Reichskommissariat Moskowien | |
|---|---|
| Status | ProjectedReichskommissariat ofGermany |
| Capital | InitiallyMoscow, thennot designated |
| Government | Military administration |
| Reichskommissar | |
• (projected) | Siegfried Kasche |
| Historical era | World War II |
Reichskommissariat Moskowien (RKM;Russian:Рейхскомиссариат Московия,romanized: Reykhskomissariat Moskoviya,lit. 'Reich Commissariat of Muscovy') was the civilian occupation-regime thatNazi Germany intended to establish in central and northernEuropean Russia duringWorld War II, one of several similarReichskommissariate. It was also known initially as theReichskommissariat Rußland (lit. 'Reich Commissariat of Russia'), but was later renamed as part of German policies of partitioning the Russian state.Siegfried Kasche was the projectedReichskomissar, but due to theWehrmacht's failure to occupy the territories intended to form theReichskommissariat, it remained on paper only.
The administrative capital was tentatively proposed as Moscow, the historical and political center of the Russian state. As the German armies were approaching the Soviet capital in theOperation Typhoon in the autumn of 1941, Hitler determined that Moscow, like Leningrad andKiev, would be levelled and its 4 million inhabitants killed, to destroy it as a potential center of Bolshevist resistance. For this purpose Moscow was to be covered by a largeartificial lake which would permanently submerge it,[1][2] by opening the sluices of theMoscow-Volga Canal.[3] During the advance on MoscowOtto Skorzeny was tasked with capturing these dam structures.[3]
During a conference on 16 July 1941, Hitler stated his personal desires on the division of the eastern territories to be acquired for Germany.[4] TheCrimean peninsula, together with a large hinterland to its north encompassing much of the southern Ukraine was to be "cleared" of all existing foreigners and exclusively settled by Germans (as with theSchutzstaffel'sWehrbauer proposals) becoming Reich territory (part of Germany).[4] The formerlyAustrian part ofGalicia was to be treated in a similar fashion. In addition theBaltic states, the "Volga colony" and the Baku district (as a military concession) would also have to be annexed to the Reich.[4]
ReichsleiterAlfred Rosenberg had initially proposedErich Koch, notorious even among the Nazis as a particularly brutal leader,[5] asReichskommissar of the province on 7 April 1941.[6]
This occupation will indeed have a completely different character to that in the Baltic Sea provinces, in the Ukraine and in the Caucasus.[a] It will be geared towards the oppression of any Russian or Bolshevist resistance and [sic] requires an absolutelyruthless personality, not only on the part of the military representation but also the potential political leadership. The resulting tasks need not be recorded.
— Alfred Rosenberg, memo dated 7 April 1941[6]
Koch rejected his nomination in June of that year because it was, as he described it, "entirely negative", and was later given control ofReichskommissariat Ukraine instead.[5] Hitler proposedWilhelm Kube as an alternative, but this was rejected afterHermann Göring and Rosenberg deemed him too old for the position (Kube was then in his mid-fifties), and instead assigned him toBelarus.SA-ObergruppenführerSiegfried Kasche, the German envoy inZagreb, was selected instead.[7]Hamburg senator and SA-GruppenführerWilhelm von Allwörden promoted himself to be nominated as the Commissioner for Economic Affairs for the Moscow area.[8] Kasche's nomination was opposed byHeinrich Himmler, who considered Kasche's SA background as being a problem and characterized him to Rosenberg as "a man of the desk, in no wise energetic or strong, and an outspoken enemy of the SS".[9]
Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski was to become the regionalHigher SS and Police Leader, and was already assigned toArmy Group Centre asHSSPF-Russland-Mitte (Central Russia) for this purpose.[5]Odilo Globocnik, then theSS and Police Leader inLublin was to head GeneralkommissariatSverdlovsk, the easternmost district of Moskowien.[5] Rosenberg suggestedWolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf asHauptkommissar of theYaroslavl district.[10]
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