According to the figures presented here, 3,588,000 people were expelled from Silesia, of whom 435,000 died during flight and expulsion.
Before the war, 4,751,000 Germans lived in 3,934 settlements in the province.
German Silesia
Major cities:
Breslau, Beuthen/O. S., Bielitz, Brieg, Bunzlau, Gleiwitz, Glogau, Görlitz, Grünberg, Hindenburg/O. S., Hirschberg, Kattowitz, Königshütte, Lauban, Liegnitz, Myslowitz, Neisse, Oels, Oppeln, Pless, Ratibor, Schweidnitz, Teschen and Waldenburg
Silesia in a nutshell
Capital: Breslau · Area: 36,318 km² · Population: 4,869,512 (1939) · Administrative districts: Breslau, Liegnitz and Oppeln
Silesia covered an area larger than Denmark.
Silesia became politically independent from Poland in the 12th century and was gradually incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire from the 13th century onwards. In 1335, the Polish Crown renounced its claims to most of Silesia.
The small Hlučín (Hultschin) region in southern Silesia was ceded to Czechoslovakia after the First World War.
Parts of Upper Silesia around Tarnowitz, Königshütte and Kattowitz were transferred to Poland after the post-war settlements and the Upper Silesian plebiscite.
After the war ended in 1945, almost all of Silesia east of the Lusatian Neisse came under Polish administration. Only a small western part around Görlitz and Hoyerswerda remained in Germany.
Breslau
History of Silesia
c. 200 BC — Settlement by Germanic tribes, including the Vandals.
Around the beginning of the Common Era, the region formed part of the wider Central European sphere associated with the Marcomannic ruler Maroboduus.
10th century — German imperial power expanded eastwards towards the Oder.
968 — Further eastward expansion of the empire.
13th century — German settlement and political links with the Holy Roman Empire increased under the Silesian Piast dukes.
1740 — Frederick II of Prussia began the first of the Silesian Wars.
1742 — Silesia was divided between Prussia and the Habsburg monarchy.
1763 — The Peace of Hubertusburg confirmed most of Silesia as Prussian territory.
1922 — Following the Upper Silesian plebiscite and the subsequent international settlement, the region was divided. Eastern Upper Silesia, including Kattowitz and Königshütte, passed to Poland, while the Hlučín region had already been transferred to Czechoslovakia.
1945 — Through flight and expulsion, more than three million Germans lost their Silesian homeland.
Flight and expulsion
The evacuation order for Silesia came very late, on 20 January 1945. The Red Army advanced so rapidly that an orderly evacuation was no longer possible in many areas.
Snow, ice and extremely low winter temperatures made the flight even more difficult.
Scene from the movie Children of the Storm
The main railway route west of Breslau was cut by the Soviet advance to the Oder. Many refugees therefore moved south across the mountain regions towards Bohemia and Moravia or through Ratibor.
Fleeing Silesians faced repeated dangers. Some columns were overtaken by Soviet troops; those who reached Bohemia and Moravia also encountered violence and disorder there.
Refugees heading towards Dresden were caught in the Allied bombing of the city in February 1945.
Thousands of Breslau residents who were unable to leave died during the siege — from Soviet shelling, fires and violence. The city surrendered on 6 May 1945.
According to the figures used here, more than 400,000 people died from cold, exhaustion, starvation, military action and violence during flight and the subsequent expulsion.
About three million Silesians were driven from their homes.
435,000 dead
Polish government's decrees of expulsion:
Translation of the final paragraph: “All homes in the city must remain open; the keys to flats and houses must be left in the locks on the outside.”
Notable people from Silesia
Willibald Alexis — Breslau, 1798-1871, poet
August Borsig — Breslau, 1804-1854, engine builder
Friedrich Bergius — Goldschmieden, 1884–1949, chemist and Nobel laureate
Otto Julius Bierbaum — Grünberg, 1865-1910, poet
Paul Ehrlich — Strehlen, 1854–1915, physician and Nobel laureate
Baron Joseph von Eichendorff — Lubowitz Castle, 1788-1857, writer and poet
Gustav Freytag — Kreuzburg, 1816-1895, cultural historian, writer
Heinrich Robert Göppert — Sprottau, 1800-1884, botanist
Andreas Gryphius — Glogau, 1616-1664, playwright, poet
Johann Christian Günther — Striegau, 1695-1723, poet
Bernhard Grzimek — Neiße, 1909-1987, zoologist
Fritz Haber — Breslau, 1868–1934, chemist and Nobel laureate
Gerhart Hauptmann — Obersalzbrunn, 1862–1946, writer and Nobel laureate
Georg Heym — Hirschberg, 1887-1912, poet
Christian Hofmann von Hofmannswaldau — Breslau, 1617-1679, poet
August Kopisch — Breslau, 1799-1853, poet
Heinrich Laube — Sprottau, 1806-1884, writer
Friedrich von Logau — Liegnitz, 1604-1655, poet
Gregor Mendel — Heinzendorf, 1822–1884, biologist and pioneer of genetics
Adolph Menzel — Breslau, 1815-1905, illustrator, painter
Martin Opitz — Brunzlau, 1597-1639, poet
Friedrich Daniel Schleiermacher — Breslau, 1768-1834, philosopher
Angelus Silesius — Breslau, 1624-1677, poet
Count Moritz Strachwitz — Peterwitz, 1822-1847, poet
Baron Christian von Wolff — Breslau, 1679-1754, philosopher