Reichsgau Sudetenland

Reichsgau Sudetenland
Gau of Nazi Germany
←
1939–1945 →
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Nazi Germany showing its administrative
subdivisions (Gaue and Reichsgaue).
Capital Reichenberg
Reichsstatthalter
 • 1939–1944 Konrad Henlein
History
 • Munich Agreement 30 September 1938
 • Reichsgau established 15 April 1939
 • German Instrument of Surrender 8 May 1945
Today part of  Czech Republic

The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the Sudetenland territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 1938 Munich Agreement. The Reichsgau was headed by the Sudeten German activist Konrad Henlein in the rank of a Reichsstatthalter. The administrative capital was Reichenberg (Liberec).

History

In the course of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, on 30 September 1938 the Heads of Government of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany signed the Munich Agreement, which enforced the cession of the Sudetenland to Germany. Czechoslovak representatives were not invited. On 1 October, invading Wehrmacht forces occupied the territory. The new Czechoslovak-German borders were officially fixed in a treaty on 21 November 1938. In consequence, the Czechoslovak Republic lost about one third of its population, its most important industrial area, and also its extended border fortifications.[1][2]

Initially, the German Army (Heer) established a civil administration under occupational law. On 1 October 1938, Konrad Henlein was appointed Reichskommissar of Sudetenland; however he did not assume power until 20 October.[3] The Sudeten German Party was merged into the Nazi Party, all other political parties were banned. The Czech population had to accept German citizenship or were expelled and forcibly relocated to the Czechoslovak rump state, which itself from March 1939 was occupied by Germany and incorporated as "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia".

The Reichsgau was established by law of 25 March 1939, with effect from 15 April. The administrative structure was fixed on May 1. Smaller areas in the east, such as the Hlučín Region, were ceded to the Prussian Province of Silesia, while the western and southern Sudetenland territories were attached to the Bavarian Gau Bayreuth as well as to the Austrian Reichsgaue Oberdonau and Niederdonau.

After Germany's defeat in World War II, the Czechoslovak state was re-established and the Sudeten German population was expelled.

The Theresienstadt concentration camp was located in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, near the border to the Reichsgau Sudetenland. It was designed to concentrate the Jewish population from the Protectorate and gradually move them to extermination camps and also held Western European and German Jews. While not an extermination camp itself the harsh and unhygienic conditions still reuslted in the death of 33,000 of the 140,000 Jews brought to the camp while a further 88,000 were sent to extermination camps and only 19,000 survived.[4]

Gauleiter

Administration

Administrative divisions

The Reichsgau Sudetenland was divided into three Regierungsbezirke. These were subdivided into 58 districts (Kreise), largely corresponding to the former Czechoslovak okresy:[5]

Regierungsbezirk Aussig

President:

Urban districts

  1. Aussig
  2. Reichenberg

Rural districts

  1. Aussig
  2. Bilin
  3. Böhmisch Leipa
  4. Braunau
  5. Brüx
  6. Dauba
  7. Deutsch Gabel
  8. Dux
  9. Friedland (Isergebirge)
  10. Gablonz an der Neiße
  11. Hohenelbe
  12. Komotau
  13. Leitmeritz
  14. Reichenberg
  15. Rumburg
  16. Schluckenau
  17. Teplitz-Schönau
  18. Tetschen-Bodenbach
  19. Trautenau
  20. Warnsdorf

Regierungsbezirk Eger

President:

Urban districts

  1. Eger
  2. Karlsbad

Rural districts

  1. Asch
  2. Bischofteinitz
  3. Eger
  4. Elbogen
  5. Falkenau an der Eger
  6. Graslitz
  7. Kaaden
  8. Karlsbad
  9. Luditz
  10. Marienbad
  11. Mies
  12. Neudek
  13. Podersam
  14. Preßnitz
  15. Saaz
  16. Sankt Joachimsthal
  17. Tachau
  18. Tepl

Regierungsbezirk Troppau

President:

Urban districts

  1. Troppau

Rural districts

  1. Bärn
  2. Freiwaldau
  3. Freudenthal
  4. Grulich
  5. Hohenstadt
  6. Jägerndorf
  7. Landskron
  8. Mährisch Schönberg
  9. Mährisch Trübau
  10. Neu Titschein
  11. Römerstadt
  12. Sternberg
  13. Troppau
  14. Wagstadt
  15. Zwittau

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Die NS-Gaue" [The Nazi Gaue]. dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Die Besetzung des Sudetengebietes 1938" [The occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938]. dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Übersicht der NSDAP-Gaue, der Gauleiter und der Stellvertretenden Gauleiter zwischen 1933 und 1945" [Overview of Nazi Gaue, the Gauleiter and assistant Gauleiter from 1933 to 1945]. zukunft-braucht-erinnerung.de (in German). Zukunft braucht Erinnerung. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Theresienstadt" (PDF). yadvashem.org. Yad Vashem. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Reichsgau Sudetenland". verwaltungsgeschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 24 March 2016.

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