Another opportunity that was squandered because of the Nazi ideology is that many of the Soviet republics might have joined the Reich willingly if not for the brutal treatment the Nazis inflicted upon them. The Ukrainians in particular initially welcomed the Germans as liberators. The same with the Balkan states. Had the Germans been governed by a rational leadership without the racist need to ethically cleanse Eastern Europe, many of the occupied territories would have become important sources of manpower and raw materials. Instead they became a quagmire of wasted resources and partisan activity.
(Image removed from quote.)
This is true. I actually did a research project in college on this exact topic. Part of the issue was the lack of planning, the Germans didn't even think about their reception in Ukraine or the Balkans, they were looking too far ahead (capture of Moscow and oil fields, etc). If they had tapped in to the anti-Soviet positions of either, the Germans may have had better luck on the Ost Front.
