Reichsgau Wartheland

The Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen, also Warthegau) was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent areas. Parts of Warthegau matched the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen. The name was initially derived from the capital city, Posen (Poznań), and later from the main river, Warthe (Warta). During the Partitions of Poland from 1793, the bulk of the area had been annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia until 1807 as South Prussia. From 1815 to 1849, the territory was within the autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen, which was the Province of Posen until Poland was re-established in 1918–1919 following World War I. The area is currently the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Gleiwitz incident and Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany After the invasion of Poland, the conquered territory of Greater Poland was split between four Reichsgaue and the General Government area (further east). The Militärbezirk Posen was created in September 1939, and on 8 October 1939 annexed by Germany. It was named the Reichsgau Posen, and SS Obergruppenfuhrer Arthur Greiser was appointed Gauleiter on 21 October. He would remain in office through the end of the war. Reichsgau Posen was renamed "Reichsgau Wartheland" on 29 January 1940. The Wehrmacht established there the Wehrkreis XXI, based at Poznań, under the command of General der Artillerie Walter Petzel. Its primary operational unit was the 48th Panzer Korps, covering so-called Militärische Unterregion-Hauptsitze including Posen (Poznań), Lissa (Leszno), Hohensalza (Inowrocław), Leslau (Włocławek), Kalisch (Kalisz), and Litzmannstadt (Łódź). It maintained training areas at Sieradz and Biedrusko. The territory was inhabited predominantly by ethnic Poles with a German minority of 16.7% in 1921, and Polish Jews, most of whom were imprisoned at the Łódź Ghetto eventually, and exterminated at Chełmno extermination camp (Vernichtungslager Kulmhof) within the next two years.