Editing Lubusz Land (section)

====World War II====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0406-0022-012, Sowjetische Artillerie vor Berlin.jpg|thumb|left|[[Battle of the Seelow Heights]]]]
The ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe VI]]'' was formed in Frankfurt (Oder) before it entered several Polish cities, including [[Poznań]], [[Kalisz]] and [[Leszno]], to commit various [[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation|crimes against Poles]] during the German [[invasion of Poland]], which started [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2009|title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|page=60}}</ref> During the war, the Germans operated the [[Stalag III-C]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]] for Polish, [[French prisoners of war in World War II|French]], Serbian, Soviet, [[Italian Military Internees|Italian]], British, American and Belgian POWs in the region,<ref name=ushm>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=408–409|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref> and numerous [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camps, including several subcamps of the [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]], whose prisoners were Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Norwegians, French, Belgians, Germans, Jews and Dutch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bundesrecht.juris.de/begdv_6/anlage_6.html|title=Anlage zu § 1. Verzeichnis der Konzentrationslager und ihrer Außenkommandos gemäß § 42 Abs. 2 BEG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423004151/http://bundesrecht.juris.de/begdv_6/anlage_6.html|language=de|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=23 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=1303–1305, 1321–1322, 1345|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> Particularly infamous camps were the Oderblick labor education camp in [[Świecko]] and the [[Sonnenburg concentration camp]] in [[Słońsk]], in which Polish, Belgian, French, Bulgarian, Dutch, Yugoslav, Russian, Italian, Ukrainian, Luxembourgish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, Slovak and other prisoners were held, and many died.<ref name=ipn>{{cite web|url=https://poszukiwania.ipn.gov.pl/bbp/aktualnosci/13596,Swiecko-Lager-Schwetig-Odnaleziono-szczatki-21-osob.html|title=Świecko (Lager Schwetig): Odnaleziono szczątki 21 osób|website=Instytut Pamięci Narodowej|access-date=23 October 2023|language=pl}}</ref><ref name=dz>{{cite web|url=https://dzieje.pl/aktualnosci/slonsk-73-rocznica-zaglady-wiezniow-niemieckiego-obozu-sonnenburg|title=Słońsk: 73. rocznica zagłady więźniów niemieckiego obozu Sonnenburg|website=dzieje.pl|access-date=23 October 2023|language=pl}}</ref>

In early 1945, the [[Death marches during the Holocaust|death marches]] of prisoners of various nationalities from the dissolved camps in Świecko and [[Żabikowo, Luboń|Żabikowo]] to the [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]] passed through the region.<ref name=ipn/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://zabikowo.eu/ewakuacja-piesza|title=Ewakuacja piesza|website=Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie|access-date=23 October 2023|language=pl}}</ref> On 30–31 January, the [[SS]] and [[Gestapo]] perpetrated a massacre of over 800 prisoners of the Sonnenburg concentration camp.<ref name=dz/>

Lubusz Land was the site of fierce fighting on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] of [[World War II]] in 1945. In February and March the battle for [[Kostrzyn nad Odrą]] (then ''Küstrin'') was fought, which resulted in 95% of the town being destroyed,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.konflikty.pl/historia/druga-wojna-swiatowa/bitwa-o-festung-kustrin-w-1945-roku/|title=Bitwa o Festung Küstrin w 1945 roku|website=Konflikty.pl|author=Andrzej Toczewski|access-date=17 October 2019|language=pl}}</ref> making it the most destructed town of post-war Poland. Shortly after the liberation of the Stalag III-C POW camp in Kostrzyn, Soviet troops killed some American POWs mistaking them for German troops.<ref name=ushm/> In April the [[Battle of the Seelow Heights]] took place, ending in a Soviet-Polish victory. It was one of the last battles before the [[German Instrument of Surrender|capitulation]] of [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[end of World War II in Europe]].