Plan of German domination in Eastern Europe. General plan "Ost"
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At the end of 2009, the text of Hitler's "Plan Ost" - a project for the Germanization of Eastern Europe, that is, the mass destruction and resettlement of Russians, Poles, and Ukrainians - was declassified in Germany and for the first time in the public domain. Long considered lost, the text of the plan was found back in the 80s. But only now anyone can get acquainted with it on the website of the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
The publication of documents from the state archive was accompanied by an apology. The Council of the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture at the Humboldt University said that it regretted that one of the previous directors of the educational institution, member of the SS Professor Konrad Mayer, did so much to create the "General Plan East". Now this secret document, which only the highest leaders of the Reich knew about, is available to everyone.
“German weapons conquered the eastern regions, over which there was a struggle for centuries. The Reich sees it as its most important task to turn them into imperial territories as soon as possible, ”the document says.
For a long time, the text was considered lost. For the Nuremberg Trials, only a six-page excerpt from it was obtained. The plan was drawn up by the General Directorate of Imperial Security, and other versions of the plan, along with other important documents, were burned by the Nazis in 1945. "General Plan Vostok" with German thoroughness shows what would have awaited the USSR if the Germans had won that war. And it becomes clear why the plan was kept in strict confidence.
“At the forefront of the front of the German people against Asiaticism, and designated areas of particular importance for the Reich. To ensure the vital interests of the Reich in these areas, it is necessary to use not only force and organization, it is precisely there that the German population is needed. In a completely hostile environment, it should be firmly rooted in these areas, ”- recommended in the text.
Evgeny Kulkov, senior researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “The Lithuanians were going to be evicted beyond the Urals and to Siberia, or destroyed. This is practically the same thing. 85 percent of Lithuanians, 75 percent of Belarusians, 65 percent of Western Ukrainians, residents of Western Ukraine, 50 percent each from the Baltics ”.
Comparing the sources, scientists found out that the Nazis wanted to resettle 10 million Germans to the eastern lands, and from there to evict 30 million people to Siberia. Leningrad from a city of three million was to turn into a German settlement for 200 thousand inhabitants. Millions of people had to die from hunger and disease. Hitler planned to finally destroy Russia by dismembering it into many isolated parts.
On the basis of the instructions of the Reichsfuehrer SS, one should proceed from the settlement, first of all, of the following regions: Ingermanlandia (Petersburg region); Gotengau (Crimea and Kherson region, former Tavria), Memelnrava region (Bialystok region and western Lithuania). The Germanization of this area is already under way by the return of Volksdeutsche. "
It is curious that the lands beyond the Urals seemed to the Nazis such a deadly territory that they were not even considered as a matter of priority. But, fearing that the Poles exiled there would be able to form their own state, the Nazis nevertheless decided to expel them to Siberia in small groups.
In this regard, it is calculated not only how many cities will have to be cleared for future colonialists, but also how much it will cost and who will bear the costs.
After the war, the compiler of the document, Konrad Mayer, was acquitted by the Nuremberg Tribunal and continued to teach at German universities. By publishing the original of this sinister plan on the Internet, German scholars express the opinion that society has not yet sufficiently repented before the victims of Nazism.
A group of translators of the Essence of Time movement has translated the document into Russian and now it can be read by any citizen of our country.
Read and find out what exactly should have happened on the territory of the USSR, if not for the unparalleled heroism of the Soviet people, who defended the right to life for us. Behind dry numbers and calculations - the fate of millions of people in the USSR. The very people who became superfluous and had to be eliminated in order to make room for the German people.
Miroslava Berdnik
On the picture: At the opening of the exhibition "Planning and Building a New Order in the East" on March 20, 1941, Konrad Mayer (right) addressed the leading Reich functionaries (from left to right): Hitler's Deputy Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler, Reichsleiter Buhler, Reichsminister Todt and Chief of the Chief Imperial Security Directorate Heydrich.
General plan Ost.
(Generalplan Ost)
Part 1
Foreword, which you do not need to read.
Of course, to be precise, the German phrase "Generalplan Ost" should be translated as "General plan East". Well, or “General plan“ East. ”But the phrase“ General plan Ost ”has become common in the historical turnover.
So that the unusual name does not hurt the eyes of the reader, we will use what everyone is used to. Those. "Plan Ost".
There is no consensus among historians regarding this German plan.
Anti-Nazi historians in their works refer to this plan as convincing proof that the Hitlerite leadership intended to carry out on the occupied territory of our country an unprecedented genocide against the Slavic nations, Jews, and at the same time part of non-Slavic nationalities. And in the territories thus freed up to resettle the German colonists.
However, these historians usually operate in their statements not by the Ost plan itself, but by some letters, notes, reflections on this plan, emanating from the highest Hitlerite officials (G. Himmler, M. Bormann), And although Himmler in his remarks directly refers to the plan Ost, after all, this is no longer the text of the plan itself.
Yes, these remarks figured at the Nuremberg trials as proof that the Nazis had intentions to destroy a significant part of the non-Germans, but nevertheless, the publication of the text of the Ost plan itself would be preferable.
However, for a long time the text of this plan itself was not in the historical and documentary circulation.
It is believed that the Ost plan itself during the preparation and during the Nuremberg trials could not be found by the allies.
And this greatly undermined the position of anti-Nazi historians and gave doubters grounds to put the question like this - "Couldn't find or didn't want to find?"
Maybe in the very plan everything is much different and there are no brutal designs there. Like, yes, Germany wanted to conquer Russia and wanted to colonize these lands. And perhaps it would only go to the benefit of the peoples inhabiting the "eastern territories". So to speak, "free the peoples from the brutal totalitarian Stalinist regime" and give them the opportunity to live happily and satisfyingly under the shadow of the German eagle.
And, they say, Himmler, a well-known extremist, super-radical, and turned everything in his notes upside down. So, they say, after all, this is just a personal opinion of one of the leaders of Germany, with whom others, including Hitler, could not agree.
But the question arises - if this is so, then why did the defendants' lawyers not try to find this very plan, which would largely whitewash the head of the Nazi regime? Also "could not find or did not want to find?"
Anti-Soviet historians have a much richer arsenal of claims about the Ost plan.
The shortest argument - "Such a plan never existed, and Himmler's notes are fake." Well, God knows how much you can agree. Anything can be refuted with such an argument. Even the Bible. Or the Koran.
I ask those who think so, do not read below. It is simply pointless to conduct polemics with people who hold such an opinion, since everything will be reduced to bickering like "you shaved me, and I have your hair cut." And not a step further.
A more common argument - Yes, there was such a plan, but it cannot be considered a document of state planning. Like, there is no signature (visa, resolution) of Hitler on it, no state seal and no documents developed and communicated to the executors as part of the implementation of the plan, or at least there are no plans for specific measures. These are simply their own thoughts and suggestions of individual Nazis standing at the lower levels of the party hierarchy.
Well what is the answer to this.
Firstly, the time when this plan appeared. Summer 1942. The Wehrmacht has just recovered from cuffs received from the Red Army near Moscow, Leningrad, Rostov. The summer offensive has not yet begun. Those. there is still no complete and final victory over the USSR. And without it, concrete planning for the development of the "eastern lands" is simply impossible. Neither by localities, nor by timing, nor by finance. Only preliminary long-term planning is possible.
Secondly, Hitler practically never signed anything personally. For example, the Barbarossa plan does not have his signature. Under the directive "On special jurisdiction in the Barbarossa area" too.
In Germany, the highest officials of the state rarely bothered to pick up a pen and issue a visa. As a rule, under the documents is "On behalf of ................ Reinecke".
On the other hand, the plan was drawn up by a certain Professor Dr. K. Mayer with the rank of SS-Oberführer. It is difficult to believe that this paper is simply the fruit of personal reflections and initiatives of far from the highest rank in the hierarchy of the then Germany. SS-Oberfuehrer is a rank higher than colonel, but lower than major general. At the same time, this is a highly qualified specialist (professor, doctor). All this gives reason to believe that Mayer drew up the plan on behalf of his superiors. Himmler, in particular. Or, in any case, proposals that have found full support and approval. Hence the interest of the SS Reichsfuehrer in the plan and such extensive notes on it.
So by the summer of 1942 it was possible to draw up only a framework, so to speak, a draft plan. Well, or a long-term plan. A kind of rough outline of what and how will be done in the East after the victorious end of the war.
So let each reader decide for himself to what extent the plan is the Ost work plan, and to what extent the declaration of intent. The intentions of this plan loom sinister.
And let the reader take into account the following lines from Hitler's book "My Struggle":
“We are National Socialists where we left off six centuries ago. We stop the eternal Germanic spread to the south and west of Europe and look to the countries to the east. Finally, we break with the colonial and trade policies of the pre-war period and move on to the land policy of the future. If we think about lands, then today in Europe again we must keep in mind first of all only Russia and subordinate to her outlying states." |
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"Wir Nationalsozialisten setzen dort an, wo man vor sechs Jahrhunderten endete. Wir stoppen den ewigen Germanenzug nach dem Suden und Westen Europas und weisen den Blick nach dem Land im Osten. Wir schlie? En endlich ab mit der Kolonial- und Handelspolitik deorks gehen ueber zur Bodenpolitik der Zukunft. Wenn wir aber heute in Europa von neuem Grund und Boden reden, konnen wir in erster Linie nur an Russland und die ihm Untertanen Randstaaten denken. " |
This, perhaps, can be called a declaration of intent. And the Ost plan is already concrete planning. After all, it indicates the terms of colonization, the required expenses, the number of participants subject to the colonization of the area.
From the author. And what is curious is that anti-Soviet historians with might and main shake the notorious Soviet military plan of attack on Germany "Thunder" as the most convincing and indisputable proof of Stalin's aggressive intentions, his plans to attack sweet kind Germany, and then take possession of all old Europe. But these few pages, sketched by the Deputy Chief of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff, Major General Vasilevsky on the very eve of the war (May 15, 1941), none of the Soviet top military leaders even read.
The Thunder plan does not in any way draw on equality with the Ost plan, but go ahead, it is considered an argument.
Whatever it is, the Bundesarchive has published the text of the Ost plan and anyone who wishes can get acquainted with it - http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2566853 .
I shouldn't post the text of the plan in German here in this article. Whoever needs it, let them follow the link and download. This is very easy to do.
I do not dare to post here the translation of the plan into Russian. I am not the best translator, and I just do not want everything in the criticism of this article to be reduced to petty quibbles about the interpretation of this or that phrase. However, if any of the readers really need this translation of mine, and he has no other possibilities to translate, please contact me. I will help.
So, let's get acquainted with the Ost plan and see what it really was. It is difficult to read this plan, since the Germans scanned the third or fourth copy, which was typed. It is even more difficult to translate into Russian, since some terms and phrases are used that are either not in Russian, or they are simply incomprehensible to us. There are as many translation options as there are translators, although the deep essence of this plan remains unchanged.
And before proceeding with the consideration and analysis of the plan, which was published in June 1942, we note that in its text there are references indicating that before the development of this version there were at least three documents concerning the development of the "eastern regions". it
"View from 08.30.1940",
"General plan Ost from 15.07 1941" and
"General Order of the Reichskommissar for Strengthening the German Nation No. 7/11 dated 6.11.40".
So the 1942 Ost plan was not the only document addressing aspects of Hitler's eastern policy. And it was not the first plan. Most likely, the 42 year plan was created on the basis of the previous outline and the 41 year plan. This should be borne in mind.
End of the preface.
So, Plan Ost 1942.
In total, it has 100 pages and one map (unfortunately, it is not attached to the plan). Organizationally, the plan is divided into three parts.
Part A. Requirements for the future organization of settlement.
Part B. Review of the development costs of the annexed eastern regions and their structure.
Part C. Demarcation of settlements in the occupied eastern regions and general features of development.
Compiled by SS Oberführer Professor Dr. Konrad Mayer and submitted for review in June 1942.
Part A.
In general, then, in the initial section "A", which sets out the general principles of land development in the East, nothing brutal is unnoticeable. The principles of the development of new lands are simply outlined. In rural areas, it is proposed to endow German peasants land in the "eastern regions" in the form of fiefs. Those. the German peasant seems to own the land, but under certain conditions. First, he is given land for 7 years (temporary flax), then, subject to successful management, flax becomes hereditary, and finally, after 20 years, this land becomes his property. At the same time, the peasant pays certain amounts to the state for the flax he received. Something like a government loan in the form of a land plot, for which he gradually pays off
It is even somewhat similar to the development in the USSR in the sixties and seventies of its Far East. The willing citizens were allocated land, a house, livestock, inventory there. ( V.Yu.G. The similarity of the names is funny - there is the East and here the East).
Only a few phrases in this section are alarming:
The first is that the development and settlement of new lands in the East should initially be led by the SS Reichsfuehrer G. Himmler, who at the same time acts as "Reichkommissar fuer die festigung deutsche Volkstume".
But this is still, let's say, "not a crime." You never know who the government can entrust with a purely economic task.
But here is a phrase from the very beginning of the text: "German weapons finally won for the country the eastern regions, which have been forever disputed for centuries."
I don't know how anyone, but I understand this phrase this way - there can be no talk of any statehood within Poland and the USSR. In any case, in the territories of the USSR to the west of Moscow. A kind of wild territory, which the German people must develop for their needs.
I'll make a reservation right away that the Ost plan of 1942 practically does not affect the territories belonging to the RSFSR, with the exception of the North-West of the RSFSR (Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod and Kalinin regions). All attention is focused on the eastern regions of Poland, Ukraine and the Baltics.
Retreat
When Germany occupied France, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, these countries retained their statehood. They received the status of occupied states. All state structures remained there, from municipalities to governments and presidents. Loyal to Germany, of course. The former administrative division of the countries remained, like all other government bodies, including the courts, prosecutors and police. Those. Germany did not encroach on their national territory (with the exception of certain regions).
But Czechoslovakia and Poland have lost the right to be states. Poland was turned into the so-called. "General-Governorship" (General-Gouvernement), Czechoslovakia was torn in two. One part became the state of Slovakia, the second became "Protektorat Boehmen und Maehren" (Protektorat Boehmen und Maehren).
Running a little ahead (III. Creation of the administrative division. Page 17) I will note that the Ost plan did not intend to preserve the Russian statehood in any form and in any way. Not a single word is said about this there.
All, I emphasize, all the western territories of the former USSR, including the Baltic states and the territories of Poland that had ceded to the USSR after September 1939, had to either be turned into regions of the Great German state (the so-called "Gau"), or be split into separate regions at the head with the German civil administration. Like all of Poland.
From the author. That's it! All leaflets, proclamations, newspapers, which were published in abundance during the war years by Vlasov and KONR (Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia), and in which it was written that the Vlasov army and Germany are allies who are fighting together for the liberation of Russia from the Bolsheviks - this is simply impudent and shameless lie. The Germans did not intend to create any Russian union state with Germany either during the war or after it. This clearly and unambiguously sets out the Ost plan.
Vlasov's subtle hints that let the Germans help us free Russia from the Bolsheviks, and already there we ... ... can only convince foolish and deeply naive people.
It was not for this that Hitler ruined the precious lives of German soldiers in battles, so that later, on a silver platter with a blue border, he could present the Russians with "a free democratic state without Bolsheviks and Jews." No, Hitler fought for "living space for the German people."
End of the retreat.
And here is the phrase:
Pay attention to what I underlined in the above quote. It turns out that only Germans can own land in the occupied eastern lands.
And one more phrase:
And this phrase can be interpreted as you like. And even in a positive way for the Nazis. Well, sort of like a requirement to develop new lands at the expense of local resources.
But Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians live on these lands. The Balts, finally. They feed from this land. And there is not an excess of it in the same Ukraine, in the Baltics. This is not the Far East, where hundreds of square kilometers of fertile land are empty even at the beginning of the 21st century.
And now it turns out that only Germans have the right to own land in these areas. And how and what will those who have lived here for centuries be fed? In the first sections of the Ost plan, these questions are not covered in any way. As if these are completely free territories. But with out of nowhere a "value mass" that has come from.
All of the above applies to rural areas and agricultural land.
In the same section "A" we are talking about cities in the "eastern regions". In the very first phrase of the subsection "II. Urban Settlement" we come across the term "Germanization" (Eindeutschung), which is not yet very clear and which can be interpreted very broadly. From understanding how to completely replace the local population of cities with Germans, to the synonym "instilling German culture."
As well as the phrase "Aufbau der Staedte des Ostens" can be translated as "building cities in the East", "restoration ...", "device ...", structuring ... "," restructuring .... And more with heels of options. So far, it is only clear that the population of Soviet cities will face major changes.
From the author. Those who wish to interpret the text of the plan in favor of the Nazis have here all the possibilities for this. Especially if we proceed from the legal principle of "presumption of innocence". That is, if the guilt is not proven, then the accused is innocent.
And yet it is clear that before you settle some, you need to do something with others. Evict, relocate, condense. Destroy at last. And maybe vice versa. For example, to build new exemplary neighborhoods nearby, showing how a city can be cozy, comfortable, clean, and cultural. Moreover, let the local residents earn money on construction.
And what actually happened in the occupied territories of our country can be attributed simply to the inevitable atrocities of the war.
However, here is the clarification of the German policy of settlement of cities. It is clearly stated: "Persons of alien nationalities in cities cannot be landowners." (II. Urban Settlement, Specific Definitions, point 2 on page 14).
From the author. It would be interesting to know the reaction to this point of the Ost plan of those Latvians who today applaud the former Latvian SS men. After all, they fought to ensure that the Ost plan was carried out. Including in the Baltics. Looking ahead, I will say that the Nazis intended to Germanize some of the Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians (that is, to deprive them of their nationality and turn them into Germans), and to evict some of them.
Don't believe me, gentlemen? Have I translated it incorrectly? Well, here's this paragraph for you in German:
But all real estate (industrial and public buildings, residential buildings, etc.) in cities belongs to someone. Someone lives there, works. But what about the "sacred right of private property", so zealously proclaimed and really observed at all times in European countries, including Germany?
It seems that the Germans were not going to apply this principle to the "eastern territories" in relation to the local population.
Note that when the Germans settled in Soviet cities, it was supposed to endow them with real estate free of charge. At whose expense? Throwing into the street those who lived and worked there before the arrival of the Wehrmacht? Or will the German state pay the former owners of real estate, and then distribute it to its citizens for free? We will return to this question later.
In general, this subsection (Urban Settlement) does not stand out in any way. Basically, methods of attracting Germans to populate cities in the East are outlined. Mainly due to the creation of preferential conditions for German voluntary settlers, both in terms of providing housing and household plots, and creating conditions for craft activities, work in enterprises. Due to what and who is not deciphered.
More interesting in part A is subsection "III. Settlement and management".
I have already mentioned above that the Ost plan did not intend to preserve the Russian statehood in any form and in any way. All the western territories of the former USSR, including the Baltic states and the territories of Poland that ceded to the USSR after September 1939, must either be turned into the regions of the Greater German state (the so-called "Gau"), or be fragmented into separate regions headed by the German civil administration. This is stated unambiguously at the very beginning of this subsection.
One can draw the first conclusion from the Ost plan -
It is not intended to preserve any independent state or states in the "eastern regions".
Simply put, there will be neither an independent Ukraine with a sovereign hetman, nor Lithuania with a diet, nor Latvia with a president, nor Estonia, nor the Belarusian state, nor even smaller Russian states such as the Pskov Republic, the Novgorod principality, the Tula governor-general, the Tambov protectorate. , .....
And there will be German Gau. Or just small areas under the supervision of German administrators.
For the German administration of the eastern regions, the Ost plan sets the main tasks of "Germanization and security."
From the author. It is curious that some concern is immediately expressed in the Ost plan.
According to the plan, the general administrative management of the "eastern regions" will be entrusted to the Reichsstatgalters (governors, chief presidents, heads of civil administration), for whom the main thing is to ensure peace and order in the controlled territories.
At the same time, the so-called "Reichskommissars for the strengthening of the German people" will operate in the same territories, whose main task is to "Germanize" these territories. Those. creation of the most favorable conditions for the Germans moving to the "eastern regions" in order to develop them. This "can objectively require certain sacrifices." And the interaction of both types of administration is required.
It is easy to guess what the author of the plan means. It is unlikely that the local population will meekly cede land, houses, enterprises to the settlers, which they will receive through the district commissars. Riots can arise.
I have already said above that the Ost plan did not imply the preservation, or, if you like, the restoration of statehood not only for Russians, but also for Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. And also the Balts. Don't believe me?
Well, here's a quote from page 18:
The underlines are not mine. So in the original text. What follows from this passage? And above all, the fact that the Germans inhabited in Gotengau, Ingermanlandia and Memel-Narev are already considered the local population, and the Russians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Tatars and Ukrainians who surround them are considered a completely alien environment. And here there are few ordinary means of state influence. The plan requires the active participation of all Germans settled in these territories.
We also note that the phrase "to provide its biological composition for a long time" 
indicates that Germans should not mix with the nations inhabiting these areas.
Reference.
Gotengau... The Germans referred to this area the entire Crimea and southern regions of Ukraine, including Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Nikolayevshchina. The Gothengau region is shown on the map on the right.
Ingermanlandia. The Germans attributed the entire northwest of Russia to this area, from Leningrad to the south, almost to Moscow itself. The region of Ingermanlandia is shown on the map on the left. 
Memel-Narew Region... An area that includes almost all of Lithuania, Latvia and part of Estonia, part of Belarus and even a piece of Poland. This area is shown on the map to the right.
Here, on pages 18-19, it is emphasized that the main tasks of managing these areas are the Germanization of the territories, the resettlement of Germans on it and the provision of border security. All other administrative tasks are secondary.
This is the main idea of the Ost plan. In the future, it is planned to develop German settlements into entire Germanized regions.
In the same subsection III, it is proposed that the functions of the "Reichskommissar for strengthening the German people" be entrusted to the Reichsfuehrer SS (G. Himmler) during the settlement and Germanization of the eastern regions. These areas are removed from the previous administrative-territorial composition and are fully subject to the jurisdiction of the Reichsfuehrer SS, including the issuance of special laws for the Germanized regions, the judicial and executive powers in them.
From the author. It is well known in what ways and methods the SS solved the tasks assigned to them. And it is no coincidence that the SS, as an organization, was declared criminal by the Nuremberg Tribunal, and membership in it itself was a criminal offense. But maybe I am dominated by many years of massive anti-German propaganda?
May be. Although, there are too many bloody traces left from the activities of the SS in the form of a huge number of documents, indisputable facts and objective material evidence.
Again, maybe the SS was doing disgraceful things in other areas, but here it just performed administrative and economic functions without any atrocity?
May be. Therefore, we read the plan Ost further.
And only after the tasks of Germanization and settlement by Germans in one or another "eastern region" are fully fulfilled, it is possible to join it to the German state and the operation of all-German laws on this territory.
Why, during the development of the territory, some special rules and norms established by the Reichsfuehrer SS, and not German laws, should operate on it, remains unanswered.
In the apparatus of the Reichsfuehrer SS, a Reichskommissariat should be created, which will deal with all issues of the development of the "eastern regions."
The commissariat was supposed to consist of the following departments
1.) Accommodation and planning policies.
2.) Selecting settlers and using settlers.
3.) Carrying out check-in.
4.) Administration and financing.
Each settlement administrative-territorial unit is led by a Markhauptmann, who reports directly to the Reichsfuehrer SS.
From the author. In German texts concerning the general plan Ost, the term "Marka" is used as a general name for large territories to be Germanized, which has many translations into Russian - from "postage stamp" to "Ostmark" (Austria). In most translations this term is either not translated at all, but simply spelled "mark" in Russian, or the absolutely ridiculous name "margrave" is used.
Based on the many studied German texts, the author believes that the German word "Mark" in this context should be understood as a kind of administrative-territorial formation of a fairly large size. Approximately, like our autonomous republic, region. But the Germans use the word Mark to designate such administrative-territorial entities that they cannot or do not consider necessary to name definitely.
For example, Austria, which before joining Germany was called "Oesterreich" in German after the Anschluss, became known as Ostmark. Not "Gau", as the regions that have always been part of Germany, but "Mark".
Therefore, meeting the word Mark in the text, I translate, in my opinion, more correctly - "administrative-territorial unit", albeit longer.
Markhauptmann operates through the Office, which is headed by amtsmann.
The administrative-territorial unit is subdivided into districts (krais). Kreis is managed by Kreishauptmann, who is subordinate to the Markhauptmann.
Further, according to the text of the plan, it is briefly described what each department of the commissariat and departments of administrative-territorial formations and krais should do. These are all purely organizational and managerial activities that are not of significant interest.
Only the point describing the tasks of the Administration and Financing Departments is interesting. To quote:
Highlighted in bold by the author. From this it follows that the peoples who have inhabited the "eastern regions" for centuries by the Ost plan are considered only as foreign labor. If we take into account the previously quoted lines from the Ost plan that only the Germans have the exclusive right to own land, then the fate of the Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Balts, and Crimean Tatars is drawn. T.
A second conclusion can be drawn from the Ost plan -
The peoples living in the "eastern regions" are assigned the role of farm laborers on lands that henceforth belong exclusively to persons of German nationality.
For the administration of justice in the settlement administrative-territorial formations (that is, the regions), the krais (that is, the districts), and courts are created. The president of the court is respectively Markhauptmann, Kraishauptmann or Amtsmann. Members of the court from among the German settlers living in the area. There is no question that at least one of the members of the court should be a lawyer. Whom such courts have the right to judge, whether exclusively settlers, or everyone who is on the territory is not mentioned.
But the phrase "The courts make decisions on the basis of the basic laws of the SS and the law in force for the administrative-territorial entities" is alarming.
Unfortunately, at the disposal of the author there are no documents setting out the "basic laws of the SS". Therefore, we will confine ourselves to this short remark. Let the reader decide for himself what this means, based on his knowledge and beliefs.
These provisions exhaust part A.
Part B.
Part B begins with a statement of the SS Reichsfuehrer's demand to determine how much the program for the development of the "eastern regions" can do without financial and other material support from the state, since other tasks facing Germany are very large and require huge expenses.
Referring to the tabular data and calculations given below in the plan, the author of the plan believes that the economic condition of the annexed eastern regions will not allow the German population to populate these areas and develop without the help of the state. It is impossible to rely entirely or predominantly on local economic resources.
From the author. Naturally. Do not forget that since the second half of the 19th century Germany has become one of the most economically, technically, scientifically and culturally developed countries in Europe. The Soviet Union lagged behind in all respects at times. But this was not the fault of the Bolsheviks. Russia until 1914 was a predominantly agrarian country with a very poorly developed (in comparison with Germany) industry, a very low level of education of the population. Let's add here 10 years of continuous wars that swept through the most populated regions of the country, social upheavals, reworking of borders, destruction of a single economic and financial space.
Therefore, the economic and industrial power of Germany by 1941 far exceeded the USSR. A lot was done in our country from 1924 to 1941 in industry, education, economics and science. But in 17 years it is simply unrealistic and impossible to make up for almost a century-old lag. And I don't think that if the Democrats had won the Civil War, but not the Bolsheviks, Russia would have come to 1941 in a better state.
And there is no doubt that Hitler would have attacked Russia in any Russian political system. His main idea was to seize "living space for the Germans" and it was in Russia. And the Bolshevik government has nothing to do with it. He clearly and unambiguously writes about this in his book "Mein Kampf".
This part of the plan contains a very remarkable phrase (p. 32), which can be interpreted in different ways. Here is this phrase in both Russian and German (so that I can avoid accusations of incorrect translation):
From the author. Something like Lomonosov's phrase "The power of Russia will grow with Siberia." But what kind of fate does this plan prepare for the Russians, Ukrainians, and Balts? So far, the Ost plan has passed over this issue in silence, except for slipping phrases such as the one that directly says that only the Germans can own land in the East.
However, it is possible that in this regard we will not find anything about the fate of local peoples. Personally, I have enough information that the development of the eastern regions has been entrusted to the SS Reichsfuehrer. And I believe that Himmler's instructions on how to deal with the indigenous population can be set out in completely different documents.
But this article is intended to highlight the content of the Ost plan, and not to convince readers of the brutal intentions of the Nazis. Let the reader draw his own conclusions. Of course, I am not an impassive and detached researcher. But the reader can simply not read my comments.
Table I.1 (p. 34 of the plan) cited in this part of the Ost plan shows that huge sums of money were supposed to be spent on the creation of infrastructure (in modern parlance) of the "eastern regions". So huge that not only state funds, but also regional, municipal and private funds should be attracted for this.
There is no point in citing monetary costs here, since they do not tell the modern reader anything. Today the scale of prices and incomes is completely different. We will only note that large expenditures were envisaged for the creation of a road network, the development of railways, water supply and sewerage, electrification, the creation of a network of cultural institutions, the development of cities and industry.
It turns out that for a certain number of years the so-called. the "eastern regions" were to be radically transformed and developed.
But so far the question remains open - for whom all these benefits will be created at the expense of the German state. Exclusively for the Germans or for everyone who lived before the war and will live (and will it be?) In Ingermanlandia, Gotengau and the Memel-Narev region.
True, there is a curious phrase:
From the author. Those. in the "eastern regions" a new Germany should be created, where everything, starting with the environment, including roads, agriculture, utilities, industry should be on the German model and create complete comfort for the Germans who moved here.
And what does the Ost plan say about those who lived in these parts before the start of Germanization? But nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a word about their fate. There is no talk about national relations, about interaction. What will be their status, what will they be entitled to, what responsibilities they will have to Germany. As if it was completely empty, unkempt and unused land. It doesn't work that way. There is an assumption that by the time the colonization of the "eastern regions" begins, no one from the former population will actually be living there.
The interesting term "Altreich" also begins to appear, that is, "Old State", or, if you like, "Old Reich".
According to the Ost plan, a road network and a network of railways should be created in the developed areas, not inferior in density to the road network of East Prussia (obviously, in this region of Germany, the road network was exemplary).
The same is with shipping.
But in the paragraph where it is said about the creation of waterways (shipping) in the "eastern regions", it is exclusively about the Vistula and Warta rivers, the Oder-Warta and Brahe-Nitz canals. And nothing about the Dnieper and other rivers in the USSR. Consequently, parts of the territory of Poland are also subject to Germanization.
Quoting from page 35:
The settlement of the regions previously given to Poland means an almost complete new reconstruction, settlement and settlement of the regions belonging to the German state before 1918 and a deep reconstruction, which concerns at least half of the territory. The purpose of the settlement is set by the General Order of the Reichskommissar for Strengthening the German Nationality No. 7/11 of 6.11.40. " |
|
| The same quote in German: | |
"Die Besiedlung der frueher kongresspolnischen Gebiete bedeutet einen fast vollstandigen Neuaufbau, die Besiedlung und Bereinigung der bis 1918 zum deutschen Reich gehorigen Gebiete einen tiefgehenden Umbau, der zumindesthen an halfte Besiène. 11 vom 11/26/40 des Reichskommissars fur Festigung deutschen Volkstume gegeben ". |
|
From the author. Thus, Poland, as a state, albeit a puppet like Slovakia, is not envisaged by the Ost plan at all. The territories that belonged to Germany and Austria before the First World War, and as a result were given to the revived Poland, are subject to deep reconstruction with this plan with the complete reconstruction of the German infrastructure and the settlement of the Germans.
There is no place for Poles in Poland! But the hatred of Russia so obscures the Polish mind that they agree to disappear from the face of the Earth, but not to have a Polish state loyal to Russia. Apparently their national pride is offended by the fact that the Poles as a nation now exist only thanks to the Soviet Union, and the state of Poland exists only thanks to the Russian Bolsheviks. Lenin and Stalin in particular.
Do you think that the Germans have come to terms with the loss of land east of the Oder and Neisse? Here is part of the map from the modern German edition. Gray shading on the map shows the "German territories", which today are "under Polish control" and "under Russian control". You can be sure, citizens of the Poles, the Germans will still show you their invoice, as they did once (in 1939).
Do you think that the French and British will defend your independence and integrity? In 1939 they simply betrayed you.
The Ost plan envisages full electrification of the developed eastern regions. For this, power plants of all types will be built, from wind farms to hydroelectric power plants. The coverage of the territories with power supply should reach the level of the Brandenburg-Pomeranian region.
Rural development involves:
a) creation and equipping of agricultural production,
b) creation of enterprises and institutions of consumer services for the population,
c) creation of production for processing agricultural products,
d) the establishment of rural cultural institutions,
e) ensuring that other rural residential needs are met.
But all this is exclusively for the Germans, who are supposed to build a young Germany here.
With a very careful and detailed description of the development of agriculture and the creation of infrastructure for it, the development of industry in the eastern regions, only one paragraph is allocated, which briefly indicates that this will require an additional 650 thousand workers, while the creation of one job will cost 6- 10 thousand marks.
It can be assumed that the Germans did not plan to seriously develop industry in the East. Even in their own interests. Actually, this is understandable - agricultural regions are always in strong and direct dependence on industrialized regions. Obviously, the new Germany in the East was to become an agrarian appendage to the old Germany.
The cities in the east, according to the plan, are supposed to be used only as centers of education (institutes, technical schools), cultural institutions (theaters, concert halls, large hospitals), consumer services (again, for the rural population), but not as centers of large-scale industry.
Moreover, educational institutions and institutions are proposed to be built and organized by the German settlers themselves as needed. The old state will release funds only for the most necessary facilities.
It is easy to guess that educational institutions (exclusively for Germans) in the eastern regions will train mainly agricultural specialists (agronomists, veterinarians).
Finally, the planners catch up (p. 40). The transformations in the eastern regions are so grandiose that the Bolsheviks with their five-year plans are far from them. At twenty, it is planned to do what the Soviet leaders, having mobilized the entire Soviet people for socialist transformations, hoped to do in half a century, or even a whole century.
Where to get so many working hands to create a new Germany? In addition, in the east, huge capacities for the production of building materials (brick, concrete, asphalt, roofing materials, etc.) will be required. And an urgent development of the railway network, both normal gauge and narrow gauge, will be required in order to be able to transport building materials from factories to construction sites.
And all the people involved in construction must somehow be organized, trained, fed, supplied, provided with an overnight stay.
In a word, in order for German peasants to be able to move to the eastern regions and begin to engage in agricultural production, you must first create an infrastructure for them, in modern terms.
From the author. Let me remind you that the building materials industry in the USSR at that time was not yet sufficiently developed. For example, the entire Soviet Union produced cement by 1941 only 14% of German production. So the authors of the Ost plan did not have to rely on the captured Soviet cement plants.
But so far the plan does not give an answer to these questions. Only indicates the issues that will have to be addressed.
1.Financing under the regular state budget.
2. Financing from extraordinary budget amounts.
3. Use of indemnities or reparations from defeated countries.
From the author. And what a convenient source of funding. Hitler acted quite wisely in preserving the statehood of European countries. They say, you, gentlemen, solve your problems of life inside the country yourself, live as you can. And you yourself collect money for us, you yourself take money from your own citizens, your entrepreneurs. And we'll just suck the juices out of you and keep an eye on you.
However, if you look a little lower in the comments on the sources of funding, it turns out that the Ost plan (p. 47 "Zu 3.") is primarily supposed to use not cash, inventory or materials from the defeated countries of Europe, but human labor. And specifically - prisoners of war, civilian prisoners and even persons arrested by the police in the administrative order. I do not think that such labor can be called otherwise than slave labor.
Provides (in the same paragraph) another option for the use in the East of cheap labor from European countries - "General labor service in exchange for the abolition of martial law."
From the author. That is, we will somewhat loosen the stranglehold of the occupation regime on your neck, and you, citizens of Europe (each of you), would you kindly work in the "eastern regions" for a while in the interests of great Germany. If we proceed from the Hitler system of labor service, which existed in Germany itself for the Germans, then this is about 6-12 months.
A third conclusion can be drawn from the Ost plan -
For the Germanization of the "eastern regions" it was supposed to use the forced labor of prisoners of war, civil prisoners and other citizens from the occupied countries of Europe.
From the author. But what about compliance with the 1929 Geneva Convention on Captives? Germany ratified this convention already under Hitler. The Nazi leadership did not make any statements that they would not use it in relation to prisoners from European countries. According to this convention, prisoners must be released and returned home as soon as possible after the end of the war with a particular country.
It turns out that Germany interpreted this convention as it wanted and did not care too much about its observance even in relation to "civilized countries".
4. Financing from the income or the values themselves of the captured eastern regions.
This method of financing stands out. Therefore, I will cite the source again, both in German and translated into Russian:
In other words, all material and financial assets on the territory of the eastern regions, which the Germans wish to take for themselves, become the property of the German state and are used as one of the sources of financing for the program for the development of the East.
What does the Ost plan mean by "special property" in the eastern regions?
a) All land and forest that can be exploited profitably.
b) All other real estate.
c) Proceeds from the sale of real estate.
d) Other property, especially industrial enterprises.
(V.Yu.G. Literal translation! Point c) on page 48).
e) The actual income from real estate (rent, lease, profits).
f) Settlers' earnings and depreciation.
g) Enterprises and property masses outside the populated areas, which are needed for development.
(V.Yu.G. I mean, and from those areas that "were not lucky" to become areas of Germanization, is being robbed
the property that will be required for the populated areas).
h) Income from the use of the labor force of foreign peoples and other available labor force
(V.Yu.G. Simply put, forced laborers will not be paid, and this money goes to Germany's income and
used as a source of further funding).
Items c, e, f concern German settlers, whom the state gives in possession of real estate and movable property not at all for free, but sells, leases, gives as fief, and for which the settlers must gradually pay the government. And the budget revenues from these operations are used by the government for the further development of the eastern regions.
But points a, b, d, g, h are simply the open appropriation of other people's property and funds by Germany. In the language of the criminal code, "robbery, that is, open theft of someone else's property."
A fourth conclusion can be drawn from the Ost plan -
All material and financial assets in the "eastern regions" that Germany wishes, become the property of the German state and are used in the interests of German settlers.
From the author. This is the huge difference between the occupation of Western countries and the occupation of the USSR and Poland. In the West, Germany retains the statehood of these countries and does not encroach on their state and private property entirely, limiting itself to reparations. In the East, statehood is completely liquidated, all, well, or almost all property passes into the hands of the Germans and is used purely in their interests. A robbery that history has not known since the Middle Ages. And robbery at the state level. It is not for nothing that G. Goering once said: "I intend to rob, and rob effectively." But these were just words, albeit one of the country's top leaders. Here this is confirmed by the document. The Nazis relegated the German state to the level of a criminal.
5. Financing by attracting private financial capital under the guarantees of special property of the "eastern regions".
From the author. Simply put, the state takes loans from private German banks on the security of property looted in the East. Thus, the Nazis wanted to make the German bankers accomplices in the Eastern plunder.
6. Financing of some particularly attractive objects, especially in the field of cultural construction by some organizations and institutions of the old state.
This probably means that, for example, the creation of sports grounds, stadiums, etc. can be taken over by the society "Strength through joy", and the financing of concert halls, theaters, art associations and societies, respectively.
7. Lending to the created "eastern regions" by the state or German Gau (regions).
Again, on the security of "acquired property and valuables" in the eastern regions.
The table of funding allocation published in the plan is replete with figures that are hardly worth mentioning here. Let's just note that 45.7 billion marks are expected to be spent on the development of the "eastern space".
Of these, for the development of forestry and generally for the cultivation of the area 3.3 billion.
For roads, railways, electrification, construction of water supply and sewerage networks 7.8 billion.
For the development of agriculture 13.5 billion marks.
But for the whole industry there are only 5.2 billion marks. Moreover, this refers primarily to the production of agricultural products, factories for the production of building materials, enterprises for the extraction of minerals. The development of heavy industry, knowledge-intensive industries is not provided at all. This once again confirms that the development of the "eastern space" set the main goal of becoming an agrarian appendage of old Germany.
From the author. Hitler's foresight cannot be denied here. New Germany, wholly and completely industrially dependent on Old Germany, will never, under any circumstances, strive to become an independent state. Hitler did not want to repeat the mistake made in his time by Great Britain. I mean the separation from the British Empire of its overseas colony, which we now know as the United States. The English settlers at the end of the 18th century, having become economically and industrially independent from the metropolis, decided that they could live independently and not obey the English crown.
15.4 billion magrocks are envisaged for the development of the urban economy. This is more than agriculture. However, the role of cities in the "eastern regions" is reduced only to the role of administrative centers and centers of consumer services, again for the rural population. It's just that the cost of the events is higher, and the profit from the cities is not expected.
These are all general tabular figures. The comments to the table are much more curious. That is, an explanation of what and how will be done for each item. And here it turns out that the creators of the plan understand the term "financing" somewhat differently than ordinary economists.
For example, under the "Forestry" section, financing refers to the free labor of prisoners of war and cheap foreign labor, which we wrote about above. Those. not billions of marks will be spent on afforestation, logging and timber processing, but simply slave labor is measured in billions of marks.
But for work on the cultivation of the area (elimination of ravines, drainage, drainage of swamps, construction of ponds, dams, watering of arid places, etc.), it is envisaged not only to use prisoners of war and foreign labor (within the framework of indemnities and labor service), but also attracting German settlers to these events. First of all, in the form of a horse-drawn service (they provide horses and carts for transporting materials), and, if necessary, personal labor participation.
From the author. I ask again - what about the observance of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of 1929? She demands that the prisoners be returned home immediately after the end of the war. But the Ost plan is designed for 20-30 years. The conclusion suggests itself that here Germany did not intend to adhere to the convention regarding prisoners of war from European countries.
The fact that the prisoners of war are supposed to be used for a long time is indicated by the point of financing of cultural construction (theaters, concert halls, sports facilities, etc.). The commentary to the plan indicates that the cost of cultural construction is not a priority, but it will take a long time. At the same time, it is said again that the labor of prisoners of war will be used here.
All road construction is financed by using the free labor of prisoners of war, and, if necessary, the labor of low-paid foreign workers.
The construction of highways of national importance (known as autobahns, which Germans are proud of today) and in the eastern regions had to be entirely financed from the state budget. Apparently, the construction itself should have been carried out by German road-building firms with German labor.
With regard to the industry of the eastern regions, the plan proposes to limit itself to the fact that the industrial firms of old Germany will, based on their interests and at their own expense, create subsidiaries, which can become independent only in the distant future.
It is easy to guess that the industrial giants of old Germany only need raw materials and products of primary processing (cast iron and steel, coke, round timber, cement, castings of non-ferrous metals, plant fiber, etc.). The manufacture of final products (machines, devices, inventory, fabrics, clothing, furniture, etc.) they will probably reserve for themselves, since only the final product of production brings the greatest profit. Once again it is confirmed that the eastern regions, even being inhabited by Germans, will remain an agrarian appendage of the old Reich and a supplier of fuel and raw materials. Of course, in terms of everyday life and conveniences for the life of Germans, the standard of living in the West and in the East should not differ.
The fact that Germany in the development of the "eastern regions" will primarily rely on the forced labor of foreign labor is more and more clearly manifested as the plan Ost is read.
Here is page 61, paragraph 2
As I said above, the "development of the eastern regions" program should be completed in 25-30 years. It is curious that the planners use the Soviet method of long-term planning. Drawing up a calendar schedule for the creation of "special regions" on the territory of our country, they also plan activities for five years. Those. In every five years, certain tasks must be completed in stages in each area (localization of the area, road construction, creation of a transport system and a power supply system, agricultural development, urban and industrial development, cultural construction, etc.).
And if we ignore the person for whom all this is intended, then it turns out that in 30 years the territory of the western regions of the USSR in terms of living standards will be almost in no way inferior to old Germany. It would seem that these areas are destined for unprecedented development and prosperity, if not for some alarming moments, which I already wrote about above. The destinies of those peoples who have lived on these lands for centuries are completely ignored. As if these areas are generally deserted and deserted. And it is only briefly mentioned (but clearly, unambiguously and concretely) that all land and real estate in the "eastern regions" can only belong to Germans. And also the fact that in the development of areas will be widely used the labor of prisoners of war (Kriegsgefanden) and cheap foreign labor (billige fremdvoelkische Arbeitkraefte).
In general, the implementation of the program for the development of the eastern territories will require:
* in the first and second five-year plans 450 thousand workers,
* in the third five-year plan, 300 thousand workers,
* in the fourth five-year plan, 150 thousand workers,
* 90 thousand workers in the fifth five-year plan.
If we turn to the Ost plan regarding the sources of labor, it turns out that German workers will be used only for the construction of a network of highways of national importance (autobahns), and German settlers to a small extent for work on the cultivation of the area (reclamation, drainage of swamps, watering of arid lands, etc. etc.). Consequently, most of these tens of thousands of workers are prisoners of war and cheap foreign workers (like the labor service of the population of occupied European countries). I already wrote about this above.
Thus, the welfare of the new German lands will be created by someone else's hands.
This concludes the first part of the article. In the second part of the article, we will consider whose hands the "eastern space" will be transformed according to the intention of the creators of the Ost plan and what fate they prepared for those who lived for centuries east of the Vistula, in the Baltic states, on the Dnieper, in the Crimea.
Sources and Literature.
1. Generalpan Ost. Juni 1942. Kopie aus dem Bundesarchiv. Berlin-Licherfelde. 2009
2. Website rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2566853.
3. Wikipedia site (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezirk_Bialystok).
4. Small atlas of the world. Federal Service of Geodesy and Cartography of Russia. Moscow. 2002
5.G.Beddecker. Woe to the vanquished. Refugees of the III Reich 1944-1945. Eksmo. Moscow. 2006
6. "Voenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal" No. 1-1965, pp. 82-83.
7 B. Lee Davis Uniforms of the Third Reich. AST. Moscow. 2000
8.A Hitler. My struggle. T-OKO. Moscow. 1992
Recently, NTV once again drew public attention to the topic of the Ost master plan, announcing that for the first time a text has been published in the public domain ... which has colossal historical value. In fact, the text of the document under discussion had long been “widely available” on the same website, it was simply added to its facsimile from the Bundesarchive (however, this is not the only inaccuracy in this short reportage). Having participated in a couple of regular discussions on the topic of GPO, I realized that I was tired of repeating the same thing over and over again, and I decided to systematize the main questions and answers to them. Of course, this text is a “working” version and does not pretend to be a final closure of the topic of the “master plan”.
The following questions are most often encountered:
1. What is the "General Plan Ost?"
2. What is the history of the occurrence of GPO? What documents relate to it?
3. What is the content of the GPO?
4. In fact, the GPO was developed by a minor official, is it worth taking it seriously?
5. The plan does not have the signature of Hitler or any other high official of the Reich, which means that it is invalid.
6. GPO was a purely theoretical concept.
7. Implementing such a plan is unrealistic.
8. When were the documents for the Ost plan discovered? Is it possible that they are falsified?
9. What can you read more about GPO?
1. What is the "General Plan Ost?"
Under the "General Plan Ost" (GPO) modern historians understand a set of plans, draft plans and memorandums devoted to the settlement of the so-called. "Eastern territories" (Poland and the Soviet Union) in the event of a German victory in the war. The concept of the GPO was developed on the basis of the Nazi racial doctrine under the patronage of the Reichskommissariat for the Strengthening of German Statehood (RKF), which was headed by SS Reichsfuehrer Himmler, and was supposed to serve as a theoretical foundation for the colonization and Germanization of the occupied territories.
2. What is the history of the occurrence of GPO? What documents relate to it?
A general overview of the documents is given in the following table (with links to the materials posted on the web):
| Name | date | Volume | Prepared by | Original | Colonization objects |
|
| 1 | Planungsgrundlagen (Planning Basics) | February 1940 | 21 pages | RKF planning department | BA, R 49/157, S.1-21 | Western regions of Poland |
| 2 | Materialien zum Vortrag "Siedlung" (materials for the report "Settlement") | December 1940 | 5 p. | RKF planning department | facsimile in G. Aly, S. Heim "Bevölkerungsstruktur und Massenmord" (pp. 29-32) | Poland |
| 3 | Generalplan Ost (master plan Ost) | July 1941 | ? | RKF planning department | lost, dating by cover letter | ? |
| 4 | Gesamtplan Ost (cumulative plan Ost) | December 1941 | ? | planning group III B RSHA | lost; lengthy review of Dr. Wetzel (Stellungnahme und Gedanken zum Generalplan Ost des Reichsführers SS, 27.04.1942, NG-2325 | The Baltic States, Ingermanlandia; Poland, Belarus, Ukraine (strong points); Crimea (?) |
| 5 | Generalplan Ost (master plan Ost) | May 1942 | Chapter 84 | Institute for Agriculture at the University of Berlin BA, R 49 / 157a, facsimile | BA, R 49 / 157a, facsimile | The Baltic States, Ingermanlandia, Gotengau; Poland, Belarus, Ukraine (strong points) |
| 6 | Generalsiedlungsplan (master settlement plan) | October-December 1942 | planned 200 pages, prepared a general outline of the plan and the main digital indicators | RKF planning department | BA, R 49/984 | Luxembourg, Alsace, Lorraine, Czech Republic, Styria, Baltic, Poland |
Work on plans for the settlement of the eastern territories began almost immediately after the creation of the Reichskommissariat to strengthen German statehood in October 1939. Headed by prof. Konrad Mayer, the planning department of the RKF presented the first plan for the settlement of the western regions of Poland annexed to the Reich already in February 1940. It was under the leadership of Mayer that five of the six above documents were prepared (the Institute of Agriculture, which appears in document 5, was directed by the same Mayer ). It should be noted that the RKF was not the only agency that thought about the future of the eastern territories, similar work was carried out in the Rosenberg ministry and in the department responsible for the four-year plan, which was headed by Goering (the so-called Green Folder). It is this competitive situation that explains, in particular, the criticality of the recall of the employee of the Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Territories Wetzel on the version of the Ost plan presented by the RSHA planning group (document 4). Nevertheless, Himmler, not least thanks to the success of the propaganda exhibition "Planning and Building a New Order in the East" in March 1941, managed to gradually achieve dominance. Document 5, for example, speaks of "the priority of the Reich Commissioner for strengthening German statehood in matters of settlement (colonized territories) and planning."
To understand the logic of the development of the GPO, two comments of Himmler on the plans presented by Mayer are important. In the first, from 06/12/42 (BA, NS 19/1739, Russian translation), Himmler demands to expand the plan to include not only the "eastern", but also other territories subject to Germanization (West Prussia, Czech Republic, Alsace-Lorraine, etc.). and to shorten the time frame and set the goal of complete Germanization of Estonia, Latvia and the entire governorship general.
The consequence of this was the renaming of the GPO into a "general settlement plan" (document 6), while, however, some territories that were present in the document 5 dropped out of the plan, to which Himmler immediately draws attention (letter to Mayer dated 01/12/1943, BA, NS 19 / 1739): "The eastern territories for settlement should include Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ingermanland, as well as Crimea and Tavria [...] The named territories should be fully Germanized / fully populated."
Mayer never presented the next version of the plan: the course of the war made further work on it pointless.
3. What is the content of the GPO?
The following table uses the data systematized by M. Burchard:
| Territory of settlement | Number of immigrants | Population subject to eviction / not subject to Germanization | Cost estimation | |
| 1. | 87,600 sq. Km | 4.3 million | 560,000 Jews, 3.4 million Poles in the first stage | - |
| 2. | 130,000 sq. Km | 480,000 farms | - | - |
| 3. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 4. | 700,000 sq. Km | 1-2 million German families and 10 million foreigners with Aryan blood | 31 million (80-85% Poles, 75% Belarusians, 65% Ukrainians, 50% Czechs) | - |
| 5. | 364,231 sq. Km | 5.65 million | min. 25 million (90% Poles, 50% Estonians, more than 50% Latvians, 85% Lithuanians) | 66 billion RM |
| 6. | 330,000 sq. Km | 12.21 million | 30.8 million (95% Poles, 50% Estonians, 70% Latvians, 85% Lithuanians, 50% French, Czechs and Slovenes) | 144 billion RM |
Let us dwell in more detail on the fully preserved and most elaborated document 5: it is supposed to be implemented in stages within 25 years, quotas of Germanization for various nationalities are introduced, it is proposed to prohibit the indigenous population from owning property in cities in order to displace it into the countryside and use it in agriculture. To control territories with an initially predominant German population, the form of margrave is introduced, the first three: Ingermanlandia (Leningrad Oblast), Gotengau (Crimea, Kherson), and Memel-Narev (Lithuania - Bialystok). In Ingermanland, the population of cities should be reduced from 3 million to 200 thousand. In Poland, Belarus, the Baltic States, Ukraine, a network of 36 strong points is being formed, providing effective communication between the margraves and the metropolis (see reconstruction). In 25-30 years, the margraves should be Germanized by 50%, and the strong points by 25-30% (In the already known review, Himmler demanded to reduce the implementation period of the plan to 20 years, to think over the complete Germanization of Estonia and Latvia and more active Germanization of Poland).
In conclusion, it is emphasized that the success of the settlement program will depend on the will and colonization power of the Germans, and if it passes these tests, then the nextgeneration will be able to close the northern and southern flanks of colonization (i.e., populate Ukraine and central Russia.)
It should be noted that in documents 5 and 6 there are no specific numbers of residents to be evicted, they are, however, derived from the difference between the actual number of residents and the planned one (taking into account German immigrants and the local population suitable for Germanization). As territories to which residents are not suitable for Germanization are called Western Siberia in document 4. The leaders of the Reich have repeatedly spoken about the desire to Germanize the European territory of Russia to the Urals.
From a racial point of view, Russians were considered the least Germanici
by the people, who were also poisoned for 25 years by the poison of “Judo-Bolshevism”. How the policy of decimation of the Slavic population would have been carried out is difficult to say unequivocally. According to one of the testimonies, Himmler, before the start of Operation Barbarossa, called the goal of the campaign against Russia “ decrease in the Slavic population by 30 million". Wetzel wrote about measures to reduce the birth rate (encouraging abortion, sterilization, refusal to combat infant mortality, etc.), Hitler himself expressed himself more directly: “ Locals? We'll have to filter them. We will kill the destructive Jews
rem in general. So far, my impression of the Belarusian territory is better than that of the Ukrainian one. We will not go to Russian cities, they must completely die out. We must not torment ourselves with remorse. We do not need to get used to the role of a nanny, we have no obligations to the local residents. Repairing houses, catching lice, German teachers, newspapers? No! Better we open a radio station under our control, but otherwise they just need to know the traffic signs so as not to get in our way! By freedom, these people understand the right to wash only on holidays. If we come with shampoo, it will not arouse sympathy. There you need to retrain. There is only one task: to carry out Germanization by bringing in Germans, and the former inhabitants must be regarded as Indians.»
4. In fact, the GPO was developed by a minor official, it costs
should it be taken seriously?
Petty official prof. Konrad Mayer was not. As mentioned above, he headed the planning department of the RKF, andalso the land department of the same Reichskommissariat and the Institute of Agriculture at the University of Berlin. He was the Standartenführer, and later Oberführer (in the military table of ranks above Colonel, but below Major General) of the SS. By the way, another popular misconception is that the GPO was allegedly a figment of the inflamed imagination of a mad SS man. This is also not true: agrarians, economists, managers and other specialists from the academic community worked on the GPO. For example, in the cover letter for document 5 Mayer write
about assistance " my closest associates in the planning department and the main land office, as well as financial expert Dr. Besler (Jena)". Additional funding went through the German Research Society (DFG): from 1941 to 1945, 510 thousand RM were allocated for "scientific and planning work to strengthen German statehood", of which 60-70 thousand were spent by Mayer to its working group, the rest went as grants to scientists who conducted research relevant to RKF. For comparison, the maintenance of a scientist with a scientific degree cost about 6 thousand RM per year (data from the report of I. Heinemann.)
It is important to note that Mayer worked on the GPO on the initiative and on the instructions of the RKF chief Himmler and in close connection with him, while the correspondence was carried out both through the head of the RKF headquarters Greifelt, and directly. The photographs taken during the exhibition "Planning and Building a New Order in the East", in which Mayer speaks to Himmler, Hess, Heydrich and Todt, are widely known.
5. The plan does not have the signature of Hitler or any other Nazi leader, which means that it is invalid.
The GPO actually did not advance beyond the design stage, which was in no small measure facilitated by the course of hostilities - from 1943 the plan began to quickly lose relevance. Of course, the GPO was not signed by either Hitler or anyone else, since it was a plan for the post-war settlement of the occupied regions. In the very first sentence of document 5, this is stated directly: “ Thanks to German weapons, the eastern territories, which have been the object of disputes that have lasted for many centuries, are finally annexed to the Reich.».
Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to deduce from this the disinterest of Hitler and the Reich leadership in the GPO. As shown above, the work on the plan took place on the instructions and under the constant patronage of Himmler, who, in turn, “ I would like to convey this plan to the Fuehrer at a convenient time"(Letter dated 12.06.1942)
Let us recall that already in Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote: “ We stop the eternal advance of the Germans to the south and west of Europe and direct our gaze to the eastern lands". The concept of "living space in the east" was repeatedly mentioned by the Fuhrer in the 30s (for example, immediately after coming to power, 02/03/1933, he, speaking before the generals of the Reichswehr, spoke of "the need to conquer living space in the east and its decisive Germanization" ), after the outbreak of the war, it acquired a clear outline. Here is a recording of one of Hitler's monologues from 10/17/1941:
... the Fuhrer once again outlined his thoughts on the development of the eastern regions. The most important thing is the roads. He told Dr. Todt that the original plan he had prepared needed to be expanded considerably. In the next twenty years, he will have three million prisoners at his disposal to solve this problem ... At the great river crossings, German cities should arise in which the Wehrmacht, the police, the administrative apparatus and the party will be based.
German peasant farms will be established along the roads, and the monochromatic Asian-looking steppe will soon take on a completely different look. In 10 years 4 million Germans will move there, in 20 - 10 million Germans. They will come not only from the Reich, but also from America, as well as Scandinavia, Holland and Flanders. The rest of Europe can also take part in the annexation of the Russian expanses. In Russian cities, those that will survive the war - Moscow and Leningrad should not survive it at any time - the foot of a German should not step. They have to vegetate in their own shit off the German roads. The Fuhrer again touched upon the topic that "contrary to the opinion of individual headquarters" neither the education of the local population, nor the care of it should be engaged ...
He, the Fuhrer, will introduce new management with an iron fist, what the Slavs will think about this does not touch him at all. Anyone who eats German bread today does not think too much about the fact that the fields east of the Elbe were conquered by the sword in the 12th century.
Of course, his subordinates also echoed him. For example, on October 2, 1941, Heydrich described the future colonization as follows:
D Other lands - the eastern lands, partly inhabited by Slavs, are lands on which one must clearly understand that kindness will be perceived as a manifestation of weakness. These are lands where the Slav himself does not want to have equal rights with the master, where he is used to being in the service. These are lands in the east that we will have to manage and hold. These are the lands where, after the solution of the military issue to the Urals, German administration should be introduced, and they should serve us as a source of minerals, labor, like helots, roughly speaking. These are lands that must be treated as when building a dam and draining the coast: a protective wall is being built far to the east, enclosing them from Asian storms, and from the west, the gradual annexation of these lands to the Reich begins. From this point of view, it is necessary to consider what is happening in the east. The first step will be the creation of a protectorate from the provinces of Danzig-West Prussia and Warthegau. A year ago, another eight million Poles lived in these provinces, as well as in East Prussia and the Silesian part. These are lands that will gradually be populated by the Germans, the Polish element will be squeezed out step by step. These are lands that in due time will become completely German. And then further east, to the Baltics, which will also in due time become completely German, although here you need to consider what part of the blood of Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians is suitable for Germanization. The best in the racial sense are Estonians, they have strong Swedish influences, then Latvians, and the worst are Lithuanians.
Then it will be the turn of the rest of Poland, this is the next territory, which should be gradually populated by the Germans, and the Poles should be squeezed further east. Then Ukraine, which at first as an interim
the weft solution should be, of course, still dormant in the subconscious of the national idea, separated from the rest of Russia and used as a source of minerals and food under German control. Of course, not allowing the people there to gain a foothold or strengthen, increasing their educational level, since this could later grow into opposition, which, with the weakening of the central government, will strive for independence ...
A year later, on 11/23/1942, Himmler said the same thing:
The main colony of our Reich lies in the east. Today - the colony, tomorrow - the settlement area, the day after tomorrow - the Reich! [...] If Russia is likely to be defeated in a bitter struggle next year or a year from now, we still have a great task ahead of us. After the victory of the Germanic peoples, the settlement space in the east must be developed, populated and incorporated into European culture. Over the next 20 years - counting from the end of the war - I set myself the task (and I hope that I can solve it with your help) to move the German border about 500 km to the east. This means that we must resettle farm families there, the resettlement of the best carriers of German blood will begin and the ordering of the million Russian people for our tasks ... 20 years of struggle to achieve peace lie before us ... Then this east will be cleansed of foreign blood and our families will settle there as legal owners.
As you can easily see, all three quotes perfectly correlate with the main provisions of the GPO.
6. GPO was a purely theoretical concept.
In a broad sense, this is true: there is no reason to implement the plan for the post-war settlement of the occupied territories until the war is over. This does not mean, however, that measures for the Germanization of individual regions were not carried out at all. First of all, it should be noted here the western regions of Poland (West Prussia and Warthegau) annexed to the Reich, the settlement of which was mentioned in document 1. in ghettos and extermination camps on their own territory: of the 435,000 Jews in Warthegau, 12,000 survived) by March 1941. more than 280 thousand people were taken out from Warthegau alone. The total number of Poles deported from West Prussia and Warthegau to the General Government is estimated at 365 thousand people. Their yards and apartments were occupied by German settlers, of whom, as of March 1942, there were already 287 thousand in these two regions.
At the end of November 1942, on the initiative of Himmler, the so-called. "Akzia Zamosc", the aim of which was the Germanization of the Zamosc district, which was declared the "first area of German settlement" in the General Government. By August 1943, 110 thousand Poles were evicted: about half were deported, the rest fled on their own, many went to the partisans. To protect future settlers, it was decided to use the enmity between Poles and Ukrainians and create a defensive ring of Ukrainian villages around the settlement area. Due to the lack of forces to maintain order, the action was stopped in August 1943. By that time, only about 9,000 of the 60,000 planned displaced persons had moved to the Zamosc district.
Finally, in 1943, the German town of Hegewald was created near Himmler's headquarters in Zhitomir: 10,000 Germans took the place of 15,000 Ukrainians expelled from their homes. At the same time, the first settlers went to the Crimea.
All these activities are also quite correlated with GPO. It is interesting to note that prof. During his business trips, Mayer visited Western Poland, Zamosc, Zhitomir, and Crimea, that is, he assessed the feasibility of his concept on the ground.
7. Implementing such a plan is unrealistic.
Of course, one can only guess about the reality of the implementation of the GPO in the form in which it is described in the documents that have come down to us. We are talking about the resettlement of tens of millions (and, most likely, the extermination of millions) of people, the need for resettlers is estimated at 5-10 million people. The discontent of the expelled population and, as a result, a new round of armed struggle against the occupiers are practically guaranteed. It is unlikely that the settlers would have rushed to the area where the partisan war continues.
On the other hand, we are talking not just about the idea-fix of the leadership of the Reich, but also about scientists (economists, planners, managers) who projected this idea-fix onto reality: no supernatural or impracticable obligations were set, the task of Germanizing the Baltic, Ingermanland, Crimea, Poland, parts of Ukraine and Belarus had to be solved in small steps for 20 years, along the way, details (for example, the percentage of suitability for Germanization) would be adjusted and clarified. As for the "unreality of the GPO" in terms of scale, we must not forget that, for example, the number of Germans expelled during and after the end of World War II from the territories in which they lived is also described by an eight-digit number. And it took not 20 years, but five times less.
The hopes (expressed today, mainly by the adherents of General Vlasov and other collaborators) that some part of the occupied territories would gain independence or at least self-government, are not reflected in real Nazi plans (see, for example, Hitler in Bormann's notes, 07.16.41:
... we will again emphasize that we were forced to occupy this or that area, put it in order and secure it. In the interests of the population, we are forced to take care of peace, food, communication routes, etc., so we are introducing our own rules here. No one should recognize that in this way we are introducing our own rules forever! All the necessary measures - executions, evictions, etc., we, in spite of this, carry out and can carry out.
However, we do not want to prematurely turn anyone into our enemies. Therefore, for now, we will act as if this area is a mandated territory. But we ourselves should be perfectly clear that we will never leave it. [...]
The most basic:
Formations to the west of the Urals of a power capable of waging war should never be allowed, even if we will have to fight for another hundred years. All successors to the Fuhrer should know: the Reich will only be safe if there is no foreign army to the west of the Urals, Germany takes upon itself the protection of this space from all possible threats.
The iron law should read: "Nobody except Germans should ever be allowed to carry weapons!"
.
At the same time, it makes no sense to compare the situation of 1941–42 with the situation of 1944, when the Nazis made promises much easier, since they were glad of almost any help: an active conscription began in the ROA, Bandera was released, etc. Like the Nazis belonged to the allies who pursued goals not approved in Berlin, including those who stood up for (albeit puppet) independence in 1941-42, clearly shows the example of the same Bandera.
8. When were the documents for the Ost plan discovered? Is it possible that they are falsified?
The recall of Dr. Wetzel and a number of accompanying documents appeared already at the Nuremberg trials, documents 5 and 6 were discovered in American archives and published by Czeslaw Madayczyk (Przeglad Zachodni Nr. 3 1961).
Theoretically, the possibility that this or that document is falsified always exists. In this case, however, it is important that we are dealing not with one or two, but with a whole complex of documents, which includes not only the main ones discussed above, but also various accompanying notes, reviews, letters, minutes - in the classic Ch. Madaychik's collection contains more than one hundred relevant documents. Therefore, it is absolutely not enough to call one document a falsification, taking it out of the context of the rest. If, for example, document 6 is falsification, then what does Himmler write to Mayer in his response to it? Or, if Himmler's review of 06/12/42 is a falsification, then why document 6 embodies the instructions contained in this review? And most importantly, why do the documents of the GPO, if they are falsified, correlate so well with the statements of Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, etc.?
Those. here it is necessary to build a whole conspiracy theory, explaining by whose malicious intent the documents and speeches of Nazi bosses found at different times in different archives are built into a whole picture. And to question the reliability of individual documents (as some authors do, counting on the ignorance of the reading public) is quite meaningless.
First of all, books in German:
Collection of documents compiled by C. Madayczyk Vom Generalplan Ost zum Generalsiedlungsplan, Saur, München 1994;
Mechthild Rössler, Sabine Schleiermacher (Hrsg.): Der "Generalplan Ost". Hauptlinien der nationalsozialistischen Planungs- und Vernichtungspolitik, Akademie, Berlin 1993;
Rolf-Dieter Müller: Hitlers Ostkrieg und die deutsche Siedlungspolitik, Frankfurt am Main 1991;
Isabel Heinemann: Rasse, Siedlung, deutsches Blut. Das Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt der SS und die rassenpolitische Neuordnung Europas, Wallstein: Göttingen 2003 (partially available)
There are many materials, including those used above, on the thematic site of M. Burkhard.
General plan "Ost"(it. Generalplan Ost) - a secret plan of the German government of the Third Reich to carry out ethnic cleansing in Eastern Europe and its German colonization after the victory over the USSR.
A version of the plan was developed in 1941 by the General Directorate of Imperial Security and presented on May 28, 1942 by an employee of the Office of the Staff of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of the German People, SS Oberfuehrer Meyer-Hetling under the title "General Plan Ost - the foundations of the legal, economic and territorial structure of the East." The text of this document was found in the federal archives of Germany in the late 1980s, some documents from there were presented at the exhibition in 1991, but was completely digitized and published only in November-December 2009.
At the Nuremberg Trials, the only evidence of the plan's existence was the "Comments and Proposals of the Eastern Ministry on the Ost Master Plan", according to prosecutors, written on April 27, 1942 by E. Wetzel, an employee of the Ministry of Eastern Territories, after reviewing the draft plan prepared by the RSHA.
Rosenberg project
The master plan was preceded by a project developed by the Reich Ministry of the Occupied Territories, led by Alfred Rosenberg. On May 9, 1941, Rosenberg presented the Fuehrer with draft directives on policy issues in the territories to be occupied as a result of aggression against the USSR.
Rosenberg proposed to create five governorates on the territory of the USSR. Hitler opposed the autonomy of Ukraine and replaced the term "governorship" for it with "Reichskommissariat". As a result, Rosenberg's ideas took the following forms of embodiment.
- Ostland - was supposed to include Belarus, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Ostland, where, according to Rosenberg, a population with Aryan blood lived, was subject to complete Germanization within two generations.
- Ukraine - would include the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR, Crimea, a number of territories along the Don and Volga, as well as the lands of the abolished Soviet Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans. According to Rosenberg's idea, the governorship was to receive autonomy and become the mainstay of the Third Reich in the East.
- Caucasus - would include the republics of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia and would separate Russia from the Black Sea.
- Muscovy - Russia to the Urals.
- Turkestan was to become the fifth governorate.
The success of the German campaign in the summer and autumn of 1941 led to a revision and toughening of the plans of the Germans in relation to the eastern lands, and as a result, the Ost plan was born.
Description of the plan
According to some reports, the "Plan" Ost "" was divided into two - "Small plan" (German. Kleine planung) and "Big Plan" (it. Große Planung). A small plan was to be carried out during the war. The German government wanted to focus on the Big Plan after the war. The plan provided for a different percentage of Germanization for various conquered Slavic and other peoples. The "non-Germanized" were to be evicted to Western Siberia or subjected to physical destruction. The execution of the plan was to ensure that the conquered territories would acquire an irrevocably German character.
Wetzel's remarks and suggestions
Among historians, a document known as "Remarks and Proposals of the" Eastern Ministry "on the general plan" Ost "has become widespread. The text of this document has often been presented as Plan Ost itself, although it has little in common with the text of the Plan published at the end of 2009.
Wetzel envisioned the expulsion of tens of millions of Slavs beyond the Urals. The Poles, according to Wetzel, "were the most hostile to the Germans, numerically large and therefore the most dangerous people."
"Generalplan Ost", it should be understood, also meant "The Final Solution of the Jewish Question" (German. Endlösung der judenfrage), according to which the Jews were subject to total annihilation:
In the Baltics, Latvians were considered more suitable for "Germanization", but Lithuanians and Latgalians were not, because there were too many "Slavic admixtures" among them. According to Wetzel's proposals, the Russian people had to be subjected to such measures as assimilation ("Germanization") and population reduction through a reduction in the birth rate - such actions are defined as genocide.
Developed variants of the plan "Ost"
The following documents were developed by the planning team Gr. lll B Planning Service of the General Staff Directorate of the Reichskommissar for the Consolidation of the German People, Heinrich Himmler (Reichskommissar für die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums (RKFDV) and the Institute for Agrarian Policy of the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin:
- Document 1: "Fundamentals of Planning" created in February 1940 by the planning service of the RKFDV (length: 21 pages). Contents: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in West Prussia and Wartheland. The colonization area was supposed to be 87,600 km², of which 59,000 km² of agricultural land. On this territory, about 100,000 settlement farms were to be created, 29 hectares each. It was planned to relocate about 4.3 million Germans to this territory; of which 3.15 million to rural areas and 1.15 million to cities. At the same time, 560,000 Jews (100% of the region's population of this nationality) and 3.4 million Poles (44% of the region's population of this nationality) were to be gradually eliminated. The costs of implementing these plans have not been estimated.
- Document 2: Materials for the Colonization Report, developed in December 1940 by the RKFDV Planning Service (5 pages). Content: Fundamental article to "The need for territories for forced resettlement from the Old Reich" with a specific requirement for 130,000 km2 of land for 480,000 new viable settlements of 25 hectares each, as well as in addition 40% of the territory for forest, for the needs of the army and reserve areas in Wartheland and Poland.
Documents created after the attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941
- Document 3 (disappeared, the exact content is unknown): "Ost Master Plan", created in July 1941 by the planning service of the RKFDV. Content: Description of the size of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR with the boundaries of specific areas of colonization.
- Document 4 (lost, exact content unknown): "General Plan Ost", created in December 1941 by the planning team Gr. lll B RSHA. Contents: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR and the general government with the specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement.
- Document 5: "Master Plan Ost", created in May 1942 by the Institute of Agriculture and Politics, Friedrich-Wilhelm University Berlin (volume 68 pages).
Content: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR with the specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement. The colonization area was supposed to cover 364,231 km², including 36 strong points and three administrative districts in the Leningrad region, the Kherson-Crimean region and in the Bialystok region. At the same time, settlement farms with an area of 40-100 hectares were to appear, as well as large agricultural enterprises with an area of at least 250 hectares. The required number of settlers was estimated at 5.65 million. The areas planned for settlement were to be cleared of approximately 25 million people. The cost of implementing the plan was estimated at 66.6 billion Reichsmarks.
- Document 6: "General Plan of Colonization" (German. Generalsiedlungsplan), created in September 1942 by the planning service of the RKF (volume: 200 pages, including 25 maps and tables).
Content: Description of the scale of the planned colonization of all areas provided for this with specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement. The region was supposed to cover an area of 330,000 km² with 360,100 farms. The required number of settlers was estimated at 12.21 million people (of which 2.859 million are peasants and employed in forestry). The planned settlement area was to be cleared of approximately 30.8 million people. The cost of implementing the plan was estimated at 144 billion Reichsmarks.
Plan
Introduction
1 Rosenberg Project
2 Description of the plan
3 Wetzel's remarks and suggestions
4 Developed variants of the plan "Ost"
4.1 Documents created after the attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941
Bibliography
General plan "Ost" (it. Generalplan Ost) - a secret plan of the German government of the Third Reich to carry out ethnic cleansing in Eastern Europe and its German colonization after the victory over the USSR ..
A version of the plan was developed in 1941 by the General Directorate of Imperial Security and presented on May 28, 1942 by an employee of the Office of the Staff of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of the German People, SS Oberfuehrer Konrad Meyer-Hetling under the name "General Plan" Ost "- the foundations of the legal, economic and territorial structure East ". The text of this document was found in the federal archives of Germany in the late 1980s, some documents from there were presented at the exhibition in 1991, but was completely digitized and published only in November-December 2009.
At the Nuremberg Trials, the only evidence of the plan's existence was the "Comments and Proposals of the Eastern Ministry on the Ost Master Plan", according to prosecutors, written on April 27, 1942 by E. Wetzel, an employee of the Ministry of Eastern Territories, after reviewing the draft plan prepared by the RSHA.
1. Rosenberg's project
The master plan was preceded by a project developed by the Reich Ministry of the Occupied Territories, led by Alfred Rosenberg. On May 9, 1941, Rosenberg presented the Fuehrer with draft directives on policy issues in the territories to be occupied as a result of aggression against the USSR.
Rosenberg proposed to create five governorates on the territory of the USSR. Hitler opposed the autonomy of Ukraine and replaced the term "governorship" for it with "Reichskommissariat". As a result, Rosenberg's ideas took the following forms of embodiment.
· Ostland - was supposed to include Belarus, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Ostland, where, according to Rosenberg, a population with Aryan blood lived, was subject to complete Germanization within two generations.
· Ukraine - would include the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR, Crimea, a number of territories along the Don and Volga, as well as the lands of the abolished Soviet Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans. According to Rosenberg's idea, the governorship was to receive autonomy and become the mainstay of the Third Reich in the East.
· Caucasus - would include the republics of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia and would separate Russia from the Black Sea.
· Muscovy - Russia to the Urals.
· Turkestan was to become the fifth governorate.
The success of the German campaign in the summer and autumn of 1941 led to a revision and toughening of the plans of the Germans in relation to the eastern lands, and as a result, the Ost plan was born.
2. Description of the plan
According to some reports, the "Plan" Ost "" was divided into two - "Small plan" (German. Kleine planung) and "Big Plan" (it. Große Planung). A small plan was to be carried out during the war. The German government wanted to focus on the Big Plan after the war. The plan provided for a different percentage of Germanization for various conquered Slavic and other peoples. The "non-Germanized" were to be evicted to Western Siberia or subjected to physical destruction. The execution of the plan was to ensure that the conquered territories would acquire an irrevocably German character.
3. Wetzel's remarks and suggestions
Among historians, a document known as "Remarks and Proposals of the" Eastern Ministry "on the general plan" Ost "has become widespread. The text of this document has often been presented as “Plan Ost” itself, although it has little in common with the text of the Plan published in late 2009.
Wetzel envisioned the expulsion of tens of millions of Slavs beyond the Urals. The Poles, according to Wetzel, "were the most hostile to the Germans, numerically large and therefore the most dangerous people."
"Generalplan Ost", it should be understood, also meant "The Final Solution of the Jewish Question" (German. Endlösung der judenfrage), according to which the Jews were subject to total annihilation:
The number of people to be evicted according to the plan should in reality be much higher than envisaged. Only if we take into account that approximately 5-6 million Jews living in this territory will be liquidated even before the eviction is carried out, we can agree with the figure mentioned in the plan of 45 million local residents of non-German origin. However, it can be seen from the plan that Jews are also included in the mentioned 45 million people. From this, therefore, it follows that the plan proceeds from a clearly incorrect calculation of the population. From Wetzel's comments and proposals on the Ost master plan
In the Baltics, Latvians were considered more suitable for "Germanization", but Lithuanians and Latgalians were not, because there were too many "Slavic admixtures" among them. According to Wetzel's proposals, the Russian people had to be subjected to such measures as assimilation ("Germanization") and population reduction through a reduction in the birth rate - such actions are defined as genocide.
From the directive of A. Hitler to the Minister of Affairs
Eastern territories A. Rosenberg
on the introduction of the General Plan "Ost"
(23 July 1942)
The Slavs must work for us, and if we no longer need them, let them die. Vaccinations and health care are superfluous for them. Slavic fertility is undesirable ... education is dangerous. It is enough if they can count to a hundred ...
Every educated person is our future enemy. All sentimental objections should be discarded. We need to rule this people with iron determination ...
In military terms, we must kill three to four million Russians a year.
4. Developed variants of the plan "Ost"
The following documents were developed by the planning team Gr. lll B Planning Service of the General Staff Directorate of the Reichskommissar for the Consolidation of the German People, Heinrich Himmler (Reichskommissar für die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums (RKFDV) and the Institute for Agrarian Policy of the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin:
· Document 1: "Basics of Planning" created in February 1940 by the planning service of the RKFDV (length: 21 pages). Contents: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in West Prussia and Wartheland. The colonization area was supposed to be 87,600 km², of which 59,000 km² of agricultural land. On this territory, about 100,000 settlement farms were to be created, 29 hectares each. It was planned to relocate about 4.3 million Germans to this territory; of which 3.15 million to rural areas and 1.15 million to cities. At the same time, 560,000 Jews (100% of the region's population of this nationality) and 3.4 million Poles (44% of the region's population of this nationality) were to be gradually eliminated. The costs of implementing these plans have not been estimated.
· Document 2: Materials for the Colonization Report, developed in December 1940 by the RKFDV Planning Service (5 pages). Content: Fundamental article to "The need for territories for forced resettlement from the Old Reich" with a specific requirement for 130,000 km2 of land for 480,000 new viable settlements of 25 hectares each, as well as in addition 40% of the territory for forest, for the needs of the army and reserve areas in Wartheland and Poland.
· Document 3 (missing, exact content unknown): "Ost Master Plan", created in July 1941 by the planning service of the RKFDV. Content: Description of the size of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR with the boundaries of specific areas of colonization.
· Document 4 (lost, exact content unknown): "General Plan Ost", created in December 1941 by the planning team Gr. lll B RSHA. Contents: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR and the general government with the specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement.
· Document 5: "Master Plan Ost", created in May 1942 by the Institute for Agriculture and Politics, Friedrich-Wilhelm University Berlin (volume 68 pages).
Content: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR with the specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement. The colonization area was supposed to cover 364,231 km², including 36 strong points and three administrative districts in the Leningrad region, the Kherson-Crimean region and in the Bialystok region. At the same time, settlement farms with an area of 40-100 hectares were to appear, as well as large agricultural enterprises with an area of at least 250 hectares. The required number of settlers was estimated at 5.65 million. The areas planned for settlement were to be cleared of approximately 25 million people. The cost of implementing the plan was estimated at 66.6 billion Reichsmarks.
· Document 6: Colonization Master Plan (German. Generalsiedlungsplan), created in September 1942 by the planning service of the RKF (volume: 200 pages, including 25 maps and tables).
Content: Description of the scale of the planned colonization of all areas provided for this with specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement. The region was supposed to cover an area of 330,000 km² with 360,100 farms. The required number of settlers was estimated at 12.21 million people (of which 2.859 million are peasants and employed in forestry). The planned settlement area was to be cleared of approximately 30.8 million people. The cost of implementing the plan was estimated at 144 billion Reichsmarks.
Bibliography:
1. DIETRICH EICHHOLTZ "" Generalplan Ost "zur Versklavung osteuropäischer Völker"
2. Olga SOROKINA... Ethnic groups in the occupied territory of the USSR during the Second World War
3. Zitat aus dem universitären Generalplan Ost vom Mai 1942 in einem Berliner Ausstellungskatalog 1991 bei falscher Quellen- und Datenangabe hier
4. Generalplan Ost Rechtliche, wirtschaftliche und räumliche Grundlagen des Ostaufbaus, Vorgelegt von SS-Oberführer Professor Dr. XX, Berlin-Dahlem, 28 May 1942
5. Comments and proposals of the "Eastern Ministry" on the general plan "Ost"
6. Sowiet Union, Berlin, 3 n WFSt / W Pr (IVa) / 3600/41; Juni 1941 // Ortwin Buchbender. Das tonende Erz. Deutsche Propaganda gegen die Rote Armee im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Seewald Verlag Stuttgart, 1978, ISBN 3-512-00473-3, p. 30-32
7. Comments and proposals of the "Eastern Ministry" on the master plan "Ost" / Scientific and educational journal "Skepsis"
8. UN Resolution (260 A (III). Article II, paragraph d)
9. If not for VICTORY ... Information and reference portal Gorod48.ru
10. Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed on 07/10/1939 by Adolf Hitler as Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of the German People with the task of coordinating all actions of the Main Directorate of the SS for Race and Settlements and the Main Directorate of the SS for the repatriation of ethnic Germans "Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle", as well as colonization of the occupied territories. In 1939, G. Himmler formed the Headquarters of the Reich Commissioner, which in June 1941 received the status of the Main Directorate of the SS. At the head of this department was SS Obergruppenfuehrer and Police General Ulrich Greifelt.
11. Auf der Wewelsburg als ideologischer Zentrale der SS hatte Himmler im Juni 1941 vor Beginn von "Unternehmen Barbarossa" in der einzigen SS-Gruppenführertagung, die dort je stattfand, das Ziel des Russlandfeldzuges: angek die Dezimierung der Bevölkerung der slawischen Nachbarländer um 30 Millionen."(Vgl. Richard Breitman, Heinrich Himmler. Der Architekt der" Endlösung ", München-Zürich 2000, S. 393, Anm. 12.)
