When did Hitler issue the directive to prepare to invade the Soviet Union ?
In the summer of 1941 , German Nazi - ideologist Alfred Rosenberg suggested that conquered Soviet territory should be administered in the following " Reichskommissariates " : Ostland ( The Baltic countries and Belarus , extended eastward by about 500 km ) Ukraine ( Ukraine , enlarged eastwards to the Volga ) Kaukasus ( Southern Russia and the Caucasus region ) Moskowien ( Moscow metropolitan area and the rest of European Russia ) Turkestan ( Central Asian republics and territories ) Nazi policy aimed to destroy the Soviet Union as a political entity in accordance with the geopolitical " Lebensraum " ideal ( "" Drang nach Osten "" ) for the benefit of future generations of the " Nordic Aryan master race " .