The Anonymous
Bag On My Head
FOR SOME POLES, NOTHING HAS CHANGED
Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, some Polish citizens of diverse ethnicities served in the Wehrmacht, in particular citizens from parts of Poland annexed by Germany such as Upper Silesia and Pomerania.
Service in the German military was universal in nature in these areas, however, assessing the number of ethnic Poles involved is difficult due to the fluidity of national identity.
At the low end, Polish estimates often place the number of native Poles at 250,000.
Ryszard Kaczmarek's conservative estimate, based on documentary evidence, is 295,000; however, Kaczmarek considers this very low and is inclined to accept numbers of up to 500,000.
Various factors contributed to Poles serving in the Wehrmacht. From the Nazi perspective, racial theory saw Kashubians and Silesians as Volksgemeinschaft. From the Polish perspective, German citizenship was advantageous, although it came with obligatory military service. Early German victories in the war conferred prestige to being a member of the German military.
The Poles Who Hunted Jews and Turned Them Over to the Nazis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_in_the_Wehrmacht