Erich Koch: Difference between revisions
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Every factory he builds, every farm he modernizes and every bullet he orders into somebody's head; it all fails to subjugate the wild "borderland", which after more than 20 years is no less riddled with rebels and their constant terrorist attacks against his authority. For Koch, Ukraine is no Aryan paradise, and he's starting to wonder if it ever will be. These days he prefers to spend his time in East Prussia, another region he is responsible for, but one that he looks upon with pride, one that he wishes to get reassigned to permanently someday.
His three most relevant subordinates, [[Georg Leibbrandt]], [[Otto Ohlendorf]] and [[Hans-Otto Bräutigam]] constantly pester him with childish ideas about how to solve the Reicshkommissariat's problems, all the while eyeing the big seat
=== In-Game Description ===
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=== Early Life ===
Erich Koch was born on June 19th 1896 in a town of Elberfeld, today a part of Wuppertal. From 1915 he fought in the Great War, until its conclusion in 1918. Afterwards he continued soldiering as part of a Freikorps Rosshach in Upper Silesia until he was dismissed for "anti-
=== Nazi Party ===
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At the commencement of the War Koch was appointed Reich Defense Commissioner (Reichsverteidigungskommissar) for Military District I (Wehrkreis I), which comprised East Prussia. After the end of the Invasion of Poland, the territory of his administrative unit was adjusted. Regierungsbezirk West Prussia was transferred from East Prussia to the new Reichsgau Westpreußen, later renamed Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. East Prussia was compensated with Regierungsbezirk Zichenau (previously Ciechanów).
In March 1940 Theodor Schieder, who was director in charge of Regional Office for Postwar History (Landesstelle fur Nachkriegsgeschichte), presented Gauleiter Erich Koch with a detailed plan regarding studies of territories annexed to East Prussia; Koch himself wanted to know the political, social and ethnic conditions in those areas. Schieder in return sent two reports to Koch, including a population inventory conducted at the end of 19th century of the area in question, relevant for extermination and settlement, and provided basis for segregation of Jewish and "Slavic" spouses from ethnic Germans.
Soon after the invasion of the Soviet Union, Koch was appointed "civil commissioner" (Zivilkommissar) on 1 August 1941, and later as Chief of Civil Administration in Bezirk Bialystok.
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[[File:Erich Koch and Rosenberg.jpg|250px|thumb|<center>''Erich Koch (right) and <br>Alfred Rosenberg (center)''</center>]] On September 1st 1941, Koch became Reichskommissar for the [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine|Ukraine]] with control of the Gestapo and the uniformed police. As Reichskommissar he had full authority in his realm, which led to conflict with other elements of the Nazi bureaucracy. Alfred Rosenberg, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories (Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete), expressed his disapproval of Koch's autonomous actions to Hitler in 1941.
Koch's first act as Reichskommissar was to close local schools, declaring that
The Reichskommissar works with the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (Generalbevollmächtigter für den Arbeitseinsatz) in providing the Reich with forced labor. He was also involved in the persecution of Polish and Ukrainian Jews. Koch enforced the [[Hunger Plan|"Hunger Plan"]] against the "undesirables" of Ukraine. He remarked the Slavic population of the Reichskommissairat in a quote
Koch's rule was and still is characterized characterized by disturbing brutality, which gave rise to numerous and persistent resistance movements. These include the [[Ukrainian Workers' and Peasants' Red Army]], [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] and the [[Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army]]. All of which plague his fiefdom in a determined fight for the freedom of Ukraine. After the [[West Russian War]] (1955-1957), these movements gained substantially more traction, fighting fiercely against the Nazi occupiers, causing Koch enough headaches to lose faith in the prospects of the Reichskommissariat. Koch now only does the bare minimum required of him and dreams of being rid of his position as Reischkommissar.
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