THE INSTITUTION OF GENERAL COMMISSIONERS IN THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF THE “NEW ORDER”

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the institution of general commissioners as one of the key elements of the civil administration system established by the Nazi authorities in the occupied territory of Southern Ukraine during the Second World War within the framework of the so-called “New Order” policy. The institution of general commissioners is examined not merely as an administrative component of the occupation apparatus, but as an important instrument for the practical implementation of the political, economic, and social directives of the Third Reich at the regional level. The study focuses on determining the place of general commissariats within the structure of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, defining the scope of authority of general commissioners, and identifying the specific features of their interaction with the Reichskommissar of Ukraine, the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, and military structures. It is demonstrated that, despite their formal subordination to higher authorities, general commissioners often acted with a relatively high degree of autonomy, which resulted both from weak coordination between central and local administrative bodies and from internal contradictions within the Nazi system of power .Particular attention is paid to the activities of general commissioners in Southern Ukraine, a region of significant strategic and economic importance for Nazi occupation policy. The analysis of regional materials makes it possible to trace the specific features of the functioning of the civil administration under conditions of a multiethnic population, an agrarian-oriented economy, and proximity to the frontline zone. It is argued that these factors substantially influenced the administrative practices of general commissioners and the character of the implementation of occupation measures. The article also examines the personnel composition of general commissioners, their previous administrative and party experience, and the role of individual factors in shaping models of occupation governance. Based on a biographical analysis of selected officials, it is shown that management styles, the intensity of repressive measures, and methods of economic exploitation largely depended on the individual characteristics of particular general commissioners rather than solely on directives issued by the central authorities.  The study concludes that the institution of general commissioners played a leading role in the functioning of the Nazi civil administration in Ukraine, combining features of both bureaucratic and colonial forms of governance. Its activities were aimed at subordinating the socio-economic life of the occupied territories to the needs of the war economy of the Third Reich and ensuring political control over the local population.