MIKHAÏLIVKA: CAMP TO VILLAGE
by Marie MOUTIER
When German troops entered the territory of Ukraine, they quickly recognized that the poor state of infrastructure in the region presented a real obstacle to the smooth flow of troops, supplies and other logistical needs of war. The Germans therefore undertook major renovations of the country’s road network. The work was entrusted to the Todt Organization. The Durchgangsstrasse IV would be part of this reconstruction. This huge highway would link initially Berlin and the Caucasus, across the whole Ukraine. In fact, DG IV connected the cities of eastern Galicia, Khmelnitski, Vinnitsa, Uman, Kriwoj Rog, Dnepropetrovsk and Donetsk. This work would require a large workforce: Jews and prisoners of war, as well as the local Ukrainian population. Prützmann delegated by Himmler to oversee the projects, announced in June 1943, a figure of 140,000 workers for only DG IV, as well as German engineers and specialists and 12,000 local police…
Marie Moutier has been a member of the Yahad team since 2009. Fluent in French, German and English, she is the team’s coordinator for research of  the German archives. She studied history and literature at the Sorbonne where she also is writing a doctorate on the fate of Berlin’s Jews.