The system of occupation established by the Third Reich varied significantly not only between different countries, but also within different regions of the same country. This largely depended on the political value of those countries' populations to the Nazi leadership.
Without exception, the first common feature of the Nazi-occupied countries was total isolation and subsequent mass extermination of Jews. This "new order" was systematically implemented everywhere: in the Czech Republic, Poland, all occupied territories of the Soviet Union, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Greece , southern Greece. It was not ruled by the Germans themselves, but by their satellites - in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia - where the local governments also began to "issue orders" to send Jews away To the concentration camp. And towards the end of the war, when the Germans directly occupied parts of Italy and Hungary, the Holocaust began directly there.
The second common characteristic is the terror of civilians. Similar tragedies in Hatyn, Belarus, Babiyar, Ukraine, and elsewhere in the Soviet Union are well known. In June 1942, the Nazis inflicted exemplary destruction on the village of Lidice in Czech and on the entire adult male population. More than 200 people were killed when Czech saboteurs trained in Britain murdered the Nazi governor-general of Bohemia and Moravia, Heydrich. In June 1944, the Socialist-Revolutionaries locked up in a church burned the entire population of Oradour-sur-Glan, a French village that had provided shelter to the partisans—more than 600 people, including women and children. Mass executions of civilian hostages occurred in Italy (post-occupation), Poland, Greece, and other European countries.
The third common feature is the deportation of civilians to work in Germany. They were also produced in many occupied countries.
However, there were differences in the civilian populations of occupied countries. There are legal nuances to the occupation regime. Some states are formally controlled by corporatist governments, and some even formally have no authority other than the established occupier.
So, in France, French civil affairs agencies are acting everywhere. In Norway, there was a Quisling government. In Denmark, the royal family was considered a prisoner of the Germans, but local police operated there and in most cases Denmark's pre-war laws remained in force. In the only piece of British territory held by the Germans - the Channel Islands off the coast of France - all British institutions were completely inviolable.
The Dutch, Flemings, Danes, Norwegians, and the British were officially considered equal to the Germans. In the future, countries inhabited by Germanic peoples should be included in the Greater German Empire, as these peoples were thought to have been isolated from the Germans only due to historical misunderstandings. Almost equal to the Germans were the French and Walloons from the north - who were willingly taken to the SS.
In Yugoslavia and Greece, there is a cooperation system. Their creation was due to the inability to directly control these territories, which were mostly covered by mountains and forests. But the peoples of these countries themselves, with the exception of the Croats who were granted the status of "independence" and allies of Germany, were considered of no value to the Reich.
In Western Slavic lands, the situation of the people was very different. The Slovaks - before revolting against Germany in August 1944 - were Allies, similar to the Croats and Bulgarians, ruled by their own governments. The Czechs in the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia", like the Slovenes and Poles who were directly affiliated with the Empire, underwent Germanization.
The regime established by the Nazis in the Baltic Sea was almost identical to Western Europe. . Attempts by Alfred Rosenberg, Minister of Eastern Territorial Affairs, to single out at least Ukraine from the order were in vain.It was not until 1942 that the Germans decided to declare the Cossacks "full-fledged" allies.
As mentioned before, deportations for working in Germany are almost everywhere. But the form of work is different. "starbeiters" were imported from the Soviet Union and Poland and worked mainly in unskilled jobs in mining and agriculture. They were treated like slaves. Qualified workers arrived from France and they replaced the Germans on the front lines, not only on the machines but sometimes in the Germans' beds.
On June 1, 194, Rosenberg's instruction titled "The 12 Commandments" showed the attitude of the German occupation authorities towards the people of East Slavic countries. She guided the German soldiers to emphasize in all their actions that they belonged to God's race, and Not close to the people. The fear of cultural assimilation of Germans by Russians permeates attitudes like this:
"Don't be weak and sentimental! If you cry with a Russian, he will be happy because he can despise you.
"You keep your distance from the Russians …Don’t make a fuss about them. Do not under any circumstances develop any intimate relationships with the women and girls in the business entrusted to you.
"Beware of the Russian intelligentsia...she has a special charm and art that influences the German mind."
Regarding the population of the occupied countries of Western Europe, there is no such rule. On the contrary, Germans' close relations with Norwegians, Danes, and Flemings were considered "useful to the race."
