The two most important canals are the Gleiwitzer, which connects
the Upper Silesian mines with the Oder, and the Masurischer, con-
necting the lake country of southern East Prussia with the Baltic. ⁴

The soil of the Oder-Neisse provinces is moderately fertile. Again,
it is the Silesian soil which excels in acreage yield and land values, both
of which were, in 1939, above the Reich average. ⁵ The Pomeranian
Kartoffelland and East Prussia yield only modest crops of wheat and
other grains. The ratio of cultivated arable land is very high because
the provinces have preserved their basically agricultural character, even
in the economy of the Third Reich. In prewar years, 48.3 per cent of
the land was cultivated, and wasteland amounted to 0.8 per cent. A
total of 26.3 per cent of the area was covered with forests (beech and
oak in the south, pine in the north), providing the basis for a well-
developed lumber and construction industry. ⁶

Among mining resources, Silesian hard coal is of the greatest eco-
nomic importance. Hard coal has been mined in Upper Silesia for cen-
turies, both in the parts remaining with Germany after the plebiscite
of 1921 and in the part allotted to Poland. Although the majority of
the mines were awarded to Poland in 1921, the production of German
Upper Silesia (Oberschlesien) has continuously expanded, while
Polish production increased only during the war years, under German
exploitation, ⁷ despite successful Polish efforts during the depression
years to invade the Scandinavian market. Reserves in the Upper Sile-
sian coal basin are estimated at close to sixty-six billion metric tons,
lying at a depth of three thousand feet. ⁸ A secondary coal basin espe-
cially suited for coke production is located at Waldenburg in Lower
Silesia; its reserves have been depleted to about one billion metric
tons.

There is a sizable number of lignite mines in Lower Silesia and east-
ern Brandenburg and copper and nickel mines in the Giant and
Sudeten Mountains of Lower Silesia. In 1938, a total of 75 per cent of
the zinc production and 40 per cent of the lead production of the
Reich was mined in Silesia (170,000 and 28,000 metric tons, respec-
tively). ⁹ Arsenic deposits and rich limestone quarries enrich Silesia's
mining resources and have given rise to construction industries, mak-
ing it one of the most valuable provinces of the Reich.

The largest and best-administered cities and industries of the Oder-
Neisse provinces are located in Silesia. Lower Silesia's capital is the
East German metropolis of Breslau (now renamed Wroclaw), which
houses the Polish University of Lwów and which had a prewar popula-

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