Golden Pheasants and Eastern Kings: the German District Administration in the Occupied Soviet Union, 1941–1944
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Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2007 Golden Pheasants and Eastern Kings: The German District Administration in the Occupied Soviet Union, 1941–1944 Stephen A. Connor Wilfrid Laurier University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Military History Commons, and the Political History Commons Recommended Citation Connor, Stephen A., "Golden Pheasants and Eastern Kings: The German District Administration in the Occupied Soviet Union, 1941–1944" (2007). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1048. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1048 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. •*• Canada GOLDEN PHEASANTS AND EASTERN KINGS: THE GERMAN DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION IN THE OCCUPIED SOVIET UNION, 1941-1944 by Stephen A. Connor Bachelor of Arts, University of Windsor, 1994 THESIS Submitted to the Faculty of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy Wilfrid Laurier University 2007 ©Stephen A. Connor, 2007 CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii List of Maps v List of Abbreviations vi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Part I: The German Civil Administration in Nazi Occupied Soviet Territory 27 2 Organisation And Guidelines 33 3 The Gebietskommissar: The Making of the "Ideal" National Socialist Administrator 45 Part II: Jewish Policy and Genocide in the Gebietskommissariats, 1941-1943 78 4 "Where War Lived": Case Studies in Genocide 89 5 "The Demands Of The Day"; Gebietskommissar as Perpetrator 134 Part III: "Kingdom Of The Blind": Management of the Unmanageable 158 6 "Every Single Thing Demands Decision": Taxes and Food Economics 167 7 "The Whole Thing Went Backwards": Labour Policy, Procurement and Partisans 209 8 Conclusion 235 Appendix 1. Biographies 254 2. The Case Of Gebietskommissariat Lida 274 3. The German Civil Administration In Weiliruthenien, 1941-1944 285 4. Departments Of The Gebietskommissariat In Weifiruthenien 286 5. The German Civil Administration In The Occupied East [Maps] 287 Bibliography 291 i Acknowledgements During the evolution of this dissertation I have accumulated many debts. I am grateful to many people for help, both direct and indirect, in writing this study. Unfortunately, only a proportion I have space to acknowledge here. First, I thank my supervisor, Erich Haberer, for his continuous support. Erich, my Doktorvater, was always ready to listen, to encourage, to give counsel and to provide much needed perspective. He treated me as an apprentice and challenged me to find my own voice. I am grateful that Erich believed in me and always tempered persistence with grace and compassion. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee: Lynne Taylor, Eric Reiche and Gary Bruce. These excellent scholars shared important insights with me and I am grateful for their support and perceptive advice. I am honoured that Doris Bergen joined the examination committee and I greatly benefited from the insights she graciously provided. I would like to acknowledge the debt I owe to the faculty and staff of the History Department at Wilfrid Laurier University, particularly George Urbaniak, Eva Plach, Len Friesen, David Monod and Michael Sibalis. I am greatly indebted to Terry Copp for assistance, guidance and support over my entire time at Laurier. I would also recognize the friendship, help and encouragement provided by Laurie Anne Whitcomb, Nata Tchemycheva, Hilary Earl, Marietta Forster-Haberer, Alexander Prusin, eff Neil, Kate Fitzpatrick, Bill Davidson and Bill Van Wycke. iii Research for the dissertation was made possible by the generous and gracious support from Zev Weiss and the Holocaust Educational Foundation. Zev's on-going mission to assist Holocaust scholarship is inspirational. Also, much of the documentary material in this study was made available by the support and resources of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I am grateful to the Center and Martin Dean, Tanja Penter, Jiirgen Matthaus, John Roth, Peter Black, Eric Errenreich, Nick Terry and Joseph White. To all the above individuals, and to colleagues whose names I cannot continue listing and who have assisted me one way or another, I am very much indebted. Thank you to my parents, Daniel and Darlene Connor. Their unconditional support and encouragement has long been a light to my path. To James Connor, my Poppa, thank you. I miss you. And to my brother, Chris, thank you for believing in me. Lastly, I acknowledge the love and support of my wife, Sheri and Hunter, my son. Together, as a family, we have crossed mountains. Thank you for carrying me through this journey and those to come. Invictus. Often while writing this dissertation I was reminded of James Joyce's words: "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." One day, I realized that they didn't really apply to the fact that I was writing a dissertation but rather what I was writiting about. So it goes. Without doubt there will be errors, omissions and over simplifications, for which I take absolute responsibility. SC, 2007 iv MAPS MAP Page 1. The German Administration in the Occupied East, 1941 287 2. The German Administration in the Occupied East, 1942 288 3. The German Administration in the Occupied East, 1943 289 4. Generalkommissariate Wei3ruthenien, 1942 290 V Abbreviations DAF: Deutsche Arbeitsfront GBA: Generalbevollmachtigte fur den Arbeitseinsatz Kd S: Kommandeur der SIPO und des SD NSDAP: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei OET: Occupied Eastern Territories OMi: Reichsministerium fur die besetzten Ostgebiete 01: Organization Todt RKO: Reichskommissariat Ostland RKU: Reichskommissariat Ukraine RmfdbO: Reichsministerium fur die besetzten Ostgebiete RMI: Reichsministerium des Inneren RSHA: Reichssicherheitshauptamt SA: Sturmabteilung SD: Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsfuhrers-SS Sipo: Sicherheitspolizei SS: Schutzstaffeln SSPF: SS- und Polizeifuhrer SSPStOF: SS - und Polizeistandortfuhrer WiFuStabOst: Wirtschaftsfuhrungsstab Ost WiStabOst: Wirtschaftsstab Ost ZHO: Zentralhandelgesellschaft Ost vi Introduction The scope and nature of German occupation in the east far surpassed any west of the Rhine. In terms of both geographical size and population, the east outstripped any other occupied territory. The military presence exceeded three million, the bureaucracy supported some 30,000 administrators and functionaries, and the occupied populations topped fifty-five million at its maximum in 1942.1 Yet, even the extraordinary scope of the occupation paled in comparison to its nature. Beginning in June 1941, all historical precedents of a traditional occupation were rejected in favour of what one historian dubbed "Nazi Colonial Dreams," the racial and political restructuring of the east.2 The captured territories, already battered by the racially underpinned war of annihilation, experienced numerous efforts undertaken by the German occupiers at racial, political and economic reorganization. In short, in the east Nazi policies were most fully undertaken.3 Intention and feasibility converged like in no other area under the Nazi rule in the Occupied Eastern Territories (OET). Already in the wake of rapid German advances into the Soviet Union, Hitler ordered on 20 August 1941 the transfer of conquered areas from military to 1 Rolf-Dieter Muller and Gerd R.