District of Sudauen

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Administrative division of the province of East Prussia until 1945

The district of Sudauen (formerly Suwalki, also : Suwalken) in north-eastern Poland , which was set up under German occupation, existed between 1939 and 1944. This predominantly Polish district with approx. 125,000 inhabitants comprised 18 administrative districts in the autumn of 1944 before the beginning of the Soviet occupation the corresponding number of cities (Sudauen and Sejny) and municipalities.

Administrative history

Before the First World War , the area of ​​the Sudauen district, established in 1939, belonged to Congress Poland , which was part of the Russian Empire until 1916.

Poland

The Polish districts of Augustów and Suwałki belonged to Poland at the beginning of the Second World War , namely to the Białystok Voivodeship .

Towards the end of the German attack in 1939, this area was occupied by Soviet troops in accordance with the Hitler-Stalin Pact . Since the so-called Suwalki-Zipfel was supposed to become German after the final demarcation line , a German-Soviet agreement was concluded on October 4, 1939 on the transfer and takeover of this area. After that, troops of the Wehrmacht occupied the area up to the demarcation line from October 5th to 7th, 1939 in consultation with the Red Army .

German Empire

Territorial changes in Lithuania in 1939 and 1940

On October 26, 1939, the districts of Augustów (north of the German-Soviet demarcation line in Poland) and Suwałki were annexed, in violation of international law, as part of the new Zichenau administrative district of the East Prussian province and thus incorporated into the German Reich . On behalf of the District President in Zichenau, they were initially co-administered by the District President in Gumbinnen , as there was no spatial connection to the rest of the Zichenau district.

Since the final reorganization of the German eastern border, the Suwalki district, which was newly formed from the two (sub) districts , also formally became the Gumbinnen administrative district on November 20, 1939.

The district office was in Suwalki.

Since December 1939, the name form Suwalken , which has been phased out , has not been accepted in practice. On May 21, 1941, the district was finally renamed Sudauen .

On October 20, 1943, the southern border of the district to the German-administered district of Bialystok was straightened and moved back to the north side of the Augustow Canal.

In autumn 1944 / spring 1945 the district was occupied by the Red Army and then became part of Poland again.

District administrators

Land Commissioner

District administrators

Local constitution

After the incorporation into the German Reich, all cities and municipalities were combined in administrative districts and administered by official commissioners.

Place names

Due to an unpublished decree of December 29, 1939, the previous Polish place names continued to apply. It was all over until the end of the war. The renaming of all localities had already been prepared, for example:

Web links

  • Administrative history of the Sudauen district and the district administrators on the website territorial.de (Rolf Jehke), as of August 3, 2013.