The historiography of the german occupation of Ukraine in 1941–1944: Alexander Dallin. «German rule in Russia, 1941–1945: a study of occupation policies». 2nd edition (1981)

Abstract

Contemporary Ukrainian historical science distances itself from the Soviet legacy and scientific works written at that time. Works by foreign historians written in the 1950s–1980s are considered old.However, they were written outside the influence of Soviet ideology. They were based on scientific works and documents that were inaccessible in the USSR. They raised topics of the German occupation that were inconvenient and forbidden for the Soviet authorities. The purpose of this article is to provide a scientific analysis of American historian Alexander Dullin's work «German Rule in Russia, 1941–1945: A Study of Occupation Policies» for broader use in contemporary scientific research on the German occupation of Ukraine in 1941–1944. For the first time in Ukrainian historical science, a thematic review is carried out, historical data on Ukraine is analyzed, and little-known facts about the German occupation of 1941–1944 are revealed. The methodology is based on the principles of scientific rigour (verification during the selection of relevant and little-known facts, events, patterns, and cause-and-effect relationships of German occupation policy in Ukraine for the article), historicism (taking into account the time of writing and the thoroughness of the documentary base when selecting historical facts to reveal individual topics (policies regarding prisoners of war, forced laborers, agriculture, industry, and the economy)) and objectivity (unbiased presentation of O. Dallin's statements and conclusions regarding German eastern policy and certain aspects of the occupation of Ukraine). Methods of historiographical analysis and synthesis were used throughout, allowing individual facts and themes to be identified and grouped into a single mosaic that provides a broader understanding of the German occupation of Ukraine. The results of the study showed that the main theme of the above-mentioned work is political warfare (the military and political involvement of the «liberated» peoples of the occupied territories in the war against the USSR). A. Dallin points out that German policy in the occupied territories depended on the outcome of the struggle between the Nazi octagon of major political centers for control over spheres of influence in the East (the Wehrmacht, the Eastern Ministry, SS, Four-Year Plan Office, Propaganda Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and NSDAP Party Chancellery). The conclusions indicate that the historical facts presented by A. Dallin regarding German occupation policy in Ukraine are objective and have not lost their relevance.The author covers the following topics of the occupation in the most detail: 1) plans of the Nazi leadership regarding the future of Ukraine; 2) the impact of the attempt to restore the OUN(B) Ukrainian state in June 1941 on the change in official German policy towards Ukraine; 3) the struggle of the main Nazi organizations for control over spheres of influence in Ukraine; 4) the establishment of German military and civil administration bodies on the territory of Ukraine (military administration of Army Group South; Reichskommissariat Ukraine; District Galicia); 5) the conflict between E. Koch and A. Rosenberg over methods of governing the Reichskommissariat Ukraine; 6) the special place of the Crimean peninsula in German plans; 7) the uniqueness of the General District «Tauria» in the structure and management of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine; 8) Himmler's attempt to begin colonization in Ukraine by creating German settlements; 9) Ukraine's place in Nazi economic plans; 10) E. Koch's obstruction of German agrarian reforms; 11) the Germans' attempt to restore the Donets Basin and heavy industry in eastern Ukraine in 1942–1943; 12) the release of Ukrainians from captivity in the first months of the war; 13) the situation of Ukrainian culture under German occupation (issues of medicine, education, science, the Ukrainian language, and traditional culture); 14) the restoration of Ukrainian churches and religious life in the occupied territories; 15) understanding of German officers and civil servants who controlled and administered Ukrainian territories, the negative impact of official colonial policy on Ukrainians' attitudes toward German rule; 16) creation of the SS Division «Galicia».