Eric Koch is a Nazi whose name is hated by all Ukrainian people. After all, being on the post of Reich Commissioner of Ukraine, he sentenced more than 4 million people to death. Not to mention how many people, by his grace, became disabled from exorbitantly hard work in concentration camps.
However, why did Eric Koch so hate other nations? How did it happen that it was he who became the head of the Nazi Ukraine? And what ended the dictatorial rule of the Reich Commissioner?
Eric Koch: a biography of the early years
The reason for Koch’s bad temper lies in his childhood. Eric's parents - Gustav Adolf and Henrietta Koch - were ardent Lutherans. From an early age, they kept their children in strict discipline, where any violation could lead to serious punishment. Such education adversely affected the psyche of Eric Koch, which would subsequently become a real disaster for his subjects.
An important fact is that their family lived in constant need. Because of this, Eric had to abandon the dream of higher education and enter an ordinary printing school. Subsequently, this will further anger him, making him hate the whole world.
But in the German army, he first gets in 1915. According to the official version, Eric Koch volunteers there. However, according to other sources, such a courage was not inherent in this guy, and he got into regular troops only because of an age draft. It should be noted that during the First World War he never distinguished himself, and therefore returned home with the rank of an ordinary soldier.
Carier start
At the end of the war, Koch got a job on the railway in Elberfeld. Here he was entrusted with the post of assistant railway service. But this place was not the peak Eric Koch dreamed of. The NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party) - that is the force that the ambitious German dreamed about.
Therefore, in 1922, Koch will fall an application for joining the party. Soon after, he was accepted into the ranks of nationalists. And it is here that the leadership qualities of the future Reich Commissioner begin to appear for the first time. This can even be proved by the fact that in less than one year he receives the authority of the regional treasurer.
A great role in the formation of Eric Koch was played by his oratory. The Nazi’s emotional speeches quickly fascinated people, and this was only to his advantage. But sometimes his talent played against himself. For example, too violent speech at anti-French actions in the Rhine has led to the fact that the nationalist was detained by local authorities.
Fateful meeting
The year 1926 was decisive in the life of Eric Koch - he met Adolf Hitler. The future leader of the Nazis immediately captured the heart of a German. His speeches, his ideas and plans for the future - all this excited Koch’s imagination. At that moment, he realized that his whole life was only a prelude to this meeting. Hitler's influence was so strong that after their first conversation, Erich began to let go of his mustache, so that even in this little thing resemble his idol.
And already in October 1928, Koch was promoted to Gauleiter (highest party position of the NSDAP) of East Prussia. This is followed by a series of dizzying take-offs: 1930 - deputy of the Reichstag, 1933 - re-president of East Prussia, and, finally, 1941 - Reich commissioner of Ukraine.
Tyranny policy
On September 1, 1941, the Reich Commissariat was formed in Ukraine occupied by German invaders. He was headed by none other than Eric Koch. The military service under his command from the first days began to carry out the purge of the objectionable on its territory. Moreover, the cruelty of the Reich Commissioner extended not only to men, but also to women and children.
It is noteworthy that Adolf Hitler himself appointed Koch to this position. This is due to the fact that the Reichskommissar himself did not possess either the necessary experience or the proper position in society. And according to the German archives, Koch was recommended to be sent to the territory of Russia, so that he would help to suppress the fierce resistance of the Red Army.
However, Hitler was adamant, and therefore Eric Koch remained the main one in Ukraine until the end of World War II. At the same time, his power was so powerful that he received the unspoken nickname "Archduke Erich." But this title did not give him a single drop of mercy or compassion.
The only thing that Eric Koch wanted was to devastate Ukraine. By his order, everything valuable was exported from this country: gold, jewelry, art objects and even fertile land. Moreover, over 2.5 million Ukrainians were deported to Germany in order to work there for the benefit of the fascist nation.
Mystical luck
Eric Koch has become the object of hatred of millions of people. It is therefore not surprising that the Reich Commissioner was constantly assassinated. It’s only that the German possessed either strong intuition, or fabulous luck, since he had never got into the enemy’s network. In this case, even Soviet intelligence officers failed, who twice tried to tune Koch’s death.
Reich Commissariat Falls
However, his self-confidence quickly disappeared when the Red Army appeared on the threshold of his residence. Initially, Eric Koch tried to protect his land, but soon surrendered. After this, the main task of the Reich Commissioner was his own salvation, which completely absorbed his thoughts.
In April 1945, he secretly fled to the Khel Spit, from where he reached East Prussia by sea. Here he hoped to beg for transport to South America - the place where many Nazis decided to hide. But the new government refused him such a desperate request, after which Koch disappeared without a trace from their field of vision.
Ambition for which you had to pay
Eric Koch did not succeed in escaping to South America. Therefore, in order not to try his luck, he lay down. He founded a small farm near Hamburg under the fictitious name of Rolf Berger. Moreover, in 1948 he even managed to obtain unemployment benefits by presenting false documents.
Perhaps the former Nazi could continue to fool around, if not for his ambitions. Even after the collapse of Germany, he continued to attend secret meetings of former Nazis, where sometimes he gave fiery speeches. And just at one of these events in 1949 he was identified.
In May of the same year he was transferred to the Soviet Union, since most of his crimes were committed on the territory of this country. And those, in turn, sent Koch to Poland, where he was tried.
It should be noted that this lawsuit lasted ten whole years. Only on May 9, 1959, Eric Koch was sentenced to death. However, luck was again merciful to the Nazi, and soon the measure of punishment was changed from execution to life imprisonment. As a result, the Nazi died in his cell on November 12, 1986, at that time he was 90 years old. That is why today many believe that Eric Koch is a criminal who has not received fair punishment.