Record of a meeting of Hitler and Keitel on the future administration of Poland, including "a hard racial struggle" to subordinate the Poles, the exploitation of labor, and the prevention of the development of a new Polish ruling class or political organizations

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L IV Berlin, 20 October 1939
Only copy
Written by officer 20 Oct. [illegible initials]
Conference between the Fuehrer and Chief OKW on the future shape of Polish relations with Germany
(Evening of 17 October 1939)
1. The Armed Forces will welcome it if they can dispose of administrative questions in Poland.
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On principle there cannot be 2 administrations.
2. Poland is to be made independent. She will neither be part of the German Reich nor a district administered by the Reich.
3. It is not the task of the Administration to make Poland into a model province or a model state of the German order or to put her economically or financially on a sound basis.
The Polish intelligensia must be prevented from forming a ruling class. The standard of living in the country is to remain low; we only want to draw labor forces from there. Poles are also to be used for the administration of the country. However, the forming of national political groups may not be allowed.
4. The administration has to work on its own responsibility and must not be dependent on Berlin. We don't want to do there what we do in the Reich. The responsibility does not rest with the Berlin Ministries since there is no German administrative unit concerned.
The accomplishment of this task will involve a hard racial struggle [Volkstumskampf] which will not allow any legal restrictions. The methods will be incompatible with the principles otherwise adhered to by us.
The Governor General is to give the Polish nation only bare living conditions and is to maintain the basis for military security.
5. In Cracow German officers have visited the Bishops. Prince Radziwill is owner of his huge estates [Latifundien].
These problems cannot be solved socially.
6. Our interests lie as follows: Precautions are to be taken that the territory is important to us from a military point of view as an advanced jumping-off point and can be used for strategic concentration of troops. To that end the railroads, roads, and the communications channels are to be kept in order and utilized for our purposes.
Any tendencies towards the consolidation of conditions in Poland are to be suppressed. The "Polish muddle" [polnische Wirtschaft] must be allowed to develop. The government of the territory must make it possible for us to purify the Reich territory from Jews and Polacks, too. Collaboration with new Reich provinces [Posen and West Prussia] only for resettlements (Compare Mission Himmler).
Purpose: Shrewdness and severity must be the maxims in
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this racial struggle in order to spare us from going to battle on account of this country again.
[illegible initials] 20 Oct.
W.
[initialed by Genera] Warlimont]
20 Oct.