established in the city of Kerch, in the eastern Kerch Peninsula. In the winter of 1941, Soviet forces landed in the Kerch Peninsula over the Kerch Strait, in what became known as the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. Even prior to the beginning of Germany's occupation of Crimea, German leadership had already begun planning for the colonisation of the peninsula. In a directive dating to early July 1941, Hitler called for the immediate expulsion of all Russians from the peninsula, with Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars only to be removed in case of absolute necessity. This measure, explicitly outlining the protection of Crimean Tatars from deportation, demonstrated to the Turkish government Germany's willingness to protect their interests. Turkey, not pleased with the level of autonomy granted, made continuous demands (both subtle and overt) through Franz von Papen, Germany's ambassador to Turkey. After much lobbying and the intervention of Turkish general Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir Erkilet, two followers of Seydamet Qırımer were granted visas to enter Turkey. The process of granting visas, done during a period when Germans intended to ethnically cleanse Crimean Tatars in the near future, was deliberate, and the Crimean Tatars were not granted requests to inspect Crimean prisoner of war camps. Nonetheless, following the visit, Rosenberg noted that it would be necessary to ensure Crimean Tatar prisoners of war be treated humanely out of respect for Turkey. The first commander of German occupational forces in Crimea was Erich von Manstein. Manstein declared upon taking command that, "The Jewish-Bolshevik system must be wiped out once and for all." With this began the recruitment of Crimean Tatars to serve as anti-partisan volunteer detachments under the aegis of the Sicherheitsdienst. Another element of collaboration was local-level "Muslim Committees", established as a compromise between pro-Turkic voices and the Wehrmacht, which viewed Crimean Tatars as insignificant in comparison to Crimea's Slavic majority. 1942 The end of the Crimean campaign brought little stability to Germany's occupational regime, with the partisan movement only continuing its activities. The groundwork of Crimea's colonisation by German settlers began being laid in early 1942, though it remains unknown exactly when. The same year, preparations also began in earnest for the genocide of Crimea's peoples. On 6 July 1942, in spite of previous protests against the liquidation of Crimea's Russian population (for economic reasons), officials the Wehrmacht participated in a conference with Schutzstaffel members on resettlement camps, the genocide of "untermenschen",