ABSTRACT
German navy would protect the transport ships that would be sent to the two countries. Berlin also ordered the German legations in Estonia and Latvia to begin organizing plans to protect Baltic German property left by the emigrants. As talks in Moscow continued, Heinrich Himmler—backed by Adolph Hitler, who wanted a general Soviet agreement on any exodus—looked for ways to protect the safety and property of the Baltic Germans in case Joseph Stalin did occupy Estonia and Latvia. Hitler granted similar privileges to White Russians and Ukrainians in the German zone. Reich authorities would handle the transfer in league with "competent" local officials to ensure the protection of Volksdeutsche property rights. Those Volksdeutsche who had to stay to help protect economic interests important to the German war effort were to be granted German citizenship. German transport ships would soon arrive and, once full, would leave immediately.
