German-occupied Europe

Between 1938 and 1945, Nazi Germany controlled vast territories across Europe.

This period of occupation was driven by the expansionist campaigns of the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler. These actions eventually led to the start of World War II in 1939. At its peak during 1941 and 1942, Germany and its Axis allies, such as Italy, governed more than half of Europe's entire population. This control was maintained through various methods including direct administration, military occupation, and the creation of puppet states.

A puppet state is a country that has its own leaders but must follow the rules of a stronger power.

The German military, known as the Wehrmacht, held territory across a massive geographic range. Their influence reached as far north as Franz Josef Land in the Soviet Union. To the south, they occupied areas as far as Gavdos in Greece. Their western reach extended to Ushant in France.

Even in the extreme north, German weather stations operated in Schatzgräber within Alexandra Land. While the German navy, the Kriegsmarine, operated all over the world, it focused heavily on the North Atlantic and the North Sea to maintain hegemony. Hegemony refers to the dominant influence or control one group holds over others.

Different nations experienced the war in different ways. Some countries, like Czechoslovakia, were forced to surrender before the war even began. Others were conquered during active combat, such as Poland, which was invaded on 1 September 1939.

When Germany occupied a nation, the original government might go into exile. These governments-in-exile were often formed by citizens living in other Allied countries. Some nations remained officially neutral throughout the conflict. Interestingly, some countries that were originally part of the Axis powers, such as Italy and Hungary, were later occupied by German forces.

A central and dark part of this occupation was the operation of thousands of concentration camps.

The first camps were established in March 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. Following a 1934 purge of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Schutzstaffel, or SS, took exclusive control of the camps. The SS managed them through the Concentration Camps Inspectorate and later the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Initially, the camps held members of the Communist Party of Germany. Over time, the groups being arrested expanded to include "asocials," habitual criminals, and Jews.

As the war progressed, the population within these camps changed significantly. In Western Europe, the German authorities focused on arresting saboteurs and resistance fighters. In Eastern Europe, the approach was different and much broader. The Nazis used mass roundups to implement population policies and to force people into labor.

This resulted in a high number of Eastern Europeans, particularly Poles, making up the majority of the population in certain camps. Many people from various nationalities were also transferred to the Auschwitz camp or sent to local facilities.

The scale of human loss in these camps was immense. Records show that approximately 1.65 million people were registered as prisoners. Of these individuals, about one million died during their imprisonment. This network of camps, especially in Poland, facilitated the events known as the Holocaust. The numbers grew even higher as the war continued. By January 1945, at least 4.7 million Soviet prisoners had been registered. Most of these fatalities occurred during the second half of the war.

By 1944 and 1945, Allied military victories led to the gradual liberation of the camps. However, the end of the war brought more hardship for many survivors. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners died during what were known as death marches.

These marches occurred as people were moved during the shifting front lines of the war. The occupation of Europe remains a major subject of study in history. It shows how military power, political shifts, and systemic injustice can reshape an entire continent.