District of Galicia Distrikt Galizien | |||||||||||||
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District of General Governorate | |||||||||||||
1941–1944 | |||||||||||||
The District of Galicia (green), from 1941–1944 | |||||||||||||
Capital | Lemberg | ||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||
• | 51,200 km2 (19,800 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||
• | 4,400,000 | ||||||||||||
Historical era | World War II | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1941 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1944 | ||||||||||||
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Today part of | Ukraine |
The District of Galicia (German: Distrikt Galizien, Polish: Dystrykt Galicja, Ukrainian: Дистрикт Галичина) was a World War II administrative unit of the General Government created by Nazi Germany on 1 August 1941 after the start of Operation Barbarossa, based loosely within the borders of the ancient Principality of Galicia and the more recent Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Initially, during the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, the territory temporarily fell under Soviet occupation in 1939 as part of Soviet Ukraine.
Adolf Hitler formed a capital in Lemberg (Lviv) (Document No. 1997-PS of 17 July 1941), and the district existed from 1941 until 1944. It ceased to exist after the Soviet counter-offensive.[1][2]