ABSTRACT
As a consequence of the lost war against Germany in September 1939 and of the seizure of the Polish state's eastern territories by the USSR, Poland was occupied by these two states. After the outbreak of the war with the USSR, the Third Reich worked out the principles of the new demographic policy for the territories east of Germany. Rapid suppression of Jewish enterprises in the Generalgouvernement created a certain void in the domain of the trade and craft network, because the role of Jews in trade and craft in this section of Poland had been substantial before 1939. The elimination of the Jews by Germans meant the suppression of competitors for the Polish small entrepreneurs and permitted the improvement of their living conditions. The losses among Jewish entrepreneurs were much higher than among the Polish. The fate of the entrepreneurs reflected the Nazi policy initially aiming at the economic degradation of Jews and Poles, and subsequently at their extermination.
