''Generalbezirk Estland'' ( German for "General District Estonia"; ) was an

administrative subdivision Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of the ''

Reichskommissariat Ostland The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...

'' of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

that covered

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

from 1941 to 1944. It served as the Nazi

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

administration for the German occupation of Estonia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and supervised the collaborationist Estonian Self-Administration of Hjalmar Mäe. Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was the only '' Generalkommissar'' of Generalbezirk Estland during its existence.

Organization and structure

''Generalbezirk Estland'' was established in

on 5 December 1941, the last of the four administrative districts of ''

'' to be formally created. It was organized on the territory of German-occupied Estonia, which had until then been under the military administration of the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

''s Army Group North Rear Area and its commander Franz von Roques during the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In the autumn of 1941, Roques had begun to form the Estonian Self-Administration, a

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

composed of Estonian collaborators to govern the country. The ceremony was held to officially transfer power to Hjalmar Mäe of the Estonian Self-Administration and Karl-Siegmund Litzmann of ''Generalbezirk Estland'' from Martin Matthiessen, a representative of

Hinrich Lohse Hinrich Lohse (2 September 1896 – 25 February 1964) was a German Nazi Party official, politician and convicted war criminal. He served as the ''Gauleiter'' and ''Oberpräsident'' of Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-Holstein and was an S ...

, the '' Reichskommissar'' of ''Reichskommissariat Ostland''. The capital of ''Generalbezirk Estland'' was Reval (Tallinn) and the administration was headquartered at the Kadriorg Palace.

Administrative divisions

''Generalbezirk Estland'' had 7 subdivisions called ''Kreisgebiete'' (County Areas). The seat of administration is in parentheses. *Arensburg (

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a populated places in Estonia, town on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Municipality and the seat of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded popul ...

) *Dorpat (

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

) *Narwa (

Rakvere Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: th ...

) *Pernau (

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

) *Petschur ( Pechory) *Reval-Stadt (

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

) *Reval-Land ( Paide)

Civil and police leadership

Civil administration was led by a ''Generalkommissar'' (General Commissioner) directly appointed by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, and who reported to the Ostland ''Reichskommissar'' headquartered in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. In addition, police and security matters were overseen by an

SS and Police Leader The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police (''Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the o ...

(SSPF) directly appointed by ''

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest Uniforms and insignia of the Schut ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

, and who reported to the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) ''Ostland und Russland-Nord'' in Riga, SS-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

'' Hans-Adolf Prützmann until 1 November 1941, and SS-''

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

'' Friedrich Jeckeln after that date. *''Generalkommissar'': Karl-Siegmund Litzmann (5 December 1941 – 17 September 1944). *

: ''SS-

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

'' Hinrich Möller (4 August 1941 – 1 April 1944); ''SS-Brigadeführer'' Walther Schröder (1 April 1944 – 19 October 1944).

Holocaust

Following the German invasion in June 1941, the death squads of ''

Einsatzgruppe (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...

'' A and their Estonian collaborators immediately began the systematic murder of Estonian Jews. Approximately 75% of Estonian Jews had fled eastward into the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

ahead of the Nazi occupation. Virtually all of those who remained (between 950 and 1,000 people) were murdered. The Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity estimated the total number of victims killed in Estonia to be roughly 35,000, including approximately 1,000 Estonian Jews, 10,000 foreign Jews, 1,000 Estonian Romani, 7,000 ethnic

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

and 15,000 Soviet

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

Dissolution

On 11 July 1944, '' General der Infanterie''

Johannes Frießner __NOTOC__ Johannes Frießner (22 March 1892 – 26 June 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Biography Born in Chemnitz, Saxony, Friessner e ...

, the commander-in-Chief of

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

, issued an order on Hitler's authority by which executive power in Estonia,

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

was transferred from midnight on 12 July to the commanders-in-chiefs of the army groups. This placed Litzmann under the authority of Frießner and restored military control over Estonia. On 16 September 1944, Hitler gave permission for German forces to withdraw from mainland Estonia in anticipation of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

launching the Tallinn Offensive. The following day, Litzmann departed for

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and ''Generalbezirk Estland'' effectively ceased to exist, with administration of those parts of Estonia still under German occupation reverted to the military under Army Group North. Tallinn was abandoned by the German forces on 22 September and fell to the Red Army, who captured the rest of mainland Estonia by 26 September.

References