ABSTRACT
The first East European country occupied by the Germans was Czechoslovakia. In the Protectorate there were two authorities, German and Czech, the latter subordinate to the former. The Czech Minister of the Interior and Czech police was subordinated to K. H. Frank through a German liaison officer appointed by him. The Germans then arrested a number of students at their homes, shot nine of them, and closed the Czech universities. The numbers of Czech secondary schools were also reduced, and during the years of occupation the compulsory use of the German language was repeatedly extended to new fields. The German regime in Poland resembled that in the Czech lands, but was much severer. Former Polish subjects from annexed territories who were of German origin received privileges. The Axis occupation of Yugoslavia was thus complicated by friction between three forces—Italian policy, German military policy and German Nazi Party and Gestapo policy.
