TheOther: I would agree with you if you would have added "in the cities".
Not really, it was a nationalistic era and attempts at rationalisation are rubbish, most Germans regardless of region were behind their country regardless of what their country wanted to do, some went as far as to kill civilians other as little as nodding approvingly and living on but most were into politics.
Today modern view of people rolling along does not apply to the 30s.TheOther: I was told by both ethnic Poles and Germans that you had the choice: sign up for the Volksliste or leave your farm within an hour's notice.
Thats not true, simple as that. Of course there might have been some round ups in specific areas but in general thats just not true, rural Germans were not touched untill 44 and even then those in Germany came first, if you're talking about Poles, the penalty for not signing was forced labor (not the same as concentration camp though sometimes just as bad).
TheOther: To the best of my knowledge there was no slave labour in the area I was talking about,
Slave labor was commonplace all across occupied Poland, not all German farmers used it but in truth most did.
TheOther: can point me to a source that proves otherwise,
Well what region are you talking about? I can research or ask friends for specific sources that will refer to that exact region but i can safely say that there was slave labor everywhere where the German enterprises were.
TheOther: Well, you called them traitors yourself in posting #97
Because legally a citizen of a country that acts on behalf of forces that seek to destroy said country commits treason, however the case of German citizens has deeper moral implications.
Germans stole Polish land, Poles got it back and Germans were obviously unhappy about losing governance, especially since Germans born on occupied Poland were not the same Germans who stole it 100 something years before and felt they have full right to Polish land.
This created an atmosphere where Polish citizens of German descent openly pledged alliegiance to Germany, acted against Poland and were Polish citizens by legal terms only, you cannot treat a long standing enemy as a traitor just because his legal situation makes him your citizen.
So yes legally they commited treason but I do not view them as traitors, simply enemies who found themselves within our borders due to historic turmoil.
The term matters because for example Jews who pledged loyalty to the Polish goverment and then sided with Soviets deserve to be called traitors and on a personal level i view a traitor as something much worse then a simple enemy, no matter how bad said enemy is.
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