can he really be a POW?

[huddyhuddy]

Hello again,

The documents start in 1939 and they end up as he being in a DP camp and a former-POW, but is that really the case?
How can a German end up as a "POW"?

Neil

[HPL2008]

Simple answer: He wasn't German.

Mr. Mlynarczak was born in Radojewo, County Posen [Polish name Poznań], Poland, and was later a permanent resident of Thorn [Polish name Toruń], which became a part of German territory (specifically the newly-formed Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen) after the Polish campaign, hence the German-issued ID card and driver's licence.

He was clearly taken prisoner as a member of the Polish armed forces in the Polish campaign.

The driver's licence is of the restricted/temporary type as issued to Polish citizens who worked as drivers for/in the interest of the German authorities. That's what the purplish stamps tell us: It was restricted to commercial vehicles ["Beschränkt auf Nutzfahrzeuge"] and was to expire on 8th Dec. 1942 or with termination of the employment as a motor vehicle driver and identifies the holder as a Schutzangehöriger of the German Reich. The term is very hard to translate (an approximation is "protection subject"); it was the classification for those residents of the annexed Polish territories who were not included in one of the 4 Volkslisten in which the Ethnic Germans were listed.

[harryamb2]

thanks for explaining it HPL.

[StefanM]

The British equivalent of Schutzangehöriger would seem to be "British protected person" status - a person who is not a full British citizen but enjoys the "protection" of the British state.

[huddyhuddy]

Many thanks for the help 8)