Deutsche VolkslisteThe Deutsche Volksliste (German People's List), a Nazi Party institution, aimed to classify inhabitants of Nazi-occupied territories (1939-1945) into categories of desirability according to criteria systematised by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. The institution originated in occupied western Poland (occupied 1939-1945). Similar schemes were subsequently developed in Occupied France (1940-1944) and in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (1941-1944). Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) topped the list as a category.
Transylvanian SaxonsThe Transylvanian Saxons (Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: Siweberjer Såksen or simply Soxen, singularly Sox or Soax; Transylvanian Landler: Soxn or Soxisch; Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; erdélyi szászok) are a people of mainly German ethnicity and overall Germanic origin; mostly Luxembourgish initially during the medieval Ostsiedlung process, then also from other parts of present-day Germany) who settled in Transylvania (Transilvania or Ardeal, Hungarian: Erdély, Siebenbürgen or
OstsiedlungOstsiedlung (ˈɔstˌziːdlʊŋ, literally "East settlement") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration of ethnic Germans into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire and beyond; and the consequences for settlement development and social structures in the areas of settlement. Generally sparsely and in some inland areas only relatively recently populated by Slavic, Baltic and Finnic peoples, the most settled area was known as Germania Slavica.
Waffen-SSThe Waffen-SS (ˈvafn̩ʔɛsˌʔɛs) (Armed SS) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The Waffen-SS grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, and served alongside the German Army (Heer), Ordnungspolizei (Order Police), and other security units.
AbwehrThe Abwehr (German for resistance or defence, though the word usually means counterintelligence in a military context; ˈapveːɐ̯) was the German military-intelligence service for the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht from 1920 to 1945. Although the 1919 Treaty of Versailles prohibited the Weimar Republic from establishing an intelligence organization of their own, they formed an espionage group in 1920 within the Ministry of Defence, calling it the Abwehr.
Blood and soilBlood and Soil (Blut und Boden) is a nationalist slogan expressing Nazi Germany's ideal of a racially defined national body ("Blood") united with a settlement area ("Soil"). By it, rural and farm life forms are idealized as a counterweight to urban ones. It is tied to the contemporaneous German concept of Lebensraum, the belief that the German people were to expand into Eastern Europe, conquering and displacing the native Slavic and Baltic population via Generalplan Ost. "Blood and soil" was a key slogan of Nazi ideology.
BydgoszczBydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland, straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more than 470,000 inhabitants, Bydgoszcz is the eighth-largest city in Poland. It is the seat of Bydgoszcz County and the co-capital, with Toruń, of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The city is part of the Bydgoszcz–Toruń metropolitan area, which totals over 850,000 inhabitants.
German minority in PolandThe registered German minority in Poland (Niemcy w Polsce) at the 2011 national census consisted of 148,000 people, of whom 64,000 declared both German and Polish ethnicities and 45,000 solely German ethnicity. At a 2002 census there were 152,900 people declaring German ethnicity. The German language is spoken in certain areas in Opole Voivodeship, where most of the minority resides, and in Silesian Voivodeship. German-speakers first came to these regions (present-day Opole and Silesian Voivodeships) during the Late Middle Ages.
Reichsgau WarthelandThe Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen, also Warthegau) was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent areas. Parts of Warthegau matched the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen. The name was initially derived from the capital city, Posen (Poznań), and later from the main river, Warthe (Warta). During the Partitions of Poland from 1793, the bulk of the area had been annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia until 1807 as South Prussia.
German nationality lawGerman nationality law details the conditions by which an individual is a national of Germany. The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1914. Germany is a member state of the European Union (EU) and all German nationals are EU citizens. They have automatic and permanent permission to live and work in any EU or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) country and may vote in elections to the European Parliament.
