Landkreis Kreuzburg O.S.
District of Prussia
1742–1945

Map from 1905
CapitalKreuzburg O.S. (Kluczbork)
History 
• Established
1742
• Disestablished
1945
Today part ofPoland

Landkreis Kreuzburg O.S. was a Prussian district in Silesia, from 1742 to 1945, with its capital at Kreuzburg O.S. (Kluczbork). Today, the region is part of the Polish Opole Voivodeship.

History

In the course of the Stein-Hardenberg Reforms, the district of Kreuzburg in the Province of Silesia was initially assigned to Regierungsbezirk Breslau, but then on May 1, 1820, it was reclassified to Regierungsbezirk Oppeln. Since then, the district has been considered part of Upper Silesia.[1] The district capital was changed to Konstadt (Wołczyn), but was moved back to Kreuzburg on January 1, 1880. The spelling of the name of the city and the district fluctuated between Creutzburg, Creuzburg and Kreuzburg. The city and district name was officially set to Kreuzburg in Oberschlesien on September 23, 1881. Later, the abbreviation Kreuzburg OS was adopted.

On November 8, 1919, the Province of Silesia was divided into the Province of Lower Silesia (Regierungsbezirke Liegnitz and Breslau) and the Province of Upper Silesia (Regierungsbezirk Oppeln). The persecution of Poles intensified since 1937, and the local leader of the Union of Poles in Germany Paweł Widera was arrested in May 1939.[2] On April 1, 1938, the Prussian provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia were merged to form the new Province of Silesia. On January 18, 1941, the province of Silesia was dissolved again and the Kreuzburg district became part of the newly formed Province of Upper Silesia. During World War II, it was the location of the Oflag VIII-A and Stalag Luft 7 prisoner-of-war camps for Polish, British, French, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African, Dutch and other Allied POWs,[3][4] and the Ilag VIII/Z camp for interned citizens of the United Kingdom and the United States. The Red Army captured the district at the end of January 1945 and it was placed under Polish administration in March.

Demographics

The district had a mixed population of Germans and Poles. According to religion, the majority of the district population was Protestant, along with sizable minorities of Catholics and Jews. The indigenous Polish population was subjected to Germanisation policies.

Population of Kreuzburg O.S district [5]
1905 1910
German 20,641 41.4% 24,363 46.9%
Polish / Bilingual / Other 29,269 58.6% 27,543 53.1%
Total 49,910 51,906

Place Names

In 1935/36, several parishes were renamed in the Kreuzburg OS district:[6][7]

  • Alt Tschapel → Stobertal
  • Borek → Waldungen
  • Bresinke → Birkdorf
  • Brinitze → Kiefernhain
  • Deutsch Würbitz → Niederweiden OS
  • Frei Tschapel → Freivorwerk
  • Golkowitz → Alteichen
  • Jaschkowitz → Auenfelde
  • Lowkowitz → Bienendorf
  • Polanowitz → Kornfelde
  • Polnisch Würbitz → Würbitz → Oberweiden OS
  • Proschlitz → Angersdorf
  • Roschkowitz → Röstfelde
  • Schiroslawitz → Grenzfelde
  • Woislawitz → Kirchlinden

References

  1. ↑ Breslau (Regierungsbezirk) (1820). Amts-Blatt der Regierung in Breslau: 1820 (in German). Amtsblattstelle.
  2. ↑ Cygański, Mirosław (1984). "Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945". Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (4): 24, 28.
  3. ↑ Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 254, 510. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
  4. ↑ Stanek, Piotr (2015). "Stalag Luft 7 Bankau i jego ewakuacja na Zachód w styczniu 1945 r.". Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny (in Polish). Opole. 38: 53. ISSN 0137-5199.
  5. ↑ Belzyt, Leszek (1998). Sprachliche Minderheiten im preussischen Staat: 1815 - 1914 ; die preußische Sprachenstatistik in Bearbeitung und Kommentar. Marburg: Herder-Inst. ISBN 978-3-87969-267-5.
  6. ↑ "Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte Schlesien, Kreis Kreuzburg". treemagic.org. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  7. ↑ "Kreuzburg O.S." www.territorial.de. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
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