Alfred Rosenberg in the context of "Cultural policy"

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states were under military occupation by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. Initially, many Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians considered the Germans liberators from the Soviet Union. The Balts hoped for the restoration of independence, but instead, the Germans established a provisional government. During the occupation, the Germans carried out discrimination, mass deportations, and mass killings, generating Baltic resistance movements.

The military occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on 10 July 1941, by Germany's armed forces. Initially, the territory of Latvia was under the military administration of Army Group North, but on 25 July 1941, Latvia was incorporated as Generalbezirk Lettland, subordinated to Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany. Anyone not racially acceptable or who opposed the German occupation, as well as those who had cooperated with the Soviet Union, was killed or sent to concentration camps in accordance with the Nazi Generalplan Ost.

The master race (German: Herrenrasse [ˈhɛʁənˌʁasə]) is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology, in which the putative Aryan race is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as master humans (Herrenmenschen [ˈhɛʁənˌmɛnʃn̩]).

The Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg believed that the "Nordic race" was descended from Proto-Indo-Europeans, who he thought had pre-historically dwelt on the North German Plain and it was not impossible that the Nordic race ultimately originated on the lost island of Atlantis. The Nazis declared that the Aryans were superior to all other races, and believed they were entitled to expand territorially. The actual policy that was implemented by the Nazis resulted in the Aryan certificate. This document, which was required by law for all citizens of the Reich, was the "Lesser Aryan certificate" (Kleiner Ariernachweis) and could be obtained through an Ahnenpass, which required the owner to trace their lineage through baptism, birth certificates, or certified proof thereof that all grandparents were of "Aryan descent".

The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (RMfdbO; German: Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete), commonly known as the Ostministerium, (pronounced [ˈɔstminɪsˌteːʁiʊm] ; "Eastern Ministry") was a ministry of Nazi Germany responsible for occupied territories in the Baltic states and Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945. Alfred Rosenbergserved as Reichsminister with Alfred Meyer as his deputy during its existence.

The Ostministerium was created by Adolf Hitler shortly after the German invasion of the Soviet Union to control the vast areas captured and projected for capture by the Wehrmacht in the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Two Reichskommissariats were established: Ostland and Ukraine, while two more were planned, Moskowien and Kaukasien, but the Wehrmacht never established firm possession of the areas designated and German civilian control never developed there. The Ostministerium was involved in the development and implementation of Generalplan Ost, which fell under its jurisdiction, along with the Reich Commission for the Consolidation of German Nationhood, the Reich Security Main Office, and the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. It was one of the main agencies that oversaw the Holocaust in the Soviet Union.