Bialystok district
The Bialystok District was an administrative unit during the German occupation of Poland in World War II . It was located southeast of East Prussia , in the northeast of present-day Poland and, to a lesser extent, in neighboring Belarus . The area was east of the so-called German-Soviet border of interests. Almost four weeks after the German-Soviet non-aggression pact was signed, it was incorporated into the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic after the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland in September 1939 . After the start of the German-Soviet War in June 1941, this western part of Belarus, which had belonged to the Polish state until 1939, became a CdZ area . This area was under German rule as the Bialystok district from 1941 to 1944/45, but without being formally incorporated into the German Reich. In contrast to the other areas east of the German-Soviet border of interests, which the Soviet Union annexed during World War II, most of the area returned to Poland in 1945.
history
After the beginning of the war against the Soviet Union, the first decree on the introduction of civil administration in the newly occupied eastern territories of July 17, 1941 ordered the takeover of civil administration in the Bialystok district. Its border ran from the southeastern tip of East Prussia ( Suwalken -Zipfel ) along the Nyemen to Mosty (excluding Grodno ), including Wolkowysk and Pruschany to the Bug west of Brest and from there along the previous borders to the Generalgouvernement and East Prussia . The transfer of the Bialystok district took place on August 1, 1941; at the same time he resigned from the army's operational area . Concurrent with the formation of the district Bialystok parts were east of the former border with the Soviet Union as the new District Troszyn the district focus meadow attached. This gave the town of Scharfenwiese a little more "hinterland" in an easterly direction.
The seat of the administration of the Bialystok district was the city of Białystok . The East Prussian President and Gauleiter Erich Koch from Königsberg (Prussia) was appointed civil commissioner and then head of civil administration in Białystok .
On November 1, 1941, the city of Grodno and its surroundings moved from the Reichskommissariat Ostland to the Bialystok district.
On October 20, 1943, the southern border of the Sudauen district in the province of East Prussia to the Bialystok district was straightened and relocated back to the north side of the Augustów Canal .
In July / August 1944 the Bialystok district was occupied by Red Army troops from the east up to the Narew - Biebrza line . The authority of the chief of civil administration was moved to Bartenstein .
In January 1945 the Red Army occupied the last parts of the Bialystok district, ie the remainder of the Lomscha and Grajewo districts .
Administrative division
The approximately 31,000 km² large district of Bialystok initially comprised the city district of Białystok and the districts of Augustowo , Białystok , Bielsk , Grajewo , Lomscha , Pruzana , Sokolka and Wolkowysk .
On September 1, 1941, the area around Grodno was added to the Reichskommissariat Ostland .
The decree on the demarcation of the Bialystok district of September 18, 1941 separated the area around Grodno from the Reichskommissariat Ostland and incorporated it on November 1, 1941 into the Bialystok district.
Thereafter, a reorganization of the districts came into force.
The district of Augustowo was divided into the districts of Grajewo and Grodno , the district of Pruzana was merged with the district of Bielsk .
On October 20, 1943, the border to the East Prussian district of Sudauen , Gumbinnen district, was straightened in favor of the Bialystok district. No further area changes took place until the end of the war.
Head of office
- Waldemar Magunia (June 1941 to January 1942)
- Fritz Brix (January 1942–1945)
population
The Bialystok District initially had 1,382,000 inhabitants. Of these, 830,000 were of Polish, 300,000 Belarusian, 200,000 Ukrainian, 50,000 Jewish and 2,000 German origin.
On the way to full inclusion
Since January 1, 1942, the Reichsmark has been the sole legal tender .
On April 1, 1942, the German post and telecommunications law was introduced. From then on, the Bialystok district belonged to the Reichspostdirektion Gumbinnen.
On August 1, 1942, the East Prussian license plate IC for motor vehicles was introduced.
Since November 1, 1942, German civil, criminal and criminal procedural law has been in effect in the entire district. Accordingly, local courts in Białystok and Grodno were formed under the Bialystok Regional Court. The Bialystok Special Court was also added. The tasks of the higher regional court are performed by the higher regional court of Königsberg (Pr) .
On December 1, 1942, the general (Reich) postal service was ordered. East Prussia and the Bialystok district later jointly received the postcode 5 b .
On May 1, 1943, a two-year service obligation was introduced for non-German residents of the Bialystok district. The employment offices were responsible for regulating the labor input.
Most recently, from November 1, 1943, the regulations on the Hitler Youth (HJ) were introduced. The Hitler Youth leader of East Prussia was responsible for the Bialystok district.
Place names
Significant renaming except for phonetic adjustments such as Łomża / Lomscha have not been carried out.
Districts in the Bialystok District in 1944
Urban district
Counties
literature
- Marcin Markiewicz: Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej . Ed .: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej . No. 12-1 / 2003-2004 , ISSN 1641-9561 , Represje hitlerowskie wobec wsi białostockiej, p. 65–68 (Polish, gov.pl ).
