Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression E. Preparation for the Political Phase of the Aggression.
As has already been indicated, and as will be later more
fully developed, there were both economic and political
motives for the action of the Nazi conspirators in invading
the Soviet Union. The economic aspects have been discussed.
Equally elaborate planning was engaged in by the Nazi
conspirators to insure the effectuation of the political aim
of their aggression. That political aim may be described as
the elimination of the USSR as a powerful political factor
in Europe, and the acquisition of Lebensraum. For the
accomplishment of these purposes the Nazi conspirators
selected as their agent Rosenberg.
As early as 2 April 1941 Rosenberg, or a member of his
staff!, prepared a memorandum on the USSR (1017-PS). This
memorandum speculates on the possibility of a disagreement
with the USSR which would result in a quick occupation of an
important part of that country. The memorandum then
considers what the political goal of such occupation should
be and suggests ways for reaching such a goal. This
memorandum begins:
"Subject: The USSR
"Bolshevik Russia, just as the one-time Czarist Russia,
is a conglomeration of peoples of very different types,
which has come into being through the annexation of
states of a related or even of an essentially alien
character.
"A military conflict with the USSR will result in an
extraordinarily rapid occupation of an important and
large section of the USSR It is very probable that
military action on our part will very soon be followed
by the military collapse of the USSR The occupation of
these areas would then present not so many military as
administrative and economic difficulties. Thus arises
the first question:
"Is the occupation to be determined by purely military
and/or economic needs, or is the laying of political
foundations for a future organization of the area also
a factor in determining how far the occupation shall be
extended? If so, it is a matter of urgency to fix the
political goal which is to be attained, for it will,
without doubt, also have an effect on military
operations.
"If the Political overthrow of the Eastern Empire, in
the weak condition it would be at the time, is set as
the goal of military operations, one may conclude that:
"1. The occupation must comprise areas of vast
proportions;
[Page 815]
"2. From the very beginning, the treatment of
individual -sections of territory should, as regards
administration, as well as economics and ideology, be
adapted to the political ends we are striving to
attain;
"3. Again, extraordinary questions concerning these
vast areas, such as, in particular, the ensuring of
essential supplies for the continuation of the war
against England, the maintenance of production which
this necessitates and the great directives for the
completely separate areas, should best be dealt with
all together in one place.
"It should again be stressed here that, in addition,
all the arguments which follow of course only hold good
once the supplies from the area to be occupied which
are essential to Greater Germany for the continuance of
the war, have been assured.
"Anyone who knows the East, sees in a map of Russia's
population the following national or geographical
units:
"a. Greater Russia with Moscow as its centre.
The memorandum then proceeds to discuss each of the areas or
geographical units thus listed in some detail. At the end of
the paper the writer sums up his thoughts and briefly
outlines his plan in these terms:
"The following systematic constructional plan is
evolved from the points briefly outlined here:
"1. The creation of a central department for the
occupied areas of the USSR, to be confined more or less
to wartime.
"Working in agreement with the higher and supreme Reich
authorities, it would be the task of this department
"a. To issue binding political instructions to the
separate administration area, having in mind the
situation existing at the time and the goal which is to
be achieved.
"b. To secure for the Reich supplies essential to the
war from all the occupied areas.
"c. To make preparations for, and to supervise the
carrying out, in main outline, of the primarily
important questions for all areas, as for instance,
those of finance and
[Page 816]
funds, transport, and the production of oil, coal and
food;
"2. The carrying out of sharply defined
decentralization in the separate administration area,
grouped together by race or by reason of political
economy, for the carrying out of the totally dissimilar
tasks assigned to them.
"As against this, an administrative department,
regulating matters in principle, and to be set up on a
purely economic basis, as is at present envisaged,
might very soon prove to be inadequate, and fail in its
purpose. Such a central office would be compelled to
carry out a common policy for all areas, dictated only
by economic considerations, and this might impede the
carrying out of the political task and, in view of its
being run on purely bureaucratic lines, might possibly
even prevent it.
"The question therefore arises, whether the opinions
which have been set forth should not, purely for
reasons of expediency, be taken into consideration from
the very beginning when organizing the administration
of the territory on a basis of war economy. In view of
the vast spaces and the difficulties of administration
which arise from that alone, and also in view of the
living conditions created by Bolshevism, which are
totally different from those of Western Europe, the
whole question of the USSR would require different
treatment from that which has been applied in the
individual countries of Western Europe.
"2.4.41" (1017-PS)
It is evident that the "presently envisaged" administration
operating on a purely economic basis, to which this
memorandum objects, was the Economic Staff Oldenburg which
was set up under Goering and Thomas.
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
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Volume
I Chapter IX
Aggression Against the U.S.S.R.
(Part 9 of 16)
"b. White Russia with Minsk or Smolensk as its capital.
"c. Esthonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
"d. The Ukraine and the Crimea with Kiev as its centre.
"e. The Don area with Rostov as its capital.
"f. The area of the Caucasus.
"g. Russian Central Asia or Russian Turkestan." (1017-PS)