German military administration in occupied Poland refers to the brief period during and in the immediate aftermath of the German invasion of Poland (September-October 1939), in which the occupied Polish territories were administered by the German military, instead of civilian, administration.

Military administration

On 8 and 13 September 1939, the German military district in the area of Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

 was called "Posen", commanded by general Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg, and "Westpreußen" (West Prussia), commanded by general Walter Heitz

Walter Heitz

Walter Heitz was a German Generaloberst, serving during World War II. Heitz commanded the VIII. Armeekorps on the Eastern Front...

, were established in conquered Greater Poland

Greater Poland

Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...

 and Pomerelia

Pomerelia

Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...

, respectively. Based on laws of 21 May 1935 and 1 June 1938, the German military, Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

, shared its administrative powers with civilian "chief civil administrators" (Chefs der Zivilverwaltung, CdZ). German dictator Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 appointed Arthur Greiser

Arthur Greiser

Arthur Greiser was a Nazi German politician and SS Obergruppenfuhrer. He was one of the persons primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust in Poland and numerous other war crimes and crimes against humanity, for which he was tried, convicted and executed by hanging after World War...

 to become the CdZ of the Posen military district, and Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

's Gauleiter

Gauleiter

A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...

 Albert Forster

Albert Forster

Albert Maria Forster was a Nazi German politician. Under his administration as the Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia during the Second World War, the local non-German population suffered ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and forceful Germanisation...

 to become the CdZ of the West Prussian military district. On 3 October 1939, the military districts "Lodz" and "Krakau" (Cracow) were set up under command of major generals Gerd von Rundstedt

Gerd von Rundstedt

Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....

 and Wilhelm List, and Hitler appointed Hans Frank

Hans Frank

Hans Michael Frank was a German lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany...

 and Arthur Seyß-Inquart as civil heads, respectively. Frank was at the same time appointed "supreme chief administrator" for all occupied territories.

Transition

Under the terms of two decrees by Hitler (8 October and 12 October 1939), large areas of western Poland were annexed to Germany

Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany

At the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under German civil administration, while the rest of Nazi occupied Poland was named as General Government...

. The remaining block of territory was placed under a German administration called the General Government

General Government

The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...

.