LÎÒ #30445. Generalgouvernoment. Galicia. Regist. cover from Lemberg today Lwow (Ukraine) - 04.12.41 to Berlin (Germany) arv. 06.12.41
The General Government (German: Generalgouvernement, Polish: Generalne Gubernatorstwo) was a part of the territories of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II that were a separate region of the Greater German Reich (Großdeutsches Reich).[1] After Operation Barbarossa in August 1941, the former Polish voivodeships (districts) of Eastern Galicia (with a majority of Ukrainians) were added to the General Government by a decree issued by Adolf Hitler.
According to section III of the Fourth Hague Convention (1907), accepted by Germany, all of these acts were illegal from their inception, in terms of international and civil law.[3] The area was not a puppet state and had no goal of collaborating with Poles throughout the war, regardless of their political orientation. The Nazi authorities made a determined effort to avoid even mentioning the name "Poland" in government correspondence. The only exception to this were the German-backed banknotes and coins (called 'zloty' and 'grosz') printed in 1940 where that word was used for propaganda purposes. The government and administration of the General Government was composed entirely of Germans, with the intent that the area was eventually to become a German province. The only locals remaining were to be those of German descent.
