 During the Invasion of Poland of 1939, a number of similar units conducted sabotage actions directed by the emissaries trained in Nazi Germany.These groups were officially merged into one organization, the ethnic German "Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz" (Self-Defense Force) of more than 100,000 men.They took part in fighting the Poles as the Fifth Column, but also served as auxiliary forces of the Gestapo, "SS" and SD during the early stages of the occupation of Poland, and helped the Nazi administration in the newly formed "Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia" and "Reichsgau Wartheland".