Talk:Collaboration in German-occupied Poland

Deprod

Splitting separate articles from long sections is how wikipedia works: WP:Summary style. Staszek Lem (talk) 19:58, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Yep. This was done in accordance with WP:SPLIT. One can of course take it to AfD, but you'll need a better argument that WP:IDONTLIKEIT. (To be honest, I don't like this topic that much, but it doesn't stop me from seeing it is notable). --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 04:55, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

I would seem that modern historiography and hagiography around this matter has made it independently notable, despite "collaboration" (here, and in the original parent article) being a POVish term.Icewhiz (talk) 07:42, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

You take off that delete request, and I'll forward you to incident board, this article is clearly contact forking, because all it does is duplicates stuff on WW2 collaboration page, this article is noting more then user Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus throwing a crying fit over the last article — instead of waiting a bit on the other article. --E-960 (talk) 16:05, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Read the policy, this is not an uncontroversial deletion, as multiple edds have said so. AFD it.Slatersteven (talk) 16:19, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Read Wikipedia:Proposed deletion- you may only PROD once. this article was already prodded and de-prodded. You can't prod again. If you think this should be deleted - you need to do an AfD. Or a merge discussion (back to the list) - I doubt such a motion will succeed, but that's the way forward after a de-Prod.Icewhiz (talk) 16:20, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Hiwi (volunteer)

Poles who served in the Wehrmacht (it does not matter if they are ethnic poles) Poles in the Wehrmacht, they were Poles.Slatersteven (talk) 19:06, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

This is not the correct application of Hiwi, it primarily relates to other ethnicities that served in the SS, however I agree that the Poles in the Wehrmacht is ok in this case, as there were many Poles from Sląsk who were drafted in, but they were not willing collaborators. On the other hand Hiwi is a willing collaborator who joined the German uniformed services. --E-960 (talk) 19:20, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Primarily is not solely, if poles served in the capacity of Hiwi it is a valid see also.Slatersteven (talk) 19:22, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

I thought (by the way) no poles served in the SS?Slatersteven (talk) 19:23, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

No they did not serve in the SS, and there was no such thing as a Polish unit, that's correct. --E-960 (talk) 19:26, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

It does not matter if they were a unit [[1]] "...members transferred to various units of the SS, Gestapo..." so poles served in the SS, correct?Slatersteven (talk) 19:31, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Perhaps, you should let-off the subject, because I'll ask you what do you mean by "Pole" someone of ethnic back ground or former citizenship? Because an ethnic Poles was a non-entity with no legal status, and he would not have been allowed in to the GERMAN Wehrmacht, Gestapo, or German SS units. --E-960 (talk) 19:35, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

BTW, read the the opening paragraph of Hiwi: "Hitler reluctantly agreed to allow recruitment of Soviet citizens in the Rear Areas during Operation Barbarossa." and "Between September 1941 and July 1944 the SS employed thousands of collaborationist auxiliary police recruited as Hiwis directly from the Soviet POW camps." This term relates to folks in the Soviet Union who collaborated, not Poland. This is what I was afraid of, editors who do not have sufficient knowledge of the subject just adding every questionable item to this article. --E-960 (talk) 19:40, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

So are you arguing that Ethnic Germans were not Polish?Slatersteven (talk) 19:43, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Either way, Hiwi relates to SOVIET collaborators, pls read the article. This term is not applicable here. --E-960 (talk) 19:45, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Yes it does (relate TO POLES) [[2]].Slatersteven (talk) 19:51, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

First of all, it does. Second, "see also" links aren't always directly related to the article's subject, so even if it didn't it was still worthy of inclusion. François Robere (talk) 19:55, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Yup, I can see you're back and trying to add everything negative about Poles. This is a false statement that's just ignorantly lumps Poles with the Soviets, and in English speaking media this is not uncommon, just like the Polish death camps, the Polish SS and the Polish Wehrmacht... now the Polish Hiwi. --E-960 (talk) 19:56, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

It is sourced, your claim is not.Slatersteven (talk) 19:59, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

One dictionary reference, is hardly a reference source backed by full text, I can find you hundreds of short definitions on many things that are inaccurate. --E-960 (talk) 20:02, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

It does not have to be, it demonstrates what you claim is not accurate. It has been applied to Poles, and that is all a See also needs, a link to the subject (ohh and [[3]]). You have not one source saying it was used only for Russian volunteers.Slatersteven (talk) 20:12, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Again, same with Polish death camps, the Polish SS and the Polish Wehrmacht I'm sure you can find in the English speaking world 100s of references that use those term. Still not correct, though. --E-960 (talk) 20:17, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

We do not judge that a source says, we repeat it. You have provide no valid rational for exclusion of this see also, and this is getting to the stage of tendentious editing.Slatersteven (talk) 20:20, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

E-960 oh, so we are having a debate about Polish Waffen SS now :)? Interesting. Did we have a discussion about Polish Gestapo yet? Sorry for asking but I'm not following this closely anymore? In any case, let Piotr deal with this now E-960. GizzyCatBella (talk) 20:24, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

He added the material claiming that Poles had joined the SS and the Gestapo, I am happy to remove the whole section.Slatersteven (talk) 20:26, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Slatersteven No, Poles couldn't join SS or Gestapo. Volksdeutsche did, mostly Wehrmacht. GizzyCatBella (talk) 21:13, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Please refrain from personal commentary and try to stay on-point. This is per MOS:SEEALSO. Do you have anything else? François Robere (talk) 20:31, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Hiwi is a term for Soviet collaborators, and is misleading if someone uses it for Poles, it is wrong just like Polish death camps, the Polish SS and the Polish Wehrmacht. --E-960 (talk) 20:40, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Regardless, it's related to the issue of collaboration with the Nazis, and so appropriate in the very least in the "see also". François Robere (talk) 20:42, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

This claim has no source baking it, please stop making it.Slatersteven (talk) 20:43, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Are you going to add Luxembourgish collaboration with Nazi Germany or Cham Albanian collaboration with the Axis to this article because it is related to collaboration? Not need here. --E-960 (talk) 20:48, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

If it's major, it can be added. If not, better add the category or "parent" article. François Robere (talk) 20:52, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

This discussion is pending, and you stated your point. --E-960 (talk) 20:57, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

• Note - Poles did serve in the SS, however generally they declared themselves to be German first via Volksliste. After the war some of them reverted to being declared Poles.Icewhiz (talk) 21:15, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Can you give me a sample name of a Polish SS-men Icewhiz? GizzyCatBella (talk) 21:42, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

"Baiting"

One of the Jewish collaborationist groups' baiting techniques was to send agents out as supposed ghetto escapees who would ask Polish families for help; if a family agreed to help, it was reported to the Germans, who—as a matter of announced policy—executed the entire family.

This looks like blood libel material, and is only sourced from Money.pl and Salon24, which seem like popular magazines and not RS for a claim of this gravity. Are there any other sources supporting this? François Robere (talk) 20:25, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Might want to take it to RSN, not sure these are RS for such a claim but they might be. but i do not think making statements about blood libel help matters.Slatersteven (talk) 20:29, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

These are two reliable sources attached to this statement, both are full articles that deal with Jewish collaboration. But, you don't like them cause they are Polish news magazines, however you had no problem using Israeli internet news sources as reference. --E-960 (talk) 20:30, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Do they quote reputable research/ers? François Robere (talk) 20:32, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

I have never heard of then, so have no idea how reliable they are. Hence my suggestion to take it to RSN rather then just go ahead and delete it.Slatersteven (talk) 20:32, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Blogs are generally not considered RS, and Salon]24 appears to be a blog. I will tag the sources.Slatersteven (talk) 20:34, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

These are not blogs, they are news magazines. --E-960 (talk) 20:36, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Odd as I can only find reference to one as a blog, hence why I think this needs taking to RSN, so they who have a better knowledge of Polish media can cast an uninvolved eye over it.Slatersteven (talk) 20:40, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

It's not a statement about the editor, but about the material. Popular media tends to repeat common perceptions, in this case antisemitic. This means we need to be extra careful with our due diligence. François Robere (talk) 20:35, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

It is still not helpfull and prerogative.Slatersteven (talk) 20:38, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Noted. François Robere (talk) 20:40, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

These two sources are reliable though not academic, and the tags are ok, in time I'm sure academic text on this topic will be found, so just give it time and the references will bulk up the text here. Just so you know, in a TV discussion names of actual people involved in baiting were named, so this is a valid subject that is documented, it's just a matter of finding more sources to back it because in the English speaking media this topic is taboo and ignored. --E-960 (talk) 20:55, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Without multiple academic level sources (and this is a widely studied topic, some Jewish collaboraters were tried after the war, e.g. Rudolf Kastner) - this should not be included. Leave the newspapers for contemporary subjects - not history.Icewhiz (talk) 21:19, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources#News organizations are a reliable source, though not prime, per Wikipedia guidelines. --E-960 (talk) 21:31, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

That's about news reporting, not historical facts. Notice caveats on "scholarly sources and high-quality non-scholarly sources" and the need to check on a story-by-story case. Do the two articles cite any RS (eg. studies, books, archives, scholars that we can consult)? François Robere (talk) 21:49, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Railroads workers

I see we have already Poles working at railroads who would be executed in 2 minutes if they refused to operate the trains, but they are now collaborators. :) Remarkable. Whats next? GizzyCatBella (talk) 21:02, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

At this point, I'm expecting a reference that if you were Polish and just went about your daily tasks, you were a 'collaborator' and an 'enabler' because you did not charge the Germans with a pitchfork or garden rakes at the first possible instance. This is history according to Wikipedia, who can get more of their "like minded' to force through their content, does not matter if it's accurate. --E-960 (talk) 21:10, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

One could say the same regarding some of the Judenrat. Not everyone who collaborated had an "easy out". Icewhiz (talk) 21:21, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Icewhiz, but in the case of Judenrat someone conveniently keeps removing this statement form the text. "Political theorist Hannah Arendt stated in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem that without the assistance of the Judenrat, the registration of the Jews, their concentration in ghettos and, later, their active assistance in the Jews' deportation to extermination camps, fewer Jews would have perished because the Germans would have encountered considerable difficulties in drawing up lists of Jews." --E-960 (talk) 21:25, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

(edit conflict) You would probably want more than 1 opinion. My own 2 editorial cents would be that Jewish collaboration should be in a separate article for two reasons. First this will reduce POV warring on "degree of collaboration" between groups and allow us to focus on the facts. And finally, Jewish collaboration was more or less the same throughout Eastern Europe (in areas Nazi Germany had direct or almost direct control) - the Polish Judenrats were not different from the Ukranian Judenrats (beyond city/region variations) - the two sets were more or less the same.Icewhiz (talk) 21:38, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Icewhiz Could you please give me a sample name and location of a Ukranian Judenrat? And by the way, I'm still waiting for at least one name of a Polish SS-man. Thanks GizzyCatBella (talk) 00:25, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

::: :) Firefighters??? GizzyCatBella (talk) 21:33, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Public sanitation worker, no doubt??? --E-960 (talk) 21:35, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

All gardeners, that's for sure. GizzyCatBella (talk) 21:37, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Newsstand vendors, cause the Germans occupiers were able to buy newspapers. --E-960 (talk) 21:39, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

The rail was vital for the German war effort - all the supplies east went by rail. Was also very important for the Holocaust. Railcars filled with ammo and cattle cars stuffed with people.Icewhiz (talk) 21:41, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Icewhiz, but, was that collaboration or a form of forced labor?? When you are forced to show up for work, or you'll be deported to a concentration camp — work under coercion is not collaboration, but slave labor. Surly you can see the difference. --E-960 (talk) 21:45, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

There's no suggestion in the cited sources of coercion. François Robere (talk) 21:55, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Look François Robere, I will openly say that you fellows have no idea about the German occupation of Poland. Railroads workers had to report to work; everybody was required to have an Ausweis (prove of employment) and Kennkarte. Without these documents, in łapanka or if simply stopped on the street, deportation to the Concentration Camp or German labor camp was your only future. Railay workers were not collaborators; they had to work; I'll remove this later, but for now, I'm just having fun watching you guys. GizzyCatBella (talk) 00:54, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

I removed it. It was original research and synthesis. The first source [4] does discuss the employment of Poles in unskilled labor positions by the Ostbahn but does not call it collaboration. The second source [5] is primary and also does not say anything about collaboration afaict.Volunteer Marek (talk) 01:37, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

1. There's no need for a source to be explicit in using the term "collaboration" as far as it answers the definition of collaboration as given in Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II. This issue has been discussed there before.
2. The first source describes work for the Ostbahn including in the roles of train engineer, switch tower operator and train technician - skilled labor - including on German military trains.
3. The second provides witness accounts by such workers regarding transport trains. There's nothing in policy against using primary sources.
4. Each source is used to establish the claim it is preceded by, and both satisfy WP:RS. As such, they do not satisfy WP:OR.
5. However, to assuage your fear of WP:SYNTH, here's a source that uses the term "collaboration" explicitly [6]; a secondary source that uses the term "complicity" to describe various aspects of train use, and specifically mentions the Ostbahn participation in death transports [7]]; a secondary source mentioning both [8], and in addition the fact drivers of the like received incentives; and another one with a whole bunch of examples of collaboration, including the Ostbahn [9]

François Robere (talk) 02:34, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

So where is your reference above saying that the Polish railroad workers were collaborating with the Nazis? :) GizzyCatBella (talk) 02:45, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

There's no need for a source to be explicit in using the term "collaboration" as far as it answers the definition of collaboration - it has to be pretty clear though. And this source isn't. Neither sources supports the claim of collaboration. That's your own invention - i.e. original research and synthesis. This is pretty textbook actually.Volunteer Marek (talk) 02:55, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

As to your new sources, the first one doesn't say anything about the Ostbahn. It does mention Polish railroad workers but does not say they were collaborating. It uses the word "collaboration" somewhere else in the article. I can't access the second source - you can try and provide a quote - but even then, "complicity" and "collaboration" are two different things.Volunteer Marek (talk) 02:58, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

First, what the sources describe is simply "work", which is exactly what eg. Polish officials in the GG did. That's in-line with the definition in the other article.

The title of the source is "Collaboration and Complicity during the Holocaust", are you really going to contend the mention of Polish railway workers isn't it?

There was a whole discussion in the other talk page about whether complicity equals collaboration, and the consensus was that it does, as several sources support it. You can see now how there's a section here Poles and the Holocaust.

I've added a couple more sources for you to browse. François Robere (talk) 03:03, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

Yes, that's the title, but in that paragraph the article is just describing the nature of German occupation. It does not say that railroad workers were collaborators. I don't knw what discussion you're referring to so I can't comment on it. What other sources? Volunteer Marek (talk) 03:10, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

And look, if you're gonna link gbooks and claim "it's in there" then we need to see the quotations if the books themselves are not accessible. After the shenanigans with the other sources and the original research, not gonna take it on faith.Volunteer Marek (talk) 03:13, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

Re-add statement by Hannah Arendt about Judenrat

This statement should be re-added, but it keeps getting deleted by other editors focused and adding as much negative detial on Poles all the while sanatizing material related to collaboration of Polish-Jews:

Political theorist Hannah Arendt stated in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem that without the assistance of the Judenrat, the registration of the Jews, their concentration in ghettos and, later, their active assistance in the Jews' deportation to extermination camps, fewer Jews would have perished because the Germans would have encountered considerable difficulties in drawing up lists of Jews. --E-960 (talk) 21:27, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Extremely notable source; whether to quote or just cite is, again, a matter of editorial consideration. Note the hypothetical is disputed, but the general sense of importance of Judenräte to the Nazi plans can, and should be conveyed. François Robere (talk) 22:00, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

References