Editing Lesser Poland (section)

=== World War II ===
On 1 September 1939, armed forces of [[Nazi Germany]] attacked Poland (see: [[Invasion of Poland]]). Lesser Poland, due to its proximity to the then-border with Germany, became a battleground on the first day of the invasion. The Germans attacked the province both in its northwest (area west of Częstochowa), and in the south ([[Podhale]]), along the border with [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]], which also [[Slovak invasion of Poland|participated in the invasion]].

Lesser Poland was defended by the following Polish armies:

* [[Karpaty Army]], which covered southern, mountainous border of the province,
* [[Kraków Army]], guarding western part of the province, together with adjacent Polish part of [[Upper Silesia]]. Later in the course of war it joined the Karpaty Army, forming the ''Lesser Poland Army'' (''Armia Małopolska''),
* [[Łódź Army]], which protected extreme northwestern corner of the province, north of Częstochowa,
* [[Prusy Army]], which was main reserve of the Commander in Chief, and was concentrated in central and northern Lesser Poland (between Radom and Kielce),
* [[Lublin Army]], improvised after 4 September, and concentrated in the area of Lublin and Sandomierz in north[[Eastern Lesser Poland]].
[[File:Brygada Świętokrzyska 1945.jpg|right|thumb|Soldiers of [[Holy Cross Mountains Brigade]] in parade 1945]]
After a few days the [[Battle of the Border]] was lost, and forces of German [[Army Group South]] advanced deep into Lesser Poland's territory. Polish troops resisted fiercely, and among major battles in initial stages of the war, which took place in Lesser Poland, there are [[Battle of Mokra]], [[Battle of Jordanów]], and [[Battle of Węgierska Górka]]. By 6 September, Polish forces were in general retreat and Marshal of Poland [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły]] ordered all troops to fall back to the secondary lines of defences at the Vistula and [[San (river)|San]] Rivers. German units entered Częstochowa on 3 September (where on the next day they [[Częstochowa massacre|murdered hundreds of civilians]]), Kielce on 5 September, Kraków on 6 September, and Radom on 8 September (see also [[Battle of Radom]]). Within a week, almost whole Lesser Poland was under Nazi occupation. Northeastern part of the province, the area of Lublin, was held by the Poles until 17 September, but eventually, and after fierce battles (see [[Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski]]), all Lesser Poland was firmly under Nazi control. First draft of [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] stipulated that north[[Eastern Lesser Poland]] (east of the Vistula river) was to be occupied by the Soviet Union, and forces of the [[Red Army]] reached the area of Lublin after 20 September, but withdrew east on 28 September.

On 12 October 1939, upon a decree of [[Adolf Hitler]], [[General Government]], a separate region of the [[Nazi Germany|Greater German Reich]] was created, with [[Hans Frank]] as its [[Governor-General]]. Its capital was established in Kraków, and it covered most of the area of historical Lesser Poland, except for its western counties, which were directly incorporated into Nazi Germany's [[Upper Silesia Province]] ([[Będzin]], [[Sosnowiec]], [[Zawiercie]], [[Bielsko-Biała|Biała]], [[Żywiec]], [[Chrzanów]], [[Olkusz]]).

{{Further|Administrative division of Polish territories during World War II}}

In Lesser Poland, like in all provinces of the occupied country, the Nazis ruled with savage brutality, killing hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, both Polish and Jewish (see: [[World War II crimes in Poland]], [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)]], [[Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland]], [[Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles]], [[German AB-Aktion in Poland]], [[Sonderaktion Krakau]]). The [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], located at the border of Lesser Poland and Upper Silesia, was opened on 14 June 1940, and on 1 October 1941, the Germans opened [[Majdanek concentration camp]] on the outskirts of Lublin. The third concentration camp in Lesser Poland was in [[Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp|Kraków's district of Płaszów]]. In late 1939 and early 1940, in Lesser Poland's spa of [[Zakopane]], and in Kraków, several [[Gestapo–NKVD Conferences]] took place, during which the mutual cooperation between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union was discussed.

Anti-Nazi resistance was particularly strong in Lesser Poland, and it was in the extreme northwestern corner of the province (around Opoczno), that armed struggle against the occupiers began in late 1939 and early 1940 (see [[Henryk Dobrzański]]). Structures of the [[Home Army]] were well-developed in the region. Lesser Poland's independent areas of the Home Army were located in Kraków, Kielce-Radom, and Lublin. During [[Operation Tempest]] in mid-1944, several Lesser Poland's towns were liberated, also [[Kraków Uprising (1944)|uprising in Kraków]] was prepared, but never realized. Apart from the Home Army, other resistance groups were strong in the province, such as pro-Communist [[Armia Ludowa]], peasant's [[Bataliony Chłopskie]], and right-wing [[National Armed Forces]], with its [[Holy Cross Mountains Brigade]].

In all major Lesser Poland's cities, Jewish ghettos were opened, with the biggest ones in [[Kraków Ghetto|Kraków]], and [[Lublin Ghetto|Lublin]]. At first the Nazis were planning to create a so-called "reservation" for European Jews, located around Lesser Poland's town of [[Nisko]] (see [[Nisko Plan]]), but they changed the plan, and decided to murder all Jews. Condemned to death, Jews in Lesser Poland took to fighting (see [[Częstochowa Ghetto Uprising]]), but their efforts failed. As a result of [[The Holocaust in Poland]], once thriving and numerous Jewish population of Lesser Poland was decimated.

Germany operated several [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camps]], including Stalag 301, [[Stalag 307]], Stalag 359, Stalag 367, Stalag 369, Stalag 380, Stalag XII-C, Oflag 77, and multiple [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamps of [[Stalag VIII-B|Stalag VIII-B/344]], for Polish, [[French prisoners of war in World War II|French]], Belgian, [[Italian Military Internees|Italian]], Soviet, Dutch, [[Senegalese Tirailleurs|Senegalese]] and other [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs in the region.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=225, 282, 291, 362, 372, 374, 379, 472|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Raszewski|first=Piotr|year=2017|title=Można na nas liczyć|magazine=Polska Zbrojna|volume=8 |language=pl|issue=856|page=59|issn=0867-4523}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lamsdorf.com/working-parties.html|title=Working Parties|website=Lamsdorf.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029103834/https://www.lamsdorf.com/working-parties.html|access-date=17 November 2023|archive-date=29 October 2020}}</ref>

In the summer of 1944, after [[Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive]], Red Army pushed the Wehrmacht from [[Eastern Lesser Poland]]. The city of Lublin was captured by the Soviets on 22 July 1944, Stalowa Wola – on 1 August, and Sandomierz, on the left bank of the Vistula – on 18 August. The front line stabilized along the Vistula for about six months (with some bridgeheads on the western bank on the Vistula – see [[Battle of Studzianki]]), and in early 1945, Soviet [[Vistula–Oder Offensive]] began, which pushed Germans to the gates of Berlin. The Soviets entered Kielce on 15 January, Częstochowa – on 17 January, and Kraków on 19 January. On 27 January, the Red Army entered Sosnowiec. In took the Soviets much longer to clear the areas in the mountains – they did not enter Żywiec until 5 April 1945.<ref name="nsik.com.pl">{{cite web |url=http://www.nsik.com.pl/archiwum/38/a1.html |title=Wyzwolenie ziemi żywieckiej i realizacja planu AK "Burza" |publisher=Nsik.com.pl |access-date=8 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322102040/http://www.nsik.com.pl/archiwum/38/a1.html |archive-date=22 March 2012}}</ref>