Free City of Gdansk

Free City of Danzig Wolne Miasto Gdańsk (Polish) 1920–1939
flag coat of arms
Constitution	Constitution of the Free City of Gdansk
Official language	German
Capital	Danzig
Form of government	republic
Form of government	Parliamentary democracy
Head of state	none, de facto League of Nations High Commissioner Reginald Thomas Tower (1919–1920) Edward Strutt (1920) Bernardo Attolico (1920–1921) Richard Haking (1921–1923) Mervyn MacDonnell (1923–1925) Joost Adriaan van Hamel (1925–1929) Manfredi Gravina (1929–1932) Helmer Rosting (1932–1933) Seán Lester (1933–1937) Carl Jacob Burckhardt (1937–1939)
Head of government	President of the Senate Heinrich Sahm (1919–1931) Ernst Ziehm (1931–1933) Hermann Rauschning (1933–1934) Arthur Greiser (1934–1939)
surface	1938: with harbor waters 1,966 km² / without: 1,893 km²
Residents	1939: 415,000
Population density	205.1 inhabitants / km²
currency	Paper marks (1920–1923) Danzig Gulden (1923–1939)
founding	November 15, 1920 (Proclamation)
resolution	September 1, 1939 (occupation by the Wehrmacht )
National anthem	For Danzig
Time zone	CET
License Plate	THERE

The Free City of Danzig ( Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk ) - the cities of Danzig , Sopot , Praust , Tiegenhof and Neuteich and the area connecting them - existed as a partially sovereign, independent Free State with Polish port rights under the protection of the League of Nations from 1920 to (in fact) 1939. After the area had belonged to Prussia from 1794 to 1807 and from 1814 to 1919 (the Republic of Gdansk existed from 1807 to 1814 ), it was separated from the Reich territory after the First World War due to the provisions of the Versailles Treaty in 1920 and received the status of an autonomous Free State of Gdansk .

After the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the German Reich assigned the area of ​​the dissolved Free State to the administrative district of Danzig in the newly formed Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia . Towards the end of the Second World War , the Red Army conquered the territory of the former Free State in March 1945 and placed it under the administration of the People's Republic of Poland . In the period that followed, this drove out almost all of the former citizens. Your organization in Germany is the Gdańsk Federation . The region was settled with Poles as part of the " westward displacement of Poland " , some of which came from the former eastern Poland that fell to the Soviet Union .

In the current international legal and political discussion, the current status of the Free City of Danzig is being perished as de facto due to seizure or as de jure due to state succession.

history

→ Main article : History of the city of Gdansk

After about 400 years at the beginning of the 3rd / 4th Country largely abandoned by the Goths ( Gothiscandza according to Jordanes , cf. also Wielbark culture ) in the course of the migration of peoples (lower Vistula), was gradually settled from the 6th century by the Slavic tribes migrating to Western Europe . The first mention of the Slavic city of Gdansk in the Western sources came from the year 997, when the King of Poland I. Bolesław Chrobry for proselytizing the pagan Prussians called the land St. Adalbert of Prague by a pagan was Prussians slain (Urbs Gyddanyzc lt. Canaparius ) . In the course of the German colonization in the east , the first Germans came to Danzig as merchants and churchmen . The city was relocated in 1227 by Duke Swantopolk II , who had previously separated from the Krakow seniorate , under Lübischem city law and ruled by him and his descendants. After a succession dispute, the Teutonic Order finally took over large parts of the Duchy of Pomerania with the main fortress of Danzig for 146 years (1308 to 1454) and incorporated the country administratively into its own state . The city had belonged to the Hanseatic League since 1350 . After Danzig had actively participated in the war and the expulsion of the Knights of the Order on the side of the Kingdom of Poland , from 1454 to 1793 it was a city republic of its own accord with political representation in the Polish Reichstag . It recognized the suzerainty of the Polish and from 1569 the Polish-Lithuanian kings / grand princes. The first suzerain of the city republic of Danzig was King Casimir IV. Andrew, who married Elisabeth von Habsburg from 1454 . In 1793 the city republic of Danzig was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia for 14 years during the Second Partition of Poland . During the Napoleonic era , the at least theoretically autonomous Republic of Danzig existed for seven years (1807 to 1814) . After the victory over Emperor Napoleon I, Danzig became part of the Kingdom of Prussia again for 105 years (1815 to 1920) as an ordinary Prussian city and as the administrative district of the province of West Prussia.

The establishment of the Free State and its international relations

The area of ​​the "Free City of Danzig" east of the Polish Corridor

The establishment of the Free City was carried out by the victorious powers of World War I in protest of a large part of the Danzig population, since this action was not preceded by a referendum. Through the League of Nations and the Versailles Treaty (VV) of 1920, Danzig ( Article 100-108 Section XI, Part III VV) were removed from the German state association and Poland restored as a sovereign state (cf. Republic of Danzig 1807-1814). On March 23, 1919, 70,000 Danzig residents and on April 25, 1919 already 100,000 Danzig residents (the Free City of Danzig had fewer than 360,000 inhabitants in 1919) demonstrated against the separation from Germany and the annexation to Poland and thus also against the status of Danzig as a city republic.

In 1919 there was a danger that the Polish troops of Józef Haller , the French side against the German Empire had fought in their return to the after World War restored Republic of Poland occupied the city of Gdansk. As a result of Poland's war against the Bolsheviks in 1920, in which the Western powers also took part on the side of the so-called “ whites ”, there was also the danger that Danzig would be occupied by Soviet Russia . When the Red Army stood before Warsaw in August 1920 , Poland was to receive urgently needed ammunition deliveries from Saloniki via Danzig . In view of the danger of being drawn into the Polish-Soviet war, the Constituent Assembly pleaded on August 20, 1920 for the neutrality of Danzig. The vote was unequivocally in favor of 62 to 21, and the request for neutrality was communicated to the High Commissioner of the League of Nations, Sir Reginald Thomas Tower , responsible for Danzig .

The Danzig dock workers refused to unload ships with ammunition, with the result that Allied troops had to be deployed. The strike received support from abroad. The President of the English Transport Workers Union , Robert Williams, in his telegram dated August 6, 1920, declared his approval of the Gdansk approach. The secretary of the British Labor Party also supported the Danzigers on the same day with the slogan “hands off Russia” and warned against any support for Poland. In a statement on August 23, 1920, the Polish representative Bisiedecki protested against the Gdansk neutrality at Reginald Tower. Danzig's will to be neutral found little response from the League of Nations, although it corresponded to the guarantee of existence and protection obligations that had been assumed by the international community. Instead, Poland was allowed to build an ammunition depot on the Westerplatte at the mouth of the Old Vistula and to station a small military unit there to protect it. In the following years this facility was illegally fortified and expanded. The Westerplatte was still de jure subject to the Danzig authorities, so it was not extraterritorial , but it could only be inspected by the Danzig authorities upon prior request.

Part of US President Wilson's fourteen-point program was, on the one hand, the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination ; on the other hand, the newly established Second Polish Republic was to be given free access to the sea with a functioning port in addition to the Polish Corridor (point 13). The port of Danzig was traditionally the most important transshipment point for goods from the upper reaches of the Vistula ; from 1454 Danzig was also the most important trading partner of the other areas under the king of Poland.

While France sought to build a strong Polish ally, Britain was interested in a balance of power on the European continent. It was also assumed that the de facto annexation of Gdańsk and its incorporation into Poland would have been detrimental to a lasting, peaceful solution. Therefore, attempts were made to build on the tradition of a self-governing Danzig, since historical Danzig was an independent state structure for many centuries (Republic of Danzig 1454–1793). Even as a leading member of the Hanseatic League , under the diplomatic protection of the Polish crown, it helped European trade flourish.

The basis for the admission of Danzig into the community of states as a neutral, free and protected member was the Peace Treaty of Versailles , which was supposed to guarantee the existence of the Danzig state. On November 15, 1920, the new Free City of Danzig was constituted in a solemn announcement. The proclamation was made around 4 p.m. by the Constituent Assembly in the presence of the entire diplomatic corps and numerous local guests. The President of the Constituent Assembly, Wilhelm Reinhard , praised the importance of this day combined with the wish that the existence of the state should be secured through unity and mutual understanding. The representative of the League of Nations, Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt , carried out the proclamation and confirmed the League of Nations guarantee of protection for Danzig and its new constitution .

The proclamation took place on the same day in front of the League of Nations in Geneva. Colonel Strutt ended his speech there with the words: “Let us keep peace at all times, both inside and outside this house. The world needs peace. May Gdansk and Poland be a role model for Eastern Europe. Both peoples may live happily ever after, grow and prosper through mutual trust and friendship, with mutual support. I hereby solemnly declare the city of Gdansk and the surrounding area to be a Free City as of today. "

Foreign powers represented:

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland through Consul B. H. Frey and Vice Consul Douglas William Keane,
• France through Consul Guèritte,
• USA through Consul Dawson,
• Sweden through Consul Behnke,
• Norway through Consul Ganswindt,
• Denmark through Consul Marks,
• Netherlands through consul Brinkmann jun.,
• Austria by Dr. Fritz Meyer,
• Italy through Consul Bertanzi,
• Greece through Consul Haber,
• Turkey by Dr. Forelock,
• Guatemala through Mr. Weber and the Berlin Consul A. Wiatrak.

This second restoration of the Danzig state (independent from 1454–1793 under the protection of the Polish kings, 1807–1814 first restoration as the Napoleonic Free City of Danzig ) was approved by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles a . a. Germany , Poland , the United Kingdom , France and the United States (USA without ratification in Congress). Gdansk became an autonomous state. However, the Treaty of Versailles transferred the management of foreign affairs, in particular the protection of nationals abroad, to the Polish state. Gdansk took part in several international conferences and became a party to international agreements . The Gdańsk Constitution was passed on May 16, 1920 by the Constituent Assembly (later People's Day ) and confirmed by the High Commissioner of the League of Nations on May 11, 1922. The League of Nations had a so-called High Commissioner stationed in Danzig as its permanent representative, at the expense of Danzig and Poland. His task was to make decisions on disputes between Danzig and Poland that could only be appealed against in the League of Nations itself. Poland had a diplomatic mission in Danzig. In addition, most of the world's countries had a consular representation in Gdansk. There was no requirement for a visa to enter Gdansk , a valid passport was sufficient. In contrast, the citizens of Gdańsk needed a visa to enter Poland; In 1923, a transit visa cost the equivalent of around 32 Swiss francs . By 1928 Germany, Austria , Switzerland and Czechoslovakia lifted the visa requirement for citizens of Danzig.

The relations between Gdańsk and Poland were regulated in the Gdańsk-Polish Treaty, signed in Paris on November 9, 1920, and the Warsaw Agreement of October 24, 1921 (which was concluded to implement and supplement the treaty of November 9, 1920). A single customs area existed since January 1, 1922, the unity of the economic area since April 1, 1925.

On June 14, 1922, Danzig adopted a constitution based on the Weimar constitution .

Domestic political developments in Danzig and influence of the German Reich

Senate flag 1920–1939

An important event was the election of the third People's Day on November 13, 1927 . Compared to 1923, it brought about a strong shift in power to the left; the Danzig Social Democrats became the strongest party with 42 seats. The trigger for this was the noticeable improvement in Gdańsk's economic situation, which was now able to develop more freely after the dissolution of Germany, but above all through the introduction of the Gdańsk guilder and the improvement in relations with Poland.

The Senator (Minister) Bernhard Kamnitzer earned merits in finance and understanding policy. The declaration of the new Gdansk government presented to the People's Day on January 26, 1928 relaxed the Gdansk-Polish relationship and in February 1929 led the Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Bartel to Danzig. In the same year a Danzig delegation led by President Sahm traveled to Soviet Russia to stimulate trade between the two countries.

The struggle of the German nationalists (conservatives) against the policy of understanding led to the unification of all opposition forces, which ultimately brought about the overthrow of the Gdansk coalition and President Heinrich Sahm in 1930 . The Polish government, under the influence of Józef Piłsudski's supreme group, took a tough stance on Gdansk issues after the fall of the Bartel cabinet. For Gdansk, competition from the rapidly expanding Polish port in Gdynia posed a threat. The Gdansk commercial port sank into a shipping port for Polish bulk goods, and the port of Gdynia threatened to overtake it. The economic decline, which was accelerated by the onset of the global economic crisis , led to a change in mood in Gdansk.

The political changes in Danzig, but also in Poland and Germany, intensified the disputes. In all three countries, economic hardship had radicalized the population. The Jews were often blamed for economic and political failures . In 1930 parliamentary elections and new governments were formed in all three countries.

In Poland, groups hostile to Danzig gained the upper hand, and after a two-year truce there were renewed protests and negotiations before the League of Nations and the International Court of Justice, which finally decided in Danzig's favor. In Gdansk, unemployment and the Polish boycott of the port of Gdansk led to violent attacks against the government and its policy of understanding.

In the summer of 1930 Hermann Göring visited Danzig to support the still insignificant NSDAP Danzig . Goering recommended Adolf Hitler to send Albert Forster , a member of the Reichstag, to Danzig permanently. Forster arrived in Danzig on October 24, 1930 and began his work as a NSDAP Gauleiter to transform the Danzig state into a National Socialist outpost . As a German in the Free City of Danzig, Forster was able to acquire citizenship of the Free City by accepting public office in accordance with the Danzig Constitution and Danzig Citizenship Act. This also entitled him to use an election list in the People's Day elections.

Incidents that violated the interests of Danzig, the wards of the League of Nations, had occurred again and again since the restoration of the Danzig state by the Treaty of Versailles. If such conflicts could not be resolved by mutual agreement, the International Court of Justice in The Hague had to decide in the last instance. This protection failed again and again, and so within a few years Danzig had become the plaything of German and Polish interests.

The People's Day elections in Danzig on November 16, 1930 resulted in a weakening of the bourgeois parties and an increase in the National Socialist forces. In the new People's Day, for which the number of MPs had been reduced from 120 to 72, the National Socialists had twelve MPs with 16.4% of the vote and became the second largest party. On December 7th, Forster conducted coalition negotiations with the German Nationals, the Center and the National Bloc. The result was a minority government made up of the DNVP, the Center and the National Bloc (under the leadership of the Senate President and DNVP MP Ernst Ziehm ), which had to be tolerated by the National Socialist MPs.

After the Ziehm government took office, there was no open hostility against Jews. The terror of the National Socialists was initially directed against the Social Democrats, whom they defamed as "Jewish servants". In their struggle for supremacy, they received support from German Reichstag members of the NSDAP, who gave incendiary speeches on the Lange Markt or Wiebenwall, and through the formation of National Socialist cells in professional organizations, civil servants' associations, factories, department stores, sports and youth clubs. In the first four months of 1931, the Danzig newspapers reported around 80 politically motivated brawls, in which four people were killed and another 120 injured or ill-treated. The Ziehm government tolerated these incidents because it was dependent on the support of the National Socialite MPs. The brawls came from the so-called Sturmabteilung of the National Socialists under their leader Max Linsmayer . In December 1931 an SA thug was killed for the first time, who has now been stylized as a martyr and “ martyr ” of a murder by communist and socialist “subhumans”.

On June 21, 1931, the terror led to open clashes with the Social Democrats, in which eight National Socialists were seriously injured. The NSDAP used this incident as an opportunity to demand a ban on the left-wing newspaper “Volksstimme”, which was held responsible for the “addiction of the Marxist hordes of criminals to attack our defenseless people”. She also called for the punishment of the police officers who “behaved like wild animals” towards the National Socialists and “helped the criminals”. The Jews were alleged to have delivered weapons to the “workers protection formation”.

At the end of 1932, unemployment in the Danzig state reached its highest level (almost 41,000 unemployed with just under 400,000 inhabitants). Although the Gdańsk Jews were particularly hard hit by the economic decline, the Jewish community recorded a steady influx of Polish Jews looking for work. The deterioration in the situation of the Gdańsk Jews, to which the call by the National Socialists (including in the “Danzig Outpost”) contributed to the boycott of Jewish shops, was reflected in the community's budget. In 1931 it had financed a number of services in the social field and in the educational sector (remuneration for non-civil servants, financing of lectures in the synagogue , support for the Polish-Jewish association Perez, German courses for immigrants, grants for the construction of synagogues in Langfuhr), but in 1932 it was despite Growing tasks forced to restrict spending. Five banks demanded repayment of debts, and the tax office expected payment of deferred taxes. Therefore, on June 16, 1932, members of the community council had a meeting with the Senate President to propose an increase in tuition fees and the waiver of deferred taxes. The Senate announced its general willingness to help, but expected strict budgetary discipline.

The takeover of power by the National Socialists in 1933

Gdańsk passport

The city was one of the strongholds of German Conservatives and later of National Socialist groups. Already in the elections on November 16, 1930, the NSDAP of the Free City of Danzig (de jure to be distinguished from the NSDAP in the Reich) was the second strongest party, with the election of May 28, 1933, the National Socialists obtained an absolute majority in the People's Day . From June 1933 Danzig had a National Socialist government, initially under Senate President Hermann Rauschning , and from November 1934 under Arthur Greiser . The National Socialists increased their share of the vote in the 1935 election, but did not achieve the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment.

The expansion of power by the National Socialists did not affect the sovereignty status of the Free City, which was affirmed in the German-Polish non-aggression pact of January 26, 1934.

When the leader of the Danzig NSDAP Albert Forster called for new elections with the slogan “Danzig must become National Socialist”, all demonstrations, including a planned rally with Joseph Goebbels , were banned by a decree of the German national government of March 24, 1933 . In a conversation with Hitler and referring to the Geneva League of Nations, Senate President Ziehm tried to persuade the National Socialists to moderate.

However, Forster, who in fact expanded the influence of the Danzig NSDAP through the Senate, began to fight against Hitler's promise against this government and opposition. Thus, in the Free City of Danzig, an expansion of power by the National Socialists comparable to that of the German Reich began with only a short time lag. On April 13, 1933, the National Socialists brought about the dissolution of the People's Day for the purpose of new elections. In the weeks leading up to the May 28, 1933 election, there were some violent incidents between rival political groups.

One of the violent measures taken by the National Socialists was the co-ordination of the trade unions dictated by Berlin , which was enforced against the resistance of the workers. The courts rejected the appeal of the Jewish lawyers Kamnitzer and Lewy. The protests of the High Commissioner of the League of Nations and the Polish representative in Danzig also had no consequences. However, on May 14, 1933, the High Commissioner received the assurance of their party from NSDAP Gauleiter Forster and the Senate President and at the same time deputy NSDAP Gauleiter Hermann Rauschning, who headed the National Socialist electoral list, that in the event of an election victory, Danziger, which is under the protection of the League of Nations To respect the constitution and existing treaties with Poland and to maintain friendly relations with Poland. The elections on May 28, 1933 gave the National Socialists 50.3% (107,331 against 106,797 votes for the opposition), an absolute, but not a two-thirds majority.

The policies of the Gdansk Senate, which had been dominated by the National Socialists since 1933, in no way led, unlike at least apparently in the Reich, to an improvement in the economic and social emergency in the Free City of Gdansk, but rather to its deterioration and aggravation. This slowed the upward trend in the popularity of the National Socialists among the Gdansk electorate, as the election results of 1935 showed. With 59.31%, the NSDAP again failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment in these elections. More than a third of the self-predicted target of up to 90% was undercut - despite the euphoric certainty of success and confidence, despite an unprecedentedly complex, overwhelming Nazi election campaign, despite several seizures of the Danzig opposition press (e.g. Danziger Volksstimme) by the Authorities already dominated by the National Socialists, despite bans or massive and violent disruptions of opposition party events, despite partly open terror against political opponents within the political landscape, but also against the common population, etc. According to witness reports, the Danzig NSDAP Gauleiter Forster interrupted his broadcast of the unexpected in a spectacular way Election result by breaking off his sentence, followed by an embarrassing pause. Thereupon the radio announcer announced without any transition: “We are now bringing marching and dance music” and put it on.

Anti-Jewish Policy

The rights of the Jews were u. a. anchored in the freedom of religion of the Gdańsk Constitution. A declaration by the National Socialists contained the assurance that the Danzig constitution guaranteed by the League of Nations and the Allied Powers would be faithfully observed. At a press reception the day after the election, Rauschning reassured that he saw the constitution and the existing treaties as the basis for the independence of the Free City of Danzig. The Jewish and all other Gdańsk residents could hope that the National Socialists would govern with appropriate restraint in view of the international, neutral status of the Gdańsk state.

Finally, as the last resort, the appeal to the League of Nations, the guardian of the Danzig constitution, was still open. The peace policy propagated by Rauschning corresponded to his personal convictions. For reasons of purely usefulness, it also corresponded to Hitler's intentions, who at that time wanted to keep peace in Danzig for political reasons. Rauschning soon realized, however, that it was impossible to pursue a state policy that was independent of the party.

While in the German Reich the Polish Eastern Jews became the first victims of the Nazi terror (law on the expulsion of Jews who immigrated after 1914), their safety in the Free City of Danzig seemed internationally guaranteed. In addition, the East Jews could call the protection of their government at any time through the Polish representative in Danzig. This security led to a surprising growth in the Jewish population in Gdansk between 1933 and 1936.

In 1933 the National Socialists were not yet in a position to enforce the exceptional laws already in force in the German Reich against Jews in Danzig. However, they tried to imitate the nationwide boycott of Jews on April 1, 1933 in Danzig. SA men distributed leaflets and monitored Jewish shops. This action had neither government approval nor the active support of the Gdańsk police. This illegal boycott found no response from the Gdańsk population either. Unlike in the Reich, there were no riots, shop closings or personal harassment of buyers in the Free City of Danzig.

On June 2, 1934, Forster announced to thousands of listeners in the sports hall: “As far as the Jewish question is concerned, be sure that we have not forgotten the Jew. The day will come when it will be necessary to deprive him of the right that a period of unnatural thinking gave him. "

Until 1935, the situation of the Jewish population in Danzig deteriorated continuously, all complaints from the community to the Senate were in vain and all negotiations with Senate President Greiser were hopeless. In this serious situation, only the League of Nations could help and the High Commissioner had to be called upon. On January 18, 1935, the complaint of Danzig Catholic clergymen was dealt with before the League of Nations in Geneva. On February 21, 1935, the dissolution of the Gdańsk People's Day was resolved and new elections were set for April 7, 1935. The National Socialists hoped for a two-thirds majority in order to be able to change the constitution and then unhindered to operate the complete elimination of the opposition. Despite enormous election propaganda and the worst terrorist measures, which the High Commissioner did not prevent, the desired success did not materialize.

The day after the election, a petition from the Jewish people of Danzig was sent to the High Commissioner. It limited itself to the disclosure of unconstitutional facts. What the High Commissioner had indicated in his annual report has now been clearly demonstrated by the complaint and the presentation of numerous individual cases. The petition ended with the statement that the constitutional rights of Gdańsk Jews were no longer upheld. A motion was made to restore equality for Gdansk Jews and to annul nine ordinances issued since 1933 as unconstitutional. The Senate rejected the petition as ridiculously exaggerated and untrue.

In Poland the Jews officially enjoyed civil equality, but like other minorities in Poland, they were oppressed by the ruling circles. While in Germany the “ Nuremberg Laws ” forced German Jews to flee and emigrate , in Poland it was the economic situation and political tensions. These were also the reasons why Gdansk experienced a new wave of Jewish immigration in 1936, both from Germany and, even for the most part, from Poland. The burdens for the Jewish community in Gdańsk became ever greater, because their elimination from public life in Gdańsk reduced their income and the social tasks for the refugees were increasingly difficult for the Jewish community to cope with.

By Hermann Segal was in Gdansk in 1936, the New Zionist Organization ( NZO ) and its youth group Betar , the youth members were trained national Jewish in military discipline, founded. In overcrowded meetings, Segal called for resistance to English policy in the League of Nations mandate for Palestine, which was handed over to him in 1920 . However, this movement did not meet with the support of the Jewish Danzigers who were loyal to their homeland; they continued to put their trust in the protection obligations of the Allies and the League of Nations. The Hachshara was founded by the Jewish Agency in Danzig in the same year . It was an education camp for the youth, who were not trained militarily as fighters, but as pioneers for the reconstruction work in Palestine .

Poland itself headed towards an authoritarian form of government and allowed anti-Semitic tendencies to emerge: Ghetto banks for Jewish students have already been set up at Polish universities.

From 1937 onwards, the Jews in Danzig were severely exposed to liquidations and confiscations. The last 100 pages of the “Danziger Staatsanzeiger” for 1937 clearly show how the attempt was made to get rid of the Jewish owners but to keep their assets. Since the call by the National Socialists to boycott Jewish shops received little attention from the Danzigers, Forster used more drastic means. On the last two Sundays before Christmas he had brown shirts posted in front of Jewish shops in order to keep Danzig customers from entering the shops.

Until October 1937, emigration was viewed as a nervous overreaction, but now it is an urgent problem. During these days the Jewish population was around 11,000, of which 4,000 were forced to leave Gdansk within a year. Three groups were initially considered for emigration: destitute Polish Jews who emigrated back to Poland; wealthy Jews who were looking for a new home in Palestine, America or other western countries; Young people who finish their school in western countries, start a new existence or want to participate as pioneers in the development of a Jewish community in Palestine. Since the community was unable to financially cover the emigration, the international Jewish organizations Joint, HIAS and HICEM agreed to do so.

However, valid entry and exit documents were even more important than the funds. The Danzig Aliens Police under the direction of Police Adviser Heribert Kammer did a valuable job here. The consular posts required a certificate of good conduct before a visa was issued . However, since some of the Jewish merchants had committed minor offenses, they would not have received a visa. Police Council Chamber acted arbitrarily by issuing certificates of good conduct that contained no indications of irregularities, thus making it easier for many to leave the country.

Further measures

Rauschning's policy of rapprochement with Poland led to the agreement of August 8, 1933. They ensured a more equitable use of the Danzig port by Poland and increased the rights of the Polish minority in Danzig considerably. When Hitler signed the non-aggression pact with Poland in January 1934, there were only expressions of friendship between Danzig and Poland. The Danzig-Polish issues, 35 of which were still before the High Commissioner for decision, disappeared from the agenda. The Jewish people in Danzig, who had been following the anti-Jewish legislation in the German Reich with horror for months, drew new courage and new hope.

Forster and Arthur Greiser cleverly used this time of external peace to continue the synchronization of Danzig. Forster was neither a citizen of Danzig nor a member of the government. He did not implement his illegal measures through legislation, but rather dictated his ordinances through his party and his supporters in the Senate. The Justice Senator Wiers explained that you cannot make laws in Danzig like in Germany, but that you can take measures that lead to the same success. These measures were tolerated and excused by President Hermann Rauschning , even if they might not correspond to his own views.

The basis for all ordinances was the Enabling Act passed by the People's Day on June 24, 1933 with 50 to 19 votes , which was to remain in force until June 30, 1937. On June 30, 1933, the "Ordinance Regarding Measures to Increase Public Safety and Order" was issued. It extended to all areas of political, economic, social and cultural activity and also contained provisions on the right of association and the prohibition of newspapers and pamphlets.

“ Protective custody ” was introduced: people could be detained for up to three months “for their own protection” without a court decision. When Forster threatened to let the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig , Arthur Brill, “lynch”, the People's Day on August 23, 1933 lifted his immunity by 31 to 29 votes , thus clearing the way his "protective custody". All of the ordinances had the aim of suppressing Danzig, bringing it into line, removing opposition members from their offices and systematically disenfranchising the Jews.

On May 2, 1935, shortly after the People's Day election in Gdansk in 1935 , the National Socialists' incapacity in the economic field became apparent, because the Senate was forced to devalue the Gdansk guilder by 42.37%. In order to deflect the anger of the population, Greiser and Forster made the Jews responsible for this in public speeches and in the “Danzig outpost”. Forster called for the opposition to be crushed, which was then carried out in the course of the year.

The Jewish complaint had occupied all instances of the League of Nations, a specially formed legal committee and the highest court, without a clear decision having been made. The opposite was the case. In order to no longer have to deal with domestic politics in Danzig, the League of Nations appointed a committee of three, England , France and Portugal (later Sweden ). This in turn left it to Poland to have a calming effect on Danzig's political development. In October 1936, the High Commissioner Seán Lester resigned his office prematurely, and on October 14, the Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Gdansk and all its organizations were dissolved and banned.

Relations with the League of Nations and Poland

Poland had been commissioned by the League of Nations to regulate the situation in the Free City of Danzig because of its friendly relations with the empire and in the interests of Danzig. In its friendship alliance with the German Reich, it had completely changed its previous tactics towards the Danzig state. While it had previously paid close attention to the observance of the Danzig constitution, it now took the position that the Danzig questions should primarily be settled between Germany and Poland and that the League of Nations had no reason to intervene as long as Poland did not feel complained. Poland wanted to protect its political and economic rights in Danzig, but not endanger its supposed friendship with Germany by interfering in Danzig's internal affairs. It undermined the authority of the League of Nations and thereby prevented the High Commissioner from intervening effectively.

The Polish minority in Danzig also refused to support the Danzig resistance against the National Socialists and was only concerned with safeguarding their minority rights in Danzig. This also applied to the Polish Jews, because they too were granted protection by the Polish diplomatic mission in Danzig.

Opposition and resistance to National Socialism

The National Socialists also pushed for the elimination of all opposition in Danzig. Arthur Greiser declared on October 31, 1933 that supporters of the Center Party were public enemies and therefore undesirable as officials. Catholics and socialists defended themselves against this agitation in their newspapers. Thereupon the "Landeszeitung" and the "Volksstimme" were banned and the clerks were taken into preventive detention by the police . Appeals to the High Commissioner were unsuccessful. On May 28, 1934, the KPD was also banned, but it was able to run again as the Plenikowski List in the 1935 People's Day elections.

In its resolution of September 23, 1935, the League Council decided that the situation indicated in the complaints should be changed and that the High Commissioner should report on it. These wishes and recommendations of the League Council were not followed by any assurances on the part of the Senate. Instead, Greiser declared that the Senate did not intend to appear before the League of Nations all the time just because dissatisfied circles in Danzig sought refuge in Geneva. It would be better for the Council to attend to the Abyssinian conflict than to interfere in the internal affairs of Gdańsk. This open challenge found no reprimand by the League of Nations.

Developments in 1935 and 1936, despite the High Commissioner and the League of Nations, despite resistance against the National Socialists and complaints to the League of Nations, subjected the Free City of Danzig to the Berlin dictates and consolidated National Socialist rule . Harmonization took place through legislation, administrative ordinances, terror and violence. As a mandate state of the League of Nations, Danzig was left alone by its allies and made the plaything of German-Polish power struggles.

When in 1936 the Gdansk opposition felt abandoned by the League of Nations and, in a last desperate step, sought help from Poland, this help was not only refused, but the Polish minister Józef Beck even had it declared in Berlin that Poland did not intend to participate in Gdansk domestic politics to interfere. On October 14, 1936, the SPD was banned.

After the premature abdication of the League of Nations Chief Commissioner Seán Lester , Hitler de facto ruled Danzig, and the Berlin Gestapo commanded the Danzig police. The German National Party was dissolved in mid-May 1937 and the Center Party was banned on October 22, 1937.

As the successor to Sean Lester, the Swiss professor Carl Jacob Burckhardt was appointed by the League of Nations to the High Commissioner in Gdansk, who was seen as a beacon of hope for the anti-Nazi opposition in Gdańsk. The expectations of the opposition, which u. a. Requested new elections, but was not met by Burckhardt either.

In October 1937, the last serious resistance of the Danzig opposition was broken by the National Socialists, without any effective defense by the High Commissioner of the League of Nations. Poland also refused to give Danzig any support. On August 23, 1939, the Senate appointed the former Gauleiter of the NSDAP , Albert Forster , as the " head of state " of the Free City of Danzig , in breach of the constitution . Such an office was not provided for in the Gdańsk constitution.

Second World War

The Nazi Germany began on September 1, 1939, invasion of Poland . In the battle for the Polish post office in Danzig , SS-Heimwehr troops in Danzig only captured the Polish post after using tanks , artillery and flamethrowers - an event to which Günter Grass dedicated two chapters of his novel The Tin Drum .

At the beginning of the war, Albert Forster took over the legislative power as head of state and Gauleiter appointed by the “Senate Act”, repealing the Danzig constitution ; Army High Command 3 received executive power over Danzig. By constitution of the same day he declared the area of ​​the Free City of Danzig to be part of the German Empire . The Anschluss was immediately carried out by the Reich law at the session of the Reichstag . The incorporation of the formerly Free City into the German national territory, announced by Forster, took place as an alleged constitutional amendment in breach of the constitution in accordance with Art. 49 DanV and was thus contrary to international law (no approval of the League of Nations). Later it went on October 26, 1939 in the new Reichsgau West Prussia, later in Danzig-West Prussia .

When the war began, mass arrests began in the Free City of Danzig. About 1,500 people were arrested on the first day of the war; about 1000 were interned in the Victoria School . The victims of the arrests were mostly Poles who were actively involved in the life of the small state, including teachers, doctors, priests and members of Polish organizations in Gdansk. In addition to the Polonia associations , these were above all the Polish Post and the Port of Danzig. The Danzig National Socialists had drawn up the lists of “undesirable Polish elements” since 1936.

Around 600 Jewish residents who remained in the city were subsequently sent to concentration camps and ghettos .

Detention center on the territory of the Free City of Gdansk

• Neufahrwasser civil prison camp in Gdansk
• Victoria School in Gdansk
• Prison shooting range in Gdansk
• Stutthof civil prisoner camp, later SS special camp and concentration camp
• Grenzdorf civil prisoner camp in Grenzdorf B , later border village branch of the Stutthof concentration camp.

After the end of the war

At the end of the war, the Allies did not treat Danzig as an occupied country, such as Austria , Sudetenland and the comparable Memelland , but as part of the German Empire . The area of ​​the Free City of Gdańsk was incorporated into the Polish Gdańsk Voivodeship on March 30, 1945 and incorporated into the Polish state administration by the law of January 11, 1949.

The administrative provisions of the Potsdam Agreement of August 2, 1945 (Point IX.b, Supplement No. 1, Berlin 1946, pp. 3–20), which later provided for a peace treaty , gave the Polish state the basis for argumentation . According to a response from the federal government in 2000, " according to the assessment of the powers involved [with the conclusion of the two-plus-four treaty ], the question of a further peace treaty settlement of the consequences of the Second World War has been settled."

In the context of the Council of Danzigers (exile body based in Germany), which claims the legitimacy of representation of the Free City of Danzig, formed in 1920, from 1947 , the view is expressed that the statement of the German Federal Government in this regard can only refer to the relationship between Germany and Poland. The Gdańsk Council justifies this, among other things, with the fact that no organ of the Free City of Gdańsk was a part of the contract in question and it did not belong to the jurisdiction of these two states; The Federal Government had previously admitted this in its above answer:

"[...] Danzig has not belonged to Germany since the peace treaty settlement after the First World War, which is not changed by the temporary annexation in the Second World War from today's perspective of international law. With regard to the development of the status of Gdansk under international law, the Federal Republic of Germany has therefore not been able to take any legally relevant acts due to a lack of jurisdiction under international law. In Section IX of the protocol of the Potsdam Conference of August 2, 1945, the three victorious powers had subordinated the 'former Free City of Danzig' to the Polish administration, subject to a final peace settlement. [...] "

National territory

The Gdańsk national territory comprised 1950 km² including 58 km² of the Fresh Lagoon. The border had a length of 290.5 km, of which the sea border accounted for 66.35 km. In the west and south the area bordered Poland and in the east Germany (the Prussian province of East Prussia).

coat of arms

The coat of arms of Gdańsk showed two silver crosses standing on top of each other in a red shield , over which a golden crown hovers.

→ Main article : Coat of arms of Gdańsk

State structure

Constitution

→ Main article : Constitution of the Free City of Gdansk

The draft constitution of August 11, 1920 came into force in the version of the new announcement of June 14, 1922.

The legislative body, the People's Day , was elected under universal proportional representation and consisted of 120 members. The election of the deputies took place for four years.

The government and the highest state authority was the Senate, which was elected by the People's Day. It consisted of the President of the Senate and seven senators in the main office (elected for four years) and the deputy president and 13 senators in the secondary office (elected for an indefinite period).

Structure of the Senate: 11 departments:

1. Presidential Department and Foreign Affairs
2. Department of the Interior
3. Department of Church Affairs
4. Department of Operations, Transport and Labor
5. financial department
6. Department of Commerce and Industry
7. Justice Department
8. Department of Agriculture, Domains and Forests
9. Public Works Department
10. Department of Social and Health Affairs
11. Department of Science, Art and Public Education

At the beginning of 1926 the parties in the People's Day had the following numbers of deputies:

• 34 German national
• 28 SPD ( Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig )
• 16 center
• 12 liberals
• 9 communists
• 7 German socials
• 5 German-Danzig People's Party
• 5 Poland
• 4 Free

Previously it was the magistrate (the city government) who, like in other Prussian cities, regulated community affairs, now it was the senate that was responsible for state affairs. He was supported by the city citizenship, which was elected by the People's Day. In the other cities of the national territory magistrates and city council assemblies existed as in Prussian times.

A head of state was not planned. On December 6, 1920, however, the Constituent Assembly declared itself a People's Day with a term of office until December 31, 1923, when Heinrich Sahm was elected President of the Free City of Danzig with 68 out of 120 votes .

The legal system of the Free City of Danzig was based on the German and Prussian laws in force on the day of assignment; these were the BGB , the HGB , the StGB , the ZPO , the StPO and the KO with all their subsidiary laws. After the establishment of the Free City, the newly founded Danzig Higher Court took over the previous duties of the Reich Court in Leipzig, the Berlin Chamber Court and the Danzig Higher Regional Court . In addition, the previous structure of a regional court and four local courts remained . See Courts in the Free City of Gdansk .

The actual city of Danzig lost its communal independence. It remained in existence as a municipality and urban district; but their communal affairs were considered to be those of the state and were dealt with by the Senate and the People's Day. There was no longer a mayor for the city of Danzig. The other previous administrative authorities were adapted to the Gdansk situation and generally remained in place.

The historic name Hanseatic City was refused to the Free City of Danzig by the major allied and allied powers.

The Free City of Danzig was under the protection of the League of Nations , which appointed a High Commissioner in Danzig. This decided all disputes between the Free State and Poland as the first, the League of Nations in Geneva as the next and the International Court of Justice in The Hague as the last instance.

Administrative division

The Treaty of Versailles decreed its entry into force on 10 January 1920 in Articles 100 to 108 of the assignment of circles and parts of the Prussian province of West Prussia , Region of Danzig , to the Allied and Associated Powers to the formation of the Free City of Danzig.

State territory of the Free City with two urban districts (orange) and three rural districts; v. l. To the right: Danziger Höhe, Danziger Niederung, Großes Werder

From the earlier districts Berent (partly), Danzig-Stadt, Danziger Höhe (partly), Danziger Niederung (partly), Dirschau (partly), Elbing (partly), Karthaus (partly), Marienburg (Westpr.) (Partly), Neustadt i. Western pr. (only municipality of Sopot) the following new districts emerged:

• District of Gdansk
• Sopot city district
• Danziger Höhe district
• District of Danzig Lowlands
• Large Werder district

These three districts had a total of 267 places (264 villages and 3 cities: Praust, Tiegenhof and Neuteich).

For this purpose, the earlier circles and circle fragments were merged as follows:

• The urban district of Danzig remained in its previous form.
• The remaining districts of Berent , Dirschau (to the west of the Dirschau – Hohenstein railway) and Karthaus became part of the Danziger Höhe district .
• The remaining district of Dirschau (east of the Dirschau – Hohenstein railway) became part of the Danzig Niederung district .
• The remaining districts of Elbing and Marienburg (Westpr.) Formed the new district of Große r Werder , which was renamed on October 20, 1923 in Große s Werder . Its administrative seat was temporarily Marienburg (Westpr.), Then finally from April 1920 the municipality of Tiegenhof .
• The remaining district of Neustadt i. Western pr. (Sopot municipality only) was transformed into the new Sopot municipality .

On December 24, 1920, the northeast border of the Free City of Danzig was changed in favor of the German Empire so that the rural communities of Pröbbernau from the district of Danziger Niederung and the rural community of Zeyerniederkampen and the manor district of Nogathaffkampen from the district of Großes Werder fell back to the district of Elbing . However, the rural communities of Zeyer and Zeyervorderkampen remained with the Free City of Danzig.

On July 1, 1926 and August 15, 1933, major incorporations took place in favor of the urban district of Danzig, in 1929 the manor districts that still existed in the Danzig area were dissolved and united with other rural communities. Only the uninhabited forest districts were excluded from this regulation; they persisted. Otherwise the internal administrative boundaries did not change until the beginning of the Second World War.

Structure of the National Socialists

The area of ​​the Free City of Danzig formed the Gau Danzig of the NSDAP. In contrast to the state structure, this was divided into nine NSDAP districts: Danzig outer city, Danziger Höhe, Danzig city center, Danziger Niederung district, Großes Werder, Langfuhr, Neufahrwasser, Oliva and Sopot.

Gauleiter of the NSDAP were: Hans Albert Hohnfeldt in Danzig (1926), followed by Erich Koch from Elberfeld (today in Wuppertal ) in Königsberg i. Pr. (Provisional), followed by MdR Albert Forster from Fürth (from 1930).

economy

trade

Trade was one of the main pillars of Gdansk's economy. On December 1, 1923, a total of 5,515 trading and transport companies with 30,698 employees were counted. The Gdańsk sea merchant fleet comprised 78 ships. Regular passenger and freight traffic existed with all coasts of Northern Europe and with the USA and Canada. Gdansk bought bulk goods in shiploads from Scandinavia, herrings from Scotland, coal from England, tropical fruits from Spain and North Africa, fertilizers and raw materials from Chile and cotton, flour, lard and tinned meat from the United States.

In contrast, large quantities of timber were exported, mainly to England, Belgium and France, making Danzig the most important timber port on the Baltic Sea. This demand was met by the Polish hinterland and transported down the Vistula in rafts up to 100 m long.

Industry

Traditionally, shipbuilding should be emphasized here. In addition to machines of all kinds, rail vehicles were also manufactured. Due to the large quantities of wood from its own forestry, the wood industry also flourished. The processing of amber into jewelry that is exported all over the world is also worth mentioning. The Danzig liqueurs and schnapps have always been popular around the world; this is still true today for the Gdansk Goldwasser and the Gdansk Machandel . Both the tobacco industry and the manufacture of canned fish and meat developed more and more.

Agriculture

Danzig did not produce enough food for its own needs. Considerable quantities therefore had to be imported. There were no mineral or other natural resources, one was dependent on the full use of the port by trade, industry and crafts as well as agriculture. Excellent results have been achieved in horse and cattle breeding as well as in grain cultivation. Of the total area available, 57% was arable land, 25% forest, 8% meadows and the rest of the land. Over 37,000 people were employed in agriculture and forestry.

currency

Banknote 20 guilders (1937)

On October 20, 1923, the Danzig intergulden was introduced as the forerunner of the fixed currency; it was replaced by silver, nickel and copper coins on December 18 of the same year and withdrawn entirely from circulation on March 2, 1924. The Danzig Gulden (1 Gulden = 100 Pfennig) was introduced by the Bank of Danzig as the central bank . It was founded on February 5, 1924 with a fully paid-in capital of 7.5 million guilders and opened its business on March 17, 1924. The discount rate was initially 12% and from May 11, 1926 7%.

The bank had the right to issue guilder notes up to a maximum of 100 G per person per citizen (approx. 40 million guilders). The guilder was pegged to the British currency; 25 guilders corresponded to one British pound . During this period of global inflation , the Gdańsk guilder was one of the two most stable currencies .

The last, third Coinage of 1931 reduced the value of Danzig Gulden to 0.1687923 grams of gold, which he of the Polish value zloty has been aligned. On October 15, 1939, the Danzig Gulden was abolished and exchanged for Reichsmarks at the rate of 0.70 Reichsmarks.

Danzig's currency cover was deposited in the Bank of England. By decision of the “three-party commission” (USA, Great Britain, France) in Brussels, this gold deposit was delivered to the then communist Poland in 1976 .

Post and Telecommunications

The postal, telegraph and telephone systems in the Free City of Danzig were operated and administered by Danzig without restriction. With the law on the World Radio Treaty of May 1, 1931, the Free City of Danzig approved the ( third) World Radio Treaty concluded in Washington, DC on November 25, 1927 (Law Gazette for the Free City of Danzig No. 21 of June 1, 1931, item. 58). In this world radio agreement, the national radio stations were assigned one to three-digit callsigns by the International Telegraph Association founded on May 17, 1865 (today: International Telecommunication Union in Geneva) - the Free City of Danzig the call sign block "YMA" to "YMZ", followed by one to to five-digit letters and / or number combination for the respective radio station. The call signs were assigned to the Morse code (Y: - · - - M: - - plus 3rd digit). Today Turkey has the Gdańsk callsigns in addition to its original TAA – TCZ block. The accession to the world radio contract also resulted in frequency awards for Danzig (LW 160–228 kHz, MW 675–1500 kHz, KW 49, 31, 25, 19, 17, and 14 m wavelength). The call sign combination from the world radio contract allocation was adopted in Danzig air traffic.

On the basis of the Versailles Treaty, Poland had the right to set up a post, telegraph and telephone service for traffic between Poland and the port of Gdansk and between abroad and Poland via the port of Gdansk. However, this did not restrict the post, telegraph and telephone traffic between the Gdańsk postal administration and Poland.

Danzig also issued its own postage stamps, see Danzig Postal History . The supply of mail was excessively interpreted by Poland in such a way that on January 5, 1925, ten Polish letter boxes were hung in the entire city area and Polish postal workers carried out their mail deliveries in Gdansk. A lengthy dispute arose between the Gdańsk and the Polish authorities over the admissibility of these measures. Based on the opinion of the Permanent International Court of Justice of May 11, 1925, the League Council called on in this matter took the decision that Polish post boxes could remain hung in a more closely defined area, which included the port and the entire city ​​center of Gdańsk .

traffic

Gdansk has always been an ideal and important transport hub for European and world trade. This is where the land routes, inland waterways and high-sea routes meet. It often happened that the Baltic Sea froze over. Due to the extended Hela peninsula , Gdansk is protected from storms in the Gdansk Bay , and the port remains ice-free in most winters.

Rail transport

Monitoring and management, and the right of developing and improving the railway network, with the exception of trams and other railways that served the needs of the Free City in the first place, practiced in the territory of the Free City in accordance with Article 104 of the Treaty of Versailles Poland from. To this end, Polskie Koleje Państwowe took over the duties of the Gdansk Railway Directorate on December 1, 1921 . Formally, it was dissolved by the German side on this date as the railway directorate of the Deutsche Reichsbahn . Service language and labels remained German.

The cargo handling of the railway with the port of Danzig amounted to around 3 million tons in 1922, in 1923 around 2.5 million tons. In terms of passenger transport, there were direct express train connections to all centers in Germany, Poland and the eastern states.

Road traffic

The Danzig distinguishing mark (oval nationality mark) for motor vehicles was DA. The vehicle registration number (number plate), on the other hand, began with DZ followed by a one to five-digit number. In 1956, abbreviations were reserved for the eastern territories of the German Reich occupied in 1945 and the area of ​​the Free City of Danzig, such as DZ for Danzig (also BR for Breslau, KP for Königsberg i. Pr.).

See also : East zone directory of German license plates

air traffic

The first aircraft registration number of the Free State was the letter group FD (Free State of Danzig) followed by a number. The military governor probably issued the approval for this in March 1920. After a "Police Ordinance regarding Aviation Regulation" was issued on March 15, 1921, the letter group Dz (Danzig) was set as a new identifier, also followed by a number. Two white crosses in a red field, i.e. a section of the state flag, were set as national emblems , and the entire rudder was marked next to the wings .

After the promulgation of the Danzig Aviation Act on June 9, 1926, YM was defined as the new designation, followed by three letters without a gap. Since 1929 aircraft have been marked YM; for example, Y-MAAK became YM-AAK. These stipulations corresponded to the agreements of the CINA and also the World Radio Treaty of 1927. A national emblem was not required. This only took place through the "Ordinance on Air Traffic of January 6, 1937", which prescribed the Gdańsk state flag on the vertical stabilizer as a national emblem. All of the above regulations concerned powered aircraft, and balloons were not permitted in Gdansk. Gliders could be marked with names, so the type Dz-4 of Akaflieg Danzig was registered as YM-PENGUIN in the aircraft role .

After the Free State was annexed to the German Reich, some machines flew for about two months with YM license plates and the national emblem of the swastika flag on the tail unit. After November 1939 or after 1945 the letter groups YM, FD and DZ were not reassigned.

The airport of the Free City of Danzig was opened in 1923 north (towards the Danzig Bay) of the Danzig-Langfuhr district and until 1939 was the most important hub in the Scandinavian - Baltic region of Europe . The line Danzig - Marienburg was flown more often every day. Several times a week there were direct or connecting flights to Berlin , Hamburg , Amsterdam , London , Copenhagen , Warsaw , Krakow , Lviv , Koenigsberg , Riga , Moscow , Helsinki and Stockholm . The Danzig-Plehnendorf seaplane base was set up for seaplanes in 1925 . There were connections to Stockholm (1925) and Kalmar (1928). In 1923 there were three Gdansk airlines that transported people and mail: Gdansk Airmail , Gdansk Air Shipping Company and Gdansk Lloyd Air Service .

The airport continued to be used by the German occupation from 1939 to 1945 and by Poland from 1945 to 1974. After 1974, Poland built the Zaspa housing estate on the airport site . The current Lech Walesa Airport in Gdansk , built by Poland in 1974, has nothing to do with Langfuhr Airport and is also located outside the boundaries of the Free City of Gdansk near the village of Ramkau in the area of ​​the former Polish Corridor .

Shipping

A port committee had been set up to administer the port, consisting of five Danzig and five Polish members, with a president of Swiss nationality appointed by the League of Nations. This port committee was also entrusted with the administration of the Vistula as it ran through the Gdansk area. Danzig also had a free port .

Nevertheless, in the following years after 1920, Poland created a safe bypass of the Free State that could only be controlled by Poland: North of Gdansk, Poland laid the new port of Gdynia on the territory of the old German rural community of Gdynia and connected it to the Polish one via the new coal main road through the corridor East Upper Silesian industrial area.

As early as 1933, the cargo handling via Gdynia (Gdynia) exceeded that of the port of Gdańsk with serious economic consequences. This would at least have made the Polish ammunition depot on Westerplatte, which is very dangerous for the city of Danzig, obsolete. In addition, the people of Danzig had lost the Westerplatte, a popular beach before the First World War, as a local recreation area through military use.

inch

The organization of the customs service was in the hands of the government of the Free City of Danzig. The State Customs Office raised the customs duties through Gdansk officials according to the Polish customs tariff and the consumption and transport taxes according to the Danzig laws. More than a third of all customs revenues in the Gdansk-Polish customs area were collected in the Free City of Gdansk, with only 7.31% remaining in the Gdansk Treasury.

nature

A glacier drifting over from Sweden left clear traces in the Gdansk area during the Ice Age and shaped this landscape. Part of this is the Pomeranian ridge with hills, valleys, rivers and lakes, which is divided into north and south by the Radaune , the historic drinking water river of Gdańsk. The nature of the soil changes constantly between clay, sand and swamp, in places there are also stretches of land that are equipped with large and small stones and even boulders . Forests were mainly on the Danziger Heights, some on the swell belt , but in the Danziger Werder plain only at the Montau peak. Peat bogs were found in large numbers on the heights, but also in Werder.

The most powerful river in the Free State was the Vistula . Its entire length is 1068 km, of which 20% - that is, its estuary - belonged to Gdansk. The confluence of the Vistula and the Nogat is called the Vistula Delta. When entering the Gdańsk national territory at the Montau peak, the Vistula is eight meters above the level of the Baltic Sea. The distance to the confluence at Schiewenhorst – Nickelswalde is 50 km; Only the Gdańsk low rivers have such a shallow gradient. At its deepest point, the Gdansk Land is 2.5 m below sea level. Landscape protection and land reclamation through dikes and amelioration are just as important in the Vistula Delta as in the Netherlands .

Another river is the Motława . It rises near Dirschau , enters the area of ​​the Free State near Güttland and finally reaches the Danzig harbor, where it flows past the crane gate around the storage island and flows into the Danzig Bay . Nature conservation was already being developed back then, in particular by Hugo Conwentz from Gdansk.

population

Marienkirche, 1920

number

The population on August 31, 1924 was 383,995 (in the five administrative districts were counted: urban district Danzig 206,458, urban district Sopot 26,906, district Danziger Höhe 65,827, district Danziger Niederung 33,031, district Großes Werder 51,773). Later the population continued to increase: The census of August 18, 1929 brought the result of 396,535 citizens for 1929 (407,517 with local foreigners - mainly Germans or Poles), and the following statistics for the years 1920 to 1928 (in each case without local foreigners) :

• 1920 350.636
• 1921 354.168
• 1922 357.032
• 1923 364.603
• 1924 373.802
• 1925 378.375
• 1926 379,500
• 1927 382,400
• 1928 386.118
• 1929 396.535

The 1931 census showed 403,165 citizens (excluding foreigners present), and for 1930 the statistics of 399,400 citizens (excluding foreigners present). The local population peaked in 1936 with 409,000 inhabitants (including foreigners).

The capital Danzig and the cities Sopot , Tiegenhof and Neuteich were located in the Free City area . Around a quarter (approx. 100,000) of Gdańsk's citizens did not survive the Second World War and the expulsions that followed or are considered missing.

An estimated 600,000 people live in the area of ​​the former Free City of Danzig today.

Religions and denominations

After religious denomination were counted in 1924: 220,731 Protestant , 140,797 Catholics , 9,239 Jews , 5,604 Mennonites , 2,129 dissidents , 1934 Reformed , 1093 Baptists , 410 free Religious , 1,394 followers of other religious communities and 664 religious lots.

Gdansk: Hospital Church of the Holy Spirit, 2011

Protestants in Gdansk

Old Lutherans in Gdansk

Old Lutherans founded a community in Gdansk in 1840, which was recognized as a public corporation (KdöR) in 1847 . In 1854, the parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Prussia acquired the hospital church of the Gdańsk Holy Spirit Hospital, which had not been used since 1840, for its services and used it until 1945.

Anglicans in Gdansk

An Anglican church had existed at Heilige-Geist-Gasse 108 since 1706.

Stutthof, former Baptist chapel, 2010

Baptists in Gdansk

The 1,093 Baptists were divided into two congregations that adhered to the Union of German Baptists . The Baptist Congregation Danzig (from 1898 KdöR) with chapels in Danzig, Schiewenhorst and Stutthof (built 1860–78), the Baptist Congregation Wolfsdorf with a chapel in Wolfsdorf in the lowland .

Brethren in Gdansk

The Moravian Brethren maintained a local church in Danzig.

Regional Synodal Association of the Free City of Danzig of the Old Prussian Union

The parishes of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union (EKapU), ecclesiastical province of West Prussia , whose consistory had its seat at Heilige-Geist-Gasse 108 in Danzig, formed the State Synodal Association of the Free City of Danzig after the Free City ceded (1923) with the status of an old Prussian church province . The Senate of Danzig and the Old Prussian Evangelical Upper Church Council (EOK) signed a corresponding contract in June 1922. On March 22, 1921, the Free City took over the widely existing church patronage and salary obligations of the Prussian state. The Regional Synodal Association comprised the dioceses (later church districts) Danziger Höhe (13 parishes), Danziger Nehrung (12 parishes132), Danziger Werder (11 parishes), Danzig Stadt (15 parishes) and Großes Werder (14 parishes) with around 220,000 souls in 1922. The Reformed Peter and Paul Parish , which belonged to the ecclesiastical province, was spiritually looked after by the cross-provincial Reformed Church Inspection East and West Prussia . The highest legislative body was the 23-member Gdansk regional synod , 1923–1927 with provincial president Karl Polenske (1903–1929 pastor in Tiegenhof , Grosser Werder ) and the executive was formed by the Danzig regional church council , qua office chaired by the state presidency. Subordinate to this was the Evangelical Consistory, initially under the spiritual direction of the Danzig General Superintendent . Until 1940 it was restricted to the parishes in the Free City area, but continued until 1945. Senior Consistorial Councilor Gerhard M. Gülzow formed the auxiliary post at the Evangelical Consistory in Danzig , based in Lübeck, which took care of those who had fled and were expelled from Danzig. After the dissolution of the Free City, the EKapU formed a new administrative unit in 1940, the church area Danzig-West Prussia , which included Protestant parishes in the Reichsgau of the same name , including those that until 1939 became the Uniate Evangelical Church in Poland or in the area of ​​the government district West Prussia to the church province East Prussia as well as parishes of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland in the administrative districts of Leipe and Rippin .

Mennonites in Gdansk

In the area of ​​the Free City there were 5,604 Mennonites, organized in six congregations, the Mennonite Congregation Danzig (created in 1808 through the union of an Old Flemish congregation founded in 1569 and an Old Frisian congregation founded in 1600; KdöR from 1887), Mennonite congregation Fürstenwerder with Neunhuben congregation (1880 KdöR), Mennonite congregation Heubuden (from 1904 KdöR), Mennonite community Ladekopp with Orlofferfelde (from 1882 KdöR), Mennonite community Rosenort (from 1881 KdöR) and Mennonite community Tiegenhagen with Steegen (from 1882 KdöR).

Methodists in Gdansk

Episcopal Methodists owned a church at Näthlergasse 1, Danzig. The community was founded in 1869.

Diocese of Danzig of the Roman Catholic Church

In 1922 the Holy See separated the Catholic parishes in the Free City area from the dioceses of Culm (18 parishes on the heights) and Warmia (18 parishes in the lowlands) and placed them under an Apostolic Administration , which was elevated to the Diocese of Danzig in 1925 . Until the reorganization of the diocesan borders in the former Eastern Territories and Danzig in 1972, the parishes in the area of ​​the former Free City belonged to it.

Danzig Jews

In the 1920s, Gdansk became a center of Jewish emigration from the east to overseas. Between 1920 and 1925, 60,000 Jews emigrated to America and Canada via Danzig. But the immigration of Jews from East and West to Gdansk also developed by leaps and bounds with far-reaching significance for Gdansk's economy and Jewish intellectual life. Due to the same language and recognized training, many doctors, lawyers, traders and banks from Germany settled in Gdansk.

In the Free City area there were the following Jewish communities: the synagogue community Danzig (created in 1883 through the merger of several predecessors), the synagogue community Neuteich from 1857, the synagogue community Tiegenhof from 1858 and the synagogue community Sopot from 1913. Was the membership of the Jewish community in the previous decades Gdansk municipalities remained constant, so now it has increased fourfold. No congregation in the German-speaking area had ever seen such growth. It is only comparable to periodic immigration to America. Jews made up about 2.4% of the population of the Free City of Danzig in 1924.

With the founding of the "OSE", the East Jewish Association, many social institutions were created such as theaters, kindergartens, people's kitchens, clothing stores, career advice and job placement services. In addition, the OSE maintained a polyclinic in the premises of the former Friedländer School at Jakobstor 13. Representatives of “ Misrachi ” and “ Agudat Jisra'el ” also took an active part in community life and were elected to the community administration as representatives of the Jewish People's Party.

Danzig delegation to the 1st Maccabiade (1932)

For the Polish Jews, whose constitutional rights were increasingly disregarded and violated, Gdansk was an oasis of freedom and hope at this time, and they claimed the protection of the Polish minority of Gdansk for themselves. Due to its international status, Gdansk was chosen by international Jewish organizations to hold meetings and conferences. The amalgamation of Jewish youth from all over the world to form the "World Association of Jewish Youth" was also carried out on September 2, 1924 in the Schützenhaus with the participation of David Ben-Gurion .

A historical conference for Gdańsk Jews was held on March 21, 1926. The Hechalutz conference language was Hebrew for the first time . The greeting was spoken by Dr. Leibowitz for the "Zionist Organization" in Danzig, Dr. Landau for the Danzig Palestine Office and Ephraim Reiser for “Brith Hanoar”; the main speaker was Ben-Gurion.

The synagogue in Langfuhr was built in 1927 and inaugurated on September 25th. However, until the forced sale due to Aryanization during the National Socialist period, the main Jewish church was the Great Synagogue at the Reitbahn in the city center.

The national Jewish educational work of the Zionist organization was greatly encouraged by the conferences. The municipal administration and the majority of the old Jewish residents of Danzig were, however, indifferent or even hostile to this movement. Standing between National Socialism from outside and the national Jewish movement inside, the community leadership believed that it had to ensure the preservation of the German character of the community. The Zionist organization, whose leadership remained in the hands of old-time residents of Danzig, had no intention of changing the German-cultural character of the community.

Around 90% of the Jews in Danzig managed to emigrate in 1939/40, the majority of the remaining Jews were expropriated and deported.

See also : List of synagogues in Gdansk

Languages ​​and dialects

The official language of the Free City of Danzig was (only) German in accordance with Article 4 I of the Danzig Constitution ; Art. 4 II of the Danzig Constitution guaranteed the Polish- speaking part of the population through legislation and administration its free popular development, especially the use of its mother tongue in teaching as well as in internal administration and the administration of justice.

Based on the census of December 1, 1905, the city of Danzig (that is, the "Stadtkreis Danzig", which was created in 1920 as part of the five-circle Free City of Danzig) recorded 96.6% of 160,090 inhabitants (including 8,178 active military personnel) in 1905 the mother tongue German and 1.8% with Polish. According to the 1924 census, the area of ​​the Free City of Gdansk, according to Section XI of the Versailles Treaty, comprised 383,995 inhabitants (of which 206,458 in the city of Gdansk itself), of whom 12,027 (in Gdansk 6,387), i.e. H. 3.15% did not report German as their mother tongue.

Distribution of languages ​​among the total number of inhabitants of the Free City of Danzig according to the census of November 1, 1923

native language	German	German and Polish	Polish, Kashubian , Masurian	Russian , Ukrainian	Hebrew , Yiddish	Others	Total number
Urban area	327,827	1.108	6,788	99	22nd	77	335.921
outside of Gdańsk	20,666	521	5,239	2,529	580	1,274	30,809
all in all	348.493	1,629	12,027	2,628	602	1,351	366.730
percentage	95.03%	0.44%	3.28%	0.72%	0.16%	0.37%	100%

The following languages ​​and dialects were spoken in the Free State until 1945:

• Danziger Platt and Danziger Missingsch (urban district of Gdansk including Langfuhr, Oliva, partly Heubude, Schidlitz, Ohra, Emaus, Brösen, Neufahrwasser and Glettkau, urban district of Sopot),
• Höhen-Platt (eastern and central district of Danziger Höhe between Hochzeit in the northeast, Hohenstein in the southeast, Lamenstein in the southwest and Löblau in the south-northwest; in this area there were Swabian colonies in the places Suckschin, Bösendorf, Kl. Trampken and Klempin),
• Coastal Platt (Weichselmünde, main part - except south-west - of Heubude and in the coastal strip of the Danziger Niederung district i.e. including Neufähr, Bohnsack, Einlage, Schiewenhorst, Nickelswalde, Pasewark, Steegen, Stutthof, Bodenwinkel, Fürstenwerder, Tiegenhagen and Jungfer),
• Niederungs-Platt (remaining, southern part of the district of Danziger Niederung, i.e. west of the Vistula from the Polish border in the south near Güttland to Reichenberg and Danzig Walddorf in the north of this district) and Großes-Werder-Platt (in the area of ​​the district of Großes Werder between the Weichsel and the Nogat except for the direct coastal strip of the Elbinger Weichsel in the north - i.e. including the cities of Tiegenhof and Neuteich as well as places such as Schönhorst, Marienau, Mausdorf, Damerau, Simonsdorf, Kunzendorf, Wernersdorf and Pieckel),
• Hüttenpommersch and Hüttenpommersch-Höhen-Platt-mixed dialect (were spoken in the western part of the Danziger Höhe district, delimited by the towns of Stangenwalde in the northeast, Postelau in the southeast and from there to the Polish border),
• Half Missing and Standard German (everywhere),
• Kashubian (northwestern Danziger Höhe, i.e. west of Schidlitz, Emaus, Langfuhr and Oliva, only from the Kashubian minority),
• Polish (only used by the Polish minority, about four to six percent; later on the Westerplatte, nevertheless and because of Poland's special status in the Free State, Polish was a recognized minority language),
• Yiddish (only for members of the minority of Jewish faith).

Official

The German Reich and Prussian State Commissioner

The former district president of West Prussia (1910–1918), as the German Reich and Prussian State Commissioner, took on the task of transferring the former Prussian territories to the Free City of Danzig.

• 1919–1920: Lothar Foerster

The British Military Governor of Danzig at the end of the First World War

• 1920 -9999: Reginald Thomas Tower , Great Britain

The Presidents of the Gdansk Senate

• 1920–1931: Heinrich Sahm
• 1931–1933: Ernst Ziehm , DNVP
• 1933–1934: Hermann Rauschning , NSDAP
• 1934–1939: Arthur Greiser , NSDAP

The Presidents of the Gdańsk People's Day

• 1920–1921: Wilhelm Reinhard
• 1921 -9999: Adelbert Matthaei
• 1921–1923: Adolf Treichel
• 1923–1924: Julius Gehl
• 1924–1926: Adolf Treichel
• 1926–1928: Alfred Semrau
• 1928–1930: Friedrich "Fritz" Spill
• 1930–1931: Julius Gehl
• 1931–1933: Wilhelm von Wnuck
• 1933 -9999: Franz Potrykus
• 1933–1936: Wilhelm von Wnuck
• 1937-1939: Edmund Beyl

The High Commissioners of the League of Nations

• 1919–1920: Reginald Thomas Tower (1860–1939), Great Britain
• 1920–1920: Edward Lisle Strutt (1874–1948), Great Britain (executive)
• 1920–1921: Bernardo Attolico (1880–1942), Italy (deputy)
• 1921–1923: Richard Cyril Byrne Haking (1862–1945), Great Britain
• 1923-1925: Mervyn Sorley MacDonnell (1880-1949), Great Britain
• 1925–1929: Joost Adriaan van Hamel (1880–1964), Netherlands
• 1929–1932: Manfredi Gravina (1883–1932), Italy
• 1932–1933: Helmer Rosting (1893–1945), Denmark
• 1933–1937: Seán Lester (1888–1959), Ireland
• 1937–1939: Carl Jacob Burckhardt (1891–1974), Switzerland

The Polish Commissioners General

The Republic of Poland, which represented the Free City in foreign policy, was represented in Gdansk itself by a general commissioner (komisarz generalny Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Wolnym Mieście Gdańsku) .

• 1919–1920: Mieczysław Jałowiecki (government delegate )
• 1920–1921: Maciej Biesiadecki
• 1921–1923: Leon Pluciński
• 1923–1924: Kajetan Dzierżykraj-Morawski (executive)
• 1924–1932: Henryk Strasburger
• 1932–1936: Kazimierz Papée
• 1936-1939: Marian Chodacki

European Danzig

In the “ Ishii Report” to the League Council of November 17, 1920, the Free City of Danzig is expressly referred to as the “state in the international organization of Europe” . In the period from 1926 to mid-1927, 16 international treaties and 7 conventions were signed. Danzig entered u. a. as a signatory state on September 11, 1929, the Kellogg-Briand Pact (independent of Poland, which had joined this pact on March 26, 1929) to outlaw the war that was concluded on August 27, 1928 in Paris. Gdansk also independently joined the Litvinov Protocol , which was signed in Moscow on February 9, 1929, initially by Latvia , Estonia , Poland , Romania and the Soviet Union , which was later also joined by the Free City of Gdansk, Lithuania , Persia , Turkey and Afghanistan connected.

literature

• Hans Viktor Böttcher: The Free City of Danzig: Ways and detours into the European future; Historical review, questions of constitutional and international law. 3. Edition. Cultural Foundation of the German Displaced Persons, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-88557-181-1 .
• Gilbert H. Gornig: The legal fate of the Danzig cultural assets since 1939/45 using the example of the Natural Research Society in Danzig. A legal opinion. Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8046-8841-1 .
• Peter Oliver Loew: Danzig - biography of a city. Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-60587-1 .
• Peter Oliver Loew: Danzig and its past 1793–1997. The historical culture of a city between Germany and Poland (= individual publications by the German Historical Institute Warsaw, Volume 9). Fiber Verlag, Osnabrück 2003, ISBN 3-929759-73-X .
• Dieter Schenk: Hitler's husband in Danzig. Gauleiter Forster and the crimes in Danzig-West Prussia. Dietz, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-8012-5029-6 .
• Decisions of the Permanent Court of International Justice on the Free City of Gdansk ( online ).
• Wolfgang Ramonat: The League of Nations and the Free City of Danzig 1920–1934. Studies in military history, military science and conflict research. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1979, ISBN 3-7648-1115-3 .

Web links

Commons : Free City of Danzig  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Statesman's Year-Book. MacMillan, London 1942, ISBN 978-0-230-27071-8 .
2. ↑ Christian Hattenhauer, Rn. 26, 27; Rüdiger Wolfrum: Article Danzig, Free City of. In: Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL). Online edition, Oxford University Press, May 2009.
3. ↑ Danziger Volkswacht No. 69 of March 24, 1919 ( PDF ).
4. ↑ Stefan Samerski: The Catholic Church in the Free City of Danzig. 1991, ISBN 3412017914 , p. 26.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Wolfgang Ramonat: The League of Nations and the Free City of Danzig 1920–1934. Studies in military history, military science and conflict research. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1979, ISBN 3-7648-1115-3 .
6. ^ Christoph M. Kimmich: The Free City, Danzig and German Foreign Policy 1919–1934. 1968, p. 1 ff.
7. ^ Green Book of the Representation of the Free City of Gdansk. Lübeck 1965, p. 7.
8. ^ Hans Viktor Böttcher: The Free City of Danzig - ways and detours into the European future .
9. ^ Danziger Latest News from November 16, 1920.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} Press Office of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig: The Free City of Danzig. Their structure and their economy. Gdansk 1926.
11. ↑ Gdańsk Constitution
12. ↑ Dieter Schenk: Hitler's husband in Danzig. Gauleiter Forster and the crimes in Danzig-West Prussia. Dietz, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-8012-5029-6 , p. 34ff.
13. ↑ Dieter Schenk: Hitler's husband in Danzig. Gauleiter Forster and the crimes in Danzig-West Prussia. Dietz, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-8012-5029-6 .
14. ↑ Ernst Sodeikat: National Socialism and the Danzigers ( PDF ).
15. ^ Report of the High Commissioner of January 6, 1934. "Arthur" Brill, see Ernst Sodeikat: The National Socialism and the Danzig Opposition. Quarterly books for contemporary history , 1966, p. 139 ( PDF ).
16. ^ DNN, November 1, 1933.
17. ^ Frank Fischer: Danzig. The broken city. Propylaeen, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-549-07204-2 , p. 336.
18. ↑ These are the chapters "The Polish Post" and "The House of Cards".
19. ^ ^{A b} Andreas Toppe: Military and international law of war. Legal norms, specialist discourse and war practice in Germany 1899–1940 , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2008, p. 305 .
20. ^ Constitution of the Free City of Danzig of November 17, 1920, amended by the law of December 9, 1920 (Journal of Laws of 1922, p. 141), law of May 17, 1921 (GS 1922, p. 142), law of April 4 1922 (GS 1922, p. 144), in the version of the new publication of June 14, 1922, amended by the law of July 4, 1930 (Journal of Laws p. 179)
21. ^ Polish integration decree March 30, 1945 ( memento of April 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) accessible via the Waybackarchive, March 4, 2017.
22. ↑ Integration Act, November 1949 ( memento of April 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) accessible via the waybackarchive, March 4, 2017.
23. ^ Potsdam Agreement
24. ↑ Answer to the small question from the PDS parliamentary group, printed matter 14/3263 ( PDF )
25. ^ Constitution of the Free City of Danzig from November 17, 1920
26. ↑ http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Poland.htm#Danzig
27. ↑ Versailles Treaty - Eleventh section. The free city of Danzig .
28. ↑ List of localities in the districts of the Free City of Gdansk ( PDF ( Memento from September 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ))
29. ↑ ^{a b} Dr. Jürgensen: The Free City of Danzig. Kafemann, Danzig 1924/1925.
30. ↑ Samuel Echt : The History of the Jews in Danzig. Verlag Gerhard Rautenberg, 1972, ISBN 3-7921-0095-9 .
31. ↑ Based on the London gold fixing, 0.1687923 grams of gold would currently have a value of € 8.972.
32. ^ Editions A. Pedone: Revue Gènèrale de Droit International Public, TOME LXXXI-1977, Revue publièe avec le concours du CNRS
33. ↑ YMA to YMZ
34. ↑ Railway Directorate in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Railway Directorate in Mainz of December 3, 1921, No. 68. Announcement No. 1323, p. 756.
35. ↑ http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/0_741_11/app3.html
36. ^ Günter Frost: Excerpts from the aviation history of the Free City of Danzig 1920-1939. 2012, p. 4 ( PDF ).
37. ^ FD 1, FD 10 - FD 21, ten registered machines are known; seven D / Dz approvals were an exception; see. Frost: Excerpts from the aviation history of the Free City of Danzig 1920–1939, part 3. 2012, p. 9 ( PDF ).
38. ^ Dz 1 - Dz 112, the numbers were not assigned consecutively; after sale or loss, some license plates were assigned up to four times; see. Frost: Excerpts from the aviation history of the Free City of Danzig 1920–1939, part 3. 2012, p. 10 ff. ( PDF ).
39. ^ Günter Frost: Excerpts from the aviation history of the Free City of Danzig 1920-1939. 2012, p. 5 ( PDF ).
40. ↑ Attempt to reconstruct the aircraft roles YM or YM-; in .: Günter Frost: Excerpts from the aviation history of the Free City of Danzig 1920–1939, part 3. 2012, p. 13 ( PDF ).
41. ^ Günter Frost: Excerpts from the aviation history of the Free City of Danzig 1920-1939. 2012, p. 7 ( PDF ).
42. ↑ ^{a b} Reinhold Mantau: Local history of the Free City of Danzig. Gdansk 1924.
43. ↑ According to the Danzig homeland index, managed by the Danzig Association.
44. ↑ When comparing former free urban and today's Polish urban and rural areas and individual municipalities, according to the censuses of 2008, 2011 and 2015, the former free urban total area of ​​1,988 km² (regular 1,966 km²: the difference of 22 km² is probably due to the incorporation to Clearing of forest areas west of the northern part of the district of Danziger Höhe and the urban district of Sopot, for the purpose of the bypass highway) a population of approx. 617,569 inhabitants. This includes: Sopot with today's 17.28 km²: 37,457 inhabitants, Gdansk with 138.4144 km²: 370,845 inhabitants, the municipalities congruent with the former district of Danziger Höhe with 699.3226 km²: 136,976 inhabitants, the municipalities congruent with the former district of Großes Werder with 575.29 km²: 37,858 inhabitants, the communities congruent with the former district of Danziger Niederung with 557.6 km²: 34,433 inhabitants.
45. ↑ ^{a b} State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition) (PDF file), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamt, 1926, p. 145. No ISBN.
46. ↑ ^{a b c} State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 146. No ISBN.
47. ↑ State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 129. No ISBN.
48. ↑ Stefan Samerski: The relationship between church and state in the Free City of Danzig ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 54 kB). In: German-Polish encounter on science and culture. Gilbert Gornig (ed.): Series of publications by the Danziger Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, vol. 1998, vol. 2, pp. 112–121, here p. 114. 
49. ↑ Adalbert Erler : The legal position of the Protestant Church in Danzig. Berlin 1929; zugl. Univ. Greifswald, Faculty of Law and Political Science. Diss. From February 21, 1929, p. 36 ff.
50. ↑ Stefan Samerski: The relationship between church and state in the Free City of Danzig ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 54 kB). In: German-Polish encounter on science and culture. Gilbert Gornig (ed.): Series of publications by the Danziger Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, vol. 1998, vol. 2, pp. 112–121, here p. 113. 
51. ↑ State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 131seq. No ISBN.
52. ↑ ^{a b} State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 132. No ISBN.
53. ↑ State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 130seq. No ISBN.
54. ↑ ^{a b} State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 133. No ISBN.
55. ^ ^{A b} Karl-Heinz Fix, Carsten Nicolaisen, Ruth Pabst: Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949. Organs - Offices - Persons : 2 vols., Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2017, (= work on contemporary church history; Vol. 20 ), Vol. 2: 'Landes- und Provinzialkirchen', p. 613. ISBN 978-3-525-55794-5 .
56. ^ ^{A b} Karl-Heinz Fix, Carsten Nicolaisen, Ruth Pabst: Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949. Organs - Offices - Persons : 2 vols., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017, (= work on contemporary church history; Vol. 20), Vol. 2: 'Landes- und Provinzialkirchen', p. 612. ISBN 978-3-525-55794-5 .
57. ↑ Tiegenhöfer Nachrichten: Communications from the Representation of the City of Tiegenhof , No. 12 / Issue 2 (December 1973) (PDF file), p. 5.
58. ↑ It affected the parishes in the dioceses of Chojnice / Konitz, Kartuzy / Karthaus, Łobżenica / Lobsens, Świecie / Schwetz, Tczew-Starogard / Dirschau-Preußisch Stargard, Toruń / Thorn, Wąbrzeźno / Briesen and Wejherowo / Neustadt and some from the Diocese / Soldau (those who had belonged to the diocese of Strasburg before 1920).
59. ↑ It affected the parishes in the church districts of Elbing, Marienburg, Marienwerder and Rosenberg.
60. ↑ State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 144seq. No ISBN.
61. ↑ Georg May : Ludwig Kaas: the priest, the politician and the scholar from the school of Ulrich Stutz, Vol. 1 (=  Canonical Studies and Texts, Vol. 33-35). Grüner, Amsterdam 1981–1982, ISBN 90-6032-197-9 , p. 175.
62. ↑ State Handbook of the Free City of Danzig (1926 edition), State Statistical Office of the Free City of Danzig (ed.), Danzig: Verlag des Statistisches Landesamts, 1926, p. 144. No ISBN.
63. ^ Online encyclopedia on the culture and history of Germans in Eastern Europe , University of Oldenburg
64. ^ Community encyclopedia for the province of West Prussia. Based on the materials from the census of December 1, 1905 and other official sources, edited by the Royal Prussian State Statistical Office. In: Königliches Prussisches Statistisches Landesamt (Hrsg.): Community encyclopedia for the Kingdom of Prussia. Book II, 1908, DNB  365941689 , ZDB -ID 1046036-6 ( digitized version ).
65. ^ Information from Georg Crusen , in: Karl Strupp : Dictionary of Völkerrechts und der Diplomatie. Keyword: “Peace of Versailles” Section p. “Danzig”, p. 136 (based on the 1924 census).
66. ^ John Brown Mason: The Danzig Dilemma. A Study in Peacemaking by Compromise . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1946, ISBN 978-0-8047-2444-9 ( limited preview ).
67. ↑ Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928 . An Electronic Publication of the Avalon Project (Engl.) ( Memento of 9 May 2012 at the Internet Archive )