I was told by a professor that following the invasion of Poland by both Germany and the USSR in 1939, many Polish Jews actually fled into Nazi Germany in fear of Soviet repression and violence. Is this true?

Am a Holocaust historian with MA in Modern Jewish history. This statement doesn’t make sense. What your prof may have meant, was that after the partition of Poland, Polish Jews weren’t sure if the Russians or the Germans would be most difficult to live under as an occupying force. So, some Polish Jews fled from the USSR zone of former Poland into the German zone, but not into Germany proper; many traveled (illegally) between the Russian and German zones, as they had family, obligations, etc on both sides of the new border.

I’ve spent the last 7 years focusing specifically on the Holocaust in Poland, and that’s really the only explanation which makes sense. The Polish Jews who did flee former-Poland in 1939 went East, not West.

I’m happy to answer any follow-up questions you may have, provide book titles, etc. The only reason I haven’t provided sources is because this is a pretty broad piece of history, and I don’t think I’d be helping you by listing the entirety of Holocaust historiography.