordyński , Jadwiga Gamska @-@ Łempicka , Herminia Naglerowa , Beata Obertyńska , Ostap Ortwin , Tadeusz Peiper , Teodor Parnicki , Juliusz Petry . Some writers , such as Władysław B...
80.25688171386719 96 WikiText2
1241 = = Underground culture = =
1278.0928955078125 6 WikiText2
1242 = = = Patrons = = =
152.71726989746094 7 WikiText2
1243 Polish culture persisted in underground education , publications , even theater . The Polish Underground State created a Department of Education and Culture ( under Stanisław Lorentz ) which , along with a Department of Labor and Social Welfare ( under Jan Stanisław Jankowski and , later , Stefan Mateja ) and a D...
76.6812973022461 209 WikiText2
1244 Other important patrons of Polish culture included the Roman Catholic Church and Polish aristocrats , who likewise supported artists and safeguarded Polish heritage ( notable patrons included Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha and a former politician , Janusz Radziwiłł ) . Some private publishers , including Stefan Kam...
109.92707824707031 68 WikiText2
1245 = = = Education = = =
133.43739318847656 7 WikiText2
1246 In response to the German closure and censorship of Polish schools , resistance among teachers led almost immediately to the creation of large @-@ scale underground educational activities . Most notably , the Secret Teaching Organization ( Tajna Organizacja Nauczycielska , TON ) was created as early as in October...
42.0875244140625 394 WikiText2
1247 In Warsaw , there were over 70 underground schools , with 2 @,@ 000 teachers and 21 @,@ 000 students . Underground Warsaw University educated 3 @,@ 700 students , issuing 64 masters and 7 doctoral degrees . Warsaw Politechnic under occupation educated 3 @,@ 000 students , issuing 186 engineering degrees , 18 doct...
48.9115104675293 177 WikiText2
1248 The German attitude to underground education varied depending on whether it took place in the General Government or the annexed territories . The Germans had almost certainly realized the full scale of the Polish underground education system by about 1943 , but lacked the manpower to put an end to it , probably p...
39.518409729003906 216 WikiText2
1249 = = = Print = = =