Germanisation: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=JanuaryAugust 20152024}}

{{See also|Germanisation of Gaul|Ostsiedlung|Germania Slavica|Wendish Crusade|Northern Crusades}}

In respect to Austria, northern border of Slovene-speaking territory stabilised on a line from north of Klagenfurt to the south of Villach and east of Hermagor in Carinthia, while in Styria it closely followed the current Austrian-Slovenian border. This linguistic border remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century, when the second process of Germanisation took place, mostly in Carinthia.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} Germanisation of the [[Ladino-Romantsch]] [[Venosta Valley]] in Tyrol was also undertaken by Austria in the 16th century.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} Following the 1620 [[Battle of White Mountain]], the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]], at the time one of the last meaningful territories of the HRE not dominated yet by the German language, was subjected to two centuries of re[[catholicization]] of the Czech lands accompanied by growing influence of German-speaking elites, at the expense of declining the Czech-speaking aristocracy, elite Czech language usage in general. Despite the great importance to [[Czech literature]] of poets and writers of the era like [[Bedřich Bridel]], Czech nationalist historians and writers such as [[Alois Jirásek]] have referred to the 17th and 18th century in the Czech lands as the Dark Age. As a further step,

Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] ({{reign|1780|90}}) sought to consolidate the territories of [[Habsburg Monarchy]] within the Holy Roman Empire with those remaining outside of it and, to rule[[Unitary themstate|centralise centrallythe undergovernment]], principlesand ofto implement [[AbsolutismAge (Europeanof history)Enlightenment|absolutismEnlightenment]] influencedprinciples by thethrough [[AgeAbsolutism of(European Enlightenmenthistory)|Enlightenmentabsolutism]] .<ref name=Country>{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/hutoc.html |title=A Country Study: Hungary – Hungary under the Habsburgs |access-date=2009-04-14 April 2009 |work=[[Federal Research Division]] |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428231424/http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/hutoc.html |archive-date=28 April 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He decreed that [[Austrian German]] was to replace [[Ecclesiastical Latin]] as the Empire's official language of Government.<ref name=Country/> [[Hungarian people|Hungarians]], however, perceived Joseph's language reformreforms as Germanan act of [[linguistic imperialism]] and [[cultural hegemony]], and they reactedresponded by insisting on the right to useusing their own[[heritage tonguelanguage]].<ref name=Country/> As a result, Hungarianthe lesserlower nobles[[Hungarian sparkednobility]] launched a literary renaissance of the [[Hungarian language]] and culture.<ref name=Country/> TheThese lesser nobles often questioned the loyalty of the magnates, of whom less than half of whom were ethnic [[Hungarian people|Hungarians]], and many of these had become [[French language|French-]] and German-speaking courtiers[[courtier]]s.<ref name=Country/> The Hungarian national revival was so successful that the stateGovernment onlyin recently[[Budapest]] relieveddid not learn anything from Germanizationthe initiatedfailure inof turnEmperor itsJoseph II's linguistic policies and, following the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]], unwisely launched a owncoercive [[Magyarization]] policy aimed at forcibly assimilating the many speakers of ''other'' [[minority language]]s within the [[Kingdom of Hungary]], triggeringwhich ultimately triggered a [[domino effect]]. SimilarAnti-Hungarian and heritage language revival movements arose in [[Transleithania]] among the [[Slovak people|Slovak]]s, [[Romanian people|Romanian]]s, [[Serbs|Serbian]]s, and [[Croatian people|Croatian]] minoritiess within the [[Kingdom of Hungary]],<ref name=Country/> triggering in Cisleithania the [[Czech National Revival]] and [[United Slovenia]] movements, in both parts of the [[Habsburg Monarchy]] the Croatian [[Illyrian movement]], as well as in the Bosnia and Herzegovina condominium the Bosnian movement, some of them ultimately forming [[Yugoslavism]], while the AustrianPolish and Ukrainian-speaking population of the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]] enjoyedbenefitted from the broadening of [[Galician autonomy]].

[[File:Polskie-nazwy śląskich miejscowosci z patentu Fryderyka II 1750.jpg|thumb|300px|Polish names of [[Silesia]]n cities from a Prussian official document published in Berlin in 1750 during the [[Silesian Wars]]<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=26222&from=FBC|title=Silesian Digital Library|journal=225240 IV |access-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606011210/http://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=26222&from=FBC|archive-date=6 June 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>]]

MeanwhileDuring the 18th-century, a more harsh and brutal form of [[Germanisation of Poles during Partitions|Germanisation efforts]], initially practiced in [[Farther Pomerania]] and [[East Prussia]] and extended following the [[Silesian Wars]] also to [[Silesia]] and [[County of Kladsko]] gained from the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]] as well as later to the terrories of [[Lauenburg and Bütow Land]] and the [[Starostwo of Draheim]] pawned by Poland, was introduced by [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick the Great]] as a result of the [[partitions of Poland]] to the newly gained Polish territories of [[Greater Poland]], [[Pomerelia]], [[Warmia]] and [[Malbork Land]]. The Prussian authorities settled German-speaking ethnic groupsProtestants in these areas. [[Frederick the Great]] settled around 300,000 colonists in the eastern provinces of [[Prussia]]. He aimed at a removal of the Polish nobility, which he treatedviewed with contempt, describing ethnic Poles in newly reconquered West Prussia as "slovenly Polish trash"<ref name="ReferenceB">"In fact, from Hitler to Hans Frank, we find frequent references to Slavs and Jews as 'Indians.' This, too, was a long standing trope. It can be traced back to Frederick the Great, who likened the 'slovenly Polish trash' in newly' reconquered West Prussia to Iroquois". ''Localism, Landscape, and the Ambiguities of Place: German-speaking Central Europe, 1860–1930'' David Blackbourn, James N. Retallack University of Toronto 2007</ref> similarand compared Poles to the [[Iroquois]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ritter|first=Gerhard|author-link=Gerhard Ritter|title=Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile|year=1974|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0-520-02775-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stayawayjoenovel00cush/page/179 179–180]|quote=It has been estimated that during his reign 300,000 individuals settled in Prussia. ... While the commission for colonization established in the Bismarck era could in the course of two decades bring no more than 11,957 families to the eastern territories, Frederick settled a total of 57,475. ... It increased the German character of the population in the monarchy's provinces to a very significant degree. ... in West Prussia where he wished to drive out the Polish nobility and bring as many of their large estates as possible into German hands.|url=https://archive.org/details/stayawayjoenovel00cush/page/179}}</ref> From the start of Prussian rule Poles were subject to a series of measures against their culture: the Polish language was replaced by German as the official language;<ref name="Chwalba">[[Andrzej Chwalba]], ''Historia Polski 1795–1918'' Wydawnictwo Literackie 2000 Kraków pages 175–184, 307–312</ref> most administrative positions were filled by Germans. Poles were portrayed as "backward Slavs" by Prussian officials who wanted to spread GermanProtestantism languagein andthe cultureGerman language.<ref name="Chwalba"/> The estates of the [[Polish nobility]] were confiscated and given to Protestant members of the [[German noblesnobility]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Chwalba"/>

[[File:National map of eastern provinces of German Reich based on official census of 1910.jpg|thumb|LinguisticNationality map of the eastern provinces of Prussia (1910 census)]]

After a brief period of thaw in the years 1841–49, [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] intensified Germanisation again during 1849–70 as part of his [[Kulturkampf]] against Catholicism in general, but in particular against Polish Catholics. It was the policy of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] to seek a degree of linguistic and cultural Germanisation, while in [[German Empire|Imperial Germany]] a more intense form of cultural Germanisation was pursued, often with explicit intention of reducing the influence of other cultures or institutions, such as the Catholic Church.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} In the [[German Empire]], Poles were portrayed as "[[Reichsfeinde]]" ("foes of the Empire").<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NMiI9NR5VLEC&q=reichsfeinde+Poles&pg=PA24|title=Bismarck and the German Empire 1871–1918|isbn=9780203130957|access-date=23 April 2016|last1=Abrams|first1=Lynn|year=1995|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> In 1885 the [[Prussian Settlement Commission]], financed by the national government, was set up to buy land from non-Germans and distribute it to German farmers.<ref>"Die Germanisirung der polnisch-preußischen Landestheile." In ''Neueste Mittheilungen'', V.Jahrgang, No. 17, 11 February 1886. Berlin: Dr. H. Klee.http://amtspresse.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/vollanzeige.php?file=11614109%2F1886%2F1886-02-11.xml&s=1</ref> {{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} From 1908 the committee was entitled to force the landowners to sell the land. Other means of oppression included the [[Prussian deportations]] from 1885 to 1890, in which non-Prussian nationals who lived in Prussia, mostly Poles and Jews, were removed; and a ban issued on the building of houses by non-Germans. (See [[Drzymała's van]].) Germanisation in schools included the [[Września children strike|abuse of Polish children by Prussian officials]]. Germanisation stimulated resistance, usually in the form of home schooling and tighter unity in minority groups.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} There was a slight easing of the persecution of Poles during 1890–94. A continuation and intensification of measures restarted in 1894 and continued until the end of [[World War I]]. In 1910, the Polish poet [[Maria Konopnicka]] responded to the increasing persecution of Polish people by Germans by writing her famous poem entitled [[Rota (poem)|''Rota'']]; it immediately became a national symbol for Poles, with its sentence known to many Poles: ''The German will not spit in our face, nor will he Germanise our children''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} An international meeting of socialists held in Brussels in 1902 condemned the Germanisation of Poles in Prussia, calling it "barbarous".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.echoed.com.au/chronicle/1902/jan-feb/world.htm |title=All items for this edition of World News are taken from the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), January-February 1902. |access-date=2005-10-31 October 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051208100913/http://www.echoed.com.au/chronicle/1902/jan-feb/world.htm |archive-date=8 December 2005 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Meanwhile, the Austrian-ruled [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]] operated two Polish-speaking universities and in 1867 obtained even consent to adopt [[Polish language|Polish]] as its official government language;. aThe motionGalician whichGovernment itselfalso triggeredfoolishly inlaunched responsea the[[Polonisation]] Ukrainianpolicy nationalwhich awakening,triggered a factorUkrainian [[language revival]], which laterwas exploitedencouraged by the Austrian government, innot accordonly with theto ''divide and rule'', but, more importantly, to create an alternative to the Tsarist-backed [[Galician Russophilia|Galician Russophiles]] and to "return the favor" by similarly destabilizing the [[Russification of Ukraine]]. In defiance of the [[Valuev Circular]], the [[Ems Ukaz]], and [[censorship in the Russian Empire]], [[Ukrainian-language literature]] was published in Galicia and smuggled across the Russian border with Austrian Government principlebacking.

In response to these policies, the Polish formed their own organisations to maintain their interests and ethnic identity. The ''[[Sokol movement|Sokol]]'' sports clubs, the workers' union ''Zjednoczenie Zawodowe Polskie'' (ZZP), ''Wiarus Polski'' (press), and ''Bank Robotnikow'' were among the best-known such organisations in the Ruhr. At first, the Polish workers, ostracised by their German counterparts, had supported the Catholic centre party.<ref>[[:de:Zentrumspartei]]</ref> During the early 20th century, their support shifted increasingly towards the social democrats.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.deutsche-und-polen.de/_/ereignisse/frames/content_lang_jsp/key=ruhrpolen_1880.html|title=Ereignis: 1880, Polen im Ruhrgebiet – Deutsche und Polen (rbb) Geschichte, Biografien, Zeitzeugen, Orte, Karten|access-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928120229/http://www.deutsche-und-polen.de/_/ereignisse/frames/content_lang_jsp/key=ruhrpolen_1880.html|archive-date=28 September 2007|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 1905 Polish and German workers organised their first common strike.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Under the ''Namensänderungsgesetz''<ref name=autogenerated1 /> (law of changing surnames), a significant number of "Ruhr-Poles" changed their surnames and Christian names to Germanised forms, in order to evade ethnic discrimination. As the Prussian authorities suppressed Catholic services in Polish by Polish priests during the [[Kulturkampf]], the Poles had to rely on German [[Roman Catholic church|Catholic]] priests. Increasing intermarriage between Germans and Poles contributed much to the Germanisation of ethnic Poles in the Ruhr area.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

During the [[Weimar Republic]], Poles were recognised as a minority in Upper Silesia. The peace treaties after the First World War contained an obligation for Poland to protect its national minorities (Germans, Ukrainians and other), whereas no such clause was introduced by the victors in the [[Treaty of Versailles]] for Germany. In 1928 the ''Minderheitenschulgesetz'' (minorities school act) regulated the education of minority children in their native tongue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=352|title="Polen im Ruhrgebiet 1870 – 1945" – Deutsch-polnische Tagung – H-Soz-Kult|access-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029065112/http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=352|archive-date=29 October 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> From 1930 onwards Poland and Germany agreed to treat their minorities fairly. Such position was officially maintained by Germany even for some time after the Nazi takeover, but ceased towards the end of 1937.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm-kp.de/geschichtliches/johannziesch/|title=njedźelu, 24.04.2016|access-date=23 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904184121/http://www.tcm-kp.de/geschichtliches/johannziesch/|archive-date=4 September 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The Nazis considered land to the east{{snd}}[[Poland]], [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Russia]], and the [[RussiaBaltics]]{{snd}} to be ''[[Lebensraum]]'' (living space) and sought to populate it with Germans. Hitler, speaking with generals immediately prior to his chancellorship, declared that people could not be Germanised, only the soil could be.<ref>[[Richard Bessel]], ''Nazism and War'', p 36 {{ISBN|0-679-64094-0}}</ref>

In a top-secret memorandum, "The Treatment of Racial Aliens in the East", dated 25{{spaces}}May 1940, Himmler wrote "We need to divide Poland's different ethnic groups up into as many parts and splinter groups as possible".<ref>Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 1957, No. 2</ref><ref name="aggression">{{cite web|url=http://fundamentalbass.home.mindspring.com/c9052.htm|title=Chapter XIII – GERMANIZATION AND SPOLIATION|access-date=23 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031203151512/http://fundamentalbass.home.mindspring.com/c9052.htm|archive-date=3 December 2003|df=dmy-all}}</ref> There were two Germanisation actions in [[occupied Poland]] realised in this way:

Germanisation began with the [[Racial policy of Nazi Germany|classification of people]] as defined on the Nazi [[Volksliste]].<ref name="The Dictators p543"/> The Germans regarded the holding of active leadership roles as an Aryan trait, whereas a tendency to avoid leadership and a perceived fatalism was associated by many Germans with Slavonic peoples.<ref name="ChildrenCry">{{Cite web |url=http://www.projectinposterum.org/docs/lucas2.htm |title=Lukas, Richard C. ''Did the Children Cry?'' |access-date=13 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723215035/http://www.projectinposterum.org/docs/lucas2.htm |archive-date=23 July 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Adults who were selected for but resisted Germanisation were executed. Such execution was carried out on the grounds that German blood should not support non-Germanic people,<ref name="aggression"/> and that killing them would deprive foreign nations of superior leaders.<ref name="Gumkowkski"/> The [[intelligenzaktion]] was justified, even though these elites were regarded as likely to be of German blood, because such blood enabled them to provide leadership for the fatalistic Slavs.<ref name="ChildrenCry"/> Germanising "racially valuable" elements would prevent any increase in the Polish intelligenstia,<ref name="aggression"/> as the dynamic leadership would have to come from German blood.<ref>Richard C. Lukas, ''Forgotten Holocaust'' p24 {{ISBN|0-7818-0528-7}}</ref> In 1940 Hitler made it clear that the Czech intelligentsia and the "mongoloid" types of the Czech population were not to be Germanised.<ref>Hitler's Ethic By Richard Weikart p.67</ref>

Under ''[[Generalplan Ost]]'', a percentage of Slavs in the conquered territories were to be Germanised. [[Gauleiter]]s [[Albert Forster]] and [[Arthur Greiser]] reported to Hitler that 10 percent of the Polish population contained "Germanic blood", and were thus suitable for Germanisation.<ref name="speer1">Speer, Albert (1976). ''[[Spandau: The Secret Diaries]]'', p. 49. Macmillan Company.</ref> The [[Reichskommissar]]s in northern and central Russia reported similar figures.<ref name="speer1"/> Those unfit for Germanisation were to [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany (1939-1944)|be expelled]] from the areas marked out for German settlement. In considering the fate of the individual nations, the architects of the Plan decided that it would be possible to Germanise about 50 percent of the [[Czechs]], 35 percent of the [[Ukrainians]] and 25 percent of the [[Belarusians]]. The remainder would be deported to western [[Siberia]] and other regions. In 1941, it was decided that the [[Poland|Polish nation]] should be completely destroyed. Thein German leadership decided that inabout ten10 to 20 years, theso Polishthat stateit under German occupation was tocould be fully cleared of any ethnic Poles and resettledre-settled by German colonists.<ref name="Volk">[[Volker R. Berghahn]] "Germans and Poles 1871–1945" in "Germany and Eastern Europe: Cultural Identities and Cultural Differences", Rodopi 1999</ref>

In the Baltic States the Nazis initially encouraged the departure of ethnic Germans by the use of propaganda. This included using scare tactics about the Soviet Union, and [[Nazi-Soviet population transfers|led to tens of thousands leaving]].<ref>Nicholas, p. 207-9</ref> Those who left were not referred to as "refugees", but were rather described as "answering the call of the Führer".<ref>Nicholas, p. 206</ref> German propaganda films such as ''[[The Red Terror (film)|The Red Terror]]''<ref>Erwin Leiser, ''Nazi Cinema'' p44-5 {{ISBN|0-02-570230-0}}</ref> and ''[[Frisians in Peril]]''<ref>Erwin Leiser, ''Nazi Cinema'' p39-40 {{ISBN|0-02-570230-0}}</ref> depicted the [[Baltic Germans]] as deeply persecuted in their native lands. Packed into camps for racial evaluation, they were divided into groups: A, ''Altreich'', who were to be settled in Germany and allowed neither farms nor businesses (to allow close supervision); S ''Sonderfall'', who were used as forced labour; and O ''Ost-Fälle'', the best classification, to be settled in [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|the occupied regions]] and allowed independence.<ref>Nicholas, p. 213</ref> This last group was often given Polish homes where the families had been evicted so quickly that half-eaten meals were on tables and small children had clearly been taken from unmade beds.<ref>Nicholas, p. 213-4</ref> Members of the [[Hitler Youth]] and the [[League of German Girls]] were assigned the task of overseeing such evictions and ensuring that the Poles left behind most of their belongings for the use of the settlers.<ref name="history">Walter S. Zapotoczny, "[http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/hitleryouth.aspx Rulers of the World: The Hitler Youth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619203114/http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/hitleryouth.aspx |date=19 June 2010 }}"</ref> The deportation orders required that enough Poles be removed to provide for every settler{{snd}}that, for instance, if twenty German master bakers were sent, twenty Polish bakeries had to have their owners removed.<ref>Michael Sontheimer, "[http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,759095,00.html When We Finish, Nobody Is Left Alive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509200250/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,759095,00.html |date=9 May 2012 }}" 05/27/ May 2011 ''Spiegel''</ref>

For Poles who did not resist and the resettled ethnic Germans, Germanisation began. Militant party members were sent to teach them to be "true Germans".<ref>Pierre Aycoberry, ''The Social History of the Third Reich, 1933–1945'', p 255, {{ISBN|1-56584-549-8}}</ref> The Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls sent young people for "Eastern Service", which entailed assisting in Germanisation efforts.<ref name="cruel215">Nicholas, p. 215</ref> Germanisation included instruction in the German language, as many spoke only Polish or Russian.<ref>Nicholas, p. 217</ref> [[Goebbels]] and other propagandists worked to establish cultural centres and other means to create ''Volkstum'' or racial consciousness in the settlers.<ref>Robert Edwin Hertzstein, ''The War That Hitler Won'' p137 {{ISBN|0-399-11845-4}}</ref> This was needed to perpetuate their work; only by effective Germanisation could mothers, in particular, create the German home.<ref>[[Leila J. Rupp]], ''Mobilising Women for War'', p 122, {{ISBN|0-691-04649-2}}, {{OCLC|3379930}}</ref> Goebbels was also the official patron of ''Deutsches Ordensland'' or Land of Germanic Order, an organisation to promote Germanisation.<ref>Robert Edwiwas n Hertzstein, ''The War That Hitler Won'' p139 {{ISBN|0-399-11845-4}}</ref> These efforts were used in propaganda in Germany, as when ''[[NS-Frauen-Warte]]''{{'}}s cover article was on "Germany is building in the East".<ref>"[http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/fw.htm The Frauen Warte: 1935–1945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608123404/http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/fw.htm |date=8 June 2011 }}"</ref>

Ukraine was targeted for Germanisation. Thirty special SS squads took over villages where ethnic Germans predominated and expelled or shot Jews or Slavs living in them.<ref>[[Karel C. Berkhoff]], ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule'' p44 {{ISBN|0-674-01313-1}}</ref> The [[Hegewald (colony)|Hegewald colony]] was set up in the Ukraine.<ref>Lynn H. Nicholas, ''Cruel World: The Children of Europe in the Nazi Web'' p336, {{ISBN|0-679-77663-X}}</ref> Ukrainians were forcibly deported, and ethnic Germans forcibly relocated there.<ref name="harvest45">[[Karel C. Berkhoff]], ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule'' p45 {{ISBN|0-674-01313-1}}</ref> Racial assignment was carried out in a confused manner: the Reich rule was three German grandparents, but some asserted that any person who acted like a German and evinced no "racial concerns" should be eligible.<ref>[[Karel C. Berkhoff]], ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule'' p211 {{ISBN|0-674-01313-1}}</ref>

In German-occupied Poland, it is estimated that 50,000 to 200,000 children were removed from their families to be Germanised.<ref>[http://www.dac.neu.edu/holocaust/Hitlers_Plans.htm#GERMANIZATION%20OF%20POLISH%20CHILDREN Hitler's War; Hitler's Plans for Eastern Europe<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120527021449/http://www.dac.neu.edu/holocaust/Hitlers_Plans.htm |date=27 May 2012 }}</ref> The [[Kinder KZ]] was founded specifically to hold such children. It is estimated that at least 10,000 of them were murdered in the process as they were determined unfit and sent to concentration camps. Only 10–15% returned to their families after the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://roztocze.net/newsroom.php/13293|title=Dzieciństwo zabrała wojna > Newsroom – Roztocze Online – informacje regionalne – Zamość, Biłgoraj, Hrubieszów, Lubaczów, Tomaszów Lubelski, Lubaczów – Roztocze OnLine|access-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423235217/http://roztocze.net/newsroom.php/13293|archive-date=23 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In the [[List of former German colonies|German colonies]], the policy of imposing German as the [[official language]] led to the development of German-based [[pidgin]]s and [[German-based creole languages]], such as [[Unserdeutsch language|Unserdeutsch]].{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} Of all the last Kaiser's former colonies, however, only [[Namibia]] still has a large German-speaking population.

In contrast, today's [[Federal Republic of Germany]], has classified the [[Danish people|Danes]], [[Frisians]], and Slavic [[Sorbs]] are classified as traditional ethnic and linguistic minorities andwhich are guaranteed [[cultural autonomy]] by both the federal and state governments. There is a treaty between [[Denmark]] and Germany from 1955 regulating the status[[linguistic rights]] of the German-speaking minority in Denmark and vice versa. The north German state of [[Schleswig-Holstein]] has also passed a law aimed at [[language revival|preserving]] the [[Frisian language]].<ref>[[s:de:Friesisch-Gesetz|Friesisch-Gesetz]] at [[Wikipedia:Wikisource|Wikisource]]</ref>

* [[Anti-{{annotated link|German sentiment]]nationalism}}