Editing Silesian Voivodeship (section)

=== German occupation ===
After the [[invasion of Poland]] in 1939, Polish administrative divisions ceased to exist. Nazi Germany annexed most of the current voivodeship's area directly into the German [[Gau Silesia|province of Silesia]] (''Gau Schlesien'') with capital in [[Wrocław]] (''Breslau'') as the governmental district of Katowice (''Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz''). This new district included both historically Silesian areas as well as western parts of Lesser Poland. Northern parts of what is the Silesian Voivodeship today, with Częstochowa, found themselves in the [[General Government]] area. 

In 1941, the province of Silesia was split into Lower Silesia (with a capital in Wrocław) and Upper Silesia (with a capital in Katowice), the latter of which included the governmental district of Opole in addition to the one of Katowice.