New book reveals Polish highlanders' WWII Nazi collaboration
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
29.10.2012 10:52
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Wojciech Szatkowski talks about the Goralenvolk
Nazis forged myth that highlanders were descended from German settlers
Hans Frank, Nazi governor of the 'Generalgouvernement' sector of occupied Poland visits Zakopane
“The Germans prepared the idea of the Goralenvolk to break the Polish nation into small parts,” author Wojciech Szatkowski told our reporter Nick Hodge.
Szatkowski, who participated in the 16th Krakow Book Fair over the weekend, is the grandson of Henryk Szatkowski, one of Nazi Germany's key collaborators in the Podhale region of southern Poland.
Goralenvolk: A History of Betrayal
Poland prides itself on the fact that there was no pro-Nazi government that collaborated with its German occupiers. However, a clique of highlanders actively collaborated with the Germans, championing the bogus idea of the Goralenvolk (Highlander folk), which claimed that the highlanders were descended from the Goths.
Wojciech Szatkowski's book, Goralenvolk: Historia Zdrady (Goralenvolk: A History of Betrayal), is published by Kanon.