History of Mazury

ulation; Poles were imprisoned, tortured and murdered while Masurians were sometimes forcefully placed on Volksliste The Soldau concentration camp was established in winter 1939, where 13,000 people were murdered by the Nazi German state during the war. Notable victims included the Polish bishops Antoni Julian Nowowiejski and Leon Wetmański, as well as the nun Mieczysława Kowalska. Additionally, almost 1,900 mentally ill patients from East Prussia and annexed areas of Poland were murdered there as well, in what was known as Action T4. Polish resistance in Masuria was organised by Paweł Nowakowski "Leśnik" commander of the Home Army's Działdowo district

Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany

Masuria was the only region of Germany directly affected by the battles of World War I. Damaged towns and villages were reconstructed with the aid of several twin towns from western Germany like Cologne to Neidenburg, Frankfurt to Lötzen and even Vienna to Ortelsburg. However Masuria was still largely agrarian-oriented and suffered from the economic decline after World War I, additionally badly affected by the creation of the Polish Corridor, which raised freight costs to the traditional markets in Germany. The later implemented Osthilfe had only a minor influence on Masuria as it privileged larger estates, while Masurian farms were generally small.

The interwar period was characterised by ongoing Germanisation policies, intensified especially under the Nazis

In the 1920s Masuria remained a heartland of conservatism with the German National People's Party as strongest party. The Nazi Party became the strongest party in the Masurian constituencies in the elections of 1930 and received its best results in the poorest areas of Masuria with the highest rate of Polish speakers. Especially in the elections of 1932 and 1933 they