Science Plans War Crime: The Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin’s Handling of the National Socialist ‘Generalplan Ost’ (Master Plan for the East)

Abstract

National Socialist Germany wanted to considerably expand its territory and secure these expansions permanently. In order to organise a gargantuan and complex relocation and settlement campaign in the territories of Eastern Europe conquered as a result of the Second World War, the Reichsführung commissioned scientists from the University of Berlin to develop a so-called ‘Master plan for the East’ (‘Generalplan Ost’). This concept, which was developed in collaboration with scientists, the Reichsleitung (Reich leadership), the SS and the Wehrmacht, precisely describes how the new Lebensraum (living space) was to be made accessible to the German settlers by colonising the territories of the Slavic population and subjecting the people to forced labour, deporting them or murdering them. This book highlights some aspects of the origins and impact of the ‘Generalplan Ost’ and outlines the problematic handling of this war crime at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin after the Second World War.