TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1032-PS

[Handwritten note] 10.6.41.
[Handwritten note] H.Gs.
Note
The following remarks should be made with regard to today's debate on the position of the Chief Commissars in the occupied Eastern territories:
The Chief Commissar is provided because the General Commis-
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sariats are so extensive and the number of District [Kreis] Commissariats in them so large that effective and direct contact between the General Commissars and the District [Kreis] Commissars appears to be impossible. In the General Commissariat of Kiev, for instance, which is made up of 221 rayons, about 75 town and country Districts [Kreise] would have to be organised, if 3 are merged into 1. The introduction of an intermediate authority would make contact not more complicated, but easier. It is also not established that such an interposition would involve delay in official procedure. Direct contact between the General Commissariats and the District [Kreis] Commissariats would meet with technical difficulties too. Railway traffic might prove difficult in view of the havoc which has been wrought, principally the blowing up of bridges. A reliable postal service will be long delayed, and in addition many District [Kreis] towns will not be on the railway at all. For these reasons too, therefore, it would be an extraordinary relief to the General Commissar, if, instead of 70-100 District [Kreis] Commissars, he has to deal with only 4-5 Chief Commissars, who, in their turn, are administering about 20 District [Kreis] Commissariats.
The establishment of Chief Commissariats had been instituted, also because it appeared expedient to include the larger producing areas in the General Commissariats and to bring them under uniform direction. The District [Kreis] Commissariats are too small for this. It is comparatively easy to split up the General Commissariats into Chief Commissariats, but, on the other hand, extraordinarily difficult to determine, at the Conference Table, just where District [Kreis] Commissariats should be established, especially as the Soviet system is not being taken over, but a number of rayons are to be merged into one District [Kreis]. In the Soviet Union, villages of a few hundred inhabitants are in many cases the seat of rayon administrations. It therefore appears inexpedient to determine at this stage where District [Kreis] Commissariats are to be set up. It might be better to hand over the District [Kreis] Commissars to the Chief Commissars as well, so that the Chief Commissar can decide on the spot where to organise District [Kreis] Commissariats. He could make extensive use of the experiences of the military administration. The proposal to reduce the number of Districts [Kreise], if and when there are no Chief Commissars, by merging 6 rayons into one District [Kreis], does not appear to be expedient, because the District [Kreis] is supposed to be the lowest German administrative department and the District [Kreis] Commissar must be in
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constant and effective contact with the communities, since other* wise his instructions are not carried out.
Berlin 10.6.41.
Braeutigam
Distribution:
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LP Dreier Dr. Leibbrandt.