6
Dec. 45
and
German superiority would thereby be
diminished. In contrast to the fanatics
of Warsaw and Krakow, the population of
their areas is indifferent. Furthermore,
it was necessary to consider the
position of the Polish State. Out of 34
million inhabitants, one and one-half
million were German, about four million
were Jews, and approximately nine
million Ukrainians, so that genuine
Poles were much less in number than the
total population and, as already said,
their striking power was to be valued
variably. In these circumstances Poland
could be struck to the ground by Germany
in the shortest time.
"Since
the Poles, through their whole attitude,
had made it clear that in any case, in
the event of a conflict, they would
stand on the side of the enemies of
Germany and Italy, a quick liquidation
at the present moment could only be of
advantage for the unavoidable conflict
with the Western Democracies. If a
hostile Poland remained on Germany's
eastern frontier, not only would the 11
East Prussian divisions be tied down;
but also further contingents would be
kept in Pomerania and Silesia. This
would not be necessary in the event of a
previous liquidation."
The
argument goes on on those lines.
I
pass on to the next page, at the top of the
page:
"Coming
back to the Danzig question, the Führer
said to Count Ciano that it was
impossible for him to go back now. He
had made an agreement with Italy for the
withdrawal of the Germans from South
Tyrol, but for this reason he must take
the greatest care to avoid giving the
impression that this Tyrolese withdrawal
could be taken as a precedent for other
areas. Furthermore, he had justified the
withdrawal by pointing to a general
easterly and northeasterly direction of
a German policy. The east and northeast,
that is to say the Baltic countries, had
been Germany's undisputed sphere of
influence since time immemorial, as the
Mediterranean had been the appropriate
sphere for Italy. For economic reasons
also, Germany needed the foodstuffs and
timber from these eastern regions."
Now
we get the truth of this matter. It is not the
persecution of German minorities on the Polish
frontiers, but the economic reasons, the need
for foodstuffs and timber from Poland:
"In
the case of Danzig, German interests
were not only material, although the
city had the greatest harbor in the
Baltic — the transshipment by
tonnage was 40 percent of that of
Hamburg — but Danzig was a
Nuremberg of the north, an ancient
German city awaking sentimental feelings
for every