Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories
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| Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories |
| Native name | Reichsminister für die besetzten Ostgebiete |
| Incumbent | Alfred Rosenberg |
| Incumbentsince | 1941 |
| Formation | 1941 |
| Abolished | 1945 |
| Inaugural | Alfred Rosenberg |
| Seat | Reich Chancellery, Berlin |
Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories The Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories was a Nazi-era cabinet position established during World War II to administer territories captured in Operation Barbarossa, implement ideological directives of the National Socialist German Workers' Party leadership, and coordinate with entities such as the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the SS, and the Foreign Office. Headed by Alfred Rosenberg, the office interfaced with figures like Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann while shaping policies that affected populations across Soviet Union, Baltic states, and Poland.
Background and Establishment
The office was created in the context of Operation Barbarossa and the ideological objectives set forth in Rosenberg's book Der Mythus des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, with directives influenced by the Hunger Plan, the Generalplan Ost, and wartime decrees from Adolf Hitler issued at conferences including those at the Wolfsschanze and Berghof. Establishment involved coordination with the Reich Chancellery, the Foreign Office, and the Reich Ministry of the Interior and reflected competition with agencies such as the Reichskommissariat Ukraine administration, the Reichskommissariat Ostland, and the Altreich authorities, while being shaped by predecessors in colonial administration like the German Colonial Empire bureaucracy.
Organizational Structure and Subdivisions
The ministry's internal organization included departments overseeing political administration, economic exploitation, cultural policy, and ideological indoctrination; divisions mirrored structures in entities such as the Reich Ministry of Propaganda, the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and the Reich Ministry of Justice. Subordinate bodies and affiliated offices encompassed liaison offices with the Wehrmacht, coordination units with the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office, and collaboration with occupation organs like the Generalkommissariat administrations in Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states. Key personnel besides Alfred Rosenberg included technocrats and ideologues who had ties to organizations such as the Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question, the Ahnenerbe, and the Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda.
Policies and Administration in Occupied Territories
Policy initiatives combined racial ideology from Generalplan Ost with economic measures like requisitioning modeled on the Hunger Plan and resource extraction aligned with directives from the Four Year Plan overseen by Hermann Göring. Administrative measures included attempts at establishing civil administrations in territories modeled after the Reichskommissariat Ostland and Reichskommissariat Ukraine, enacting orders that intersected with statutes from the Nuremberg Laws framework and deportation practices linked to agencies like the Reichssicherheitshauptamt. Cultural and educational policies referenced works by ideologues such as Alfred Rosenberg and institutions like the Ahnenerbe while interacting with local nationalist movements including elements of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and factions in the Baltic Legions.
Relations with Nazi Leadership and Other Agencies
The ministry operated amid rivalry and cooperation with major Nazi institutions: it negotiated jurisdictional disputes with the SS, engaged with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht on logistical matters, and responded to political pressure from Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann. Coordination involved the Foreign Office under Joachim von Ribbentrop for diplomatic cover, the Reich Ministry of Finance for budgetary matters, and the Reich Ministry of Transport for rail and supply lines. Power struggles implicated actors such as Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, and regional commissioners like Hinrich Lohse and Erich Koch who represented competing visions for administration and exploitation.
Military and Security Measures
Security measures in occupied areas were implemented in partnership with the SS, the Schutzstaffel, the Waffen-SS, and the Ordnungspolizei, often coordinated through the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and local SS and Police Leader structures. Military security needs involved the Wehrmacht front-line commands, rear-area security operations including anti-partisan warfare tied to units such as the Einsatzgruppen, and logistical arrangements using infrastructures like the Trans-Siberian Railway nodes and Baltic ports in Riga and Tallinn. Policies led to reprisals and operations that intersected with the Partisan warfare campaigns and the security doctrines endorsed at meetings of the OKW and the Führer Headquarters.
Impact on Local Populations and Collaboration
Administrative and ideological programs produced displacement, forced labor, and collaboration phenomena involving local authorities, nationalist movements, and auxiliary police units such as the Schutzmannschaft and volunteer formations in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Economic requisitioning and deportation policies affected ethnic groups including Jews, Roma, Belarusian communities, and Poles, and involved interaction with entities like the Reich Labour Service and German industrial firms such as IG Farben and Krupp that used forced labor. Collaborationists included figures and organizations from the Ukrainian Central Rada milieu, various émigré circles, and paramilitary formations linked to the Baltic Waffen-SS.
War Crimes, Legal Accountability, and Aftermath
The ministry's policies and coordination with organizations such as the Einsatzgruppen, the RSHA, and the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office contributed to crimes prosecuted at postwar proceedings including the Nuremberg Trials and subsequent military tribunals where actors like Alfred Rosenberg were indicted. Accountability processes involved the International Military Tribunal, denazification efforts administered by the Allied Control Council, and investigations by Soviet tribunals in cities such as Moscow and Leningrad. The legacy influenced treaties and postwar population transfers under agreements like the Potsdam Conference accords and informed historiography by scholars referencing archives from the German Federal Archives and trials preserved in collections at institutions including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Yad Vashem archives.