The fascist Ost plan is a story of forced resettlement not only of individuals, but also of entire nations. This idea is not new; it is as old as humanity itself. But Hitler’s program became a new dimension of fear, because it represented a thoroughly planned genocide of peoples and entire races, and this was not even in the Middle Ages, but in an era of rapid development of industry and science!
Pursued goals
It is worth noting that the Ost plan does not resemble a simple struggle for hunting grounds or vast pastures, as in ancient times. It cannot be compared with the tyranny of the Spaniards against the aborigines of South and Central America, as well as with the extermination of the Indians in the northern part of this continent. This document dealt with a special misanthropic racial ideology, which was designed to provide super-profits for owners of large capital, even more fertile land for respectable landowners, generals and wealthy peasants.
The essence of the Ost plan and the main goals pursued by the fascist regime and its ruling elite were as follows:
● political and military power over occupied territories, followed by eviction, forced assimilation or mass extermination of the people who previously lived there;
● the social-imperialist idea, which consists in consolidating its social base on the conquered lands through the resettlement of economically strong, but dependent on the ruling regime, German large landowners, wealthy peasants and representatives of the middle urban strata;
● the maximum influence of solid capital in the annexed territories in the exploitation of raw materials (metal, oil, ore, cotton, etc.) on huge markets for goods and the export of capital, investment opportunities and military construction, German settlements and the acquisition of inexpensive labor.
Background
“The Ost General Plan is truly German and imperialist. We can say that the history of its creation began during the First World War. Then the Germans, in the “Memorandum on the Goals of War” in September 1914, put forward such an idea as expelling the local population from Russian and Polish lands and settling German peasants in their place. Also, German business unions advocated for ensuring the growth of their own people, which thereby guaranteed a strengthening of military power. There were several more memoranda that spoke of the need for the Germans to oust the so-called Eastern European barbarians.
So, it becomes clear that Hitler’s plan dates back to 1914, but on the eve of World War II, the previous intentions of German capitalism and imperialism began to sound in a new way. For the first time, these reactionary tendencies began to be combined not only with anti-Semitism, but also with truly barbaric racism. This was an officially declared genocide, as it involved the destruction of peoples and entire races. Plan Ost can be briefly described as a radically racist version of German expansion to the East.
The Holocaust in Hitler's program
This fascist document shows the intention to destroy not only millions of Slavs. It also talks about creating an experimental space for killing Jews throughout Europe, by creating an unlimited number of ghettos and concentration death camps. The Ost plan provided for a broad program of measures aimed at direct expansion and plunder.
Justification for genocide
Reinhard Heydrich, who held the post of head of the Main Directorate of Imperial Security in Nazi Germany, justified the military seizure of the eastern territories by the “Bolshevik threat”, as well as the need to expand living space for the German nation. He clearly articulated this deadly ideology, which was discussed quite openly in certain circles: what is needed can only be obtained through military action and violence. From this ideology it follows that the Germans will receive new territories only if they destroy everyone who lives on it.
Heinrich Himmler, one of the organizers of the Holocaust, admitted during the Nuremberg trials that already at the beginning of 1941 he brought the following information to the attention of the SS group leaders subordinate to him: the goal of the military campaign against the Soviet Union was the extermination of 30 million people. He also stated that the brutal repressions against the partisans were only a pretext for exterminating as many of the Jewish and Slavic population as possible.
Historians' assessment
When it became known that there was a certain Ost plan, many dismissed it as a project that was not carried out and had significance only in the fantasies of Himmler, Heydrich and Hitler. By this behavior, historians showed their bias, but thanks to deeper research into this document, they came to the conclusion that their view of this problem is completely outdated.
Meanwhile, it turned out that the German Ost plan could give work not to hundreds, but to thousands of criminals from among politicians and scientists, soldiers and officers, bureaucrats and SS officials, as well as ordinary murderers. Moreover, it led not only to the expulsion, but also to the death of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Czechs and Jews.
At the beginning of October 1939, Hitler issued a decree “On the Strengthening of the German Nation” and ordered Heinrich Himmler to assume all powers to implement it. the latter was immediately awarded the title of “Reichskommissar”, and subsequently he was considered the chief of planning for the seizure of territories in Eastern Europe. He quickly created additional special institutes and provided jobs for all employees in the SS.
What is the Ost plan?
It should be noted right away that this program was by no means a separate document. It consisted of a whole chain of sequentially interconnected plans that were created in the period from 1939 to 1943. as German troops advanced to the East. The term now includes not only those documents that were developed by Himmler's many services, but also papers drawn up in a similar spirit belonging to various Nazi institutions, such as the authorities of territorial planning and land management, as well as the German Labor Front.
Beginning of relocations
The first documents that were part of the Ost plan date back to 1939-1940. They concerned directly Polish lands, especially the eastern part of Upper Silesia and Western Prussia. The first victims of fascism in these lands were Jews and Poles. According to SS reports, more than 550 thousand Jews were “evacuated” and transported abroad to the territory of the General Government. Some of them only reached the city of Lodz, where people were put into ghettos or distributed to death camps. According to the plan, 50% of the Poles were to be expelled, which is about 3.5 million people, and also placed in the General Government in order to make room for visiting German townspeople and peasants.
Documents relating to the USSR
“The General Plan Ost was thoroughly replenished with new provisions simultaneously with the attack on the Soviet Union. In 1941, a large number of developments appeared, which were produced in a race between the headquarters of Reich Commissioner Heinrich Himmler and the Main Directorate of Reich Security.
According to the works of Konrad Meyer-Hetling, a professor at the University of Berlin and concurrently occupying one of the high posts in the SS, the fascist plan “Ost” envisaged killing, starving or expelling at least 35-40 million Slavs, as well as Jews, Gypsies and , of course, the Bolsheviks, whatever their nationality. After this, German colonization of vast land territories was supposed to occur - from Leningrad to the Volga and the Caucasus, as well as to Ukraine, the Donetsk and Kuban regions, and Crimea. In the future, the Nazis dreamed of reaching the Urals and Lake Baikal.
Main events
● The murder of Jews (and this is about half a million people), the commissars of the Red Army, all the leaders of the Communist Party and the state apparatus of the USSR, as well as the destruction of any person who is suspected of resistance. This point of the plan began to be implemented from the first days of the fascist occupation.
● Cessation of food supplies to areas located in the “non-black earth zones,” which meant that the northern part of Russia and its central zone, as well as all of Belarus, would be deprived of food supplies.
● Ruthless plunder of all areas located in fertile agricultural areas. On this occasion, Hermann Goering, at the beginning of May 1941, calmly suggested that with such a policy, millions of people would die of hunger if all the food necessary for the needs of Germany was withdrawn from the country.
● Mass “relocation” of lower races in favor of large German businessmen and landowners in territories to be colonized, in special strongholds. This is how they acted in the territory of annexed Poland, in many regions of occupied Ukraine and Lithuania.
● Complete destruction of large cities of the USSR and primarily Stalingrad and Leningrad, which were considered “breeding grounds of Bolshevism.” This point of the fascist plan, by and large, failed. But still, these cities lost hundreds of thousands of their inhabitants, who died from hunger and numerous bombings.
Hunting for children
The Ost plan also had another barbaric idea. It consisted of hunting for children “suitable for Germanization.” They were literally caught and removed from their families in the conquered eastern lands, and then tested for so-called racial purity. Based on the results of the examination, they were either placed in shelters and camps, or taken to German territory. There they were Nazified and “Germanized” under the “Lebesborn” program, which translated means “Source of Life,” and then given to Nazi families to be raised. Those who did not pass the test were sent to work in military factories.
Experiments by German doctors
Millions of Polish, Czech and Soviet people became victims of this inhumane Hitler plan. German government officials and doctors involved in population planning in the occupied territories conducted large-scale experiments in forced abortion and sterilization, without complying with basic health standards.
Later, these events began to be carried out in relation to the Germans. Thus, for sexual contacts with workers brought from Eastern Europe, a death sentence was imposed or other terrorist measures were used.
Volksdeutsche
At the end of 1942, Reich SS Commissioner Heinrich Himmler, who was involved in the program of “strengthening the German nation,” announced the existence of 629 thousand migrants belonging to ethnic Germans - “Volksdeutsche”, who arrived from Belarus, Yugoslavia, the Baltic states, and Romania. He also reported that another 400 thousand people recruited in Ukraine and South Tyrol (Italy) were on their way to Germany. This means that during the Second World War there was a grandiose migration of peoples, during which millions of people moved from place to place, most of them against their will. Presumably, when leaving, they left behind valuables and other property worth approximately 4.5 billion Reichsmarks, since they could take very little luggage with them. Later, all their property partially passed into the hands of German military officials, and the rest was exported to Germany.
Main executors of the plan
How, after the end of the war, were the true culprits and executors of the barbaric Ost plan punished? All the assassins, members of numerous Wehrmacht units and SS task forces, as well as key positions in the occupation bureaucracy, brought death and destruction with them to the occupied territories. But despite this, many of them never suffered any punishment. Thousands of them seemed to “dissolve” and then, some time after the war, reappeared and began to lead normal lives either in West Germany or in other countries. For the most part, they escaped not only prosecution for their crimes, but even public censure.
The main ideologist of the Ost plan, Professor Konrad Meyer-Hetling, was present at the Nuremberg trials along with other war criminals. He was accused and sentenced by a US court to... a minor punishment. He was released in 1948. From 1956 he was a professor at the Technical University in Hannover, where he worked until his retirement. Meyer died in West Germany in 1973. He was 72 years old.
The art of war is a science in which nothing succeeds except what has been calculated and thought out.
Napoleon
Plan Barbarossa is a plan for a German attack on the USSR, based on the principle of lightning war, blitzkrieg. The plan began to be developed in the summer of 1940, and on December 18, 1940, Hitler approved a plan according to which the war was to end in November 1941 at the latest.
Plan Barbarossa was named after Frederick Barbarossa, the 12th century emperor who became famous for his campaigns of conquest. This contained elements of symbolism, to which Hitler himself and his entourage paid so much attention. The plan received its name on January 31, 1941.
Number of troops to implement the plan
Germany was preparing 190 divisions to fight the war and 24 divisions as reserves. 19 tank and 14 motorized divisions were allocated for the war. The total number of troops that Germany sent to the USSR, according to various estimates, ranges from 5 to 5.5 million people.
The apparent superiority in USSR technology is not worth taking into account, since by the beginning of the wars, Germany's technical tanks and aircraft were superior to those of the Soviet Union, and the army itself was much more trained. Suffice it to recall the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, where the Red Army demonstrated weakness in literally everything.
Direction of the main attack
Barbarossa's plan determined 3 main directions for attack:
- Army Group "South". A blow to Moldova, Ukraine, Crimea and access to the Caucasus. Further movement to the line Astrakhan - Stalingrad (Volgograd).
- Army Group "Center". Line "Minsk - Smolensk - Moscow". Advance to Nizhny Novgorod, aligning the Volna - Northern Dvina line.
- Army Group "North". Attack on the Baltic states, Leningrad and further advance to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. At the same time, the “Norway” army was supposed to fight in the north together with the Finnish army.
| SOUTH | CENTER | NORTH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Ukraine, Crimea, access to the Caucasus | Minsk, Smolensk, Moscow | Baltic states, Leningrad, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk |
| Number | 57 divisions and 13 brigades | 50 divisions and 2 brigades | 29th Division + Army "Norway" |
| Commanding | Field Marshal von Rundstedt | Field Marshal von Bock | Field Marshal von Leeb |
| common goal | Get on line: Arkhangelsk – Volga – Astrakhan (Northern Dvina) |
||
Around the end of October 1941, the German command planned to reach the Volga - Northern Dvina line, thereby capturing the entire European part of the USSR. This was the plan for the lightning war. After the blitzkrieg, there should have been lands beyond the Urals, which, without the support of the center, would have quickly surrendered to the winner.
Until about mid-August 1941, the Germans believed that the war was going according to plan, but in September there were already entries in the diaries of officers that the Barbarossa plan had failed and the war would be lost. The best proof that Germany in August 1941 believed that there were only a few weeks left before the end of the war with the USSR was Goebbels’ speech. The Minister of Propaganda suggested that the Germans collect additional warm clothes for the needs of the army. The government decided that this step was not necessary, since there would be no war in the winter.
Implementation of the plan
The first three weeks of the war assured Hitler that everything was going according to plan. The army rapidly moved forward, winning victories, but the Soviet army suffered huge losses:
- 28 divisions out of 170 were put out of action.
- 70 divisions lost about 50% of their personnel.
- 72 divisions remained combat-ready (43% of those available at the start of the war).
Over the same 3 weeks, the average rate of advance of German troops deep into the country was 30 km per day.
By July 11, the Army Group “North” occupied almost the entire Baltic territory, providing access to Leningrad, the Army Group “Center” reached Smolensk, and the Army Group “South” reached Kiev. These were the latest achievements that were fully consistent with the plan of the German command. After this, failures began (still local, but already indicative). Nevertheless, the initiative in the war until the end of 1941 was on the side of Germany.
Germany's failures in the North
Army “North” occupied the Baltic states without any problems, especially since there was practically no partisan movement there. The next strategic point to be captured was Leningrad. Here it turned out that the Wehrmacht was beyond its strength. The city did not capitulate to the enemy and until the end of the war, despite all efforts, Germany was unable to capture it.
Army Failures Center
Army "Center" reached Smolensk without problems, but was stuck near the city until September 10. Smolensk resisted for almost a month. The German command demanded a decisive victory and the advancement of troops, since such a delay near the city, which was planned to be taken without large losses, was unacceptable and called into question the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. As a result, the Germans took Smolensk, but their troops were pretty battered.
Historians today assess the Battle of Smolensk as a tactical victory for Germany, but a strategic victory for Russia, since it was possible to stop the advance of troops towards Moscow, which allowed the capital to prepare for defense.
The advance of the German army deep into the country was complicated by the partisan movement of Belarus.
Failures of the Army South
Army “South” reached Kyiv in 3.5 weeks and, like Army “Center” near Smolensk, was stuck in battle. Ultimately, it was possible to take the city due to the clear superiority of the army, but Kyiv held out almost until the end of September, which also hampered the advance of the German army, and made a significant contribution to the disruption of Barbarossa’s plan.
Map of the German advance plan
Above is a map showing the German command's offensive plan. The map shows: in green – the borders of the USSR, in red – the border to which Germany planned to reach, in blue – the deployment and plan for the advancement of German troops.
General state of affairs
- In the North, it was not possible to capture Leningrad and Murmansk. The advance of the troops stopped.
- It was with great difficulty that the Center managed to reach Moscow. At the time the German army reached the Soviet capital, it was already clear that no blitzkrieg had happened.
- In the South it was not possible to take Odessa and seize the Caucasus. By the end of September, Hitler's troops had just captured Kyiv and launched an attack on Kharkov and Donbass.
Why Germany's blitzkrieg failed
Germany's blitzkrieg failed because the Wehrmacht prepared the Barbarossa plan, as it later turned out, based on false intelligence data. Hitler admitted this by the end of 1941, saying that if he had known the real state of affairs in the USSR, he would not have started the war on June 22.
The tactics of lightning war were based on the fact that the country has one line of defense on the western border, all large army units are located on the western border, and aviation is located on the border. Since Hitler was confident that all Soviet troops were located on the border, this formed the basis of the blitzkrieg - to destroy the enemy army in the first weeks of the war, and then quickly move deeper into the country without encountering serious resistance.
In fact, there were several lines of defense, the army was not located with all its forces on the western border, there were reserves. Germany did not expect this, and by August 1941 it became clear that the lightning war had failed and Germany could not win the war. The fact that the Second World War lasted right up to 1945 only proves that the Germans fought in a very organized and brave manner. Thanks to the fact that they had the economy of the whole of Europe behind them (speaking of the war between Germany and the USSR, many for some reason forget that the German army included units from almost all European countries) they were able to fight successfully.
Did Barbarossa's plan fail?
I propose to evaluate the Barbarossa plan according to 2 criteria: global and local. Global(reference point - the Great Patriotic War) - the plan was thwarted, since the lightning war did not work out, the German troops were bogged down in battles. Local(landmark – intelligence data) – the plan was carried out. The German command drew up the Barbarossa plan based on the assumption that the USSR had 170 divisions on the country’s border and there were no additional echelons of defense. There are no reserves or reinforcements. The army was preparing for this. In 3 weeks, 28 Soviet divisions were completely destroyed, and in 70, approximately 50% of the personnel and equipment were disabled. At this stage, the blitzkrieg worked and, in the absence of reinforcements from the USSR, gave the desired results. But it turned out that the Soviet command had reserves, not all troops were located on the border, mobilization brought high-quality soldiers into the army, there were additional lines of defense, the “charm” of which Germany felt near Smolensk and Kiev.
Therefore, the failure of the Barbarossa plan should be considered as a huge strategic mistake of German intelligence, led by Wilhelm Canaris. Today, some historians connect this man with English agents, but there is no evidence of this. But if we assume that this is really the case, then it becomes clear why Canaris palmed Hitler off with the absolute lie that the USSR was not ready for war and all the troops were located on the border.
General overview of the Master Plan Ost. Analysis of data obtained by historians several decades later made it possible to paint a complete picture of Hitler’s intentions in the eastern direction. Today everyone has the opportunity to read the original Ost plan on the Internet.
The planned territory of Nazi Germany after the implementation of the Ost Plan
By unleashing the Second World War, Nazi Germany pursued specific, clearly defined goals. One of the primary tasks was to increase the territory for the prosperity of the German people. Hitler planned to do this at the expense of the lands of the USSR and Poland. The Reich leadership approached the solution of the problem in detail; already in 1940, a document on the prospects of eastern colonization was published. It took another two years to develop the General Plan Ost (according to grammar, the correct translation is “General Plan East”, but historically the persistent combination “plan Ost” was used).
Adolf Hitler deliberately did not advertise his intentions. Ost's plan was secret. In total, no more than one and a half dozen copies of the document existed, exclusively for the Wehrmacht high command. Low-ranking officials, due to official needs, received limited access to certain parts of the document, did this in conditions of high secrecy. Strictly speaking, the Ost plan was never finally compiled into a single document. And one of the reasons for this is that throughout the Great Patriotic War, adjustments and improvements were made to it.
Pursued goals skillfully hidden from prying eyes
During the Nuremberg trials, Konrad Meyer-Hetling, the author of the Ost plan, was in the dock, the main provisions of which were tabulated and submitted to Himmler for consideration. There were scrupulously drawn up economic calculations, graphs and financial calculations of how much the colonization of the eastern lands would cost the state.
Meyer-Hetling did everything possible to ensure that the true goals of the Ost plan were not heard before the judges. Because it would mean a death sentence for him. Plan Ost initially provided for the physical extermination of millions of people. What saved him was that this voluminous document (100 pages) consisted entirely of tables with calculations. Meyer-Hetling managed to convince the judges that these were just economic calculations that were never put into practice.
Thus, the materials were buried in historical archives for several decades. Only in 1977, in the US National Archives, where most of the captured documents were stored, historians discovered the Ost plan (original), which today can be read in digitized form, dated May 28, 1942. Then dry calculations and expenses finally spoke.
Among the goals outlined in the plan were:
- Colonization of 87,600 km2 of land;
- Creation of one hundred thousand farms;
- Resettlement of four million ethnic Germans;
- Physical liquidation of half a million Jews;
- Expropriation of existing enterprises;
- Exploitation of natural resources;
- Exploitation of prisoners of war;
- Creation of a network of roads and railways.
The Holocaust in Hitler's program - selection in German
G. Himmler, R. Hess and A. Hitler
Hitler's Ost Plan provided for the systematic extermination of the peoples inhabiting the occupied territories. All Jews living in the occupied territories were to be exterminated in “death factories” without exception. According to rough estimates, their number at that time reached 5-6 million.
The Slavs, as a nation, also had to be significantly reduced in number. But they were supposed to be partly deported to Siberia (while the calculations themselves took into account that most of them were expected to die on the way to their destinations, and a considerable number - upon arrival at their destination), and partly - to be forced into slave labor for the owners - Germans.
Of the more than 195 million inhabitants of the USSR, 14 million unskilled workers would ultimately remain in the vastness of the new Germany. The issue of liquidating such a huge number of people created a serious problem, so it was discussed in great detail. Plan Ost logically continued the Barbarossa plan, which envisaged a lightning victory in the eastern direction. This victory had to be achieved through significant losses in the enemy ranks. Thus creating the preconditions for the further advancement of Hitler’s intentions.
Mass forced relocations
Polish refugees, photo taken in 1941
The resettlement began in Poland. Immediately after the occupation, the services of Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich focused on the primary issues of the conquered people. If Himmler continued to oversee the development of the Ost General Plan as a whole, Heydrich focused on completing the ghettos - special closed areas into which all Jews from cities and countryside were forcibly relocated.
Heydrich also came up with the idea of creating “Jewish councils”, which were formed from the local population and were supposed to deal with Jewish issues. This made it possible to force them to participate in the policy of their own destruction. Poland, Belarus, Ukraine - all had to gradually “cleanse” themselves of unwanted blood.
The next stage was the transfer of German and Austrian Jews to already prepared Polish ghettos. Due to the massive arrival of new batches of people, special firing squads were no longer able to cope with their tasks - the mass extermination of civilians. And Reinhard Heydrich was given a new task: to find a quick and effective way to solve the “Jewish question.”
The solution was to be the next stage of resettlement - to the eastern territories, where the new arrivals were to be exploited as free labor. It was planned that soon most of the Jews would die from exhaustion and overwork, and the survivors would subsequently be physically destroyed.
Developments continue to gain momentum
The first successes in the war with the USSR inspire the German ministers and they, competing with each other, vying with each other to develop aggressive strategies. And the point here is not at all a matter of bloodthirstiness, or even intoxication with one’s own military power. While the soldiers are fighting at the front, the cabinets are waging their own war. Quieter, but just as merciless. Promotion and the distribution of tidbits of power depend on whose developments are now noticed and praised by management.
The Main Directorate of Reich Security and Himmler’s team “to strengthen the spirit of the German nation” regularly supplement the Ost General Plan with new documents. The following activities were considered to be of primary importance:
- Execute all members of the state apparatus;
- Completely suppress any resistance;
- Immediately kill anyone suspected of resistance;
- Close “non-chernozem territories” from food supplies;
- Liberate the Black Sea regions from inhabitants;
- Create marks (territorial administrative unit of division) for German colonists;
- Create and strengthen strongholds for colonists;
- Prepare the territory of Ukraine, Lithuania and the western regions of Poland for the arrival of colonists;
- Destroy all major Soviet cities (priority: Leningrad and Stalingrad).
Targeting the most vulnerable, preying on children
Hitler understood that the extermination of the Russian population was impossible simply by physical killings. Therefore, in addition to backbreaking, in the literal sense of the word, forced labor, the nation had to be weakened in several directions at once. Forced sterilization, abortion, ban on education, oppression of national identity - all of this found a place in long-term projects.
There was one more point - the Germanization of the indigenous population. In practice, this meant that physically fit children were taken from their parents, sent to German foster families, given new names, and any contact with blood relatives was prohibited. Even this option sounds somewhat ominous. In reality, everything was much worse.
A massive hunt for children began. They could have been taken directly from schools or from their homes. They rounded everyone up together and sent them to a checkpoint, which was run by Lebensborn, an organization that dealt with issues of the purity of the future German nation. There, children were meticulously tested to ensure they met Aryan standards. Those who were considered worthy were forever separated from their families and sent to new families. They changed their names, forbade them to pronounce words in their native language, and instilled the idea of the superiority of the “master race”. And the rest - like rejected material - were sent to concentration camps, where they were finally disposed of in a proven way - gas chambers.
Yozov Mengele "Angel of Death", Auschwitz concentration camp experiments on children.
Experiments on people
Given appropriate conditions in a particular camp, children could be sent to meet the medical needs of the Reich. For example, blood was taken from children to treat wounded soldiers. Often - the entire volume of blood. In camps equipped with medical buildings, 10% of new arrivals were designated for scientific medical experiments. Sometimes a certain category was selected, for example, twins. But more often, simply human material was required, which was subjected to experiments, carefully examined, and then thrown away as unnecessary.
Although the incredible inhumanity of these experiments today makes a civilized person shudder, their goals were quite pragmatic. For example, due to the fact that winters in the occupied territory of the USSR are more severe than in Germany, experiments were conducted on hypothermia - severe hypothermia of the body. Doctors were faced with a very specific task - to find out what temperature the human body can withstand, and what are the most effective methods of warming up.
To do this, the experimental subjects were brought to hypothermia by keeping them in vats of ice water. They could stay there for several hours, although most did not last that long. During the experiment, temperature measurements were taken at certain intervals. Then the experimental subjects were warmed up. We tried immersion in hot water and a method of warming the human body with heat. For this purpose, naked women prisoners were used.
Other experiments were also carried out:
- Impact of pressure changes on the human body;
- We were looking for ways to fight malaria;
- Experienced the effects of mustard gas;
- The antiseptic properties of sulfonamide were studied;
- They found out how long a person can live by drinking only sea water;
- The effect of various poisons was tested;
- Sterilization was carried out in different ways.
Twins for medical experiments
The need to resolve the Polish issue
Based on the historical context, the Germans considered the Poles to be the most dangerous people for themselves. This was explicitly stated in the document. And at the same time, the Wehrmacht leadership understood that when planning and building a new order it was impossible to completely ignore the opinion of the world community. Here is one of the quotes:
“It is absolutely clear that the Polish question cannot be solved by liquidating the Poles, just as is done with the Jews. Such a solution to the Polish question would forever burden the conscience of the German people and deprive us of everyone’s sympathy, especially since other peoples neighboring us began to fear that one day they would suffer the same fate.”
Therefore, the most suitable option was considered to be the resettlement of 80-85% of the indigenous Poles to the regions of Siberia and South America. There it was necessary to ensure that they did not unite and incite the local population to revolt.
A woman from the Jewish ghetto flees the Nazis. Warsaw 1941
Germany's goals in the war against the USSR
So, from Plan Ost it became known for certain about the scale of Germany’s aggressive goals. The Soviet state had to completely cease to exist. This was radically different from the war on the Western Front. The conquered countries of Western Europe, although they were politically and economically subject to the Third Reich, retained their own nationality and nationality and did not face the danger of total destruction.
The territory of the USSR was to be divided into four colonial provinces, subordinate to the Eastern Ministry. These areas were to become agricultural appendages of Old Germany. By pumping raw materials and natural resources out of these resource-rich lands, Hitler planned to boost the economy and build a new empire.
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This is a map from Directive No. 32, which provides for the actions of the Wehrmacht “after the defeat of the Soviet armed forces.”
To those who examine the plans of Nazi aggression, it sometimes seems that the limit has been reached. It is impossible to imagine anything more monstrous. 11 million people are already doomed to death... no, another 20 million... another 100 million. But this is not the end. There's no end in sight. He got lost somewhere behind the horizon, covered with heavy clouds. And the clouds merged with the smoke of crematoria that were working at full capacity throughout Europe.
Hitler was insatiable, just as the German monopolies were insatiable, swallowing up one after another all new factories, mines, mines, and then entire countries. Therefore, one should not be surprised that, when planning a campaign against the Soviet Union, Hitler’s headquarters also thought about what the prospects for seizing world domination would then be.
We will now deal with this issue and for this we invite the reader to familiarize himself with one document - Directive No. 32, which provided for the actions of the Wehrmacht for the period “after the defeat of the Soviet armed forces.” Or, more briefly, for “the period after Barbarossa.” Here is the text of Hitler's directive:
Fuhrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
Headquarters, 11.VI. 1941 IV Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
Directive No. 32
Preparing for the period after Barbarossa
A. After the defeat of the Soviet armed forces, Germany and Italy will dominate militarily on the European continent - for now without the Iberian Peninsula. From land there will be no serious threat to the entire European region. To protect it and for possible offensive operations**, a much smaller number of ground forces will be sufficient than has been the case so far.
The center of gravity of weapons can be shifted to the navy and air force.
Strengthening German-French cooperation should and would tie down even more significant British forces, eliminate the threat to the North African theater from the rear, further limit the mobility of the British fleet in the western Mediterranean and secure a deep south-western flank of the European theater of operations, including including the Atlantic coast of North and West Africa, from Anglo-Saxon intervention.
In the near future, Spain will be faced with the question of whether it will be ready to take part in the expulsion of the British from Gibraltar or not.
The ability to put strong pressure on Turkey and Iran will improve the ability to extract direct or indirect benefit from them in the fight against England.
B. From the situation that will arise after the victorious end of the campaign to the East, the Wehrmacht will face the following strategic tasks for the late autumn of 1941 and for the winter of 1941/42:
1. The space captured in the East is subject to organization, protection and economic exploitation with the full participation of the Wehrmacht. Only later will it be possible to determine exactly what forces will be required to protect Russian space. According to all estimates, about 60 divisions and one air fleet will be enough to carry out further tasks in the East, not counting the troops of allied and friendly countries.
2. The fight against British positions in the Mediterranean and Western Asia, which is envisaged through a concentric attack from Libya through Egypt, from Bulgaria through Turkey, and also, depending on the situation, from Transcaucasia through Iran:
a) in North Africa, the objective is to capture Tobruk and thereby create the basis for the continuation of the German-Italian offensive on the Suez Canal. It must be prepared around November, taking into account that the German Afrika Korps should be brought to the fullest possible complement of personnel and equipment, and sufficient reserves of all types should be placed at its disposal (including transforming the 5th Light Division into a full tank). However, other large German formations should not be additionally transferred to Africa.
Preparations for the offensive require that the rate of transport movement be increased in every possible way, using the French-North African harbors and, where possible, new sea routes in the southern Greek region.
The task of the navy is, in cooperation with the Italian navy, to take care of the preparation of the required amount of tonnage and the hiring of French and neutral ships.
To study the issue of the subsequent transfer of German torpedo boats to the Mediterranean Sea.
To increase unloading capacity in North African harbors, provide full support to the Italian Navy.
The Air Force Commander-in-Chief is to send air formations and air defense units being released in the East to continue operations and strengthen Italian convoy cover at the expense of German air formations.
In order to uniformly manage the preparations for the transfer, create a maritime transport headquarters that will act according to the instructions of the OKW and in cooperation with the German representative of the pro-Italian headquarters, as well as with the commander-in-chief of the German troops in the South-East;
b) in connection with the expected strengthening of British forces in the Near and Middle East, which have the task of guarding the Suez Canal, consider the possibility of German operations from Bulgaria through Turkey. The goal is to attack British positions on the Suez Canal, as well as from the East.
To this end, as early as possible (!), provide for the concentration of large forces in Bulgaria, sufficient to make Turkey politically submissive or to break its resistance by force of arms;
c) when the prerequisites for this are created due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, prepare operations of a motorized expeditionary force from Transcaucasia against Iraq related to the operations specified in paragraph “b”;
d) use of the Arab movement. The position of the British in the Middle East in the event of major German operations will be all the more difficult the more British forces are constrained at the right time by unrest or uprisings. During the preparatory period, all military, political and propaganda activities serving this purpose must be carefully coordinated. Central authority
which should be included in all plans and activities in the Arab region, I order to be a “special headquarters F.” He will be stationed in the area of the commander-in-chief of the troops in the South-East. Give it the best experts and agents.
The tasks of the “special headquarters F” are determined by the head of the OKB, who, when it comes to political issues, acts in agreement with the Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. Blocking the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea by capturing Gibraltar.
Already during the period of operations in the East, fully resume preparations for the previously planned Operation Felix. In this case, one should count on the use of the unoccupied territory of France, if not for the transit of German troops, then at least for the transfer of supplies. The participation of the French naval and air forces is also within the realm of possibility.
After the capture of Gibraltar, transfer to Spanish Morocco only such a number of ground forces as will be necessary to protect the strait. *
It falls to the French to defend the Atlantic coast of North and West Africa, isolate British possessions in West Africa and return the territory captured by de Gaulle. During the envisaged operations, they will be provided with the necessary reinforcements. Once the strait is captured, it will be easier for the navy and military aircraft to use West African bases and, under certain circumstances, to capture the islands in the Atlantic.
4. Along with these possible operations against British positions in the Mediterranean, after the end of the Eastern Campaign, the naval and air forces should resume the "siege of England" in full.
Within the framework of military production, priority will be given to all activities that serve this purpose. At the same time, German air defense should be strengthened as much as possible. Preparations for the landing in England will serve a dual purpose: to pin down English forces in the metropolis and to provoke and complete the emerging collapse of England.
B. It is not yet possible to predict the start time of operations in the Mediterranean and the Near East. The greatest operational effect can be had by the simultaneous launch of an offensive on Gibraltar, Egypt and Palestine.
The extent to which this will be possible depends, along with those factors that cannot currently be foreseen, primarily on whether the Air Force will be able to support all three of these operations simultaneously with the necessary forces.
D. Gentlemen of the Commanders-in-Chief, after familiarizing yourself with these preliminary outlines, I ask you to take general and organizational preparatory measures and report to me about their results in such a way that I can give my final orders during the Eastern Campaign.
This is Directive No. 32. So many plans of Hitler’s bet appear before us at once that they need to be divided and considered each separately.
Let's start with plans in Asia and Africa. The creation of a new colonial empire had been dreamed of by German industrial and financial magnates since the First World War. In the thirties, they launched another economic assault on the colonial markets and immediately ran into fierce resistance from the then “great colonial powers” - England and France. It is no coincidence that on November 5, 1937, during the famous meeting in the Imperial Chancellery, which developed the main directions of future aggression, Hitler openly admitted that it would be “hardly possible” to obtain colonies from England and France. Therefore, the Fuhrer did not really want to start his aggression from the colonies. He preferred Europe, where he already felt like a master.
Over time, plans changed, new goals were outlined. At the beginning of 1941, Erwin Rommel's expeditionary force was landed in Africa and was given the task of moving together with the Italians to Egypt. At the same time, preparations were underway for a coup in Iraq, which was supposed to weaken British positions in this country and create a threat to Suez from the northeast. But these colonial plans of Hitler were not so easy to implement. Rommel's corps was stuck at Tobruk. The coup in Iraq failed. The Italians turned out to be not a help, but a burden. This is where the paragraphs in Directive No. 32 regarding operations against Suez came from.
The crisis of German aggression in Africa could be overcome quickly and easily under one condition: if the Soviet Union was conquered. After all, then it would be possible:
- strengthen Rommel’s corps with tank divisions and air squadrons concentrated on the Eastern Front;
- invade Iraq from Transcaucasia through Turkey;
- create a threat to the British Empire through Iran.
Indeed, how quickly the situation in the eastern Mediterranean could change if at least 50 divisions were freed on the Eastern Front! After all, Rommel was advancing on Egypt with only three divisions (plus eight Italian ones). And more than 200 divisions were sent against the Soviet Union! It should be added that the Suez Canal would not only be under the attack of two wedges converging from the Libyan Desert and the Arabian Peninsula. The British Empire's key positions in the Mediterranean would be deep in the rear of the German expeditionary force, which began its march through Iran. Another German column was to move through Afghanistan. Both of them had the goal of reaching India.
True, India itself was a cherished target for Japanese aggression. However, Hitler was by no means going to allow his ally to call the shots himself. It was assumed that German and Japanese troops would enter India at approximately the same time. If we consider that by this time Japan should have already established itself in Burma and Malaya, then one can imagine what fate would have awaited the British Empire.
The collapse of the British Empire was anticipated in Berlin with schadenfreude. A corresponding plan was drawn up. “Gauleiter for Special Assignments” von Korswant developed a plan according to which the following were to go to Germany:
In Africa: Senegal, French Congo, Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Nigeria, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar, part of the Belgian Congo.
In Asia: Indonesia, New Guinea, British Borneo, islands in Oceania, Singapore, Malaya, French possessions in India.
In the Arab East: Palestine, Transjordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Egypt (shared control of Suez with Italy).
This is how the imperial chancellery determined the directions along which the columns in Africa and Asia were to march. All this was portrayed to the Nazi generals as a completely plausible picture, because they did not see any other forces that could come to the aid of the masters of the British Empire.
But maybe Hitler has forgotten the USA? Not at all. In the safes of the General Staff there was also a plan for the capture of the United States.
The first mention of it can be found in a speech by Goering delivered on July 8, 1938 to a group of aircraft industrialists. This was the same famous speech in which he promised his listeners that “Germany will get rich.” Among other things, Goering spoke about the targets that his planes would have to hit during the next big war. Goering said quite frankly:
“I really miss a bomber that could fly to New York and back with ten tons of bombs.” I would be happy to get such a bomber to finally shut the throats of the upstarts there...
What did this statement mean? Was it simply an indication of what kind of aircraft the Hitler clique expected from Heinkel and Messerschmitt? Or did Goering consider it useful to hint to industrialists what far-reaching plans were being considered in the imperial chancellery?
The testimony of the former president of the Danzig Senate, Hermann Rauschning, at that time one of Hitler’s confidants, helps to understand this. In his acclaimed book Conversations with Hitler, Rauschning quoted Hitler as saying: “We will create a new Germany in Brazil” and added: “Hitler believed that after the collapse of the British Empire it would be possible to break Anglo-Saxon influence in North America and in its place introduce German culture and German. This will be a stepping stone to the incorporation of the United States into the German world empire."
This was said at the dawn of Nazi rule. In subsequent years, Hitler's attitude towards the United States changed more than once. At one time, Berlin hoped to find support in influential American circles. Justifying such calculations, the German military attaché in Washington, General Betticher, reported to Ribbentrop that in the United States “influential circles have sympathy for the Third Reich, in which they see a bastion of order and a bulwark against attacks on private property. The most respectable and patriotic circles, with rare exceptions, are anti-communist and even more anti-Semitic...”
Of course, the German general saw the “most respectable” as those American arch-reactionary politicians and monopolists who were ready to fraternize with Hitler. And there were many of them, starting from Colonel Charles Lindbergh, a famous admirer of the Fuhrer, and ending with influential senators. But the Hitler clique chose to stick to its line: while extracting all possible benefit from the position of reactionary American circles, it at the same time had in mind to launch a diplomatic, political and economic offensive against the United States.
In the mid-thirties, Berlin intensified its trade war against America and its partners. In 1938-1939 In the markets of Latin America, the interests of Germany and the United States collided closely. The American magazine Foreign Affairs wrote in January 1939 that in the United States “there is a fear that Germany’s commercial expansion in Latin America is only part of its plan to establish its political dominance in this area.”
As we now know, such guesses were quite reasonable. Among the documents from Hitler's headquarters captured in the spring of 1945, an interesting entry was discovered, presented by the American prosecution in Nuremberg under the number PS-376 (US-161). This memorandum was drawn up on October 29, 1940 by Major of the General Staff Sigismund von Falkenstein, head of the air department at the headquarters of the operational leadership of the armed forces, i.e., Goering's representative on the headquarters of General Jodl. The addressee of the memorandum was not specified in the document, but, as it turned out, it was the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (then General Jeschoniek).
The memorandum contains seven points. The first four relate to the then planned operations in Greece, Libya, against the Soviet Union and against Gibraltar. But then came this point:
5. The Fuhrer is currently occupied with the question of occupation of islands in the Atlantic for the purpose of waging war against the United States in a later period. Consideration of these issues has already begun here. The prerequisites are as follows:
a) do not undertake any other operations now;
b) neutrality of Portugal;
c) support from France and Spain.
The Air Force is required to provide a brief assessment of the possibility of capturing and holding air bases, as well as the question of their supply
Major Kweisner will request data from the intelligence department of the Elector headquarters. I ask that Colonel Schmidt provide him with all the necessary information.
The sixth point was about Norway, but the seventh was about America again:
7. General Betticher has repeatedly (especially in telegram 2314 dated 20.10.) pointed out that, in his opinion, the German press writes in too much detail about how well informed we are about the American aircraft industry. There was a speech about this at the headquarters of the Supreme High Command. I pointed out that this applies only to the air force; however, let me draw the attention of Mr. General to this issue.
This is the text of von Falkenstein's memorandum. It clearly shows the following:
— the plan of military action against the United States in 1940 was discussed at Hitler’s headquarters;
— the plan was in the stage of practical preparation;
- this preparation apparently went quite far if the bet was worried about even such trifles as the behavior of the German press.
On September 27, 1940, a military pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan. Of course, the main target of the aggressive designs of the Axis powers was the Soviet Union. Ribbentrop confirmed this in his testimony at the Nuremberg trial, and he assured that in Berlin they did not even think about actions against the United States. He kept silent, however, about the fact that immediately after the conclusion of the pact in the fall of 1940, in a conversation with Italian Foreign Minister Ciano, he said:
- The Tripartite Pact has a dual focus - against Russia and against America...
The nature of the Nazi threat was well understood in the United States at that time. The famous American journalist William Shirer in his “Berlin Diary” outlined the German plans that became known to him on December 1, 1940:
When they (the Germans) capture the British fleet or most of it, or are able to build a relatively large fleet in European shipyards, they will try to destroy part of our fleet in the Atlantic... When this succeeds, it will become possible to transfer the army and aviation across the North Atlantic in stages, first establishing bases in Iceland, then Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland.
Another option Shearer learned about involved operations in the South Atlantic with the goal of landing in Brazil and establishing a base there against the United States.
We now know that the information Spreer received was correct. This is confirmed by both the Falkenstein memorandum and the testimony at the Nuremberg trial of Goering, who stated that he “was very well acquainted with the memorandum.”
At Hitler's headquarters, the possibility of a “southern option” was primarily weighed, as can be seen from Falkenstein’s references to Portugal and Spain. On this base, the plan for Operation Felix-Isabella arose, which included the capture of Gibraltar, the Canary and Azores Islands. This plan was originally supposed to be implemented in 1940, but it was discussed later. Thus, on May 22, 1941, it was written in the diary of Raeder’s headquarters:
The Fuhrer still considers it necessary to capture the Azores so that long-range bombers from there can operate against America.
At the same time, a “northern version” was being prepared. Secret developments of a plan codenamed “Icarus” were discovered in the archives of the General Staff. This is how headquarters called the landing operation in Iceland, which Hitler instructed the headquarters of Grand Admiral Raeder to prepare. The Navy Department took the upcoming operations in the Atlantic Ocean very seriously. The commander of the submarine U-511, Lieutenant Commander Fritz Steinhof, after sailing off the American coast, proposed equipping submarines with missile launchers from which it would be possible to fire at American cities. He conveyed this idea to the employees of Hitler's secret missile center in Peenemünde. Thus was born the “Project Urzel” - a project to create rocket launchers that could operate from an underwater position.
In mid-1942, the first firing was carried out from the Urzel installation. The submarine U-511, having plunged to 20 m, fired a missile salvo. The missiles flew about 3 km. The reader will say: excuse me, this is a prototype of the very boats armed with Polaris missiles that the American Navy is now boasting about! Absolutely right: after the war, it was the “Ursel Project” that was used by the United States. The secret of “continuity” is revealed very quickly: the development of the project under Hitler was led by Wernher von Braun, the chief designer of Peenemünde. Now he is the "rocket king" of the United States...
Nazi aircraft designers also accepted the instructions of the Reichsmarshal. Ernst Heinkel developed a model of the Xe-177 aircraft, a four-engine bomber with a range of 3 thousand km. A prototype of the Xe-116 aircraft made a non-stop flight with a range of 10 thousand km. Then Xe-277 and Xe-174 appeared. The latter could fly at an altitude of up to 15 thousand m. Junkers built the Yu-390 model; this plane made test flights without landing on the route Berlin - Tokyo...
Plans to invade the United States were discussed more than once at Hitler's headquarters. Thus, on May 22, 1941, Hitler discussed with Admiral Raeder the issue of seizing the Azores as a base for action against the United States. “The need for this may arise before the fall,” Hitler said. Hitler's secret order (Nuremberg document PS-112), dated July 1941, stated:
By virtue of the intention specified in Art. Directive No. 32 on the further conduct of the war, I lay down the following principles regarding manpower and technical supplies:
1. General. Military dominance in Europe after the defeat of Russia will make it possible to significantly reduce the size of the army in the near future... Naval weapons should be limited in order to leave what is directly related to waging war against England, and, if necessary, against America.
Again the same thought: “after the defeat of Russia.” In the summer of 1941, it finally seemed to Hitler that this time was coming. After the Wehrmacht's invasion of the Soviet Union, on July 10, 1941, Ribbentrop sent a coded message from his special train to Tokyo addressed to Ambassador Ott. In it, he solemnly promised to “shake Japan’s hand on the Trans-Siberian Railway before the start of winter” and suggested to Ott that he paint a picture of “America completely isolated from the rest of the world” for the Japanese.
As you know, in 1941 Japan maneuvered, waiting for the results of Hitler's invasion. Tokyo was in no hurry to enter the war. The Nazis greeted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor with even greater joy. The Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano wrote in his diary: “December 8th. Night telephone conversation with Ribbentrop. He is very pleased with Japan's attack on the United States." When Ambassador Oshima came to Hitler on December 14, 1941, the Fuhrer presented him with the “Grand Cross of the Order of the German Golden Eagle” and talked for a long time about the prospects for joint action. The transcript reads: “He (the Fuhrer) is convinced that Roosevelt must be defeated.” But then the stenographer wrote: “His (Hitler’s) primary goal is to first destroy Russia.”
The picture becomes complete. Indeed, by starting a campaign against the Soviet Union, Hitler was beginning a genuine campaign to fight for world domination. For in all his calculations there was one fundamental feature: they could only be realized “in the event of the collapse of the Soviet Union.” Indeed:
Colonial seizures (according to Directive No. 32) were supposed “after the defeat of the Soviet armed forces.”
The completion of the colonization of continental Europe was supposed to be based on the eviction of its peoples “to the East”.
The conquest of England was only thought of after the “destruction of the Soviet Union.”
The capture of the Pyrenees was postponed until "the period after Barbarossa."
An operation against Sweden was only thought of during the liberation of German troops near Leningrad.
The operation against Switzerland, as the official Swiss military historian G.R. Kurz testifies, was canceled “because there was no place” for it next to the operations in the East.
Finally, the attack on the United States was supposed to be after the “primary task of destroying Russia” had been completed.
One can agree with the English historian Peter de Mendelsohn, who wrote in 1945: “If the Soviet Union had not survived, then no one would have stood.”
Master plan "Ost"(German) 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 Main Directorate of Reich Security and presented on May 28, 1942 by an employee of the Office of the Headquarters of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of the German People, SS Oberführer 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 German Federal Archives in the late 1980s, some documents from there were presented at an exhibition in 1991, but was completely digitized and published only in November-December 2009.
At the Nuremberg trials, the only evidence of the existence of the plan was the “Comments and proposals of the “Eastern Ministry” on the Ost master plan,” according to prosecutors, written on April 27, 1942 by an employee of the Ministry of the Eastern Territories E. Wetzel after familiarizing himself with the draft plan prepared by the RSHA.
Rosenberg Project
The master plan was preceded by a project developed by the Reich Ministry for Occupied Territories, headed by Alfred Rosenberg. On May 9, 1941, Rosenberg presented the Fuhrer with draft directives on policy issues in the territories that were to be occupied as a result of aggression against the USSR.
Rosenberg proposed creating five governorates on the territory of the USSR. Hitler opposed the autonomy of Ukraine and replaced the term “governorate” with “Reichskommissariat” for it. As a result, Rosenberg’s ideas took the following forms of implementation.
- 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 governorate was supposed to gain autonomy and become the support 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.
- The fifth governorate was to be Turkestan.
The success of the German campaign in the summer-autumn of 1941 led to a revision and tightening of the German plans for the eastern lands, and as a result, the Ost plan was born.
Plan Description
According to some reports, the “Plan Ost” was divided into two - the “Small Plan” (German. Kleine Planung) and "Big Plan" (German) Große Planung). The small plan was to be carried out during the war. The Big Plan was what the German government wanted to focus on after the war. The plan provided for different percentages of Germanization for the various conquered Slavic and other peoples. The “non-Germanized” were to be deported 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 comments and suggestions
A document known as “Comments and proposals of the “Eastern Ministry” on the “Ost” master plan” has become widespread among historians. 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 the largest and therefore the most dangerous people.”
"Generalplan Ost", as 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 destruction:
In the Baltics, Latvians were considered more suitable for "Germanization", but Lithuanians and Latgalians were not, since there were too many "Slavic admixtures" among them. According to Wetzel's proposals, the Russian people were to be subjected to measures such as assimilation (“Germanization”) and population reduction through a reduction in the birth rate - such actions are defined as genocide.
Developed variants of the Ost plan
The following documents were developed by the planning team Gr. lll B planning service of the Main Staff Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of the German People Heinrich Himmler (Reichskommissar für die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums (RKFDV) and the Institute of Agrarian Policy of the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin:
- Document 1: “Planning Fundamentals” was created in February 1940 by the RKFDV planning service (volume: 21 pages). Contents: Description of the extent of the planned eastern colonization in West Prussia and Wartheland. The colonization area was to be 87,600 km², of which 59,000 km² was agricultural land. About 100,000 settlement farms of 29 hectares each were to be created on this territory. It was planned to resettle about 4.3 million Germans into this territory; of which 3.15 million are in rural areas and 1.15 million in cities. At the same time, 560,000 Jews (100% of the population of the region of this nationality) and 3.4 million Poles (44% of the population of the region of this nationality) were to be gradually eliminated. The costs of implementing these plans have not been estimated.
- Document 2: Materials for the report “Colonization”, developed in December 1940 by the RKFDV planning service (volume 5 pages). Contents: Fundamental article to the “Requirement of territories for forced resettlement from the Old Reich” with a specific requirement for 130,000 km² of land for 480,000 new viable settlement farms 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 (missing, exact contents unknown): “General Plan Ost”, created in July 1941 by the RKFDV planning service. Contents: Description of the extent of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR with the boundaries of specific areas of colonization.
- Document 4 (missing, exact contents unknown): "General Plan Ost", created in December 1941 by the planning group Gr. lll B RSHA. Contents: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR and the General Government with specific boundaries of individual areas of settlement.
- Document 5: “General Plan Ost”, created in May 1942 by the Institute of Agriculture and Politics of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Berlin (volume 68 pages).
Contents: Description of the scale of the planned eastern colonization in the USSR with 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, as well as large agricultural enterprises with an area of at least 250 hectares, should have appeared. The required number of resettlers 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: “Master Plan for Colonization” (German) Generalsiedlungsplan), created in September 1942 by the RKF planning service (volume: 200 pages, including 25 maps and tables).
Contents: Description of the scale of the planned colonization of all areas envisaged for this with specific boundaries of individual settlement areas. The region was supposed to cover an area of 330,000 km² with 360,100 rural households. The required number of migrants was estimated at 12.21 million people (of which 2.859 million were peasants and those employed in forestry). The area planned for settlement was to be cleared of approximately 30.8 million people. The cost of implementing the plan was estimated at 144 billion Reichsmarks.