Reichsgau Sudetenland
| Reichsgau Sudetenland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GauofNazi Germany | |||||||||
| 1939–1945 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |||||||||
 Map ofNazi Germanyshowing its administrative subdivisions (GaueandReichsgaue) | |||||||||
| Capital | Reichenberg | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Gauleiter | |||||||||
• 1938–1945 | Konrad Henlein | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 30 September 1938 | |||||||||
•Reichsgauestablished | 1 May 1939 | ||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Czech Republic | ||||||||
TheReichsgau Sudetenlandwas anadministrative divisionofNazi Germanyfrom 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of theSudetenlandterritory, which was annexed fromCzechoslovakiaaccording to the 30 September 1938Munich Agreement.TheReichsgauwas headed by the formerSudeten German Partyleader, nowNazi PartyfunctionaryKonrad HenleinasGauleiterandReichsstatthalter.[1]From October 1938 to May 1939, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area, also under Henlein's leadership. The administrative capital wasReichenberg(Liberec).
History
In the course of theGerman occupation of Czechoslovakia,on 30 September 1938 the Heads of Government of theUnited Kingdom,France,Italy,and Germany signed the Munich Agreement, which enforced the cession of theSudetenlandto Germany. Czechoslovak representatives were not invited. On 1 October, invadingWehrmachtforces 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 extendedborder fortifications.[2][3]
Initially, theGerman Army(Heer) established a civil administration under occupational law. On 30 October 1938, Konrad Henlein was appointedGauleiterandReichskommissarofSudetenland.[4][5]TheSudeten German Partywas merged into theNazi Party,all other political parties were banned. TheCzechpopulation had to accept German citizenship or were expelled and forcibly relocated to the Czechoslovak rump state, which itself from 15 March 1939 was occupied by Germany and incorporated as the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia".
After the proclamation of theProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,theReichsgauwas formally established by law on 25 March 1939, in effect from 15 April, borders were adjusted and the administrative structure was fixed on May 1.Konrad Henleinwas namedReichsstatthalter.[6]The administrative capital wasReichenberg(Liberec). Smaller areas in the east, such as theHlučín Region,were ceded to the PrussianProvince of Silesia,while the western and southernSudetenlandterritories were attached to the BavarianGau Bayreuthas well as to the AustrianReichsgaueOberdonauandNiederdonau.
After Germany's defeat in World War II, the Czechoslovak state was re-established and the Sudeten German population wasexpelled.
TheTheresienstadt concentration campwas located in theProtectorate 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 resulted 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.[7]
Gauleiter
- Konrad Henlein:30 October 1938 to 8 May 1945
Administration
TheReichsgau Sudetenlandwas divided into threeRegierungsbezirke.These were subdivided into 58districts(Kreise), largely corresponding to the former Czechoslovakokresy:[8]
Regierungsbezirk Aussig
President:
- 1939–1945:Hans Krebs
Urban districts
Rural districts
- Aussig
- Bilin
- Böhmisch Leipa
- Braunau
- Brüx
- Dauba
- Deutsch Gabel
- Dux
- Friedland (Isergebirge)
- Gablonz an der Neiße
- Hohenelbe
- Komotau
- Leitmeritz
- Reichenberg
- Rumburg
- Schluckenau
- Teplitz-Schönau
- Tetschen-Bodenbach
- Trautenau
- Warnsdorf
Regierungsbezirk Eger
President:
- 1939–1940:Wilhelm Sebekovsky
- 1940–1945:Karl Müller
Urban districts
Rural districts
- Asch
- Bischofteinitz
- Eger
- Elbogen
- Falkenau an der Eger
- Graslitz
- Kaaden
- Karlsbad
- Luditz
- Marienbad
- Mies
- Neudek
- Podersam
- Preßnitz
- Saaz
- Sankt Joachimsthal
- Tachau
- Tepl
Regierungsbezirk Troppau
President:
- 1939–1943: Friedrich Zippelius
- 1943–1945: Karl Ferdinand Edler von der Planitz
Urban districts
Rural districts
- Bärn
- Freiwaldau
- Freudenthal
- Grulich
- Hohenstadt
- Jägerndorf
- Landskron
- Mährisch Schönberg
- Mährisch Trübau
- Neu Titschein
- Römerstadt
- Sternberg
- Troppau
- Wagstadt
- Zwittau
See also
- Gauliga Sudetenland,the highest association football league in the Gau from 1938 to 1945
- The Holocaust in the Sudetenland
References
- ^.Michael D. Miller and Andreas Schulz. Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925-1945, Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing. p. 474.ISBN1-932970-21-5.
- ^"Die NS-Gaue"[The Nazi Gaue].dhm.de(in German).Deutsches Historisches Museum.Retrieved24 March2016.
- ^"Die Besetzung des Sudetengebietes 1938"[The occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938].dhm.de(in German).Deutsches Historisches Museum.Retrieved24 March2016.
- ^"Henlein Named Leader",NY Times,1 November 1938, page 16.
- ^"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.Retrieved24 March2016.
- ^.Michael D. Miller and Andreas Schulz. Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925-1945, Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing. p. 474.ISBN1-932970-21-5.
- ^"Theresienstadt"(PDF).yadvashem.org.Yad Vashem.Retrieved13 April2016.
- ^"Reichsgau Sudetenland".verwaltungsgeschichte.de(in German).Retrieved24 March2016.
Further reading
- Suppan, Arnold(2019). "The Reichsgau Sudetenland".Hitler–Beneš–Tito: National Conflicts, World Wars, Genocides, Expulsions, and Divided Remembrance in East-Central and Southeastern Europe, 1848–2018.Vienna:Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.pp. 475–484.ISBN978-3-7001-8410-2.JSTORj.ctvvh867x.
External links
