In order to drum up fresh troops for the front inside "Reichskommissariat Ostland" and to stimulate support from the Belarusian population and elites, General Reinhard Gehlen suggested to the German High Command that some concessions be made to the Belarusian collaborators in the form of a puppet state. The "semi-autonomous" local government was established by Nazi Germany in December 1943, and named the Byelorussian Central Council. Radasłaŭ Astroŭski, the mayor of Smolensk at that time, was appointed its president. General Kurt von Gottberg who replaced Kube named the Belarusian politician Ivan Yermachenka, arriving from Prague, the "Advisor on Belarusian affairs".