Editing Łódź (section)

===Second World War (1939–1945)===
{{see also|Battle of Łódź (1939)| Łódź Ghetto}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-133-0703-20, Polen, Ghetto Litzmannstadt, Brücke.jpg|thumb|right|[[Łódź Ghetto]] ({{lang|de|Ghetto Litzmannstadt}}), was the second-largest [[Nazi ghettos|ghetto]] in all of [[German-occupied Europe]].]]

During the [[invasion of Poland]] in September 1939, the Polish forces of General [[Juliusz Rómmel]]'s [[Łódź Army|Army Łódź]] defended the city against the German assault by forming a line of resistance between [[Sieradz]] and [[Piotrków Trybunalski]].{{sfn|Forczyk|2019|p=212}} The attack was conducted by the [[8th Army (Wehrmacht)|8th Army]] of [[Johannes Blaskowitz]], who encircled the city with the [[X Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|X Army Corps]].{{sfn|Forczyk|2019|p=260}} After fierce resistance, a Polish delegation surrendered to the Germans on 8 September, and the first {{lang|de|[[Wehrmacht]]|italic=no}} troops entered in the early hours of 9 September.{{sfn|Forczyk|2019|pp=260–261}} The German {{lang|de|[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe III]]}} paramilitary death squad entered the city on 12 September.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009a|p=114}} [[Arthur Greiser]] incorporated Łódź into a new administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany called {{lang|de|[[Reichsgau Wartheland]]}} on 9 November 1939,{{sfn|Crowe|2021|p=168}} and on 11 April 1940 the city was renamed to {{lang|de|Litzmannstadt}} after German general and [[NSDAP]] member [[Karl Litzmann]].{{sfn|von Plato|Leh|Thonfeld|2010|p=87}}

The city became subjected to immediate [[Germanisation in Poland (1939–1945)|Germanisation]], with Polish and Jewish establishments closed, and [[Polish language|Polish-language]] press banned.{{sfn|von Plato|Leh|Thonfeld|2010|pp=87–88}} Low-wage [[forced labour]] was imposed on the city's inhabitants aged 16 to 60; many were subsequently deported to Germany.{{sfn|von Plato|Leh|Thonfeld|2010|p=88}} As part of the {{lang|de|[[Intelligenzaktion]]}}, Polish intellectuals from the city and region were imprisoned at [[Radogoszcz prison|Radogoszcz]] and then either sent to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] or murdered in the forests of Łagiewniki and the village of [[Lućmierz-Las]].{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009a|pp=203–205}} Polish children were [[kidnapping of ethnic Polish children by Nazi Germany|forcibly taken from their parents]],{{sfn|Ledniowski|Gola|2020|p=149}} and from 1942 to 1945 the German ''[[Sicherheitspolizei]]'' operated a camp for kidnapped Polish children from various regions in Łódź.{{sfn|Ledniowski|Gola|2020|p=147}}

The German authorities established the [[Ghetto Litzmannstadt|Łódź Ghetto]] ({{lang|de|Ghetto Litzmannstadt}}) in the city and populated it with more than 200,000 Jews from the region, who were systematically sent to [[Nazi extermination camp|German extermination camps]].{{sfn|Trunk|Shapiro|2006|pp=XI, 9–13}} It was the second-largest ghetto in [[German-occupied Europe|occupied Europe]],{{sfn|Trunk|Shapiro|2006|p=XXXIII}} and the last major ghetto to be liquidated, in August 1944.{{sfn|Wieviorka|2006|pp=7–8}} The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]] ({{lang|pl|[[Żegota]]}}) operated in the city and aided the Jewish people throughout its existence.{{sfn|Datner|1968|p=69}} However, only 877 Jews were still alive by 1945.{{sfn|Trunk|Shapiro|2006|p=XI}} Of the 223,000 Jews in Łódź before the invasion, 10,000 survived [[the Holocaust]] in other places.{{sfn|Peck|1997}} The Germans also created camps for [[Gentile|non-Jews]], including the [[Romani people]] deported from abroad, who were ultimately [[Romani genocide|murdered]] at [[Chełmno extermination camp|Chełmno]],{{sfn|Trunk|Shapiro|2006|p=L}} as well as a penal [[forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camp,{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009b|p=30}} four transit camps for Poles [[expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expelled]] from the city and region, and a [[racial policy of Nazi Germany|racial research]] camp.{{sfn|Ledniowski|Gola|2020|pp=148–149}}