Arthur Greiser: Nazi Gauleiter of Warthegau Who Terrorized Occupied Poland

Arthur Greiser was one of Nazi Germany's most ruthless civilian leaders, serving as Gauleiter and Reich Governor of the Warthegau, where he oversaw mass expulsions, forced labour, and the murder of hundreds of thousands during the Second World War.Born in 1897 in what was then the German Empire, Greiser rose through the Nazi Party during the chaos of the Weimar Republic, combining ideological fanaticism with personal ambition. By the time Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, he was fully committed to Adolf Hitler’s vision of racial conquest and Germanization.After the fall of Poland, Greiser was appointed Gauleiter and Reich Governor of the Warthegau, a region carved out of western Poland. From his headquarters in Poznań, he launched an unprecedented campaign of repression aimed at erasing Polish society. Mass expulsions, forced labour, property seizures, and executions became daily policy. Poles were reduced to second-class subjects, while German settlers were brought in to replace them under the banner of racial purification.Greiser maintained close ties with Heinrich Himmler and played a direct role in the Holocaust. Under his authority, the Łódź Ghetto became one of the largest Jewish ghettos in Europe. He approved and facilitated the creation of the Chełmno extermination camp, where Jews were murdered using gas vans—one of the earliest forms of industrialized killing. Tens of thousands were deported and killed with Greiser’s explicit knowledge and consent.Unlike many Nazi officials who later claimed ignorance, Greiser openly embraced genocide. He described Poles as expendable and supported the forced removal of children deemed racially valuable. His rule turned the Warthegau into a laboratory of Nazi racial policy.Captured after the war, Greiser was extradited to Poland and put on trial in 1946. Found guilty of crimes against humanity and mass murder, he was publicly executed in Poznań—the last public execution in Polish history. His death marked the end of one of the most brutal Nazi governors, but not the suffering he left behind.This episode is part of the series High-Ranking Officials of the Third Reich.Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at:WorldHistory.tv