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{{Short description|Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as occupied by Germany during the Second World War}}
{{title lang|de}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = {{Lang|de|Reichskommissariat Ostland}}
| status                 = {{lang|de|[[Reichskommissariat]]}} of [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| image_flag             = Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg
| image_coat             = Reichsadler.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| flag_type              = [[Flag of Nazi Germany]]
| coa_size               = 100px
| symbol_type            = [[Coat of arms of Germany#Nazi Germany|Emblem]]
| anthems                = 
| national_anthem        = {{Lang|de|[[Horst-Wessel-Lied]]}}{{hsp}}<br />("The Horst Wessel Song")<br />{{parabr}}{{center|[[File:Horst Wessel-Lied Instrumental.mp3]]}}
| image_map              = Reichskommissariat Ostland (1942).svg
| image_map_caption      = {{Lang|de|Reichskommissariat Ostland}} in 1942
| capital                = [[Riga]]
| empire                 = [[Nazi Germany]]
| common_languages       = *[[German language |German]] (official)<!--in alphabetical order-->
*[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]
*[[Estonian language|Estonian]]
*[[Latvian language|Latvian]]
*[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]
*[[Polish language|Polish]]
*[[Russian language|Russian]]
*[[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]
| religion               = *[[Eastern Orthodox]]y
*[[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]
*[[Protestant]]ism
*[[Judaism]]
| demonym                = 
| stat_year1             = 
| stat_pop1              = 
| stat_area1             = 
| government_type        = Civil administration
| area_km2               = 
| title_leader           = {{lang|de|[[Reichskommissar]]}}
| leader1                = [[Hinrich Lohse]]
| year_leader1           = 1941&ndash;1944
| leader2                = [[Erich Koch]]
| year_leader2           = 1944&ndash;1945
| era                    = [[World War II]]
| life_span              = 1941&ndash;1945
| event_pre              = {{nowrap|[[Baltic operation]]}}
| date_pre               = 22 June 1941
| event_start            = Established
| date_start             = 17 July 1941
| event1                 = Implement civil administration
| date_event1            = 25 July 1941 at 12:00
| event2                 = [[#Generalbezirk Estland (Estonia)|Estonia added]]
| date_event2            = 5 December 1941
| event3                 = [[#Generalbezirk Weißruthenien (White Ruthenia or Belarus)|Belarus separated]]
| date_event3            = 1 April 1944
| event4                 = Soviets reoccupied Riga
| date_event4            = 13 October 1944
| event_end              = Formally dissolved
| date_end               = 21 January 1945
| event_post             = Surrender of [[Courland Pocket]]
| date_post              = 10 May 1945
| p1                     = Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}{{nowrap|Byelorussian SSR}}
| flag_p1                = Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1927).svg
| p2                     = Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Lithuanian SSR
| flag_p2                = Flag of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1953).svg
| p3                     = Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Latvian SSR
| flag_p3                = Flag of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1953).svg
| p4                     = Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Estonian SSR
| flag_p4                = Flag of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1953).svg
| s1                     = Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}{{nowrap|Byelorussian SSR}}
| flag_s1                = Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1927).svg
| s2                     = Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Lithuanian SSR
| flag_s2                = Flag of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1953).svg
| s3                     = Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Latvian SSR
| flag_s3                = Flag of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1953).svg
| s4                     = Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Estonian SSR
| flag_s4                = Flag of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1953).svg
| currency               = {{lang|de|[[Reichsmark#Occupation Reichsmark| Reichskreditkassenscheine]]}}<br />(''[[de facto]]'')
| today                  = {{ubli|[[Belarus]]|[[Estonia]]|[[Latvia]]|[[Lithuania]]|[[Russia]]}}
}}

The '''{{lang|de|Reichskommissariat Ostland}}''' ('''RKO'''; {{lit|[[Reichskommissariat|Reich Commissariat]] of Eastland}}){{Efn|{{lang|de|"Ostland"}} may be translated less literally as Eastern Country or Eastern Territory, though {{lang|de|Ostland}} has no real equivalence in the English language.}} was an [[Administrative division|administrative entity]] of the [[Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories]] of [[Nazi Germany]] from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German [[Civil authority|civilian]] occupation regime in [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], and <!-- previously northeastern part of Poland, until occupied by USSR in 1939; hence then, in 1941-1944...-->the western part of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]] during the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] of [[World War II]].

''Ostland'' was established after the success of the ''[[Wehrmacht]]''{{'}}s [[Baltic operation]] and an initial period of [[Military occupation|military administration]] by [[Army Group North Rear Area]] based on the equivalent {{lang|de|Reichskommissariat Baltenland}} in German planning documents.<!--("Baltic Land")--><ref>
{{cite book
 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l20PlJtfk0IC
 | chapter= Guidelines for Special Fields (13 March 1941)
 | publisher= Berghahn Books
 | title= Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political And Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940–1941
 | date= 2006 | access-date= 2013-06-25 | first= Alex J. |last=Kay | page= 129 | isbn= 1845451864
 | quote = In the week following [...] 2 May [1941], Alfred Rosenberg produced three papers relating to his preparations for the future administration in the occupied East. The first, dated 7 May, was entitled 'Instruction for a Reich Commissar in the Ukraine'. [...] The second, produced a day later, was its equivalent for the area of ''Baltenland'' (Baltic land), as the Baltic States and Belarus were at this stage being collectively referred to. In his drafting of the paper, Rosenberg crossed through 'Balten' and replaced it with 'Ost'. [...] The designation 'Ostland' would stick.}}</ref> It was divided into ''[[Generalbezirk Estland]]'' (Estonia), ''[[Generalbezirk Lettland]]'' (Latvia), ''[[Generalbezirk Litauen]]'' (Lithuania), and ''[[Generalbezirk Weißruthenien]]'' (Belarus) each with its own [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|Nazi collaborationist]] government and [[Schutzmannschaft|Auxiliary Police]] under the control of a German ''Generalkommissar''. [[Hinrich Lohse]] served as the ''[[Reichskommissar]]'' from 1941 to 1944 and [[Erich Koch]] from 1944 to 1945.

''Ostland'' was part of the [[Generalplan Ost]] which included the [[Holocaust|genocide of the Jewish population]], the deportation and murder of Jews from [[Central Europe]], the expulsion and murder of some of the native non-Jewish population, the settlement of [[Germanic peoples]], and the [[Germanization]] of the rest. The [[SS]] and their ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'' A and B, with active participation of the [[Order Police battalions]] and local Auxiliary Police forces, killed over a million Jews and others in the territory.<ref name="gegenwind">{{cite web |url= http://www.gegenwind.info/175/sonderheft_wehrmacht.pdf |title= Reichskommissariat Ostland: Schleswig-Holsteins Kolonie |last1= Pohl |first1= Reinhard |date= November 1998 |website= Gegenwind |series= Gegenwind-Sonderheft: Schleswig-Holstein und die Verbrechen der Wehrmacht |publisher= Gegenwind, Enough is Enough, and anderes lernen/Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Schleswig-Holstein |pages= 10–12 |language= de |trans-title= Reichskommissariat Ostland: Schleswig-Holstein's Colony | access-date = 2014-03-27 |quote= Vom Einmarsch im Juni 1941 bis Ende Januar 1942, der Niederlage vor Moskau, töteten die deutschen Truppen im 'Ostland' etwa 330.000 Juden, 8359 'Kommunisten', 1044 'Partisanen' und 1644 'Geisteskranke'. [...] Die erste Tötungswelle hatten ungefähr 670.000 Juden überlebt, dazu kamen im Winter 1941/42 noch 50.000 deportierte Juden aus dem Reichsgebiet, die in die Ghettos von Minsk und Riga kamen. [...] Anfang 1943 begann die zweite große Tötungswelle, der mindestens 570.000 Jüdinnen und Juden zum Opfer fielen. [...] Die letzten 100.000 Juden kamen in Konzentrationslager in Kauen, Riga-Kaiserwald, Klooga und Vaivara, sie wurden 1944 beim Heranrücken der Roten Armee liquidiert. |trans-quote=From the invasion in June 1941 until the end of January 1942 (the defeat at Moscow) German troops in 'Ostland' killed approximately 330,000 Jews, 8359 'Communists', 1044 'partisans' and 1644 'mentally ill' people. [...] About 670,000 Jews survived the first wave of killings; in the winter of 1941/1942 another 50,000 Jews deported from the Reich area joined these and ended up in the ghettos of Minsk and Riga. [...] At the beginning of 1943 the second great wave of killings began, in which at least 570,000 Jews<!--not necessary to translate the gender difference in English--> became victims. [...] The final 100,000 Jews entered the concentration camps in Kauen [=&nbsp;Kaunas], Riga-Kaiserwald, Klooga and Vaivara; they were liquidated in 1944 with the advance of the Red Army.}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">[[Czesław Madajczyk]], ed. (1994). [https://books.google.com/books?id=UZoZa3JFgxMC&q=Generalplan%2BOst ''Vom Generalplan Ost zum Generalsiedlungsplan'']. Munich: Saur, p. XI.</ref>

In the course of 1943 and 1944, the [[Red Army]] recaptured most of ''Ostland'' in their advance westwards, and many of its institutions were dissolved in late 1944 and early 1945. German forces including the [[Rump state|rump administration]] of ''Ostland'' held out in the [[Courland Pocket]] until 10 May 1945, two days after the [[German Instrument of Surrender|German surrender]].

==History==
===Planning before the attack on the Soviet Union===
[[File:RedArmy19Aug31Dec44.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] operations, 19 August to 31 December 1944]]
Originally the ''Reichsminister'' for the Occupied Eastern Territories ({{langx|de|Reichsminister fur die besetzten Ostgebiete}}), [[Alfred Rosenberg]] envisioned usage of the term ''Baltenland'' ("Baltic Land") before the summer of 1941 for the area that would eventually be known as ''Ostland''.<ref name="Kay-70">{{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l20PlJtfk0IC&q=%22Guidelines+for+Special+Fields%22+%2213+March+1941%22&pg=PA70 | chapter= Guidelines for Special Fields (13 March 1941) | publisher= Berghahn Books | title= Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political And Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940-1941 | date= 2006 | access-date= 2013-06-25 | author= Alex J. Kay | pages= 70&ndash;71 | isbn= 1845451864}}</ref> [[Otto Bräutigam]], a major colleague of Rosenberg at the time, opposed this idea. In a later declaration he alleged that Rosenberg (himself a [[Baltic German]]), was influenced by his "Baltic friends" in forwarding this initiative, in which a "Baltic ''Reichskommissariat''" with the addition of Belarus would be formed, "and with this the White Ruthenians would also be regarded as Balts". A more important additional colleague of Rosenberg, [[Georg Leibbrandt]], spoke out against this. He argued that the sympathy of the [[Baltic peoples]], who would naturally want the use of their own terminology, could be lost entirely. They would therefore not be won over either as supporters of the German war effort, nor as racially valuable settlers for the region.

===After Operation Barbarossa===
After the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]], vast areas were conquered to Germany's east. At first these areas would remain under military occupation by ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' authorities ([[Army Group Rear Area]]s), but as soon as the military situation allowed it, a more permanent form of administration under German rule for these territories would be instituted.<ref>Rich, Norman. (1973). ''Hitler's War Aims: the Nazi State and the Course of Expansion'', page 217. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York.</ref>

[[File:Greater German Reich in 1942.png|thumb|upright=1.25|The German Reich and its protectorates (red), its allies and its occupied territories (brown) and Italy (green) in 1942, with Reichskommissariats (some brown)]]
''Führer'' Decree of 17 July 1941 provided for this move. It established "Reichskommissariats" in the east, as administrative units of the [[Nazi Germany|Greater German Reich]]. The structure of each ''Reichskommissariat'' was defined by the same decree. Each of these territories would be led by a German civil governor known as a [[Reichskommissar]] appointed by Hitler and answerable only to him.<ref name="avalon.law">[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/nca_v4menu.asp Nazi Conspriracy and Aggression Volume 4.] The Avalon Project. [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/1997-ps.asp Decree of 17 July 1941.]</ref> The official appointed for Ostland was [[Hinrich Lohse]], the ''[[Oberpräsident]]'' and ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of [[Schleswig-Holstein]]. Local government in the ''Reichskommissariat'' was to be organized under a "National Director" (''Reichskomissar'') in Estonia, a "General Director" in Latvia, and a "General Adviser" in Lithuania.

Rosenberg's ministerial authority was, in practice, severely limited. The first reason was that many of the practicalities were determined elsewhere: the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' and the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' managed the military and security aspects, [[Fritz Sauckel]] as Reich Director of Labour had control over manpower and working areas, [[Hermann Göring]] and [[Albert Speer]] had total management of economic aspects in the territories and the [[Reichspost#Deutsche Reichspost|Reich Postal Service]] administered the Eastern territories' postal services. These German central government interventions in the affairs of Ostland overriding the appropriate ministries were known as "special administrations" (''Sonderverwaltungen''). Later, from September 1941, the civil administration that had been decreed in the previous July was actually set up. Lohse and [[Erich Koch]] objected to these breaches of their supposed responsibilities, seeking to administer their territories with the independence and authority of [[Gauleiter]]s. On 1 April 1942, an ''arbeitsbereich'' ({{lit|working sphere}},  a name for the party cadre organization outside the Reich proper) was established in the civilian-administered parts of the occupied Soviet territories, whereupon Koch and Lohse gradually ceased communication with Rosenberg, preferring to deal directly with [[Adolf Hitler]] through [[Martin Bormann]] and the [[Party Chancellery]]. In the process they also displaced all other actors including notably the SS, except in Central Belarus where [[HSSPF]] [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski]] had a special command encompassing both military and civil administration territories and engaged in [[Nazi security warfare]].

In July 1941, the civil administration was declared in much of the occupied Soviet territories before one had materialized in the field. A power vacuum emerged which the SS filled with its [[SS and police leader|SS and Police Leadership Structure]], exercising unlimited power over security and policing which it gave up only grudgingly in the autumn when civil administration came into being; indeed [[Heinrich Himmler]] would use various tactics until as late as 1943 in unsuccessful efforts to regain this power. This partly explains the strained relations between the SS and the civil administration. In Ostland, matters were further complicated by the personality of the local superior SS officer [[Friedrich Jeckeln]], attacked by the SS's opponents for his alleged corruption, brutality and mindless foolhardiness.

== German plans ==
{{Main|Generalplan Ost|Lebensraum|Wehrbauer}}
The short-term political objectives for Ostland differed from those for the [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine|Ukraine]], the [[Reichskommissariat Kaukasus|Caucasus]] or the [[Reichskommissariat Moskowien|Moscow]] regions. The [[Baltic states|Baltic lands]], which were to be joined together with [[Belarus]] (to serve as a spacious [[hinterland]] of the coastal areas), would be organized as one [[Germanisation|Germanized]] [[protectorate]] prior to union with Germany itself in the near future. Rosenberg said that these lands had a fundamentally "European" character, resulting from 700 years of history under [[Swedish Livonia|Swedish]], [[Danish Estonia|Danish]], and [[Baltic Germans|German]] rule, and should therefore provide Germany with "[[Lebensraum]]", an opinion shared by Hitler and other leading Nazis. The Belarusians, however, were considered by the scholars of the [[Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories]] as "little and weak peasant people" dwelling in "folkish indifference", but also "the most harmless and because of this the least dangerous for us of all the peoples in the Eastern Space" and an ideal object of exploitation.<ref>Rein, L. (2010), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=JCbNmF3iXP0C The Kings and the Pawns: Collaboration in Byelorussia During World War II]'', p. 89, {{ISBN|1-84545-776-5}}</ref> Rosenberg suggested that Belarus would be in the future an appropriate reception area of various undesirable population elements from the Baltic part of Ostland and [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]].<ref name="rein">Rein 2010, p. 90-91</ref> He also toyed with the idea of turning the country into a huge [[nature reserve]].<ref name="rein"/>

The regime planned to encourage the post-war settlement of [[German people|Germans]] to the region, seeing it as a region traditionally inhabited by Germans (see the [[Teutonic Order]] and the [[Northern Crusades]]) that had been overrun by [[Slavic peoples|Slavs]]. This was tried in practice in the province of [[Pskov]] during [[World War II]], when ethnically German and Dutch people were resettled from [[Romania]]. This settlement of Dutch settlers was encouraged by the [[Dutch East Company]] ({{lang|nl|Nederlandsche Oost-Compagnie}}), a Dutch-German organization.<ref>(Dutch) Werkman, Evert; De Keizer, Madelon; Van Setten, Gert Jan (1980). ''Dat kan ons niet gebeuren...: het dagelijkse leven in de Tweede Wereldoorlog'', p. 146. De Bezige Bij.</ref>

Historical [[German language|German]] and Germanic-sounding placenames were also retained (or introduced) for many Baltic cities, such as ''Reval'' ([[Tallinn]]), ''Kauen'' ([[Kaunas]]), and ''Dünaburg'' ([[Daugavpils]]), among many others. To underscore the region's planned incorporation into Germany some Nazi ideologists further suggested the future use of the names ''Peipusland'' for [[Estonia]] and ''Dünaland'' for [[Latvia]] once they had become part of Germany.<ref>Lumans, Valdus O. (2006). ''Latvia in World War II'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=IPv1gjLhtZ4C&dq=peipusland&pg=PA149 p. 149]. [[Fordham University Press]].</ref> The ancient Russian city of [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]], the easternmost [[kontor|foreign trading post]] of the [[Hanseatic League]], was to be renamed ''Holmgard''.<ref name="dallin p185"/> During the occupation, the Germans also published a "local" German-language newspaper, the ''Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland''.

== Administrative and territorial organization ==
[[File:Reichskommissariat Ostland Administrative.png|thumb|Administrative divisions of ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'']]
The ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' was sub-divided into four "General Regions" (''Generalbezirke''), namely Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and White Ruthenia ([[Belarus]]), headed by a ''Generalkommissar''. The regions were further divided into "Districts" (''Kreisgebiete''). In the three [[Baltic states]] their previous counties (Es:[[Counties of Estonia|Maakonnad]], Lv:[[Districts of Latvia|Aprinka]], Lt:[[Counties of Lithuania|Apskritys]]) were also retained as a further sub-division (''Kreise''). The conquered territories further to the east were under [[military occupation|military control]] for the entirety of the war. The intention was to include these territories in the anticipated future extension of Ostland. This would have incorporated [[Ingria]] (''Ingermannland''), as well as the [[Novgorod]], [[Pskov]] and [[Smolensk]] areas into the ''Reichskommissariat''. Estonia's new eastern border was to reach somewhere beyond the [[Volkhov River]] forming the new eastern border of the Baltic country, while Latvia was to reach the [[Velikiye Luki]] region.<ref name="dallin p185">{{cite book |title=German rule in Russia, 1941-1945: a study of occupation policies |last=Dallin |first=Alexander |year=1981 |publisher=Westview|page=185}}</ref> Belarus was to extend east to include the [[Smolensk]] region.<ref>(German) Dallin, Alexander (1958). ''Deutsche Herrschaft in Russland, 1941-1945: Eine Studie über Besatzungspolitik'', p. 67. Droste Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf.</ref>
The local administration of the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland ''was headed by ''[[Reichskommissar]]'' [[Hinrich Lohse]]. Below him there was an administrative hierarchy: a ''Generalkomissar'' led each ''Generalbezirk'', while ''Gebietskommissars'' administered ''Kreisgebiete'', respectively. The German administrative center for the entire region, as well as the seat of the ''Reichskommissar'', was in [[Riga]], Latvia.

===''[[Generalbezirk Estland]]'' (Estonia)===
District seat: [[Tallinn|Reval]] (Tallinn)

''Generalkommissar:'' [[Karl-Siegmund Litzmann]]<br />
[[SS and Police Leader]]: {{interlanguage link|Hinrich Möller|de}} (1941–1944); [[Walther Schröder]] (1944)

Subdivided into seven ''Kreisgebiete'':
*[[Kuressaare|Arensburg]] (Kuressaare)
*[[Narva|Narwa]] (Narva)
*[[Tartu|Dorpat]] (Tartu)
*[[Pernau]] (Pärnu)
*[[Pechory|Petschur]] (Petseri)
*[[Tallinn|Reval-Land]] (Tallinn-Rural)
*[[Tallinn|Reval-Stadt]] (Tallinn-Urban)

===''[[Generalbezirk Lettland]]'' (Latvia)===
District seat: [[Riga]]

''Generalkommissar'': [[Otto-Heinrich Drechsler]]<br />
[[SS and Police Leader]]: [[Walther Schröder]]

Subdivided into six ''Kreisgebiete'':
*[[Daugavpils|Dünaburg]] (Daugavpils)
*[[Liepāja|Libau]] (Liepāja)
*[[Jelgava|Mitau]] (Jelgava)
*[[Riga|Riga-Land]] (Riga-Rural)
*[[Riga|Riga-Stadt]] (Riga-Urban)
*[[Valmiera|Wolmar]] (Valmiera)

===''[[Generalbezirk Litauen]]'' (Lithuania)===
District seat: [[Kaunas|Kauen]] (Kaunas).

''Generalkommissar'': [[Theodor Adrian von Renteln]]<br />
[[SS and Police Leader]]: [[Lucian Wysocki]] (1941–1943); [[Hermann Harm]] (1943–1944); [[Kurt Hintze]] (1944)

Subdivided into six ''Kreisgebiete'':
*[[Kaunas|Kauen-Land]] (Kaunas-Rural).
*[[Kaunas|Kauen-Stadt]] (Kaunas-Urban).
*[[Panevėžys|Ponewesch]] (Panevėžys).
*[[Šiauliai|Schaulen]] (Šiauliai).
*[[Vilnius|Wilna-Land]] (Vilnius-Rural).
*[[Vilnius|Wilna-Stadt]] (Vilnius-Urban).

===''[[Generalbezirk Weißruthenien]]'' (White Ruthenia or Belarus)===
Set up across the territory of the [[Byelorussian SSR]] (including [[West Belarus]], previously [[Wilno Voivodeship (1926–39)|Wilno]] and [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–39)|Nowogródek regions]] of the [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|eastern territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union]]). On 1 April 1944, ''Generalbezirk Weißruthenien'' was detached from ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' and was placed directly under the [[Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories]].<ref name="dallin p234-236"/><ref>Jehke, Rolf. ''[http://www.territorial.de/ostl/weissrut/weissrut.htm Territoriale Veränderungen in Deutschland und deutsch verwalteten Gebieten 1874 – 1945: Generalbezirk Weißruthenien]''. Herdecke. Last changed on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2011.</ref>
 
District seat: [[Minsk]]. 

''Generalkommissar'': [[Wilhelm Kube]] (1941–1943); [[Curt von Gottberg]] (1943–1944)<br />
[[SS and Police Leader]]: [[Jakob Sporrenberg]] (1941); [[Carl Zenner]] (1941–1942); [[Karl Schäfer (SS-Brigadeführer)|Karl Schäfer]] (1942); [[Curt von Gottberg]] (1942–1943); [[Erich Ehrlinger]] (1943–1944)

Subdivided into eleven Kreisgebiete: 

*[[Baranovichi|Baranowitsche]] (Baranovichi)
*[[Barysau|Barisau]] (Barysau)
*[[Hantsavichy|Hanzewitschy]] (Hantsavichy)
*[[Lida]]
*[[Hlybokaye|Glubokoye (Hlybokaye)]]
*[[Minsk|Minsk-Land]] (Minsk-Rural)
*[[Minsk|Minsk-Stadt]] (Minsk-Urban)
*[[Navahrudak|Nowogródek]] (Navahrudak)
*[[Slonim]]
*[[Slutsk|Sluzk]] (Sluck)
*[[Vileyka|Wilejka]] (Vileyka)

=== Other authorities ===

In March 1943, [[Wilhelm Kube]] succeeded in installing the [[Belarusian Central Council]] (a collaborationist puppet regime), which existed concurrently with the German civil administration.<ref name="dallin p234-236">Dallin (1958), pp. 234-236.</ref> 

The military command was controlled by the ''[[Wehrmachtbefehlshaber]] Ostland'' ("Military Commander Ostland"). He was responsible for security within the occupied territories, to protect traffic connections and to record the harvest. These commanders were:
* Generalleutnant [[Walter Braemer]] (24 June 1941 – 18 April 1944)
* General der Panzertruppe [[Werner Kempf]] (1 May 1944 – 10 August 1944)

==Policies==
Upon taking control, [[Hinrich Lohse]] proclaimed the official decree ("Verkündungsblatt für das Ostland") on November 15, 1941, whereby all Soviet state and party properties in the [[Baltic states|Baltic]] area and [[Belarus]] were confiscated and transferred to the German administration.

In Ostland, the administration returned lands [[Nationalization|nationalized]] by the Soviets to the former peasant owners. In towns and cities, small workshops, industries and businesses were returned to their former owners, subject to promises to pay taxes and quotas to the authorities. Jewish properties were confiscated. In Belarus, a state enterprise was established to manage all former Soviet government properties. One of the German administrators was General commissar [[Wilhelm Kube]].

''Ostgesellschaften'' (state monopolies) and so-called ''Patenfirmen'', private industrial companies representing the German government, were quickly appointed to manage confiscated enterprises. The Hermann Göring Workshops, [[Mannesmann]], [[IG Farben]] and [[Siemens AG|Siemens]] assumed control of all former Soviet state enterprises in Ostland and [[Ukraine]]. An example of this was the takeover, by [[Daimler-Benz]] and Vomag, of heavy repair workshops, in [[Riga]] and [[Kiev]], for the maintenance of all captured [[Russia]]n [[T-34]] and [[KV-1 (tank)|KV-1]] tanks, linked with their repair workshops in Germany.

In Belarus, the German authorities lamented the "[[Jewish Bolshevism|Jewish-Bolshevik]]" policies that had allegedly denied the people knowledge of the basic concepts of property, ownership, or personal initiative. Unlike the Baltic area, where the authorities saw that "during the war and the occupation's first stages, the population gave examples of sincere collaboration, a way for possibly giving some liberty to autonomous administration".

===Economic exploitation===
The [[Nazism|Nazis]] viewed [[Slavs]] as a pool of slave labor for use by the German Reich; if necessary they could be worked to death.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

===Extermination of the Jews in Ostland===
{{main|History of the Jews during World War II|Jewish resistance under Nazi rule|Holocaust in Belarus|Holocaust in Estonia|Holocaust in Latvia|Holocaust in Lithuania|Holocaust in Russia}}

[[File:Map Stahlecker's Report 1941-1943.jpg|thumb|upright=1.17|Original map from [[Franz Walter Stahlecker]]'s Report, summarizing murders committed by ''Einsatzgruppen'' in ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' until January 1942.<ref name="RHil">{{cite book |last=Hilberg |first=Raul |author-link=Raul Hilberg |year=2003 |title=The Destruction of the European Jews |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0300095929 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HinIpmliz2MC&q=Soviet%2BPoland%2B1941 |pages=1313–1316}}</ref> The line of text reads: "Estimated number of Jews still on hand is 128,000". Estonia is marked ''[[Judenfrei]]''.]]

At the time of the German invasion in June 1941 there were significant Jewish minorities in Ostland – nearly 480,000 people. To these were added deportees from Austria, Germany, and elsewhere.

Jews were confined to [[Nazi ghetto]]s in [[Riga ghetto|Riga]] and [[Kaunas Ghetto|Kauen]], which rapidly became overcrowded and squalid. From these they were taken to execution sites.

The Soviet [[Red Army]] reported the discovery of Vilna and Kauen extermination centres as apparently part of the Nazi "[[Final Solution]]". The extermination of the resident Jews began almost immediately after the invasion and was later extended to the deportees.

In autumn 1943, the ghettos were "liquidated", and the remaining occupants were moved to camps at [[Kaiserwald concentration camp|Kaiserwald]] and [[Stutthof]] near [[Danzig]] or, if not capable of work, killed.

==Government figures==
{{see also|Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy}}

Aside from the German political leaders mentioned above, including Reich Minister [[Alfred Rosenberg]], General Commissar [[Karl-Siegmund Litzmann]] and General Commissar [[Wilhelm Kube]], the regional collaborationist structures across ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' included Estonian political leaders such as [[Hjalmar Mäe]], [[Oskar Angelus]], Alfred Wendt (or Vendt), Otto Leesment, Hans Saar, Oskar Öpik, Arnold Radik, [[Johannes Soodla]]; Latvian political leaders with [[Oskars Dankers]], and [[:de:Rūdolfs Bangerskis|Rūdolfs Bangerskis]]; Lithuanian political leaders: [[Juozas Ambrazevičius]], and [[Petras Kubiliūnas]]; as well as the Belarusian nationalist leaders from the [[Belarusian Central Council]].

==Partisan movement==
{{see also|Belarusian resistance movement|Estonian anti-German resistance movement 1941–44|Latvian anti-Nazi resistance movement 1941–45|Polish resistance movement in World War II|Resistance in Lithuania during World War II|Jewish partisans|Operation Ostra Brama}}

German and local security authorities were kept busy by [[Soviet partisan]] activities in Belarus. They noted that "infected zones" of partisan action included an area of 500 or 600&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, around [[Minsk]], [[Pinsk]], [[Gomel]], [[Bryansk]], [[Smolensk]] and [[Vitebsk]], including the principal roads and railways in these areas.

==See also==
*[[Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany|Occupations of Estonia]], [[Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany|Latvia]], [[Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany|Lithuania]] and [[Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany|Belarus]] by [[Nazi Germany]]
*[[Wartime collaboration in the Baltic states]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

=== Sources ===
*Arnold Toynbee, Veronica Toynbee, et al., ''Hitler's Europe'' (Spanish: ''La Europa de Hitler'', Ed Vergara, Barcelona, 1958), Section VI: "Occupied lands and Satellite Countries in East Europe", Chapter II: "Ostland", p.&nbsp;253-259 and footnotes.
*''Ostland – Verwaltungskarte''. Herg. vom Reichskommissar f. d. Ostland, Abt. II Raum. Stand der Grenzen vom 1. Nov. 1942 (map, in German)
*{{cite book |last=Tümmler |first=Holger |date=2010 |title=Hitlers Deutschland: Die Mächtigen des Dritten Reiches |lang=de |location=Wolfenbüttel |publisher=Melchior Verlag |isbn=978-3-941555-88-4}}

==External links==
*[http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/ostlndAtls Statistical and Cartographic Report on the Reichskommissariat Ostland published in 1942]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050215205315/http://www.doew.at/projekte/holocaust/shoah/herbst41.html "Deportationen in das "Reichskommissariat Ostland", 1941/42"]
*[http://bka-roa.chat.ru/generalbezirk.htm "Reichskommissariat Ostland" (map)]

{{Occupation of Baltic states}}
{{Reichskommissariats}}
{{Holocaust Estonia}}
{{Holocaust Latvia}}
{{Holocaust Lithuania}}

{{Authority control}}

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