on Frauenfeld's behalf, the blockade was resolved, but tensions between Taurida and the Reichskommissariat as a whole remained, with Koch calling for Taurida's autonomous status to be abolished and Frauenfeld making negative remarks about Koch's performance in correspondence with Rosenberg. Frauenfeld and Koch remained enemies until the war's end, with Frauenfeld continuing to promote himself as a better leader even after Crimea and Taurida were retaken by Red Army forces. Frauenfeld's regime has been described as having "limited sympathy" towards the Crimean Tatars by American historian Alexander Dallin, and was relatively liberal in regards to its treatment of the indigenous population compared to Koch's brutal "sledge-hammer" policy in regards to non-Germans. During his leadership, Frauenfeld, who held little to no control over Crimea proper, devoted himself to the study of Crimean Goths, creating a photo album and writing a book on Crimea's history. Under Frauenfeld's proposals, Crimea was to become a tourist hotspot for all of post-war Europe, and a new capital was to be built in the Crimean Mountains. 1943 and 1944 Following a retreat from the Caucasus, Kleist took a more active role in governing Crimea. In February 1943, he issued a series of 14 points, including the following: This newfound interest in Crimea was met with strong resistance from the SS, which regarded Kleist's involvement in civilian affairs as unwelcome. In spite of this resistance, however, Kleist refused to change his position, comparing Hans-Joachim Riecke, one of his strongest detractors, to Koch. Four months later, Rosenberg toured Crimea, speaking to soldiers. Both Kleist and Rosenberg regarded the tour as a failure, but for opposing reasons: Kleist because of what he regarded as overly-negative rhetoric and Rosenberg because he perceived the Wehrmacht as having a decidedly more Russophilic approach towards indigenous affairs than himself. Throughout 1943, the remaining pretences of maintaining control over Crimea were dropped as Red Army forces closed in on the area; General Ernst August Köstring was placed in charge of inspecting Germany's Turkic military forces, shifting concerns from occupation to maintenance of order. Frauenfeld evacuated Taurida, leaving the area once again under military control. Georg Leibbrandt, in charge of Germany's "nationality policy", was replaced with Gerhard von Mende, who also shifted the focus away from Germany's occupations. By November 1943, Soviet troops returned to the Kerch Strait. They quickly advanced through the Crimean peninsula, and by May 1944, all of Crimea up to the