Fortified Area of Silesia

[2] Major works on the fortifications did not begin until 1933, when headquarters of the Polish Army decided to take advantage of a proposal provided by General Jozef Zajac,[3] who then was commandant of the 23rd Infantry Division.

In that year, construction crews activities were concentrated on the so-called Bytom wedge - German territory around the city of Beuthen, which was surrounded from east, south and north by Poland.

In 1937 the Poles began construction of fortifications in the city of Ruda Śląska, creating points of defence Godula, Nowy Bytom and Radoszowy.

Between 1935 and 1937, on the northern wing of the area, along the Brynica, a set of dams, ponds, swamps and canals was created, whose purpose was to stop the advance of German armored units.

In the early spring of 1939, when German troops occupied Bohemia, the Poles realised that the Fortified Area Silesia might be bypassed from the south.