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Show In Vanquished Poland Thousands Slain, Others Deported by Nazis Editor's Bote The following " eeount ef condition la Poland It beard exelualvely en Information Informa-tion obUtinrd from the Polish emigre government In France. The United Preae ha aaked Berlin Ber-lin to transmit the German viewpoint view-point this subject. PARIS (UP) The refugee Polish government in France it collecting extensive reports on developments In conquered Polish Po-lish territory, where refugees charge that German and soviet authorities have enforced campaigns cam-paigns of "pillage and maltreatment" maltreat-ment" of the people. The reports. Issued by the refugee refu-gee government and being collected col-lected into an official volume, Include charges that many thousands thou-sands have been executed or subjected sub-jected to extreme hardships, that' other thousands have been driven driv-en from their homes, put In concentration con-centration camps or sent to Germany Ger-many to do hard labor; that the foVmer Polish territory has been plundered and that Polish families fami-lies have been separated. According to the Polish Information Infor-mation center In France and to a statement made in the house of commons this week by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Cham-berlain, the Germans are seeking to rid the areas annexed to the sell li of Poles, allegedly by ewe-cutlon ewe-cutlon of many prominent persons per-sons and by mass deportation on short notice. Many families of German blood In the Baltic states are being moved Into these Polish areas after the German government made agreements with the Baltic states relieving them of their property there and arranging an exchange by which they get Polish property. tt.OOO.ftOS People Involved The former Polish area Incorporated Incor-porated Into the reich includes Pomerania, Posnania and Silesia as well as a large central sector in which are Warsaw and Lodz. About 22.000.000 population in all was in the area taken over by Germany. Of Poland's prewar population of 35.000.000, approximately approxi-mately 3,100.000 was Jewish. German officials have failed so far to permit foreign correspondents correspond-ents to visit the former Polish territory except when conducted. Nor are soviet permits available. The Information collected by the Polish refugee government in France is based largely on the stories of refugees who escaped to neutral territory, and upon diplomatic reports. No definite sources have been given for this Information because Polish officials offi-cials say the publication of names would expose Informers' relatives to retaliation. (The official Tass news agency In a number of dispatches from occupied Polish territory have stated that the peasanU and workers welcomed the red army with enthusiasm and that they approved the measures taken to end the power of the "Polish landlords." The vote taken by the Soviets on alignment of the Polish territory with Russia was announced as virtually unanimous.) unani-mous.) Report Mass Executions A summary of Polish developments develop-ments compiled by the Polish information in-formation center in France included in-cluded the following: "In three Polish provinces, Germany Immediately began a regime of terror unparalleled In history. They sought to exterminate extermi-nate the Polish element (in the provinces annexed to Germany) and the Germans organized mass executions of Polish leaders of all classes of society. The executions were mostly In the public squares and Included men and women In equal numbers, num-bers, also ... a number of children. The victims frequently were forced to dig their own graves or to dig graves for condemned con-demned compatriots. The Germans Ger-mans proceed daily by choosing hostages from each district. These are among the most promt nent persona and thereafter they are shot on the slightest pretext. "Usually if the Germans are unable to ascertain who raised a Polish flag In a certain district or who tore down a German flag. It Is the hostages who pay with . their lives. Death Toll Is U.aoe 'The death toll of those executed exe-cuted to date touts 18.000, most of whom were shot without trial. 'Today thousands of Poles are awaiting their fate In concentration concentra-tion camps where they live in frightful conditions from the point of view of nourishment as well as hygiene. 'The territories Incorporated In the relch In some parts are 98 per cent Polish. Germans have undertaken un-dertaken mass expulsions. For example, from Gdynia, the most Important Baltic port, the Ger- . mans expelled 100,000 Poles within a few days, allowing the v exiled only one valise and SO marks S20). 'The same regime of expulsion has been applied In the last two months to the city of Poznan with 270,000 Inhabitants. At night the police blocked off the streets and literally dumped the people out of their houses. Old men, women and children were ported to central Poland, being left there without sustenance. Families Were Separated "Men In good health were transported to far sections of Germany, where they were used for hard labor. Children were separated from their parents; wives from their husbands. Ger- . mans boast today that they have transported 8,000.000 Poles. 'The emigration of Poles from Poland because of the war may Be divided as follows: "Hungary, 45.000 military, 15.-000 15.-000 civilian; Rumania, 25,000 military, 20,000 civilian; Lithuania, Lithu-ania, 15.000 military, 23,000 civilian; civil-ian; Latvia, 1000 military, no civilian; other countries, Including Includ-ing France, 40,000 military, 10,-000 10,-000 civilian." In a more detailed report on expulsion of Poles from the area annexed to Germany, the infor- ', matlon center reported: "Every day thousands of Inhabitants In-habitants of the city of Poznan are expelled from their homes. Judging from early estimates, at least 20,000 families or 100,000 persons have been obliged to leave the city. Systematic Plan Followed "One day the German authorities authori-ties will expel all of the Judiciary and their assistants. On another day It will be the turn of postmen post-men and railroad workers; on another day the Germans will concentrate on certain streets or neighborhoods and expel all Poles ruthlessly. i "Agents of the gestapo usually 1 arrive in the night. They inform 1 the Poles they must leave the house within 15 minutes or half an hour, taking with them only a small valise with personal effects ef-fects and money not exceeding 100 marks. What is left the Germans confiscate. "It was In this manner that all working class residents were recently re-cently expelled from Berdychowo at Posnan. The inhabitants were chased from their homes during the freezing cold night. They were directed to a distant barracks, bar-racks, where they were herded together like animals and then taken without food or covering to a livestock train and put on cars some of which, after hours of shifting around, rolled off to the Interior of Poland. The situation was even worse at Bydgoszcz (In northwestern Poland). Germans there shot in one day 6000 Polish men and women, transporting the remainder remain-der of the male population. In certain districts the Germans have begun expulsion- ol the peasants." |