In this document the term Volksdeutsche defines “people whose language and culture are of Germanic origin, but who do not have German citizenship.” One way or another, for Hitler and other Germans of that time, this term carried some semantic connotations - purity of blood, racial definition - something that is not included in the modern Russian-language term “ethnic Germans” and is purely ideological connotations of this term. In accordance with German regulations of the 1930s, about 30 million Volksdeutsche lived outside the borders of the Reich, a significant part of them in Eastern Europe - Poland, the Baltic states, the USSR and Romania.

The Nazi fundamental ideas of expansion to the East assigned the Volksdeutsche a special role in the German plans for the conquest of the countries of Eastern Europe, which was quite clearly outlined in the Ost master plan.

The Nazi authorities constantly made official calls for cooperation or repatriation of Volksdeutsche persons to the German Reich, the main argument being the idea of ​​“blood unity” with the Germans living in Germany. So, in 1931, the Nazis, who had not yet come to power, opened “ Auslandsorganisation der NSDAP"(abbr. "NSDAP/AO" - " Overseas organization of the Nazi Party"), whose main and only real goal was to spread Nazi propaganda among German national minorities in other countries of the world (Volksdeutsche).

Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle

One of major roles The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle organization (German: Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle; abbr.) played a role in the implementation of the ideology of the Nazi racial doctrine in general and the ideology of the integrity of the German race in particular. VoMi), which had the status of one of the five main departments of the SS and carried out a variety of work among ethnic Germans living abroad.

In the monograph by Lumans Valdiso ( Lumans Valdiso) it is said that:

“One of Himmler's main goals was centralized control over the myriad groups and individuals propagating Volksdeutsche ideas inside and outside the Reich. Himmler did not start this process, however, having found these ideas floating in the air, he developed them and directed them in the direction he needed. His main instrument in attempting to achieve this goal was the administration outside the SS structure - the Nazi party organ "Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle" (VoMi), which can be translated as "Office for Relations with Ethnic Germans."

The press section of this department prepared daily reviews of materials published in more than 300 newspapers and magazines published abroad, and was also involved in the introduction into foreign media and the formation (by writing “custom articles”) of the necessary organization of public opinion through anti-communist newspapers in Austria, France, Belgium and other countries that spoke positively about Nazism.

Volksdeutsche during the First World War

Germans in the Russian Empire

Background

The German population existed in Russian Empire almost from the moment of its creation, in the Baltic provinces - even before their annexation to Russia (the Baltic Germans, who until the second half of the 19th century constituted the local elite). Quite often in Russian history The situation with the official and unofficial invitation of German scientists, politicians and military officers to high positions in various fields was repeated.

A striking example is the favoritism and actual management of the country by Ernst Johann Biron during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna and short period usurping actual power after her death (while serving as regent under Ivan VI).

During that period, a semi-scientific theory was developed of the introduction by German leaders (in particular, Rurik) of the very idea of ​​government into the politically chaotic world of the Slavic peoples. However, it turned out to be extremely easy to refute this theory - Rurik was invited to fill the vacant position of prince - which means that the title of prince existed before Rurik came to Rus'. Also an example are the personalities of the statesman, Minister of the Interior von Plehve, and the most influential financier of Russia in the 19th century, Nikolai Bunge.

In addition, a large number of Russian scientists, military figures, and artists belonged to German nationality. These Russian citizens made a great, and often invaluable, contribution to the development of humanity. Among these are D. I. Fonvizin (von Vizin), I. F. Krusenstern, F. F. Bellingshausen, Johann Korff, Karl Jessen, Baron Ferdinand Wrangel, B. A. von Glazenap, Otto Kotzebue. Of the later figures, it is necessary to note B.V. Rauschenbach, one of the founders of Soviet cosmonautics.

Position of the Volksdeutsche during the First World War

The war with Germany and Austria-Hungary unleashed anti-German sentiment and propaganda against the “internal enemy” in Russian society. In connection with this fact, the subjects of the empire - Germans by nationality - paid the closest attention to themselves, and therefore many biased publications about them appeared. In the initial period of the war, the attitude towards this group was favorable, their difference from the German population was emphasized in every possible way. A large financial contribution was noted to the creation and development of a network of infirmaries and hospitals, and the charitable work of the Germans among the population. However, subsequently, by 1915, as the situation at the front worsened, the attitude of the state and population towards the German subjects of the empire began to change for the worse. Repeatedly, certain newspapers began publishing articles of a provocative nature, which, despite the denials given by the authorities after checking the facts, managed to change the atmosphere in society.

However, it is necessary to note the reaction to the policy towards Russian Germans in leftist periodicals. For example, the Saratov publication “Our Newspaper” published a speech by State Duma deputy N. Chkheidze at a meeting on July 19, 1915, in which the anti-German campaign launched in society and the media was quite actively condemned. In particular, the following words of the deputy are given:

Subsequently, the population’s attitude towards ethnic Germans stabilized, largely due to a radical change in ideology to “proletarian internationalism” and a kind of “blowing off steam” in society during the process of revolutions and civil war.

During Nazi rule

During Nazism, the term " Volksdeutsche" denoted Germans born abroad in Germany, living in countries occupied by Germany and applying for citizenship of the Third Reich. Before World War II, about 10 million Volksdeutsche lived in Central and Eastern Europe. There were also large numbers of Germans living in the south of the USSR.

Deutsche Volksliste

After the start of the occupation of the countries of Eastern Europe by German troops in September 1939, the German side, namely the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle organization, organized a central registration office called " List of German citizens"(German: "Deutsche Volksliste", abbr. DVL), where they registered Germans with citizenship of occupied countries as Volksdeutsche. The local non-Aryan population was extremely interested in being included in this list, since those who were on this list were entitled to certain benefits, including better food and special legal status.

Deutsche Volksliste Volksdeutsche divided it into 4 categories:

• Category I: A person of German origin who offered his services to the Reich before 1939.
• Category II: A person of German origin who remained passive.
• Category III: A person of German origin, ethnically partly mixed with local population, for example, through marriage with a local partner, or through work connections (in Poland this was especially true for Silesians and Kashubians).
• Category IV: A person with Germanic ancestors whose ancestors were culturally united with the local population, but who supports "Germanization".

Each naturalized German was issued by the Reich authorities with a special document - the Volkslist (German: Volksliste), which played the role of a passport and a certificate of “racial purity”, which was necessary in case of suspicion among vigilant citizens of the Reich or local Gestapo authorities.

The role of Volksdeutsche in the formation of SS and Wehrmacht units

Volksdeutsche played a prominent role in the formation of the so-called “native” SS divisions (divisions in which non-SS members could serve) - in many of them, the battalions were mainly or completely staffed by Volksdeutsche soldiers. However, the leadership of the divisions noted the sufficient unreliability of these units, which began to manifest itself more and more as the war progressed, closer to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Despite the degree of Volksdeutsche involvement in the formation of Wehrmacht and SS units, they practically did not become members of the party-political organization of the SS, although they often served in its troops.

Volksdeutsche in Poland

On the territory of the occupied countries, including Poland, Volksdeutsche status gave many different benefits and privileges with one significant obligation: Volksdeutsche were necessarily subject to conscription into the Wehrmacht or SS troops.

Volksdeutsche Poland of categories I and II in the territories annexed to Germany amounted to about one million; categories III and IV - about 1 million 700 thousand people. There were 120 thousand of them on the territory of the General Government.

The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle organized a massive campaign to expropriate the property and property of non-Aryans in favor of the Germans. The Volksdeutsche were provided with houses, workshops, farms, furniture and clothing that had previously belonged to Poles and Jews.

Thousands of Volksdeutsche were recruited into the German armed forces, either voluntarily or by conscription.

Citizenship

During World War II, Polish citizens of German origin, often sincerely identifying themselves with the Polish statehood and nation, were faced with the difficult dilemma of choosing a homeland - signing the Volkslist or maintaining the defective citizenship of an occupied country with the loss of some rights. This category included both German families whose ancestors had lived in Poland for centuries, and Germans living in territories annexed to Poland after 1920 (formerly part of the German Empire).

In fact, choosing one side automatically meant hostility and hatred on the other side - at least on the part of the Poles. Those included in the DVL lists were considered traitors in society (from the point of view of the Poles); Those who did not want to be included in these lists were considered by the new government to be potential traitors to the German race.

A number of Volksdeutsche were participants in the Resistance movement, but to this day in Poland the word “ Volksdeutsch"in the minds of citizens is equivalent to the word " traitor».

Volksdeutsche in the USSR

On the territory of Ukraine occupied by the Germans and Romanians, about 330-340 thousand Germans lived - Soviet citizens, of which 200 thousand (the so-called “Black Sea Germans”), including about 50-60 thousand people. men liable for military service were in the "Reichskommissariat Ukraine". Approximately 30-40 thousand Volksdeutsche lived in the Baltic states. According to other data and German documents, about half a million Volksdeutsche lived in Reichskommissariat Ukraine. And modern researchers believe that in the 1940s. About 600 thousand Germans lived on the territory of Ukraine. In the city, the official number of Germans was about 400 thousand people.

At the beginning of their work in Volksdeutsche research, the Germans did indeed adhere to strictly racial criteria. However, since 1943, specialists have become less picky and in order to be recognized as a Volksdeutsche, it was enough to confirm their German origin with the help of 2 - 3 witnesses, but the German origin of the witnesses themselves had to be undoubted. This gave rise to some researchers to argue that from that time on, anyone could become a Volksdeutsche due to the provision of all kinds of benefits. However, according to other researchers, these statements do not stand up to criticism. Considering that many Germans were taken from the territory of Ukraine at the very beginning of the war, it should be recognized that many of the Volksdeutsche in the pre-war period were listed as representatives of other nationalities; but these were mainly members of mixed families.

The existence of this group of people in the territory occupied by the Reich was, as in Poland, much more comfortable if these citizens registered with the Ukrainian branch of the DVL. Benefits extended to the provision of food, clothing, and furniture. Thus, through a network of specialized stores, each Volksdeutsche was given once a week: 150 g of fat, 1 kg of cheese, 4 eggs, vegetables, fruits, honey, marmalade, salt and much more, usually inaccessible to persons not included in the list.

Sports camps were organized for Aryan youth; their leaders and teachers were front-line officers who prepared these youth for service in the Wehrmacht. As a rule, the ultimate goal of the creation and existence of such camps for Aryan youth, the German leadership in Germany saw the education of future Fuhrers of organizations, groups and associations completely loyal to National Socialist ideals and ready at any moment to join the ranks of other organizations, for example, the school of SS officers in Germany (in the town of Bad Tölz), etc. There were quite a lot of such youth - for example, in Transnistria alone there were about 9 thousand people in youth organizations.

The fate of the Volksdeutsche among the citizens of the USSR can be traced through statistical data. According to the magazine Demoscope Weekly, up to 8.7 million people were moved to Germany from the USSR, according to various sources. However, this figure includes prisoners of war and other displaced persons.

The retreat of the Reich army forced this ethnic social group leave your previous place of residence. The main sources of migration were as follows:

1. Reichskommissariat Ukraine (approx. 90 thousand people) - November 1943
2. Transdnieper region (approx. 125 thousand people) - January-July 1944

According to the aforementioned magazine Demoscope, these were quite privileged and organized refugees. The primary place of arrival was the Reichsgau Wartheland (Lodz region), but after some time they left this area. As a result, of the approximately 350 thousand “Soviet” Volksdeutsche who were on the territory of the Reich by the end of the war, about 200 thousand, after the establishment of the distinction between Soviet Army and allies, were located on the territory of Poland or East Germany. Subsequently, of the “Western” 150 thousand, approximately half were transferred by the Allies to the USSR.

According to established practice in the USSR, the signing of the Volkslist was qualified as treason, and the former Soviet citizens who signed it, Volksdeutsche, who found themselves in the zone of action of the Soviet administration, were, as a rule, arrested by state security agencies and brought to trial.

Volga Germans

The book “ZONE OF COMPLETE QUIET: RUSSIAN GERMANS DURING THE WAR YEARS AND AFTER IT.” (fragment)

Ukrainian Volksdeutsche

According to German documents, about half a million Volksdeutsche lived in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. The position of the Volksdeutsche living on the territory of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine was also isolated. It was determined by the directives of Alfred Rosenberg, as Reich Minister of the Eastern Occupied Territories, on February 19, and Heinrich Himmler, as Reichsführer SS and Imperial Commissioner for the Consolidation and Strengthening of the German Nation and Race, on September 8. According to these documents, the status of the Volksdeutsche, as well as throughout Europe, was assigned to each individual citizen after registration with Deutsche Volksliste Ukraine. Often, the NSDAP party bodies were forced to deal with such problems of the local Volksdeutsche population as the acquisition of a new apartment, assistance in finding employment, and other exclusively domestic problems.

In contrast to the official policy of the NSDAP, the Hitler Youth in the territory of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine acted as an organization for the Volksdeutsche. There was an opinion that, unlike the older generation, “spoiled by Bolshevism,” it was possible to re-educate young people, creating convinced, true National Socialists out of them. However, it should be noted that exclusively visiting Reichsdeutsche served in the governing bodies of the Hitler Youth. Perhaps this happened for the reason that this organization was created in the Reichskommissariat “from scratch”.

The Ukrainian Hitler Youth received the name “Deutsche Jugend Ukraine” (German: Deutsche Jugend Ukraine - “German Youth of Ukraine”). All young Volksdeutsche of the first and second categories aged 10 to 21 were required to become its members. As for Volksdeutsche of the third category, they were accepted with the permission of the local Gebietskommissar. The Hitler Youth tried to cover with its influence every locality where the Volksdeutsche lived, which, in principle, it succeeded in.

In addition, the NSV (German) organization also operated on the territory of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt- “National Socialist Mutual Aid”), whose branches existed under the corresponding structures of the NSDAP. NSV was involved in charity work among local Germans. However, more specific information regarding specific facts of cooperation between NSV and Volksdeutsche Ukraine is currently not available.

Post-war and modern times

Main article: Exodus of Germans from Eastern Europe

Most Volksdeutsche left their places of residence immediately after the end of the war and the victory of the USSR and the allied countries. This process, due to its massive scale and significant influence on the ethnic picture of Europe, was identified as a separate concept, which was called the “exodus of Germans from the countries of Eastern Europe.” For example, even during the war, as well as in the summer and autumn months of 1945, in the absence of a legally elected parliament, Czechoslovak President Edward Benes signed the so-called Benes presidential decrees, which had the force of law, including the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia

Many of those who signed the Volkslist during the Nazi era automatically received German citizenship upon arrival in Germany, others received it somewhat later, already during the Cold War. Citizens of the former Reich retained their citizenship in the German state, which later split into East and West Germany.

Relatively small groups of ethnic Germans still live in Central Asian countries, mainly in Kazakhstan. There are also small numbers of Germans living in Transylvania in Romania. In addition, some of the former Volksdeutsche and their descendants form residual compact areas of German settlement in Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary.

As Ivan Fedorovich Tarasenko writes in his autobiographical work “They called me a Vlasovite” (after his mother, Volksdeutsche), after the year he encountered a contingent of his fellow countrymen in the German settlement near Odessa during the transfer. During the occupation, according to him, they were drafted into the SS, and at the time of their meeting they were already “on their way to the settlement.” His fellow countrymen suggested that he petition the Soviet penitentiary authorities for a possible transfer to their group and the opportunity to go to the settlement together. He refused. As it turned out, he was right, since this entire contingent was destroyed by the NKVD almost immediately upon arrival.

Modern terminology

The Nazis greatly popularized the term Volksdeutsche, exploiting this ethnic and social group for their own needs. As a result of this, the term is practically not used nowadays, having been replaced by Auslandsdeutsche(German: Auslandsdeutsche, “foreign Germans”), or to the names of areas of residence - for example, there is the term “Volga Germans” (German: Wolgadeutsche).

At the moment there is the so-called “Union of the Exiled” (German: Der Bund der Vertriebenen, abbr. BdV), a non-profit public organization Germany, created to represent and protect the interests of Germans who left their former places of residence and/or were expelled during the Second World War and its local conflicts. The terminology of this organization uses the word Volksdeutsche.

Post-war German law also uses the term statedeutsche(German: Statusdeutsche, "status Germans") to refer to ethnic Germans without German citizenship who are refugees with former territories German Empire, and in later years - those who moved to Germany under the repatriation program.

see also

• Pan-Germanism - political movement of the 19th centuries striving for the unity of the German-speaking peoples of Europe.
• Völkische bewegung - political ideology XIX-XX centuries, based on the ideas of the philosophical movement of Ariosophy, and elements of the then emerging traditionalism. Promoted the ideas of pan-Germanism, reactionary romanticism and social Darwinism.
• Fifth column - in a figurative sense - any secret agents of the enemy (saboteurs, saboteurs, spies, provocateurs, etc.)
• Nazi racial policy - the name of state procedures for racial discrimination in National Socialist Germany.
• Eugenics - the doctrine of human hereditary health, as well as ways to improve its hereditary properties.
• Diaspora - part of the people (ethnic community) living outside their country of origin, their historical homeland .
• Russian Germans - ethnic Germans of Russia and the countries of the former USSR.
• All-Union Society of Soviet Germans "Renaissance" - national-political and cultural-educational organization of Germans from the countries of the former USSR.

Notes

1. Bergen, Doris. The Nazi Concept of "Volksdeutsche" and the Exacerbation of Anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe, 1939-45 Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 1994), pp. 569-582 (English)
2. The “Nazi Concept of Volksdeutsche and the Exacerbation of Anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe, 1939-45”, Doris L. Bergen; Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 1994), pp. 569-582
3. Pol H., JSC - Auslandsorganisation. Tatsachen aus Aktenberichten der 5 Kolonne, Graz, (German)
4. Valdiso, Lumans. "Himmler's Auxiliaries: The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German national minorities of Europe, 1933-1945." The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill and London.
5. Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (Russian) (unavailable link). WolfSchanze.vif2.ru. - a note about VoMi. Retrieved June 15th. Archived from the original on February 21, 2001.
6. Germans in Latvia (Russian). latvia.lv. Retrieved June 26, 2009. Archived January 28, 2012.
7. O.G. Malysheva, Doctor of Historical Sciences Germans in diplomatic service in the Russian Empire (undefined) (doc). Russian Academy of Public Service under the President of the Russian Federation. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
8. Wulff, Dietmar. The Romanov Dynasty and Germany. The role of dynastic solidarity and dynastic marriages in Russian-German relations (XVIII – early XX centuries) (Russian). History of Russia / Monarchy and monarchs. "Russia in colors." Retrieved June 26, 2009. Archived January 28, 2012.
9. P. Kh. Grebelsky, A. B. Mirvis. " House of the Romanovs. Biographical information about members of the reigning house, their ancestors and relatives" St. Petersburg: LIO Editor, . ISBN 5-7058-0160-2
10. Virfel, N. A. Saratov Germans during the First World War (Russian)(pdf). Saratovsky State University. Retrieved June 20, 2007.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a number of Western countries was caught up in a eugenics boom. Many scientists and politicians believed that the human race could be improved through selective breeding and social engineering. The main selective cleaning tool was to be sterilization.

The term "eugenics" came into use as early as late XIX century, with the light hand of psychologist and anthropologist Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, began to quickly evolve and turned into an independent science. In academic circles, two main directions of this science have emerged - the so-called “positive” and “negative” eugenics.

The first implied the reproduction of “improved” members human society who had no hereditary diseases and were distinguished by good physical development and high intelligence. The second was aimed at limiting the birth rate of “lower” representatives human race who had hereditary defects and were “racially or mentally handicapped.” It is interesting that the “Russian Eugenics Society”, formed in 1920, recognized only positive eugenics.

Eugenic ideas took their most extreme form in Nazi Germany. Thus, one of the first legislative acts of Adolf Hitler who came to power was the “Law for the Prevention of the Birth of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases,” which was implemented through forced sterilization. Its execution was monitored by more than 200 courts.

In the period from 1934 to 1945, from 300 to 400 thousand German citizens were subjected to sterilization, who, according to the commissions, suffered from dementia, schizophrenia, epilepsy, emotional disorders, as well as all kinds of hereditary ailments, including deformity. Most of those sterilized had psychiatric diagnoses.

But if undesirable “Volksdeutsche” were only threatened with sterilization, then representatives of “inferior” peoples faced concentration camps and gas chambers. The ideas of racial purity preached by Dr. Mengele were not new. Long before the advent of the Third Reich, they gained popularity in the United States of America.

The United States has its own evil genius of social engineering - eugenicist Harry Laughlin. Thanks to the spread of his ideas, by 1914, 12 American states had passed laws requiring the sterilization of “defective” sections of the population. In 1913, the state of Wisconsin was the first to introduce the practice of medical examination of persons wishing to marry. By the mid-1920s, two-thirds of American states had laws prohibiting interethnic marriage. Those who circumvented the law were punished with fines or imprisonment.

In March 1924, Virginia legislators passed the landmark Racial Integrity Act, which required that a U.S. citizen's race be documented at birth. The law strictly divided American society into two parts: whites and the rest, which included Africans, Indians, Malays, Indians and many other people of color. Following this, an immigration law was adopted, sharply limiting the influx of immigrants into the country.

In the same 1924, Virginia was marked by another eugenics law - “to ensure sexual sterilization,” which was supported by 18 states. The law, which provided for depriving “inferior” persons of the opportunity to leave offspring, concerned primarily “feeble-minded” citizens, but the authorities interpreted the concept of “dementia” very loosely: they included anyone who demonstrated abnormal behavior and showed low results on IQ tests. Dementia was often associated with promiscuity, various addictions and a tendency to violence.

In addition to citizens with mental and mental problems, Laughlin included the poor, homeless, and orphans into the category of “defective”, insisting that they do not have the right to reproduce. In Virginia alone, about 4,000 citizens who did not pass the “property qualification” were sterilized.

Black women were the most frequently subjected to forced sterilization in the United States because authorities believed they were unable to control their sex lives. This measure also helped limit the birth rate of African-American families claiming welfare benefits.

The beginning of mass sterilization in the United States was marked by the incident that occurred with 17-year-old Virginia resident Carrie Buck in 1924, who was considered a “potential parent of socially inadequate offspring.” The accusation was followed by a trial, in which 8 out of 9 judges voted in favor of sterilizing the girl. It subsequently turned out that Kerry was a victim of rape, but this did not in any way affect the execution of the sentence in 1927. A year later, Sister Carrie was also sterilized. She was admitted to the hospital under the pretext of an operation to remove the appendix, but the uterus was also removed along with the appendix of the cecum.

By 1957, about 6,000 Americans had been forcibly sterilized: in men, this operation most often involved excision of the seminal canals, in women, the fallopian tubes. The overwhelming number of victims of sterilization came from the poorest segments of the population - they had no chance to influence the genocide. The process of repealing the “forced sterilization law” in the United States began only in 1967 with the state of Virginia; by 1979, this law was abandoned in other states.

The United States was not the only “civilized” country where forced sterilization was practiced in the post-war years. In 1977, the newspaper Dagens Nyheter published an article indicating that Sweden had a sterilization program from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. However, it was only in 2000 that a special commission was created in Sweden to verify these facts.

Experts were able to find out that such a program really existed - it resulted in about 21 thousand forcibly sterilized Swedish citizens. These measures were explained by the need to rid society of hereditary diseases, as well as offspring born in mixed marriages.

In the mid-1970s, a forced sterilization program was also implemented in India. However, it was initiated not by the Indian authorities, but by the British government, which recommended limiting the birth rate in the country in exchange for the provision of loans and food. According to various estimates, between 8 and 10 million women were sterilized in India over two years.

Despite the fact that forced sterilization was listed as a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court in 2002, it is still supported at the state level in some countries. Thus, in China, sterilization operates as part of the “one child policy,” and in Poland and the Czech Republic, chemical sterilization of those convicted of sexual crimes has been legalized.

demoscope.ru

Volksdeutsche and "VolksFinns" are Soviet citizens - Germans and Ingrian Finns, whom the NKVD simply did not have time to deport along with the majority of their fellow tribesmen, who for many years became "special settlers" and "labor army members." Soon after the start of the war, they began to be deported from their places of residence to the eastern regions of the USSR.

Due to the speed of the German offensive, some of them ended up in territories occupied by the Wehrmacht or the Finnish army. They were registered separately and received the status of "Volksdeutsche", which was actually equal to citizens of the Reich ("Reichsdeutsche") in terms of rights, including the right to serve in the Wehrmacht and Gestapo. Many of them were used in various positions in the occupation administration.

However, the strategic plans of the Third Reich included their resettlement. According to available information, on the territory of Ukraine occupied by the Germans and Romanians there were about 330-340 thousand Germans - Soviet citizens, of which 200 thousand (the so-called "Black Sea Germans"), including about 50-60 thousand men liable for military service, were in " Reichskommissariat Ukraine". A significant number of Volksdeutsche (at least 30-40 thousand) lived in the Baltic states. The defeats of the Wehrmacht forced them to put their goods on carts and move from their homes: the first stream - from the "Reichskommissariat Ukraine" - numbering about 90 thousand people - moved in November 1943, the second - from the Dnieper region (about 125 thousand people) - between January and July 1944. These were privileged and highly organized refugees: at first they arrived in Warthegau (Lodz region), but soon they had to flee from here too. As a result, of the approximately 350 thousand Volksdeutsche refugees from the USSR who were in the Reich and Warthegau by the end of the war, about 200 thousand were captured by the Red Army in Poland or East Germany, and of the remaining 150 thousand who ended up in the western zones of Germany, approximately half were transferred by the Allies to the USSR.

The number of German citizens of the USSR repatriated to the USSR, together with those identified later as a result of various types of checks, thus amounted to at least 280 thousand people.

As for the Soviet Ingrian Finns (by analogy with the Soviet Germans we call them “Volksfinns”), in 1943-1944 there were at least 60 thousand Ingrian Finns and members of their families, who before the war lived mainly in the Leningrad region (and, apparently , partly in the Karelo-Finnish SSR), were concentrated by the Germans in Estonia and then evacuated to Finland. Among the prisoners of war and Ostarbeiters, naturally, a certain number of Finns by nationality were occasionally found: in mid-1943, the Finnish government agreed with the German authorities on the issue of their resettlement, if they wished, to Finland.

The section is very easy to use. In the field provided, just enter the right word, and we will give you a list of its values. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.

Meaning of the word Volksdeutsche

Volksdeutsche in the crossword dictionary

Wikipedia

Volksdeutsche

Volksdeutsche- designation of "ethnic Germans" before 1945 who lived in the diaspora, that is, outside Germany. In contrast to the "Reichsdeutsche" ("Germans of the Reich"), belonging to the "Volksdeutsche" according to German language as a native, by name, according to church records, etc.

After the defeat in the First World War, a significant part of Germany’s territory was taken from it by the victorious countries as indemnities and reparations, along with its citizens. Then the concept of “Volksdeutsche” became political, and this subtext remained in active use until the 1940s - 1960s of the 20th century. During the existence of the Third Reich (1933 - 1945) Volksdeutsche had a special legal status both within the Reich itself and in the General Government, protectorates and Reichskommissariats, as well as in allied countries.

This article also reveals and summarizes the meaning of the term Volksdeutsche How an ethnic group of Germans living outside the borders of the nation state.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the origins and historical use of the term Volksdeutsche. In an article about some people this term describes, see ethnic Germans.

Origin of the term

According to historian Doris Bergen, Adolf Hitler is widely believed to have coined the definition Volksdeutsche which appeared in the 1938 memorandum of the German Reich Chancellery. This document defined Volksdeutsche, as "races whose language and culture were of German origin, but who did not hold German citizenship." After 1945, Nazi citizenship laws of 1935 (Reichsbürgergesetz [de]) - and related rules that mentioned the concepts of National Socialism of blood and race in connection with the concept Volksdeutsche- were canceled in Germany.

Historical background

Ethnic Germans throughout Europe benefited financially during World War II with Nazi policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and benefited from the expulsion and murder of their non-German neighbors. throughout Eastern Europe. For example, in Ukraine Volksdeutsche was directly involved in the Holocaust and took part in the deportation of local farmers and their families; Volksdeutsche figures like Arthur Boss of Odessa (Blobel's right-hand man) or the Becker brothers became an integral part of the Nazi Holocaust machine.

Volksdeutsche in German-occupied Western Poland

After the German invasion of the USSR

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the government granted the Volga Germans an autonomous republic. Joseph Stalin abolished the German Volga Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the USSR. Most Soviet Germans in the USSR were deported to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia by Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on August 28, 1941, and from the beginning of 1942, these Soviet Germans who were found suitable for heavy work (men aged 15 to 55 and women from 16 to 45) were mobilized for forced labor in working columns where they lived in prison like environment, and sometimes together with ordinary prisoners, were introduced into the camps. Hundreds of thousands died or became disabled due to the harsh conditions.

Volksdeutsche in Hungary

Substantial part Volksdeutsche in Hungary joined the SS, which was a pattern repeated also in Romania (with 54,000 local services in the SS by the end of 1943). Most 200,000 Volksdeutsche from the Danube region who served with the SS were from Hungary. Already in 1942, some 18,000 Hungarian Germans joined the SS. In the diaspora, they called the Danube Swabians. After World War II, approximately 185,000 Volksdeutsche fled or were expelled from the region in 1946–48 by the Soviet-installed communist government of Hungary. They were called "Svabo" by their Serbian, Hungarian, Croatian and Romanian neighbors, especially in the area now part of Vojvodina in Serbia. Other ethnic Germans in Hungary during World War II were Transylvanian Saxons. Today they have almost all assimilated or left the region.

Volksdeutsche in Romania

After Romania acquired parts Soviet Ukraine, the Germans came under the leadership of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, who deployed SS personnel to several localities. Eventually they contained German mayors, farms, schools and ethnic German paramilitary groups operating as police forces called Selbstschutz(“Self-defense”). German colonists and Selbstschutz forces involved in extensive acts of ethnic cleansing, slaughtering the Jewish and Roma populations.

In the German colony of Shonfeld, Romas were burned on farms. During the winter of 1941/1942, the German Selbstschutz units participated in the filming, along with the Ukrainian People's Militia and Romanian gendarmes, some 18 thousand Jews. In the camp of Bogdanovka, tens of thousands of Jews were the subject of mass executions, barn burnings and murders by grenades.

Heinrich Himmler was sufficiently impressed by the Volksdeutsche communities and the work of the Selbstschutz that these methods would be copied in Ukraine.

Volksdeutsche in Serbia and Croatia

In the former Yugoslavia, the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen was formed by about 50 thousand ethnic Germans from the Banat region of Serbia. This is evident in his operations against Yugoslav partisans and civilians. About 100 thousand ethnic Germans from the German-conquered former Yugoslavia joined the German