Land Management Company Ukraine

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The land management company Ukraine mbH (lbgÚ) was a German organization that during the Second World War, had the task of agriculture in the German Wehrmacht occupied Soviet Socialist Republic Ukrainian exploit and the income on the one hand of the armed forces, and secondly the German population in the Reich to To make available. It was subordinate to the " Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories " (RMfdbO).

Prehistory and foundation

Just two months after the German attack on the Soviet Union from June 22, 1941 ordered the Commissioner for the Four Year Plan , Reich Marshal Hermann Goering , with his decrees on 12 and 17 September 1941, the establishment of a land management company in the on August 20, 1941 founded Reichskommissariat Ukraine (RKU). He instructed the Reich Commissioner for Ukraine to transfer the fiduciary administration and management of the nationalized agricultural properties and businesses, in particular the state estates ( sovkhozs ), engine-tractor stations (MTS), to the NSDAP's Oberpräsident and Gauleiter, Erich Koch , to this land management company , Seed breeding operations and technical ancillary operations.

After its occupation by the Wehrmacht from 1941 to 1943/44, the greater part of the territory of Ukraine was under civil administration as Reichskommissariat Ukraine by the Reich Ministry for the occupied eastern territories. The Ukrainian capital Kiev was under German occupation from September 19, 1941 to November 6, 1943, i.e. for around two years.

On the instructions of the Reich Commissioner for Ukraine, Erich Koch, the Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine mbH was founded as a limited liability company with its headquarters in the Ukrainian (formerly East Polish) Rovno in the RKU by a partnership agreement of August 31, 1942 .

In addition to the LBGU, there was also the Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ostland (LBGO), which assumed the same function in the Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) as the LBGU in Ukraine.

The military economic services (Wi-Dienststellen) of the Wehrmacht handed over to these land management companies in their upstream operational area the corresponding agricultural land and businesses for fiduciary management.

Structure and organization of the LBGU

Spatial structure

Headquarters lbgÚ was in Rivne (Ukraine), so at the headquarters of the Reich Commissariat Ukraine, also existed bases of lbgÚ in Nikolayev (Ukraine) in Kiev (Ukraine) and in Tarnow (Poland).

The central office of the LBGU in Rivne was subordinate to its six district offices, each of which was responsible for the area of ​​a general district of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. So there were LBGU district offices in (from west to east):

The regional offices and the district offices were subordinate to the six district offices and their five branches. The bases for general agricultural operations and the overhead lines for state property followed below the district offices. At the beginning of 1943, the LBGU were subordinate to 1912 bases, which averaged around 10-12,000 hectares, and 274 overhead lines with an average size of 6-15,000 hectares. As of July 1, 1943, the LBGU had 114 regional offices, 431 district offices, 2,870 bases and 400 overhead lines.

After the withdrawal of the Germans from the Ukraine, which was completed at the end of April / beginning of May 1944, the last LBGU office was apparently in Ostrava (Mährisch-Ostrau) in the Czech Republic.

Functional structure

Functionally, as a limited liability company, LBGU was divided into the Board of Directors, the shareholders' meeting and the central office.

At the head of the board of directors was the head of the food and agriculture department at the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, the Saxon country farmer leader Hellmut Körner . Other agricultural officials belonged to the board of directors.

The central office is divided into the two groups “Agriculture” and “Administration”. The “Agriculture” group consisted of four central departments, the Administration group of three central departments. In addition, the central office was responsible for the four main departments “General Operations”, “State Goods”, “Seed Cultivation” and “Machine Tractor Stations” (MTS).

Tasks and activities of the LBGU

In accordance with its articles of association of August 31, 1942 and the instructions of the Reich Commissioner for Ukraine, the LBGU had two tasks: Its first task was the management and management of the former Soviet state estates (former sovkhozs ), seed breeding farms, motor-tractor stations and master workshops, their second task in the control of agricultural production in the common farms , agricultural cooperatives (former kolkhozes ) and the re-established (decollectivized) agricultural farms. The LBGU had a far-reaching right to issue instructions through common farms and agricultural cooperatives.

The number of companies managed by the LBGU (as of July 1, 1943) was given by the head of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, Alfred Rosenberg , in a letter to the head of the NSDAP party chancellery, Martin Bormann , on October 17 1944, as follows:

»The Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine (LBGU) had the following tasks (figures from July 1, 1943):

a) Management of the almost 31,000 common farms and agricultural cooperatives (former kolkhozes) with 1.7 million farms, the almost 540,000 individual farms - cultivated usable area at the highest level 38 million ha, in the summer of 1943 24.5 million ha -,

b) Fiduciary management of 1,875 state estates with an agricultural area of ​​2.8 million ha,

c) Fiduciary management of the 72 breeding stations with an area of ​​124,000 ha, seed multiplication with a plan area of ​​424,000 ha, fiduciary operation of 17 seed offices, 270 seed points and 619 seed stores with a seed capacity of 192,000 tons,

d) Fiduciary management of the 900 machine and tractor stations (MTS) with 49,600 tractors. "

According to a newspaper article from 1942, there were 2,215 state farms of very different sizes in Ukraine; the largest state-owned enterprises are said to have had acreage of up to 80,000 hectares, their average size is said to have been around 2,850 hectares.

The agricultural operations managed by the LBGU had to deliver their products - with the exception of the seeds and the goods they directly required themselves - to the Central Trading Company East for Agricultural Sales and Needs (ZO). So-called sagots (buying points) from the Soviet era continued to be used as delivery points for these agricultural products. The farms received a receipt from the Sagots for the products they had delivered, for which they in turn received a corresponding credit on their bank account.

Financing the LBGU

The LBGU had the right to levy what is known as an administrative cost allocation from the farms it “supervises”. In addition, it generated regular income from the sale of agricultural goods.

Dutch colonists in the LBGU

The LBGU was mainly run by German farmers from the Reichsnährstand . Occasionally, Dutch settlers, who were placed in the Ukraine by the Nederlandsche Oost Compagnie (NOC) , were also deployed as base managers of the LBGU .

The NOC ran its own training center for Dutch colonists in the so-called "Ostland" in Rogachev, Belarus . The director of this NOC agricultural school was the Dutch farmer Arnout de Waard. The training in Rogachev was carried out by German specialists from the LBGU. Around 30 Dutch colonists from the East received two to three weeks of training. After that, most of them were initially assigned to a German base manager of the LBGU as an assistant for some time before they became base managers themselves. They received a dark green uniform and basic training in handling pistols and carbines.

LBGU officials

As of June 30, 1943, 4500 German and Dutch workers were employed at the LBGU.

At the head of the LBGU's board of directors was the head of the main food and agriculture department at the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (RKU), the Saxon country farmer leader and SS brigade leader Hellmut Körner .

Gustav Hacker , the former Hessian Minister for Agriculture and Forests (1955–1966) who died in 1979, held a leading position in the Ukraine Land Management Company from 1942 to 1944.

From mid-1943 to autumn 1944, Dr. Hans Bavendamm Managing Director of the Ukraine Land Management Company in Kiev. His service district were the districts of Kiev and Poltava .

Liquidation of the LBGU

After the beginning of the spring offensive of the Red Army on the German Eastern Front on March 4, 1944, the gradual withdrawal of German units from the Ukraine began. By the end of April 1944, Soviet troops had recaptured all of Ukraine from the Wehrmacht. The liquidation of the LBGU was to be completed by the end of 1944.

After the Germans withdrew from Ukraine, the last LBGU office was apparently in Ostrava (Mährisch-Ostrau) in the Czech Republic.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Geraldien von Frijtag Drabbe Künzel, "Hitler's Brudervolk: The Dutch and the Colonization of Occupied Eastern Europe, 1939-1945", Routledge, 2015, p. 61
  2. ↑ Order of the Reichsmarschall regarding the establishment of land management companies in the RKU and RKO from September 12th and 17th, 1941 as well as the corresponding articles of association, BA-MA, RW 31/144 (»Wirtschaftsstab Ost with subordinate area«)
  3. ↑ Jörg Echternkamp, ​​Chronological overview: Second World War. Data on the outbreak, course and end of the Second World War , Federal Agency for Civic Education, April 30, 2015
  4. ^ "Achievement of Maximum Yields - Die Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine", in: Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands, March 12, 1943, p. "Wirtschaft und Arbeit", 6 of the PDF file of the digitized version
  5. ↑ van Eek, "Steunpunten in Europe - Op school bij de Nederlandsche boeren in Oekrajine," in De Waag - algemeen Cultureel, politiek en economisch weekblad voor Nederland, March 5, 1943 S. 136/137, Delphians
  6. ↑ Geraldien von Frijtag Drabbe Künzel, " Brudervolk: The Dutch and the Colonization of Occupied Eastern Europe, 1939-1945 ", index of keywords
  7. ↑ Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands, March 12, 1943, No. 277, p. "Economy and Labor", [1] , p. 6 of the PDF file
  8. ↑ Source: Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, NT Vol. XXV, 327-PS, pp. 358/359, letter from Alfred Rosenberg to the NSDAP Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, DRMfdbO. II 1 c 1183/44 g. Berlin, October 17, 1944, Re: Measures against the civil phase. Your Circular No. 309144 of October 9, 1944, here: Appendix / Page 3 of the Appendix, (Exhibit USA-338); P. 357; https://archive.org/stream/trialofmajorwarc2500gori#page/356/
  9. ↑ "Achievement of Maximum Yields - Die Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine", in: Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands, March 12, 1943, No. 277, p. "Economy and Labor", [2] , p. 6 of the PDF file.
  10. ↑ "Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine - An Instrument des Agrischen Wiederaufbau", in: Revaler Zeitung, April 1, 1943, p. 7, https://dea.digar.ee/page/revalerzeitung/1943/04/01/7
  11. ↑ Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, NT Vol. XXV, 327-PS, pp. 358/359, letter from Alfred Rosenberg to Martin Bormann, DRMfdbO. II 1 c 1183/44 g. Berlin, October 17, 1944. Copy. To the head of the party chancellery Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Berlin W 8, Wilhelmstr. 63/64 - Re: measures against civil phase. Your circular No. 309144 of October 9, 1944. Here: Appendix / Appendix; P. 3. Document 327-PS; Secret Letter from Rosenberg to Bormann, 17 October 1944, With Detailed Description of the Activities Undertaken by the Commercial Firms Controlled by the German Reich and Engaged in the Exploitation of Agriculture and Other Resources in the Occupied Eastern Territories (Exhibit USA-338); P. 357; https://archive.org/stream/trialofmajorwarc2500gori#page/356/
  12. ↑ "Model Farms of the Future - There are 2215 State Goods Companies in Ukraine", in: Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands, November 16, 1942, page "Economy and Work"
  13. ^ Institute for Contemporary History Munich-Berlin: Witnesses Online. ZS 1007, Bavendamm, Dr. Hans (PDF file; 2 MB), APO 696-A, Interrogation Summary No. 2719 of July 3, 1947, p. 8 of the PDF file
  14. ↑ "Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine - An Instrument des Agrischen Wiederaufbau", in: Revaler Zeitung, April 1, 1943, p. 7, https://dea.digar.ee/page/revalerzeitung/1943/04/01/7
  15. ↑ Rolf-Dieter Müller (ed.), "The German Economic Policy in the Occupied Soviet Territories 1941–1943: The Final Report of the Economic Staff East and Notes of a Member of the Kiev Economic Command", Oldenbourg Verlag, 1991. - XI, 671 S., p 140. See also: Geraldien von Frijtag Drabbe Künzel, "Hitler's Brudervolk: The Dutch and the Colonization of Occupied Eastern Europe, 1939–1945"  [3]
  16. ↑ "Nederlandsche boeren als bedrijfsleider - De taak in de Oekraïne", in: Provinciale Geldersche courant: Nijmeegsche courant, March 22, 1943, https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?cql%5B%5D= % 28date + _gte _ +% 2201-01-1940% 22% 29 & cql% 5B% 5D =% 28date + _lte _ +% 2208-05-1945% 22% 29 & query = Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft & coll = ddd & redirect = true & page = 4 & identifier = ddd% 3A010522168% 3Ampeg21% 3Aa0029 & resultsidentifier = ddd% 3A010522168% 3Ampeg21% 3Aa0029 . Sa: van Eek, "Steunpunten in Europae Strijd - Op school bij de Nederlandsche boeren in Oekrajine", in: Source: De Waag: algemeen cultureel, politiek en economisch weekblad voor Nederland, March 5, 1943, 7th year, no , https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?cql%5B%5D=%28date+_gte_+%2201-01-1940%22%29&cql%5B%5D=%28date+_lte_+%2208 -05-1945% 22% 29 & query = Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft & coll = ddd & redirect = true & page = 5 & identifier = ddd% 3A010310923% 3Ampeg21% 3Aa0026 & resultsidentifier = ddd% 3A010310923% 3Ampeg21% 3Aa0026
  17. ↑ Victor Flietstra, "Arnout de Waard: Bezetter of Boer?", P. 3, https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/252224/Biografisch_Project_Arnout_de_Waard.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ; see also: van Eek, "Steunpunten in Europäische Strijd - Op school bij de Nederlandsche boeren in Oekrajine", in: De Waag - algemeen cultureel, politiek en economisch weekblad voor Nederland, March 5, 1943, 7th year, no. 9, P. 136/137, https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010310923:mpeg21:pdf
  18. ↑ Rolf-Dieter Müller (ed.), "The German Economic Policy in the Occupied Soviet Territories 1941–1943: The Final Report of the Economic Staff East and Notes of a Member of the Kiev Economic Command", Oldenbourg Verlag, 1991. - XI, 671 p .; P. 140 https://www.osmikon.de/metaopac/search?View=ostdok&db=369&id=bsb00041954
  19. ↑ War Administrator Ortgis Sefken, "Dutch Agricultural Leader - Your Use in the Ukraine for Food Security in Europe", in: Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands, No. 329, May 7, 1943, p. 2, http://resolver.kb.nl/ resolve? urn = ddd: 011120361: mpeg21: pdf
  20. ^ Letter from Alfred Rosenberg to Martin Bormann from October 17, 1944, Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, NT Vol. XXV, Document No. 327-PS, p. 358, https://archive.org/stream/trialofmajorwarc2500gori#page/358/mode/2up
  21. ↑ "Achieving Maximum Yields - Die Landbewirtschaftungsgesellschaft Ukraine", in: Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands, No. 277/1943, March 12, 1943, p. "Wirtschaft und Arbeit", http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve? urn = ddd: 011239334: mpeg21: pdf , p. 6 of the PDF file
  22. ↑ Source: "Political Books - A Mirror of Evil and Good - The Statistical-Biographical Handbook on the Parliamentarians of German Minorities" (Review of the book: Mads Ole Balling: From Reval to Bucharest. Statistical-biographical handbook of the parliamentarians of the German minorities in East Central and South East Europe 1919–1945, 2 volumes. Documentation Verlag, Copenhagen 1991. 1020 pages, maps, illustrations, 198 DM.), In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 40/1992 of Monday, February 17, 1992, page 12, http://www.mitteleuropa.de/bb-mob01.htm
  23. ↑ Arnulf Scriba, "The Soviet Spring Offensive 1944", Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, May 19, 2015, https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/der-zweite-weltkrieg/kriegsverbindungen/fruehjahrsoffensive-1944.html
  24. ^ Letter from Alfred Rosenberg to Martin Bormann of October 17, 1944, II 1 c 1183/44 g, Nürnberger Hauptkriegsverbrecher-Prozess, Document No. 327-PS, p. 353 ff., P. 354, https://archive.org/stream/TheNurnbergTrial/NT_Vol-XXV_djvu.txt  : »These companies and banks (...) will be wound up at the end of this year at the latest [ie: End of 1944] to be completed. "