by Thierry Etienne Joseph Rotty, Senior Controller at NATO

Sort of.

Her grandfather, Carl Albrecht, worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and arranged the economic aspects of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939.

Originally he was a cotton merchant but his dealing with the Soviet Union (and the fact he spoke Russian), made him important to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Now the problem with Nazi Germany was that responsibilities were never clearly defined. Divide and conquer was Hitler’s motto.

Once Germany invaded the Soviet Union, her grandfather was once again important for the Foreign Ministry as Ukraine was meant to be divided up in colonies between Germany, Hungary, and Romania.

Economic activity in Ukraine was divided between the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry of Economics, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry for Armaments and Munitions, and the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, and the Foreign Ministry

The SS and the Foreign Ministry of Hungary and Romania also had a say in the matter.

Your status with Hitler improved as you could increase economic output (Hitler loved statistics). Increasing economic output for areas and factories falling under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fell to Carl Albrecht.

The shifting alliances within the Nazi leadership mean that one Ministry would help out another when it suited them. If the Ministry of Labour needed more workers in Germany, other Ministries were happy to round up locals and deport them so as to gain favour with the Ministry of Labour … of course, later a favour in return would be asked.

Carl Albrecht was mainly active in Ukrainian matters from 1941 to 1943. From 1943 onward, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had almost no input in economic affairs any more and he went back to running his private businesses in Bremen.

But he was one of those pencil-pushers responsible for thousands of deaths. Of course, he was not the only one, there were hundreds like him working in all Occupied Territories for various Ministries.