The large-scale pacification operations, sometimes called anti-partisan actions, constituted the core policy of the Nazi regime against Poland and resulted in the death of approximately 20,000 townspeople in less than two years following the invasion.
They were mainly conducted in the areas of General Government, Pomerelia, in the vicinity of Wielkopolska, and in the newly created Bezirk Bialystok districts.

On 10 September 1939 the policy of collective punishment was introduced, resulting in destruction of villages and towns in the path of Polish defence lines.
In Bogusze and in Lipówka in Suwałki County residents were massacred by the Wehrmacht as soon as the Poles retreated.
Some 30 other settlements in the vicinity were burned down in the counties of Bielsk, Wysokie Mazowieckie, Suwałki and Łomża, even though there were not used by the retreating Polish forces.
Around Białystok 19 villages were completely destroyed.
In Pietraszki elderly people and children were fired at from an army tank, while in the villages of Wyliny-Ruś, Drogoszewo and Rutki all civilians were summarily executed, including the elderly.

Terror killings committed by uniformed troops across Poland continued and between 2 October – 7 November 1939, over 8,866 Poles were killed (53 of them Jews).
Among the victims were in Otorowo (20 October), five or 19 Poles shot because a swastika flag was removed by someone; Gniezno, 15 Polish townsmen including Father Zabłocki; Bydgoszcz, 136 Polish school boys including 12-year-olds with about 6000 others by end of 1939; Szamotuły (20 October), five Poles in a crowded spectacle at the city centre; Otorowo (7 November), 68 Polish intelligentsia including parish priest and a count; Warsaw (22 November), announcement of the first anti-Jewish legislation: 53 Jews executed in public as punishment for one einheimischen Polizisten (local policeman) assaulted on the street; Wawer (27 December), 106/107 murdered; Palmiry (December 1940 – July 1941), two thousand Poles during AB-Aktion; Kościan Leszno, 250 Poles; Śrem, 118 Poles; Wolsztyn, a group of Poles; Kórnik, 16 Polish citizens; Trzemeszno, 30 Polish citizens; Mogilno, 30/39 Poles and a Polish Jew; Antoninek, 20 Polish citizens shot.
Other execution sites included Rawicz, Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Nowy Tomyśl, Międzychód, Żnin, Września, Chełmno, Chojnice, Kalisz and Włocławek.
The large-scale pacification operations, sometimes called anti-partisan actions, constituted the core policy of the Nazi regime against Poland and resulted in the death of approximately 20,000 townspeople in less than two years following the invasion. They were mainly conducted in the areas of General Government, Pomerelia, in the vicinity of Wielkopolska, and in the newly created Bezirk Bialystok districts.
On 10 September 1939 the policy of collective punishment was introduced, resulting in destruction of villages and towns in the path of Polish defence lines. In Bogusze and in Lipówka in Suwałki County residents were massacred by the Wehrmacht as soon as the Poles retreated. Some 30 other settlements in the vicinity were burned down in the counties of Bielsk, Wysokie Mazowieckie, Suwałki and Łomża, even though there were not used by the retreating Polish forces. Around Białystok 19 villages were completely destroyed. In Pietraszki elderly people and children were fired at from an army tank, while in the villages of Wyliny-Ruś, Drogoszewo and Rutki all civilians were summarily executed, including the elderly.
Terror killings committed by uniformed troops across Poland continued and between 2 October – 7 November 1939, over 8,866 Poles were killed (53 of them Jews). Among the victims were in Otorowo (20 October), five or 19 Poles shot because a swastika flag was removed by someone; Gniezno, 15 Polish townsmen including Father Zabłocki; Bydgoszcz, 136 Polish school boys including 12-year-olds with about 6000 others by end of 1939; Szamotuły (20 October), five Poles in a crowded spectacle at the city centre; Otorowo (7 November), 68 Polish intelligentsia including parish priest and a count; Warsaw (22 November), announcement of the first anti-Jewish legislation: 53 Jews executed in public as punishment for one einheimischen Polizisten (local policeman) assaulted on the street; Wawer (27 December), 106/107 murdered; Palmiry (December 1940 – July 1941), two thousand Poles during AB-Aktion; Kościan Leszno, 250 Poles; Śrem, 118 Poles; Wolsztyn, a group of Poles; Kórnik, 16 Polish citizens; Trzemeszno, 30 Polish citizens; Mogilno, 30/39 Poles and a Polish Jew; Antoninek, 20 Polish citizens shot. Other execution sites included Rawicz, Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Nowy Tomyśl, Międzychód, Żnin, Września, Chełmno, Chojnice, Kalisz and Włocławek.
War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II