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ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION OF POLISH TERRITORIES OCCUPIED OR ANNEXED BY GERMANY

AUSCHWITZ MEMORIAL

AUSCHWITZ MEMORIAL

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION OF POLISH TERRITORIES OCCUPIED OR ANNEXED BY GERMANY

Western and northern parts of Poland were incorporated into the Third Reich. Central and southern parts of the country formed the so-called General Government, governed by Hans Frank.


  • The decree of 8 October 1939 annexed north-eastern Poland into the German Reich.
  • The decree of 12 October 1939 created the General-Government with Governor-General Hans Frank, consisting on the districts of: Kraków, Radom, Lublin and Warsaw and later on, from mid-1941, also Galicia.

    Eastern parts of the country since 1939 in the possession of the USSR, in June 1941 were incorporated in the administrative system of the German occupied General Government.

  • The Katowice/Kattowitz region, including Upper Silesia and several districts in Lesser Poland,
  • Reichsgau Wartheland, including Greater Poland and Łódź Voivodeship,
  • Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, including Gdańsk Pomerania and Kuyavia,
  • Northern Mazovia as well as the districts of Suwałki and Augustów.

Map of Polish occupied territories until 22 June 1941

Historical research: Mirosław Obstarczyk

Graphic design: Elżbieta Pietruczuk