Poland suffered more damage in WW2 than any West European country. Warsaw, the
capital, was almost completely destroyed.
capital, was almost completely destroyed.
- About six million Poles (mainly civilians) out of a pre-war population of
about 35 million were killed, about half of them Jews and the other half
Gentiles.
- The Soviet Union kept that portion of Poland that it had invaded in 1939.
Many of the inhabitants were Ukrainians, but the Poles living there were
deported westwards.
- As a kind of compensation for this loss, Poland acquired most of Silesia,
Pommerania and about two-thirds of East Prussia from Germany, despite the fact
that these areas were German. The Germans living there were expelled, amid
considerable loss of life.
- Poland became a satellite of the Union of Soviets.
- During the German occupation Poles were forbidden to receive any schooling
beyond the age of 13 or more.