Documents of the Umwandererzentralstelle (UWZ-Central Bureau for the Transfer of Populations/ the Central Emigration Office), Litzmannstadt/Posen, 1939-1945

Documents of the Umwandererzentralstelle (UWZ-Central Bureau for the Transfer of Populations/ the Central Emigration Office), Litzmannstadt/Posen, 1939-1945
 
 The "Warthegau District" is the name given to the areas of Poland that were annexed to the Third Reich in October 1939, and were intended for total Germanization. This process was carried out by creating legal discrimination among three population groups: Germans, who were from the beginning a small minority, Poles and Jews, by deportation and annihilation of the two last groups and their replacement by German settlers from the areas of Wohlin, Galicia, the Baltic countries and other areas that had not been annexed to the Third Reich. Arthur Greiser was placed as head of the Warthegau. During the war, 380,000 Jews were annihilated in the Warthegau, and 650,000 Poles were deported. The Reich's "demographic" policy in this district, which served as an experimental territory for Nazi policy in a number of areas, was administered by the Umwandererzentralstelle (UWZ-Central Bureau for the Transfer of Populations/ the Central Emigration Office), which was established on 11 November 1939, by Wilhelm Koppe, the Höhere SS und Polizeifuehrer (HSSPF-Higher SS and Police Leader) in Posen. It was originally called the Amt fuer die Umsiedlung der Polen und Juden (Office for the Repatriation of Jews and Poles). The name was changed in April 1940, and the UWZ was placed under the supervision of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA-Reich Main Security Office), specifically Amt III (Office No. 3), which was headed by Ehrlich, and Amt IV (Office No. 4), headed by Adolf Eichmann. Officially, the head of the organization was Ernst Damzog, the SIPO (Security Police) and SD inspector in Posen, but the organization was actually run by his deputy, Rolf-Heinz Hoeppner.
 
 The Collection includes documents relating to various aspects of the implementation of the policy of forced migration to the Warthegau and from it.