Administrative division pf Polish territories during WWII can be divided into several phases, when territories of the Second Polish Republic were administered first by the Nazi Germany (in the west) and Soviet Union (in the east), then by Nazi Germany (following Operation Barbarossa) and finally Soviet Union again. Starting with the reform of 1946, the administrative division was returned to Poland (see Administrative division of People's Republic of Poland). Anthem: Mazurek DÄ…browskiego Capital Warsaw Language(s) Polish Government Republic President List Prime minister List Legislature Sejm Historical era Interwar period  - World War I November 11, 1918  - Invasion November 2, 1939 Area  - 1939 388,600 km2 150,039 sq mi Population  - 1939 est. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The current version of this article or section is written in an informal style and with a personally invested tone. ...

After Germany and the Soviet Union had partitioned Poland in 1939, following their invasion, most of the ethnically Polish territory ended up under the German control while the areas annexed by the Soviet union was ethnically diverse peoples with the the territory being divided into several areas some of which had a significant non-Polish majority (Ukrainians in the south and Belarusians in the north)^[1] many of whom felt alienated in the nationalist interwar Poland and welcomed the Soviets. Nonetheless Poles comprised the largest single ethnic group on the territories annexed by the Soviets, too.^[2] Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia, Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ... Anthem: Mazurek DÄ…browskiego Capital Warsaw Language(s) Polish Government Republic President List Prime minister List Legislature Sejm Historical era Interwar period  - World War I November 11, 1918  - Invasion November 2, 1939 Area  - 1939 388,600 km2 150,039 sq mi Population  - 1939 est. ... Under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, adjusted by agreement on 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union annexed all Polish territory east of the line of the rivers Pisa, Narew, Western Bug, and San, except for Wilno Voivodship with its capital Wilno (Vilnius), which was given to Lithuania, and...

Soviet annexation of Polish territories (1939-1941)

Main article: Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union

Red Army cavalry in Lviv, 1939.

By the end of the Polish Defensive War the Soviet Union had taken over 52.1% of the territory of Poland (circa 200,000 km²), with over 13,700,000 people. The estimates vary; Elżbieta Trela-Mazur gives the following numbers in regards to the ethnic composition of these areas: 38% Poles (ca. 5.1 million people), 37% Ukrainians, 14.5% Belarussians, 8.4% Jews, 0.9% Russians and 0.6% Germans. There were also 336,000 refugees from areas occupied by Germany, most of them Jews (198,000).^[2] Areas occupied by the USSR were annexed to Soviet territory, with the exception of area of Wilno, which was transferred to Lithuania, although soon attached to USSR, when Lithuania became a Soviet republic. Under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, adjusted by agreement on 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union annexed all Polish territory east of the line of the rivers Pisa, Narew, Western Bug, and San, except for Wilno Voivodship with its capital Wilno (Vilnius), which was given to Lithuania, and... Image File history File linksMetadata Lviv_1939_Soviet_Cavalry. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Lviv_1939_Soviet_Cavalry. ... Under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, adjusted by agreement on 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union annexed all Polish territory east of the line of the rivers Pisa, Narew, Western Bug, and San, except for Wilno Voivodship with its capital Wilno (Vilnius), which was given to Lithuania, and... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... This article discusses the history of Lithuania and of the Lithuanians. ... This article discusses the history of Lithuania and of the Lithuanians. ... Soviet Union administrative divisions, 1989 In its final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR), often called simply Soviet republics. ...

Under the terms of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, adjusted by agreement on 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union, annexed all Polish territory east of the line of the rivers Pisa, Narew, Bug and San, except for the area around Wilno (Vilnius), which was given to Lithuania, and the Suwałki region, which was annexed by Germany. These territories were largely inhabited by Ukrainians and Byelorussians, with minorities of Poles and Jews (see exact numbers in Curzon line). The total area, including the area given to Lithuania, was 201,000 square kilometres, with a population of 13.5 million. A small strip of land that was part of Hungary before 1914, was also given to Slovakia. Molotov (left), Ribbentrop (in black) and Stalin The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, also known as the Hitler-Stalin pact or Nazi-Soviet pact, was a non-aggression treaty between Germany and Russia, or more precisely between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Narew (Belarusian: На́раў) is a river in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західн&#1080... Length 433 km Basin area 16,861 km² Origin Carpathian Mountains Tributary of Vistula River Countries Poland, Ukraine San River. ... Location Ethnographic region AukÅ¡taitija County Vilnius County Municipality Vilnius city municipality Coordinates Number of elderates 20 General Information Capital of Lithuania Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality Vilnius district municipality Population About 600,000 in 2006 (1st) First mentioned 1323 Granted city rights 1387 Not to be confused with Vilnius... Motto: none Voivodship Podlaskie Municipal government Rada miejska w SuwaÅ‚kach Mayor Józef Gajewski Area 65. ... Motto none Anthem Мы, беларусы(Belarusian) My, Belarusy(transliteration) We Belarusians Belarus() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Minsk Official languages Belarusian, Russian Government Presidential republic  -  President Alexander Lukashenko  -  Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky Independence from the Soviet Union   -  Declared July 27, 1990   -  Established August 25, 1991   -  Completed December 25, 1991... The Curzon Line was a demarcation line proposed in 1919 by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, as a possible armistice line between Poland, to the west, and Soviet Russia to the east, during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–20. ...

German annexation of Polish territories (1939-1945)

Main article: Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany

Fourth Partition of Poland - The Nazi-Soviet Pact

Under the terms of two decrees by Hitler (8 October and 12 October 1939), large areas of western Poland were annexed to Germany. These included all the territories taken by Prussia in Partitions of Poland which Germany subsequently lost under the 1918 Treaty of Versailles, including the Polish Corridor, Wielkopolska, as well as territories divided after plebiscites such as Upper Silesia, as well as a large area east of these territories, including the city of Łódź. Reichsgau and General Governement in 1941 At the beginning of World War II, significant Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (900x770, 157 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Partitions of Poland East Prussia General Government History of Poland (1939–1945) ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (900x770, 157 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Partitions of Poland East Prussia General Government History of Poland (1939–1945) ... Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish: Rozbiór Polski or Rozbiory Polski; Lithuanian: Lietuvos-Lenkijos padalijimai, Belarusian: Падзелы Рэчы Паспалітай) took place in the 18th century and ended the existence of the sovereign Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... A Polish map showing the territory known as the Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor was the name given to a strip of territory which was transferred from Germany to Poland by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. ... Greater Poland (also Great Poland; Polish: Wielkopolska, German: Grosspolen, Latin: Polonia Maior) is one of the historical regions of Poland. ... Map of Upper Silesia, 1746 Upper Silesia (Polish: Górny ÅšlÄ…sk, German: Oberschlesien, Czech: Horní Slezsko) is the south-eastern part of Silesia, a historical and geographical region of Poland (Opole Voivodship and Silesian Voivodship) and of the Czech Republic (Silesian-Moravian Region). ... Łódź ( ) is Polands second largest city (population 776,297 in 2004). ...

The Germans provided for the division of the annexed areas of Poland into the following administrative units:

• Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen), which included the entire Poznań voivodeship, most of the Łódź voivodeship, five counties of the Pomeranian voivodeship, and one county of the Warsaw voivodeship;
• the remaining area of Pomeranian voivodeship, which was incorporated into the Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen (initially Reichsgau Westpreussen);
• Ciechanów District (Regierungsbezirk Zichenau) consisting of the five northern counties of Warsaw voivodeship (Płock, Płońsk, Sierpc, Ciechanów and Mława), which became a part of East Prussia;
• Katowice District (Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz) or unofficially Ost-Oberschlesien (East Upper Silesia); which included Katowice, Sosnowiec, Będzin, Chrzanów, and Zawiercie counties and parts of Olkusz and Żywiec counties.

The area of these annexed territories was 94,000 square kilometres and the population was about 10 million, the great majority of whom were Poles. The annexed parts were controlled by a German administration ruled by a Gauleiter, a system similar in practice to that of the Reich itself. Nearly 1 million Poles were expelled from this German ruled area, while 600,000 Germans from eastern Europe and 400,000 from the German Reich were settled there. Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen) was the name given by Nazi German government to the largest subdivision of the territory of Greater Poland which was directly incorporated into the German Reich after defeating the Polish army in 1939. ... PoznaÅ„ ( ; full official name: The Capital City of PoznaÅ„, Polish: StoÅ‚eczne Miasto PoznaÅ„ (Latin: , German: , Yiddish: פּױזן Poyzn) is a city in west-central Poland with over 578,900 inhabitants (2002). ... Łódź ( ) is Polands second largest city (population 776,297 in 2004). ... Duchy of Pomerania, ruled by the slavic dynasty of the Griffins (Polish: Gryfici, German: Greifen), was a semi-independent principality in the 17th century. ... Motto: Contemnit procellas (It defies the storms) Semper invicta (Always invincible) Coordinates: Country Poland Voivodeship Masovia Powiat city county Gmina Warszawa Districts 18 boroughs City Rights turn of the 13th century Government  - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO) Area  - City 516. ... The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia (Danzig-Westpreussen) was a German administrative unit created in 1939 from Freie Stadt Danzig and Polish Pomerania. ... Bridge across the Vistula at PÅ‚ock. ... Coat of arms of PÅ‚oÅ„sk PÅ‚oÅ„sk is a town in north-central Poland with 22,700 inhabitants (1995). ... Sierpc is a town in Poland, in Mazowsze Voivodship, about 100 km northwest of Warsaw. ... Ciechanów coat of arms Ciechanów (pronounced (IPA): [tÉ•exanuv]) is a town in north-central Poland with 47,900 inhabitants (2002). ... M is the thirteenth letter of the Latin alphabet. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Map of Upper Silesia, 1746 Upper Silesia (Polish: Górny ÅšlÄ…sk, German: Oberschlesien, Czech: Horní Slezsko) is the south-eastern part of Silesia, a historical and geographical region of Poland (Opole Voivodship and Silesian Voivodship) and of the Czech Republic (Silesian-Moravian Region). ... Panorama of Katowice at night Katowice (pronunciation: [] (Czech: Katovice, German: Kattowitz) is an important city of the historical region of Upper Silesia in southern Poland on the KÅ‚odnica and Rawa rivers. ... Sielecki Castle Sosnowiec (pronounced: [sÉ”s:nÉ”vȋεʦ]) is a city located in the south of Poland, in a tributary of the Wisla (Vistula) river. ... BÄ™dzin Castle BÄ™dzin (pronounced: ) is a town in south Poland with 59,936 inhabitants (31 Dec 1999). ... Market square, Chrzanow, Poland Chrzanów is a town in south Poland with 42,100 inhabitants (1995). ... Zawiercie is a town in Silesian Voivodship, south Poland with 55,800 inhabitants (2005). ... Olkusz is a town in south Poland with 40,500 inhabitants (1995). ... Å»ywiec (German: Saybusch, Saubusch) is a town in south-central Poland with 32,300 inhabitants (2001). ...

General Government

Reichsgaue and Generalgouvernement in 1941

Main article: General Government

The remaining block of territory was placed under a German administration called the General Government (in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete), with its capital at Kraków. The General Government was subdivided into four districts, Warsaw, Lublin, Radom, and Kraków (Distrikt Krakau). Image File history File links Germany1941. ... Image File history File links Germany1941. ... A Reichsgau was a province within the Greater Germany of 1938 to 1945 (from the start of territorial annexation to the fall of the Third Reich). ... Generalgouvernement may refer to one of the following. ... The General Government (in full General government for the occupied Polish areas, in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) was the name given by Germany to the governing authority in Poland after its occupation by the Wehrmacht in September and October 1939. ... The General Government (in full General government for the occupied Polish areas, in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) was the name given by Germany to the governing authority in Poland after its occupation by the Wehrmacht in September and October 1939. ... Wawel Hill, Old Town, Kraków. ...

A German lawyer and prominent Nazi, Hans Frank, was appointed Governor-General of the occupied territories on 26 October 1939. Frank oversaw the segregation of the Jews into ghettos in the larger cities, particularly Warsaw, and the use of Polish civilians as forced and compulsory labour in German war industries. Hans Frank (May 23, 1900 – October 16, 1946) was a lawyer for the Nazi party during the 1920s and a senior official in Nazi Germany. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A ghetto is an area where people from a specific racial or ethnic background live as a group in seclusion, voluntarily or involuntarily. ...

German attack on the Soviet Union (1941-1944)

After the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Polish territories previously occupied by the Soviets were organized as follows: The current version of this article or section is written in an informal style and with a personally invested tone. ...

• Bezirk Bialystok (district of Białystok), which included the Białystok, Bielsk Podlaski, Grajewo, Łomża, Sokółka, Volkovysk, and Grodno counties, was "attached" to (but not incorporated into) East Prussia;
• Bezirke Litauen und Weißrussland – the Polish part of White Russia (today western Belarus), including the Vilna province (Vilnius was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland);
• Bezirk Wolhynien-Podolien – the Polish province of Volhynia, which was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ukraine; and
• East Galicia, which was incorporated into the General-Government and became its fifth district, the Galician District (Distrikt Galizien).

BiaÅ‚ystok (pronounced: , Belarusian: , Lithuanian: , Yiddish ביאַליסטאָק) is the largest city (pop. ... BiaÅ‚ystok (pronounced: , Belarusian: , Lithuanian: , Yiddish ביאַליסטאָק) is the largest city (pop. ... Bielsk Podlaski is a town in north-eastern Poland with 27,600 inhabitants (2004). ... Grajewo is a town in north-eastern Poland with 23,302 inhabitants (2006). ... Łomża is a town in north-eastern Poland, located approx. ... Sokółka is a town in north-eastern Poland. ... VaÅ­kavysk (Belarusian: ) is a town in the Minsk Province of Belarus. ... Hrodna (or Grodno; Belarusian: Го́радня, Гро́дна; Grodno in Polish, Гродно in Russian, Gardinas in Lithuanian) is a city in Belarus on the Nemunas river, close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... The banner of White Ruthenia White Russia is a name that was historically applied to different regions in Eastern Europe, most often to the region that roughly corresponds to the present-day Belarus. ... Location Ethnographic region AukÅ¡taitija County Vilnius County Municipality Vilnius city municipality Coordinates Number of elderates 20 General Information Capital of Lithuania Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality Vilnius district municipality Population About 600,000 in 2006 (1st) First mentioned 1323 Granted city rights 1387 Not to be confused with Vilnius... Reichskommissariat Ostland was the German name for the Nazi civil administration of so called Eastern Territories of the Third Reich dring World War II, where Ostland (German for Eastern Territories) was the name given to the German occupied territories of the Baltic states, Belarus and Eastern Poland. ... Volhynia (Ukrainian: , Polish: , Russian: ; also called Volynia) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Western Bug -- to the north of Galicia and of Podolia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Coat-of-arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Galicia (Ukrainian: , Polish: , Russian: , German: , Hungarian: , Czech: , Yiddish: , Turkish: , Romanian: ) is a historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine. ...

Return of Soviet administration (1944-1945)

Soviet forces returned to former Polish territories following their offensive against Germany in 1944 (Operation Bagration, Lublin-Brest Offensive). Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Ernst Busch Walther Model Ferdinand Schörner Konstantin Rokossovski Georgy Zhukov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength 800,000 1,700,000 Casualties (Soviet est. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Romania Soviet Union Commanders Ferdinand Schorner (until July 23) Johannes Friessner (from July 25) (Heeresgruppe Sudukraine) Günther Blumentritt (until June 28) Walter Model (until August 16) Georg Hans Reinhardt (Army Group Centre) Konstantin Rokossovsky (1st Belorussian Front) Strength  ?  ? Casualties  ?  ? Lublin-Brest Offensive is covered in the...

Starting with the reform of 1946, the administrative division was returned to Poland (see Administrative division of People's Republic of Poland).

See also: PKWN The PKWN Manifesto, issued on July 22, 1944 The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN) was a provisional Polish communist government that was created by the Soviet Union. ...

Notes