Handlungsspielräume in der Befehlswirtschaft – Die Hüttenwerke in der Ukraine unter deutscher Besatzung

With the occupation of the western parts of the Soviet Union and the political und administrative reorganization of ministries in Berlin, a keen debate started on how to expropriate the new part of the “German Empire”. Especially the reconstruction and the exploitation of heavy industry in the Ukraine and its iron and steel works became subject to intensive dispute between several ministries in Berlin, local authorities in the Ukraine and the Reichswerke Hermann Göring, the most important of state-commanded heavy industries. However, in time the Reichwerke – and its decisive director Paul Pleiger – had to admit that the business figures required by the Berlin ministries could not be achieved. This opened up the opportunity for private enterprise to expand und invest in the Ukraine too. The different measures chosen to build up business in the Ukraine und the results of this expansion are the subject of the following article.