Reichskommissariat Ostland
The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was created by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in the Baltic states and the western part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.[1]
Reichskommissariat Ostland | |||||||||||||||||||
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1941–1945 | |||||||||||||||||||
Anthem: | |||||||||||||||||||
Status | Reichskommissariat of Germany | ||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Riga | ||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | German (official) | ||||||||||||||||||
Religion | |||||||||||||||||||
Government | Colony of Nazi Germany | ||||||||||||||||||
Reichskommissar | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1941–1944 | Hinrich Lohse | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1944–1945 | Erich Koch | ||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | World War II | ||||||||||||||||||
22 June 1941 | |||||||||||||||||||
• | 25 July 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||
1 September 1941 | |||||||||||||||||||
5 December 1941 | |||||||||||||||||||
1 April 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||
• Soviet retake | July–Nov. 1944 | ||||||||||||||||||
• | 21 January 1945 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Surrender of Courland Pocket | 10 May 1945 | ||||||||||||||||||
Currency | Reichskreditkassenscheine (de facto) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Belarus Estonia Latvia Lithuania |
Reichskommissariat Ostland Media
Das Deutschlandlied
"The Horst Wessel Song", performed by the choir of the Leipzig Church of St. Thomas in 1936. From 1930 to 1945, this was the official anthem of the Nazi Party.
Soviet operations, 19 August to 31 December 1944
References
- ↑
Alex J. Kay (2006). Guidelines for Special Fields (13 March 1941). Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political And Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940-1941. Berghahn Books. p. 129. ISBN 1845451864. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
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', 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.