On March 15, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, violating the Munich Pact. These provinces were transformed into a German protectorate, officially annexed to the Reich, but governed by a Reich Protector. Konstantin von Neurath, the former German foreign minister, served as the first Reich Protector from March 1939 until his replacement by RSHA chief Reinhard Heydrich. Following Heydrich’s assassination in the late spring of 1942, Kurt Daluege, the chief of the Order Police, briefly assumed the role. From 1943 until 1945, former Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick held the position.

Meanwhile, Slovakia became an independent state under the leadership of Catholic priest Jozef Tiso. His regime established a fascist, authoritarian, one-party dictatorship, heavily influenced by the Catholic clerical hierarchy in internal matters and closely aligned with Nazi Germany. The Tiso regime remained in power until April 1945.