Gau Upper Silesia
Gau Upper Silesia | |||||||||||
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Gau of Nazi Germany | |||||||||||
1941–1945 | |||||||||||
Flag | |||||||||||
Upper Silesia in gray, bordering the General Government | |||||||||||
Capital | Kattowitz | ||||||||||
Government | |||||||||||
Gauleiter | |||||||||||
• 1941–1945 | Fritz Bracht | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
27 January 1941 | |||||||||||
1 August 1945 | |||||||||||
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Today part of | Poland Czech Republic |
The Gau Upper Silesia (German: Gau Oberschlesien) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945 in the Upper Silesia part of the Prussian Province of Silesia. The Gau was created when the Gau Silesia was split into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia on 27 January 1941. The Gau included territory annexed by Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland.
History
The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in a
At the head of each Gau stood a
The position of Gauleiter in Upper Silesia was held by Fritz Bracht throughout the short history of the Gau.[3][4] Bracht, who was not a powerful figure in the Nazi hierarchy, committed suicide on 9 May 1945.[5]
The Auschwitz concentration camp, an extermination camp where more than 1,000,000 people were killed, was located in the Gau Upper Silesia, near Oświęcim. The camp was liberated by the Soviet Army in January 1945.[6]
See also
- Gauliga Oberschlesien, the highest association football league in the Gauliga from 1941 to 1945
References
- ^ Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- The Nizkor Project. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "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 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Gau Oberschlesien" [Gau Upper Silesia]. verwaltungsgeschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Bracht, Fritz". verwaltungsgeschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Auschwitz-Birkenau" (PDF). yadvashem.org. Yad Vashem. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
External links