The Holocaust in Poland was part of the European-wide Holocaust organized by Nazi Germany and took place in German-occupied Poland. During the genocide, three million Polish Jews were murdered, half of all Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust in Poland was marked by the construction of death camps by Nazi Germany, German use of gas vans, and mass shootings by German troops and their Ukrainian and Lithuanian auxiliaries. The extermination camps played a central role in the extermination both of Polish Jews, and of Jews whom Germany transported to their deaths from western and southern Europe.
Every branch of the sophisticated German bureaucracy was involved in the killing process, from the interior and finance ministries to German firms and state-run railroads. Approximately 98 percent of Jewish population of Nazi-occupied Poland during the Holocaust were killed. About 350,000 Polish Jews survived the war; most survivors never lived in Nazi-occupied Poland, but lived in the Soviet-occupied zone of Poland during 1939 and 1940, and fled or were evacuated by the Soviets further east to avoid the German advance in 1941.
Of over 3,000,000 Polish Jews deported to Nazi concentration camps, only about 50,000 survived.
1940Oct, 16
The Holocaust in Poland: The Warsaw Ghetto is established.
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Events on 1940
- 17May
Brussels
World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium. - 12Jun
Erwin Rommel
World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux. - 5Jul
Vichy France
World War II: The United Kingdom and the Vichy France government break off diplomatic relations. - 10Jul
Vichy France
World War II: The Vichy government is established in France. - 11Jul
Vichy France
World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France.