Integration and Division: Nazi Germany and the “Colonial Other” in Annexed Poland

For over a decade, historians have debated the potentiality of similarities or continuums between European colonialism and Nazi Germany. The debate has thus far presented a variety of different approaches to analyzing the possible elements of comparability or linkages; however, vital elements are still missing regarding the apparent lack of developmental policies aimed at the native Polish population which were common in modern colonial regimes. Previously, scholars have focused more intently on comparing and contrasting Nazi violence to colonial violence but, as developmental missions were a crucial part of colonial expansion, this article highlights that the same attention should also be given to German self-perceived developmental policies as a potential area of further comparison. As opposed to solely attempting to understand the exclusionary policies against the non-Jewish and Jewish Polish population as similar to the treatment of a “Colonial Other,” by taking the Reichsgaue Wartheland and Danzig-West Prussia as examples, this article proposes that Nazi Germany's inclusionary policies can also be viewed within a colonial framework. By investigating the Volksdeutschen (ethnic Germans) and certain members of the Polish population who were also subjected to Nazi policies, this article aims to show significant similarities to colonial practices, perceptions and complexities. By utilizing such an inquiry, the importance of the Nazi self-perceived developmental mission to the debate on the colonial nature of Nazi Germany's regime and the violence it perpetrated can be more comprehensively observed.