| Reichsgau Sudetenland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gau ofNazi Germany | |||||||||
| 1939–1945 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Map of theGaue of Germany in 1944. TheReichsgau Sudetenland is in blue. | |||||||||
| Capital | Reichenberg | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1939 | 22,608.23 km2 (8,729.09 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 17 May 1939 | 2,943,187 | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Gauleiter | |||||||||
• 1938–1945 | Konrad Henlein | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 30 September 1938 | |||||||||
• Reichsgau established | 1 May 1939 | ||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Czech Republic | ||||||||
TheReichsgau Sudetenland was anadministrative division ofNazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of theSudetenland territory, which was annexed fromCzechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938Munich Agreement. TheReichsgau was headed by the formerSudeten German Party leader, nowNazi Party functionaryKonrad Henlein asGauleiter andReichsstatthalter.[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).
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 theSudetenland to Germany. Czechoslovak representatives were not invited. On 1 October, invadingWehrmacht 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 extendedborder fortifications.[2][3]
Initially, theGerman Army (Heer) established a civil administration under occupational law. On 30 October 1938, Konrad Henlein was appointedGauleiter andReichskommissar ofSudetenland.[4][5] TheSudeten German Party was merged into theNazi Party, all other political parties were banned. TheCzech population 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, theReichsgau was 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 Henlein was 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 southernSudetenland territories were attached to the BavarianGau Bayreuth as well as to the AustrianReichsgaueOberdonau andNiederdonau.
After Germany's defeat in World War II, Czechoslovakia was re-established as an independent state and the Sudeten German population wasexpelled.
TheTheresienstadt concentration camp was 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 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]
TheReichsgau Sudetenland was divided into threeRegierungsbezirke. These were subdivided into 58districts (Kreise), largely corresponding to the former Czechoslovakokresy:[8]
President:
President:
President:
