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Volume V · Page 121
| according to Nazi conception, group 1
included so-called ethnic Germans who had taken an active part in the struggle
for Germanization of Poland; group 2 included those ethnic Germans who had
"preserved" their German characteristics, though they had not taken an active
part in the national struggle; group 3 comprised persons of alleged German
stock who had become "Polonized", but who it was believed could be won back to
Germanism, and also persons of non-German descent married to Germans and
members of non-Polish groups who were considered desirable so far as their
political attitude and racial characteristics were concerned; group 4 comprised
persons of German stock who had become politically merged with Polonism.
Upon registration in the German People's List, persons listed in groups 1 and 2 automatically became German citizens; those listed in group 3 acquired German citizenship subject to revocation; those listed in group 4 received revocable German citizenship through naturalization proceedings. Persons ineligible for the German People's List and residing within the incorporated territories were considered ineligible for consideration as protectees, and were classified as stateless; those Poles residing in the Government General were classified as nonprotectees. As a part of the gigantic program of strengthening Germany while weakening, and ultimately destroying, enemy nations, measures were taken to hamper and impede the reproduction of enemy nationals. These took the form of various decrees, all aimed at one purpose-to greatly reduce the birth rate among enemy nationals and thereby gradually bring about the destruction of the entire national group. These decrees were mainly directed toward drastically curtailing marriages. They were aimed at all Polish groups, protectees and nonprotectees, as well as all groups of the German People's List. By a decree dated 25 April 1943, protectees were allowed to marry among themselves unless restrictive measures should later be imposed. Such restrictions were imposed by Himmler, by raising the marriageable age to 28 for men and 25 for women. According to the decree of 25 April 1943, protectees and nonprotectees were prohibited to marry each other, except that the PRFDV had the power to grant exemptions. Such exemptions were permissible, for instance, to "enable a protectee who is particularly valuable for racial and other reasons to marry a German, In order to gain him over to the German ethnic community." And in the case of a male protectee such exemptions depended on his becoming naturalized or Germanized in order that the German Woman should retain her German nationality. |
