Ostland

Ostland was the name given by Nazi Germany to their civilian occupation regime in conquered territories of the Baltic states during World War II.

Some parts, such as Memel were annexed to the Reich directly, but most was placed under two Reichskommissariats, those of Ostland and of Ukraine.

The area included Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus (including parts that had been part of Poland before the war). The regime was planning to encourage settlement of Germans to the region after the war ended, seeing it as a region traditionally inhabited Germans (see the Teutonic Order) that had been overrun. Conquered territories further to the east were under military governance for the entirety of the war.