Editing Poznań (section)

===World War II===
During the [[Occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany|German occupation]] of 1939–1945, Poznań was incorporated into the [[Nazi Germany]] as the capital of ''[[Reichsgau Wartheland]]''. Many Polish inhabitants, even children as young as 10, were executed, arrested, [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expelled]] to the [[General Government]] or used as [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kołakowski|first=Andrzej|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=[[Jagiellonian University|Uniwersytet Jagielloński]], [[Biblioteka Jagiellońska]]|page=74|chapter=Zbrodnia bez kary: eksterminacja dzieci polskich w okresie okupacji niemieckiej w latach 1939-1945}}</ref> Polish children were also [[Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany|kidnapped]] and deported to an infamous camp for Polish children in [[Łódź]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ledniowski|first1=Krzysztof|last2=Gola|first2=Beata|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Biblioteka Jagiellońska|pages=147, 158|chapter=Niemiecki obóz dla małoletnich Polaków w Łodzi przy ul. Przemysłowej}}</ref> At the same time, many Germans and ''[[Volksdeutsche]]'' were settled in the city. The German population increased from around 5,000 in 1939 (some 2% of the inhabitants) to around 95,000 in 1944.<ref>Jerzy Topolski. ''Dzieje Poznania w latach 1793–1945: 1918–1945''. PWN. 1998. pp. 958, 1425.</ref><ref>"Trial of ''Gauleiter'' [[Arthur Greiser]]". ''Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals''. United Nations War Crimes Commission. Wm. S. Hein Publishing. 1997. p. 86.</ref>

The Jewish community's history in the city dates back to the 13th century.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12302-posen| title = POSEN - JewishEncyclopedia.com.}}</ref> In the past, the Jewish council in Poznan became one of the oldest and most important Jewish councils in Poland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/p/586-poznan/99-history/137881-history-of-community |title=History of Poznan Community, at ''Sztetl''. |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606062222/https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/p/586-poznan/99-history/137881-history-of-community |url-status=dead }}</ref> The pre-war Jewish population of at least about 2,000<ref>"Survival artist: a memoir of the Holocaust", Eugene Bergman, 2009, pg. 20.</ref> were mostly murdered in [[the Holocaust]]{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}.

A [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]] was set up in [[Fort VII]], one of the 19th-century perimeter forts. The camp was later moved to [[Żabikowo, Luboń|Żabikowo]] south of Poznań. Also the [[Stalag XXI-D]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|German prisoner-of-war camp]] for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs of various nationalities was based in the city.

The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance]] was active in Poznań with various organizations and activities, and even an underground Polish parliament was established in the city.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Pietrowicz|first=Aleksandra|year=2011|title=Konspiracja wielkopolska 1939–1945|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=IPN|issue=5–6 (126–127)|page=36|issn=1641-9561}}</ref>

The German authorities significantly expanded Poznań's boundaries to include most of the present-day area of the city; these boundaries were retained after the war. Poznań was captured by the [[Red Army]], assisted by Polish volunteers{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}, on 23 February 1945 following the [[Battle of Poznań (1945)|Battle of Poznań]], in which the German army conducted a last-ditch defence in line with Hitler's designation of the city as a ''[[German World War II strongholds|Festung]]''. The [[Poznań Citadel|Citadel]] was the last point to be taken, and the fighting left much of the city, particularly the Old Town, seriously damaged. Many monuments were also destroyed, including [[Gutzon Borglum]]'s statue of [[Woodrow Wilson]] in Poznan.<ref>Price, Waldine, ''Gutzon Borglum: The Man Who Carved a Mountain'', Waldine Price, 1961 p. 181.</ref>