The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (german: Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete (RMfdbO) or ''Ostministerium'', ) was created by Adolf Hitler on 17 July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert, the Baltic German Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred Meyer served as Rosenberg's deputy. The German government formed this ministry to control the vast areas captured and projected for capture by the '' Wehrmacht'' in Eastern Europe and Russia. The Ostministerium also played a part in supporting anti-Soviet groups in Central Asia. In February 1942, under Rosenberg's plans, the Ministry tried to promulgate a program of land reform in the occupied territories in the USSR that included promises of

decollectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

through the abolition of

kolkhozes A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership o ...

and the re-distribution of land to peasants for individual farming. Germany established two

Reichskommissariat ''Reichskommissariat'' ( en, Imperial Commissariat) is a German word for a type of administrative entity headed by a government official known as a ''Reichskommissar'' ( en, Imperial Commissioner). Although many offices existed, primarily throug ...

s, for

Ostland The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents ini ...

and Ukraine, and planned for two more, for

Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 * Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...

and for the Caucasus. The Wehrmacht never established firm possession of the areas designated for the last two Reichskommissariats, so German civilian control never developed there. In practice, the appointment of

Erich Koch Erich Koch (19 June 1896 – 12 November 1986) was a ''Gauleiter'' of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in East Prussia from 1 October 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was Chief of Civil Administration (''Chef der Zivilverwaltung'') of Bezirk ...

to administer the Reichskommissariat Ukraine substantially undermined Rosenberg's authority. Hitler ordered Koch to take a hard and brutal approach; Rosenberg wished to portray the Germans as liberators of Ukraine from Soviet domination, but Koch's brutality helped to push potential Ukrainian allies back into the Soviet camp. Furthermore, Rosenberg's ministry was denied authority over army and other security formations within the occupied territories. The other Reich Commissar, Hinrich Lohse (

) was widely disregarded. The SS filled the resulting power vacuum, acting as they wished.

Rank insignia

References

See also