POLAND IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 327tunes... the focus of all disturbances, the place from which discontent is
spread through the whole country.'^6
On the German side of the demarcation line, former Polish territory was
divided into two distinct parts. The northern and western areas were directly
annexed to the Reich. In the language of the day, they were referred to as lands
of the 'New Reich' as distinct from those of the pre-1937 'Old Reich'. The more
extensive central and southern areas were formed into a separate General-
Gouvernement. (See Map 16.) In neither case, whether inside the Reich or out-
side it, did the population enjoy the protection of the civil law. All the occupied
territories were designated as lawless Arbeitsbereich (Work Areas) where mar-
tial law was in force and where 'death' or 'concentration camp' were the only
two forms of stipulated punishment for any type of offence. The Gauleiter of the
new Warthegau at Posen, Artur Greiser, curtly excluded all officials of the Berlin
Ministries from his realm. Albert Forster, Gauleiter of West Preussen-Danzig,
and Wagner at Breslau in Silesia were similarly high-handed. Hans Frank,
Hitler's one-time lawyer, took up residence in Wawel Castle, and as Governor-
General prepared to turn 'the ancient German city of Krakau' into a model
capital for his kingdom. To all intents and purposes, Poland had become
'Gestapoland'.^7
On the Soviet side of the line, administrative provisions were staged with a
greater show of democratic procedure. The northerly area, including Wilno,
was granted to the Republic of Lithuania. This specious act of generosity
masked the further intention of the Soviet government, whose determination to
annex Lithuania and the other Baltic States was already implicit in the secret
clauses of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. The central area up to the Pripet was attached
to the Byelorussian SSR, and the southern area with Lwow was attached as
'Western Ukraine' to the Ukrainian SSR. In each of these areas, plebiscites were
organized by the NKVD to express popular consent. Closed lists of handpicked
candidates were prepared. All citizens were obliged to vote. All abstentions,
spoiled papers, and protests were counted as votes in favour. To nobody's sur-
prise, the official list was declared to have received the support of 92 per cent of
the electorate. Packed assemblies resolved unanimously to implore the Soviet
government to admit the occupied lands to the Union. Even by Soviet standards,
this process represented a coup de theatre of impressive effect.
The conduct of the Soviet officials who led this operation lacked any sensi-
tivity to the interests or feelings of their new charges. The First Secretary of the
Ukrainian Communist Party, Nikita Krushchev, recalled the episode with no
qualms whatsoever:
My main job was to set up organisations to represent the people of the Western Ukraine
and to give them a chance to declare themselves: did they want to join the Soviet state or
not? Delegations were elected to an assembly at Lvov to decide this question...
The assembly continued for a number of days amid great jubilation and political fer-
vour. I didn't hear a single speech expressing even the slightest doubt that Soviet power
should be established. One by one, movingly and joyfully, the speakers all said that it was