Reichskommissariat Ostland

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Reichskommissariat Ostland
1941–1945
Flag of Reichskommissariat Ostland
Flag
Emblem of Reichskommissariat Ostland
Emblem
Anthem: 
Horst-Wessel-Lied
(Horst Wessel Song) (1941-1945)
Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1942
Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1942
StatusReichskommissariat of Germany
CapitalRiga
Common languagesGerman (official)
Religion
GovernmentColony of Nazi Germany
Reichskommissar 
• 1941–1944
Hinrich Lohse
• 1944–1945
Erich Koch
Historical eraWorld War II
22 June 1941
• Established
25 July 1941
1 September 1941
5 December 1941
1 April 1944
• Soviet retake
July–Nov. 1944
• Formally dissolved
21 January 1945
• Surrender of Courland Pocket
10 May 1945
Currency Reichskreditkassenscheine
(de facto)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byelorussian SSR
Russian SFSR
Poland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Russian SFSR
Today part of Belarus
 Estonia
 Latvia
 Lithuania

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]

References[change | change source]

  1. Alex J. Kay (2006). Guidelines for Special Fields (13 March 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. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)