Legend

Early 14th century
Duchy boundary

19th century—1918
District boundary
International boundary
Within Germany
 LIEGNITZ district
 BRESLAU district
 OPPELN district

Outside Germany
 AUSTRIAN SILESIA (1742-1918);
 capital in Troppau

1918-1939
Provincial boundary
International boundary
Within Germany
 The Province of LOWER SILESIA
 (1922-1939); capital in Breslau
 The Province of UPPER SILESIA
 (1922-1939); capital in Oppeln

Outside Germany
 CZECH SILESIA (1918-1928);
 capital in Opava
 POLISH VOIVODESHIPS OF SILESIA
 (1922-1938); capital in Katowice

Cities and regions are named according to their German forms after the Polish partitions. Some variant forms are included parenthetically.
+
100%
–
Wrocław
capital city of the province of Lower Silesia, in Poland. The first reference to Jews in the vicinity of Wrocław (Lat., Vratislavia; Ger., Breslau; Czech, Vratislav) dates to before 1153; the next citation is from the beginning of the thirteenth century. The oldest ... GO TO ARTICLE »
Bielsko
section of the urban area of Bielsko-Biała, Silesia, in southern Poland. Bielsko (Ger., Bielitz) was a Bohemian town until about 990, then Polish until 1327, when it was once more under Bohemian rule. Beginning in 1526 it was ruled by the Habsburgs; after World War I ... GO TO ARTICLE »
Katowice
A Prussian town until 1921, Katowice (Ger., Kattowitz) is now the capital city of the southern Polish province of Silesia. Although Jews were noted in the region as far back as 1733, the first Jews to settle in the village itself arrived in 1825. In 1840, 12 Jewish ... GO TO ARTICLE »
Map
Silesia before 1939.