Wolgadeutschen, Krimdeutschen, Wolhyniendeutschen, Schwarzmeerdeutschen (auch Ukrainedeutschen), Kasachstandeutschen und Kirgisistandeutschen, Argentinien-Deutschen und alle wer sich für deutsche Kultur interesseirt
DAS DEUTSCHE WOLGAGEBIET ist ein
historisches Gebiet, das in Russland an der Unteren Wolga auf den
Territorien der heutigen Saratower und Wolgograder Gebiete existierte.
Es entstand im Resultat der Erschließung der Territorien um Saratow zu
beiden Seiten der Wolgaufer von ausländischen Kolonisten aus
verschiedenen deutschen Teilstaaten, sowie auch aus Österreich, Holland,
Frankreich und einigen anderen europäischen Staaten, die in den Jahren
1764-73 infolge der Manifeste Katharina II.vom 4. Dezember 1762 und vom
22. Juli 1763 nach Russland ausgewandert waren. Es wurde vom Sowjetstaat
künstlich im August-September 1941 entsprechend des Erlasses des
Präsidiums des Obersten Sowjets der UdSSR vom 28. August 1941 „Über die
Umsiedlung der Deutschen, die in den Rayons des Wolgagebiets leben“
durch die Deportation der gesamten deutschen Bevölkerung nach Sibirien
und Kasachstan liquidiert.
Eine Masseneinwanderung der Deutschen in das
Wolgagebiet geschah in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jh., als die Regierung
Katherina II. begann, hier ausländische Kolonien zu gründen, und bemüht
war, dadurch eine Einwanderung der Bevölkerung in das wenig besiedelte
Wolgagebiet hervorzurufen, da ein natürlicher Prozess der inneren
Migration durch die Leibeigenschaft der Volksmassen gehemmt wurde. Im
Prozess der Erschließung der „bisher nutzlos liegenden“ Ländereien
besiedelten die deutschen Kolonisten die beiden Wolgaufer stromauf- und
stromabwärts von Saratow, sowie auch an den Flüssen Medwedjiza,
Karamysch, Ilowlja, am Großen und Kleinen Karaman, Jeruslan, Torgun und
an deren Nebenflüsschen. Als die Kolonisten (23,2 Tausend an der Zahl)
im Laufe der Jahre 1764-73 an die Wolga kamen, gründeten sie 105
Kolonien. Zum Ende des 19. Jh. vermehrten sie sich laut der Volkszählung
von 1897 bis auf 407,5 Tausend Mann. Zu dieser Zeit hatten die
deutschen Kolonisten auf den ihnen zugewiesenen (staatlichen) Ländereien
190 Mutter- und Tochterkolonien gegründet. Außerdem gründeten sie auf
angekauften und gepachteten Ländereien eine Vielzahl Chutors (Weiler)
und kleinerer Dörfer, wodurch sich das Territorium des deutschen
Wolgagebiets vergrößerte und eine Fläche, die der Fläche des heutigen
Belgiens gleichkam – ca. 30 Tausend km² betrug.
Obwohl die deutschen Kolonisten in einer Umgebung
von anderen Völkern lebten, erhielten sie sich ihre Sprache,
Traditionen, Religion, ihre Formen der wirtschaftlichen Tätigkeit und
des Alltagslebens, die sie aus ihren Herkunftsorten mitgebracht hatten.
Früher sagte man: „Hinter Wolsk herrscht der Deutsche.“ Die deutsche
Eigenart konnte hier tiefe Wurzeln schlagen, wovon die Tatsache spricht,
dass sich in dem deutschen Wolgagebiet eine eigene Toponomastik
gebildet hatte, die ihren Widerhall nicht nur in den Benennungen der
Ortschaften gefunden hatte, sondern auch in den Benennungen der
Besonderheiten des Reliefs – der Gräben, Tieflandsgebieten, Anhöhen,
Feldern und Wiesen, Flüsschen, Teichen u. a. Und die bis in unsere Zeit
in den Wolgasteppen erhaltenen wenigen Kirchen zeugen von den Maßstäben
und der Vielseitigkeit solch einer Erscheinung wie die deutsche
Architektur im Wolgagebiet.
In territorialer Hinsicht war der
Formierungsprozess des Gebiets schon in der Anfangsetappe der
Kolonialisierung durch die Festigung der Gründung der so genannten Kolonialbezirke gefestigt, auf deren Grundlage nach 1871 die deutschen Amtsbezirke
gebildet wurden. Nach dem Machtantritt der Bolschewiki im Oktober 1917
wurde aus den ehemaligen deutschen Amtsbezirken im Jahre 1918 die
Arbeitskommune (autonomes Gebiet) der Wolgadeutschen gebildet, die 1924
in die ASSRdWD umgebildet wurde. Hierbei muss man die Begriffe „Wolgadeutsches Gebiet“ und „Deutsche Republik“ unterscheiden, da diese zwei Termini verschiedenen Sinngehalt in sich tragen. Das Wolgadeutsche Gebiet ist ein natürlich entstandenes historisches Gebiet, und die Deutsche Republik
- ist eine nach politischen Motiven gebildete
administrativ-territoriale Einheit des Sowjetstaates. Das Territorium
des deutschen Wolgagebiets hatte keine schroff hervortretenden Grenzen.
Sein Formierungsprozess erfolgte noch in den 1920er Jahren, als nach der
Erschließung des Neulands bald hier, bald dort neue Chutors entstanden.
Doch die administrativen Grenzen der Wolgadeutschen Republik waren
exakt bedingt, durch Staatsakte gefestigt und in
administrativ-wirtschaftlichen Landkarten verzeichnet. Als
administrativ-territoriale Einheit breitete sich die ASSRdWD in den 23
Jahren ihrer Existenz niemals ganz aus. Das historische Gebiet der
Wolgadeutschen – seine ziemlich großen Territorien, blieben wie auch
früher in den Gebieten Saratow und Stalingrad, z. B. die
Jagodno-Poljaner „Anklave“ im Gebiet Saratow, die sogar ungeachtet der
Gemengelage von Grundstücken, die kurze Zeit (1932-35) zur ASSRdWD
gehörte. Gleichzeitig waren manche Territorien, die an die ASSRdWD
grenzten, entweder nicht in das Territorium der ASSRdWD eingegangen,
oder wurden später unbegründet aus ihr ausgeschlossen. So wurden im
Jahre 1927 aus der ASSRdWD das Dorf Neufrank und das Chutor Neu-Walter
ausgeschlossen, die sich unweit von den Dörfern Frank und Walter (Kanton
Frank) befanden. In das Territorium der ASSRdWD gingen nicht ein die
Grenzgebiete im Nordosten der Republik, obwohl hier hauptsächlich
Deutsche lebten. Anfang der 1920er Jahre wurde der Versuch unternommen,
auf diesem Territorium den Rayon Alexanderfeld zu gründen und ihn in das
Wolgadeutsche Gebiet einzuschließen. Mehr noch, in manchen offiziellen
Presseausgaben (siehe z. B.: Vorläufige Ergebnisse der Allrussischen
demographisch-proffessionellen Volkszählung im Gebiet der Wolgadeutschen
vom 28. August 1920. Marxstadt, 1921) wurde dieser Rayon schon als
Territorium des Wolgadeutschen Gebiets bezeichnet, doch im Endresultat
ging er nicht ein. Das Territorium des nicht gegründeten Rayons
Alexanderfeld ging in den Rayon Jerschow Gebiet Saratow ein. So wurden
auch noch viele deutsche Chutors in den Rayons Nikolajewskij,
Frolowskij, Olchowskij u. a. des Gebiets Stalingrad nicht an das
Territorium des Wolgadeutschen Gebiets angeschlossen.
Das historische Zentrum des deutschen Wolgagebiets
war traditionell die deutsche Kolonie Katharinenstadt (heute – Marx),
die einige Zeit mit Recht die Hauptstadt der deutschen Autonomie war.
Doch im Jahre 1922 wurde die Hauptstadt der ASSRdWD nach Engels verlegt,
was den Unterschied zwischen dem historischen Gebiet und der Autonomen
Republik vergrößerte.
Mit dem Beginn des Krieges zwischen Deutschland und
der Sowjetunion am 22. Juni 1941, fasste die Partei- und Staatsführung
der UdSSR am 26. August 1941 den Beschluss über die Übersiedlung der
Deutschen aus der Republik der Wolgadeutschen, so wie auch aus den
Gebieten Saratow und Stalingrad. Die darauf folgende Deportation der
deutschen Bevölkerung war der Anfang der Tragödie, die zum Untergang des
deutschen Wolgagebiets als einer einzigartigen und eigenartigen Kultur
führte. Es ist bis jetzt noch nicht endgültig erforscht, warum der
Sowjetstaat sich weigerte, nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg die deutsche
Bevölkerung in ihre traditionellen Wohngebiete zurückkehren zu lassen.
Indem man dem wolgadeutschen Gebiet die Träger der deutschen Kultur
entrissen hat, kam das Gebiet in einen kläglichen Zustand: die Orts-
und Flurnamen sind in Vergessenheit geraten, die kulturellen Herde sind
zerstört, die für diese Gegend traditionelle Glaubenskonfessionen – das
Luthertum und der Katholizismus – sind der Vergessenheit preisgegeben,
die meisten kleinen Siedlungen (die Chutors) existieren nicht mehr; auch
viele größere deutsche Kolonien sind verrottet oder sogar gänzlich
verschwunden. Heutzutage sind nur noch wenige Zeitzeugen, die an das
einst blühende deutsche Wolgagebiet erinnern – das sind hauptsächlich
alte deutsche Wohnhäuser, einige Betriebsbauten und nicht mehr als zwei
Dutzend Kultusgebäude. Und trotzdem bezeichnen sich in der ganzen Welt
viele Deutschen als Nachkommen der Wolgadeutschen.
* * *
Leider findet der Terminus „deutsches Wolgagebiet“,
„wolgadeutsch“ auch bis jetzt noch keine gebührende Behandlung in der
Fachliteratur und in der wissenschaftlich-populären Literatur, die der
Geschichte der Wolgadeutschen gewidmet ist. Doch der von den
Wolgadeutschen zurückgelegte historische Weg gibt uns allen Grund,
diesen Terminus in Bezug der oben beschriebenen Region als historisches
Gebiet zu gebrauchen.
„Ausgepackt - Geschichte und Gegenwart der Deutschen aus Russland“
Die neue Dauerausstellung
„Ausgepackt - Geschichte und Gegenwart der Deutschen aus Russland“ zeigt
den Besuchern Objekte aus der Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen aus
Russland. Ziel der Ausstellung ist, diese Objekte zum Sprechen zu
bringen und die Besucher dazu einzuladen, mit ihnen in eine Beziehung zu
treten. Die Besucher haben die Möglichkeit durch verschiedene Stationen
der Geschichte der Russlanddeutschen zu streifen.
Die Sammlungs- und
Forschungstätigkeit des Museums fokussiert auf der Kultur-, Migrations-
und Integrationsgeschichte russlanddeutscher Zuwanderer in Deutschland.
Millionen Menschen haben vor
allem nach 1764 Deutschland verlassen. Sie wanderten nicht nur nach
Amerika aus. Weitgehend unbekannt ist, dass alleine über 160 000
Menschen zwischen 1764 und 1850 nach Russland auswanderten. Während die
Gründe, die zur Auswanderung führten, oft die gleichen waren, verlief
der Lebensweg der Menschen in Russland ganz anders als zum Beispiel in
Amerika. Die Geschichte der deutschen Auswanderer in der neuen Heimat
war ausgesprochen wechselvoll und eine lange Zeit durch Verfolgung und
Unterdrückung geprägt.
Im 20. Jahrhundert sind viele
deutschstämmige Menschen nach Deutschland - in die neue, alte Heimat –
gekommen. Sie sind heute die „Russlanddeutschen“ und sowohl in den
ehemaligen GUS-Staaten als auch in Deutschland zu Hause. Durch ihre
Geschichte hat sich aber durchaus eine eigene Kultur entwickelt. Das
Museum für russlanddeutsche Kulturgeschichte verfolgt das Ziel, dem
besonderen Weg der Russlanddeutschen ein Gesicht zu geben sowie den
Menschen ihre Kultur und Geschichte nahezubringen.
Auf diese Weise ist ein
Bereich deutscher Geschichte aufgearbeitet und ausgestellt worden, der
bisher in dieser Form in bundesdeutschen Museen nicht berücksichtigt
worden ist.
Russlanddeutsche haben eine eigene Kultur und Identität, die sich stets im Wandel befindet.
Zur Kultur der Russlanddeutschen gehört:
gemeinsame Geschichte
kollektive Identität und eine Erinnerungskultur, die von den Erfahrungen in der Sowjetzeit geprägt ist („Opferstatus“)
gemeinsame Herkunft (russisch-sowjetische)
Sprache
Religion
Selbstwahrnehmung
Solidaritätsbewusstsein
Zur russlanddeutschen Kultur
zählen heute viele Selbstorganisationen, die sich der Musik-,
Literatur-, Malerei-, Tanz- und Theaterkunst widmen.
IRWA e.V. (Integration der
russlanddeutschen Wissenschaftler und Akademiker e. V.) hat es sich zur
Aufgabe gesetzt, die Belange der russlanddeutschen Wissenschaftler und
Akademiker zu vertreten und zu fördern. Landesvereine bestehen in
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Baden-Württemberg, Bayern und Hessen. Bei den
Personen, für die sich der Verband einsetzt, handelt es sich um etwa
220.000 Fachleute, darunter etwa 30.000 Wissenschaftler. Alleine in NRW
leben 55.000 eingewanderte Akademiker.
Zusammen mit den Nachkommen deutscher Siedler in anderen Gebieten des ehemaligen Zarenreichs bilden sie 25 % der Russlanddeutschen. Das Zentrum der Wolgadeutschen war die Stadt Pokrowsk (seit 1924 Engels). Zwischen 1924 und 1941 waren sie innerhalb der Sowjetunion in der Wolgadeutschen Republik organisiert.
Die Siedler, die überwiegend aus Bayern, Baden, Hessen, der Pfalz und dem Rheinland kamen, folgten in den Jahren 1763 bis 1767 der Einladung ihrer Landsmännin Zarin Katharina II.
in ihr neues Siedlungsgebiet, wo sie etwa einhundert Dörfer gründeten.
Sie wurden angeworben, um die Steppengebiete an der Wolga zu kultivieren
und die Attacken der Reitervölker
aus den Nachbargebieten einzudämmen.
Die deutschen Siedler fanden im
russischen Reich günstige Bedingungen vor, u. a. erhielten sie einen
politischen Sonderstatus, der das Recht auf Beibehaltung des Deutschen
als Verwaltungssprache, auf Selbstverwaltung sowie auf Befreiung vom
Militärdienst umfasste. Sie entwickelten in dieser Region eine blühende
Agrarwirtschaft mit Exporten in andere Regionen Russlands. Diese
Selbstbestimmungsrechte wurden durch Zar Alexander II. eingeschränkt. Dies führte zu einer Auswanderung in die USA, Kanada sowie Südamerika (z. B. nach Villaguay).
Weitere Einschränkungen und Repressalien erfolgten bereits kurz nach
Gründung der Sowjetunion. Stalin nahm den Wolgadeutschen die gesamte
Getreideernte und verkaufte sie in das Ausland. Tausende von
Wolgadeutschen starben aufgrund der Hungersnot. 1924 wurde die Autonome Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik der Wolgadeutschen
geschaffen, nachdem das Gebiet bereits nach der Oktoberrevolution ab
1918 Autonomie erlangt hatte. Die wolgadeutsche Republik, die 1941
aufgelöst wurde, hatte etwa 600.000 Einwohner, wovon etwa zwei Drittel
deutscher Abstammung waren. Nach dem Überfall des „Dritten Reiches“ auf die Sowjetunion im Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden die etwa 400.000 verbliebenen Wolgadeutschen der kollektiven Kollaboration beschuldigt und nach Sibirien und Zentralasien
deportiert, dort in Arbeitslager gezwungen, wobei Tausende starben.
Erst 1964 wurden sie offiziell vom Vorwurf der Kollaboration befreit,
und die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ermöglichte ihnen seit den 1970er Jahren die Einreise und die Einbürgerung.
Ethnic Germans—usually simply called Germans, in German Volksdeutsche, are those who are considered, by themselves or
others, to be ethnically German, but do not live
within the present-day Federal Republic of Germany or hold its citizenship. The English language practice is to refer to the
ethnic Germans of a given country as -Germans, for example, "Brazilian Germans" are ethnic Germans located in Brazil. This
practice breaks down when referring to countries that no longer exist ("Kingdom of Hungary" Germans) or regions that transcend
national boundaries (thus "Black Sea Germans").
The concept of ethnic belonging is always problematic;
it can relate to:
·having ancestors who were born
in Germany or an area that is or was otherwise considered German.
The concept of who is an ethnic German has repeatedly
changed in history. For example, in contrast to the Swiss Germans, who had already split off and shaped a
separate national identity, most German-speaking Austrians used to consider themselves as ethnic Germans until
the mid-20th century. The first attempts to create a consciousness of the
"Austrian nation" took place during the Napoleonic Wars (at which time "Austrian" identity included
non-German-speaking subjects of the Austrian Empire) and in the early 1930s, but without major effects.
After World War II, Austrians increasingly came
to see themselves as a nation distinct from the German
nation. A sizeable minority of Austrians (5-10%) still identify themselves as
German ("Deutschnational"); this view is especially strong in
the southern state of Carinthia.
Distribution
Ethnic Germans are an important minority group in many
countries. (See Germans, German language, and German as a minority language for more extensive numbers
and a better sense of where Germans maintain German culture and have official
recognition.) The following sections briefly detail the historical and present
distribution of ethnic Germans by region, but generally exclude modern expatriates, who have a presence in the United States, Scandinavia and major urban areas worldwide. See Groups
at bottom for a list of all ethnic German groups, or continue for a prosaic
summary by region.
Ancestry according to the U.S. 2000 census: Counties with plurality of German ancestry in light blue
North America
·There are over 60 million Americans of German ancestry in the United States. Of these, 23 million are of German ancestry alone
("single ancestry"), and another 40 million are of partial German
ancestry. Of those who claim partial ancestry, 22 million identify their
primary ancestry ("first ancestry") as German. German Americans are
the largest ethnic group in the United States, and form just under half the
population in the Upper Midwest. [Who's
Counting? The l990 Census of German-Americans]. On the site of The
Tricentennial Foundation German American Community Service. Accessed 12 Feb
2006. [Contents of
ANCESTRY Table] on the site of the United States Census Bureau. Accessed
12 Feb 2006.
Latin Americais home to considerably-sized and
fairly well-known German groups, mostly originating from Eastern Europe and
Austria, who came either before World War II for religious or economic reasons,
or who came as refugees following the war. Some, such as Argentine president Néstor Kirchner and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, or Rodolfo Stange, the Chilean Police General during the Pinochet regime, are
German in name only, but very often ethnic Germans in Latin America have their
own fairly independent communities often designed to look like traditional
German villages in all their various forms, and prosper by raising wheat or
dairy cattle, often without the native manual labor ubiquitous among the more affluent
classes in Latin America. The famous actress Vera Fischer also belongs to this
group. An exception is the news anchor Monika Waldvogel, who not only speaks
Portuguese but also speaks German. Volga Germans and (Plautdietsch-speaking) Mennonites are some of the more prominent such groups. Notable
communities are in:
·Brazil: Mainly in southern Brazil, there are 6 million
single-ancestry ethnic Germans, 3% of the national population; 12 million
Brazilians are part German, 7% of the national population.
·Ecuador: 32,000, counting standard German-speakers only
·Chile: 35,000, counting standard German-speakers only
·Argentina: 400,000 standard German speakers, more Mennonites
and Volga Germans
·Paraguay: 147,000 standard German and 38,000 Plautdietsch
(Mennonites), most of whom also know standard German
·Uruguay:
28,000 standard German, 1,200 Plautdietsch
·Mexico, Bolivia, and Belize: 40,000, 28,567, and 5,763 Mennonite German speakers
respectively, as well as notable (but more assimilated) public figures from
various German groups
·Also, some of the ethnic
Germans in Texas descend from German settlers
who arrived when it was Mexican territory.
Western Europe and the Alpine nations
In Italy there are two main groups. The 225,000 ethnic Germans
of South Tyrol, formerly (before the 1919
annexation) part of Austrian Tyrol, now constitute a growing majority in this autonomous
region of Italy. Naturally, their dialects are basically extensions of Austrian
German. There also exist some unique populations of Germans: the Cimbrians, the Móchenos and some groups of Walser, who arrived so long ago that their dialect retains
many archaic features heard nowhere else. The Cimbrians, though celebrated
since their discovery, are relatively few in number and concentrated in various
communities in the Carnic Alps, north of Verona, and especially in the Sugana Valley (Valsugana
or Suganertal) on the high plateau northwest of Vicenza in the Veneto Region. The Italian Walser (who originated in the
Swiss Valais) live in the provinces of
Aostatal, Vicelli, and Verbania-Cusio-Ossola. The Móchenos live in
the Fersina Valley.
Austria-Hungary in 1911 showing ethnic Germans in pink (primarily
Sudeten Germans, Danube Swabians, and Transylvanian Saxons), along with the
main body of German-speakers in Austria.
In Switzerland, Swiss Germans constitute the majority of the
population. They write formally in Standard German, but in many respects have
hewn a separate national identity built upon their long history of stable,
alpine, isolationist, multinationalist neutrality and their various Swiss German language dialects, which are basically
incomprehensible to someone who speaks only Standard German. In Austria and Liechtenstein, both of which are primarily German-speaking
countries, the situation is less extreme, but nevertheless, there are very few
who would call Swiss, Austrians, or Liechtensteiners Volksdeutsche, if
only because it sounds like pan-German nationalism and also because it may offend or
belittle them.
In France, the Alsace-Lorraine region and cities such as Strasbourg (with bilingual signs) and Diedenhofen (now Thionville) were originally German-speaking, but because of
territorial transfers resulting from the world wars, and given the French take
on language, ethnicity, and the Republic, assimilation has decimated the Alsatian dialect. The German-speaking population is estimated
at 1,500,000, plus another 40,000 for ethnic Luxemburgers.
German-speaking areas of Belgium.
In Belgium, there is also a German minority, who form the
majority in their region of 71,000 inhabitants (though Ethnologueputs the national total at 150,000, not including Limburgisch and Luxembourgish). In Luxembourg, Germans constitute the majority, though they speak
the Luxemburgish language, which has a separate written
standard. In the Netherlands, there are 380,000 Germans[[Citing
sources citation needed]], along the German-Dutch
border, a similar number of Dutch people is estimated to live along the same
border line in Germany.
Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
The great bulk of ethnic Germans outside of the
German-speaking countries have historically been concentrated in Central and Eastern Europe, and these Germans are the population to which the
term Volksdeutsche is most frequently applied. There are many ethnic
Germans in the countries that are now Germany and Austria's neighbors to the
east—Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia— but there are or have been significant populations
in such areas as Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia. The German presence in Central and Eastern Europe is
rooted in centuries of history, that of Prussia, Austria-Hungary, Bukovina, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), Bessarabia and of a fractious Germany and eastward parts of
Europe made up of many city states, whose royal families ruled over
multi-ethnic populations. Every city of even modest size as far east as Russia
had a German quarter and a Jewish
quarter (though, of course, there were relatively few Jews east of the Pale of Settlement). Travellers along any road would pass through, for
example, a German village, then a Czech village, then a Polish village, etc., depending on the region.
Near the end of the Migration Period (300-900 AD) that brought the Germanic and Slavic tribes as well as the Huns, etc., to what is now Central Europe, Slavs expanded westwards at the same
time as Germans expanded eastwards. The result was German colonization as far east as Romania, and Slavic colonization as far west as present-day Lübeck (on the Baltic Sea), Hamburg (connected to the North Sea), and along the river Elbe and its tributary Saale further south. After Christianization, the superior organization of the Roman Catholic Church led to further German
expansion, known as the medievalDrang nach Osten. By 1100 or so, various
rulers were often inviting ethnic Germans to their territories as craftsmen,
miners, or farmers.
At the same time, naval innovations led to a German
domination of trade in the Baltic Sea and Eastern Central Europe through the Hanseatic League. Along the trade routes, Hanseatic trade stations
became centers of Germanness where German urban law (Stadtrecht) was promoted by the presence of large, relatively wealthy German
populations and their influence on the worldly powers.
Thus some of the people whom we today often consider
"Germans", with a common culture and worldview very different from that of the surrounding rural peoples, colonized as far north of present-day
Germany as Bergen (in Norway), Stockholm (in Sweden), and Vyborg (in Russia). At the same time, it is important to note that the
Hanseatic League was not exclusively German in any ethnic sense. Many towns who
joined the league should not at all be characterized as "German";
they were outside of the Holy Roman Empire, which even in itself was not in any way exclusively
German.
It is thus that some groups, such as the Baltic Germans, the Volga Germans, and the Transylvanian Saxons, had very established
residence (in some cases extending back to the crusades of Teutonic Knights that resulted in the removal of native populations
and their replacement by German settlers) in the eastern Baltic, southern
Russia, and what is now Romania, respectively. Over time, other groups like
this often either became assimilated by local populations or by later waves of
Germans.
By World War I, there were isolated groups of Germans or so-called Schwaben as far southeast as the Bosphorus (Turkey), Georgia, and Azerbaijan. After the war, Germany's and Austria-Hungary's loss
of territory and the rise of communism in the Soviet Union meant that more Germans than ever were minorities in
various countries, though on the whole they still enjoyed fairly good
treatment.
The status of ethnic Germans, and the lack of
contiguity resulted in numerous repatriation pacts whereby the German
authorities would organize population transfers (especially the Nazi-Soviet population transfers arranged between Adolf Hitler) and Joseph Stalin, and others with Benito Mussolini's Italy) so that both Germany and the other country
would increase their homogeneity. However, this was but a drop
in the pond, and the Heim ins Reich rhetoric over the continued disjoint status of
enclaves such as Danzig and Königsberg was an agitating factor in the politics leading up to
World War II, and is considered by many to be among the major causes of Nazi
aggressiveness and thus the war.
The actions of Germany ultimately had extremely
negative consequences for most ethnic Germans in Central and Eastern Europe,
who often fought on the side of the Nazi regime - some were drafted, others
volunteered or worked through the paramilitary organisations such as Selbstschutz, which supported the German invasion of Poland and
murdered tens of thousands of Poles. In places such as Yugoslavia, Germans were drafted by their country of residence,
served loyally, and even held as POWs by the
Nazis, and yet later found themselves drafted again, this time by the Nazis
after their takeover. Because it was technically not permissible to draft
non-citizens, many ethnic Germans ended up being (oxymoronically) forcibly
volunteered for the Waffen-SS. In general, those closest to
Nazi Germany were the most involved in
fighting for her, but the Germans in remote places like the Caucasus were
likewise accused of collaboration. The territorial changes following World War II can be very roughly understood as the following:
Russia became bigger, Germany became smaller, and Poland was forced west. This
anecdotal summary (minus the plight of the Poles) can be extended to Germany's
borders with France and Czechoslovakia as well.
Post-War situation
If the ethnic Germans of Eastern Europe survived the
fighting, the ethno-politics of the victorious Allies, aimed at removal of German
minority from new borders of countries that were freed from Nazi German rule.
In Poland and Czechoslovakia, millions fled the Red Army and local governments, mostly on foot and in wagons,
but also by ship (see Wilhelm Gustloff). Elsewhere, especially in
Russia and Yugoslavia, Germans were treated even
more brutally, and often interned in harsh labor camps, to "pay the
debts" induced by their nation and the cost of communist liberation. In
Hungary, Magyarization was the norm. In Romania, Germans were forcibly
transferred within the country, to destroy their cohesion as an ethnic group.
It was due to such population transfer in the Soviet
Union that
Germans (along with many other peoples) ended up as far east as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. As recently as 1990, there were 1 million standard
German speakers and 100,000 Plautdietsch speakers in Kazakhstan alone, and
38,000, 40,000 and 101,057 standard German speakers in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, respectively.
There were reportedly 500,000 ethnic Germans in Poland
in 1998. Recent official figures show 147,000 (as of 2002)[link]. But, because the census
only registers declared nationalities, the actual figure is probably higher. Of
the 700,000 Germans in Romania in 1988, only about 100,000 remained. In Hungary
the situation is quite similar, with only about 150,000. There are 1 million in
the former Soviet Union, mostly in a band from
southernwestern Russia and the Volga valley, through Omsk and Altai Krai to Kazakhstan.
These Auslandsdeutsche, as they are now
generally known, have been streaming out of the former Eastern Bloc since the early 1990s. For example, many ethnic
Germans from the former Soviet Union have taken advantage of the German Law
of return, a policy which grants citizenship to all those who can prove to
be a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or the spouse or descendant of
such a person. This exodus has occurred despite the fact that many of the
ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union speak little or no German.
Expelled Germans in postwar Germany
After World War II many expellees (German: Heimatvertriebene) from the land east of the
Oder-Neisse found refuge in both West Germany and East Germany. Refugees who
had fled voluntarily but were later refused to return are often not
distinguished from those who were forcibly deported, just as people born to
German parents that moved into areas under German occupation either on their
own or as Nazi colonists.
In a document signed 50 years ago the Heimatvertriebene
organisations have also recognized the plight of the different groups of people
living in today's Poland who were by force resettled there. The
Heimatvertriebene are just one of the groups of millions of other people, from
many different countries, who all found refuge in today's Germany.
Some of the expellees are active in politics and belong
to the political right-wing. Many others do not belong to any organizations,
but they continue to maintain what they call a lawful right to their homeland.
The vast majority pledged to work peacefully towards that goal while rebuilding
post-war Germany and Europe.
The expellees are still highly active in German
politics, and are one of the major political factions of the nation, with still
around 2 million members. The president of their organization is as of 2004 still a member of the national parliament.
Although expellees (in German Heimatvertriebene) and their descendants were active in West German
politics, the prevailing political climate within West Germany was that of
atonement for Nazi actions. However the CDU
governments have shown considerable support for the expellees and German
civilian victims.
Polish-German relations
Although relations between Poland and the Federal
Republic of Germany have generally been cordial since 1991, there remain
disputes about the War, the post-War expulsion, the treatment of the current
German minority in Poland and the treatment of German heritage in modern day
Western Poland and the Polish half of the former East Prussia.
Since 1990, historical events have been examined by
the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Its role is to investigate
the crimes of the past without regard to the nationality of victims and
perpetrators. In Poland, crimes motivated by the nationality of victims are not
covered by a statute of limitations, therefore the criminals can be charged in
perpetuity. In a few cases, the crimes against Germans were examined. One
suspected perpetrator of retaliatory crimes against expelled innocent German
civilians, Salomon Morel, fled the country to Israel, which has denied Polish requests for his
extradition.
Finalization of the Polish-German border
The Oder-Neisse line was officially considered
completely unacceptable by the CDU
controlled German government for decades. Even the Social Democrats of the SPD initially
refused to accept the Oder-Neisse line. The 1991 Polish-German border agreement
finalized the Oder-Neisse line as the Polish-German border. The agreement gave
to minority groups in both countries several rights, such as the right to use
national surnames, speak their native languages, and attend schools and
churches of their choice. These rights had been denied previously on the basis
that the individual had already chosen the country in which they wanted to
live.
Polish criticism of German \"revisionism\"
Some Poles criticise that the current German
historical view tends to move toward the portrayal of Germans as victims rather
than as the perpetrators of the War.
Some German expellees, on the other hand, criticise
that the official Polish outlook on the War and post War events is mostly based
on a collectivist view (of mixed communist and nationalist ideas), that does
not look at the individual suffering on both sides, but emphazises the ethnic
background of each individual.
Such positions are viewed critically in Poland as it
ignores widespread collaboration and support for Nazi Occupation by the German
minority in the pre-1939 Polish Republic, and the fact that German people
enjoyed privileged status during the war while Poles were classified as subhumans
by German authorities.
"They
say there were evil and good Germans. But why didn't I have the luck during
this whole time of finding a good one? I didn't meet a single good German, only
those who hit me in the face. Yes I am sorry for the girl that died during
expulsions. But I have no pity for the Germans as a nation. They put Hitler in
power. German society lived for five years from occupied Europe; lived from me,
and my friends. To me they gave two slices of bread, while Germans ate as much
as they wanted. That is why it is important that they continue penance. Let
them cry for long, long time - maybe then they will finally realise that to
Europe they were the executioner[...] They don't deserve mercy, they deserve
penance. And that for many generations, because otherwise their arrogance and
haughtiness shall returnTak, szkoda mi dziewczyny, która z małym dzieckiem
zginęła podczas wypędzenia. Ale nie mam żadnej litości dla narodu niemieckiego.
Bo to on wyniósł Hitlera do władzy. To społeczeństwo niemieckie przez pięć lat
żyło z okupowanej Europy: żyło ze mnie i z moich przyjaciół, bo mnie dawali dwa
deko chleba dziennie, a Niemcy jedli do woli. Dlatego tak ważne jest, by dalej
musieli pokutować. Niech długo, długo płaczą - może wtedy dojdzie do ich
świadomości, że byli katem dla Europy[...] Nie należy się im miłosierdzie,
należy się im pokuta. I to przez wiele pokoleń, bo inaczej wróci ta ich pycha i
buta. [Nie litować się nad Niemcami], Tygodnik Powszechny,
NR 33 (2823), 17 August 2003. Accessed online 8 July 2006.
As evidence for the view that German "arrogance
and haughtiness" will return, some point to the high support for National
Socialism in German society even after the German Reich lost the war. For
example, according to polls conducted in the American Zone of Occupation among
Germans from November 1945 till December 1947, the percentage of the German
population that supported the view that "National Socialism was a good
idea, but badly implemented" was on average 47%, while in August 1947 the
percentage increased to 55% Rocznik Polsko-Niemiecki Tom I "Polska a
Niemcy; ludność, odbudowa, przemiany polityczne w pierwszych latach
powojennych" Edmund Dmitrów Warszawa 1992
Restrictions on the sale of property to foreigners
In November 2005 Der Spiegel published a poll from Allensbach Institut which
estimated that 61% of Poles believed Germans would try to get back territories
that were formerly under German control or demand compensation[link],[link].
There are also some worries among Poles that rich
descendants of the expelled Germans would buy the land the Polish state that
was confiscated in 1945. It is believed that this may result in large price
increases, since the current Polish land price is low compared to Western
Europe. This led to Polish restrictions on the sale of property to foreigners,
including Germans; special permission is needed. This policy is comparable to
similar restrictions on the Baltic Åland Islands. These restrictions will be lifted 12 years after the
2004 accession of Poland to the European Union, i.e. on May 12016. The restrictions are viewed
by some as weak - they aren't valid for companies and certain types of
properties.
The attempts by German organisations to build a Centre Against Expulsionsdedicated to German people's alleged
suffering during World War II has led Polish politicians and activists to
propose a Center for Martyrology of the Polish Nation (called also Center for
the Memory of Suffering of the Polish Nation) that would document the
systematical oppression of Polish people by the German state during World War
II and which would serve to educate German people about atrocities their state
and regime perpetrated on their neighbours. However, this proposal was attacked
and rejected by German politicians[link].
Status of the German minority in Poland
The remaining German minority in Poland (152,897
people according to the 2002 census) is still awaiting formal recognition of
minority rights, as a minority law has not been introduced by the Polish
parliament yet. There are German speakers throughout Poland, and most of the
Germans live in the Opole/Oppeln Voivodship. There are a few unofficial
bilingual signs in some of the smaller towns of the Opole/Oppeln region. In
addition, there are some bilingual schools and in a few towns German can
sometimes be used instead of Polish in dealings with officials on a lower level
at the discretion of local council officials. However, Western European
standards of minority protection, including universal bilingual topography, use
of the language in courts and dealings with all government officials, as well
as bilingual education for the entire population, remain unfulfilled.
On 28 December1989, Václav Havel, at that time a candidate for president of
Czechoslovakia (he was elected one day later), suggested that Czechoslovakia
should apologise for the expulsion of ethnic Germans after World War II. Most
of other politicians of the country didn't agree, and there was also no reply
from leaders of Sudeten German organizations. Later, the German President Richard von Weizsäcker answered this by apologizing
to Czechoslovakia during his visit to Prague on March 1990 after Václav Havel repeated his apology
saying that the expulsion was "the mistakes and sins of our fathers".
The Beneš decrees however continued to remain in force in
Czechoslovakia.
In Czech-German relations, the topic has been
effectively closed by the [Czech-German declaration] of 1997. One principle of
the declaration was that parties will not burden their relations with political
and legal issues which stem from the past.
However, some expelled Sudeten Germans or their
descendants are demanding return of their former property, which was
confiscated after the war. Several such cases have been taken to Czech courts.
As confiscated estates usually have new inhabitants, some of whom have lived
there for more than 50 years, attempts to return to a pre-war state may cause
fear. The topic comes to life occasionally in Czech politics. Like in Poland,
worries and restrictions concerning land purchases exist in the Czech Republic. According to a survey by the Allensbach Institut in
November 2005, 38% of Czechs believe Germans want to regain territory they lost
or will demand compensation.
Recognition of Sudeten German anti-Nazis
In 2005 Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek announced
an initiative to publicise and formerly recognise the deeds of Sudeten German
Anti-Nazis. Although the move was received positively by most Sudeten Germans
and the German minority, there has been criticism that the initiative is
limited to Anti-Nazis who actively fought for the Czechoslovak state, but not
Anti-Nazis in general. The German minority in particular also expected some
financial compensation for their mistreatment after the War.
Status of the German minority in the Czech Republic
and Slovakia
There are about 40,000 Germans remaining in the Czech
Republic. Their number has been consistently decreasing since World War II.
According to the 2001 census there remain 13 municipalities and settlements in
the Czech Republic with more than 10% Germans.
The situation in Slovakia was different from that in the Czech lands, in that
the number of Germans was considerably lower and that the Germans from Slovakia were almost completely
evacuated to German states as the Soviet army was moving west through Slovakia,
and only the fraction of them that returned to Slovakia after the end of the
war was deported together with the Germans from the Czech lands.
The Czech Republic has introduced a law in 2002 that
guarantees the use of native minority languages (incl. German)as official
languages in municipalities where autochthonous linguistic groups make up at
least 10% of the population. Besides the use in dealings with officials and in
courts the law also allows for bilingual signage and guarantees education in
the native language. The law so far only exists on paper and has not been
implemented anywhere, neither in the Polish speaking Tesin/Cieszyn area nor in
Western and Northern Bohemia where a hand full of towns still have in excess of
10% German speakers.
The remaining tiny German minority in the Czech
Republic has been granted some rights on paper, however the actual use of the
language in dealings with officials is usually not possible. There is no
bilingual education system in Western and Northern Bohemia, where the German
minority is most concentrated. The Czech authorities have enacted a unique
hurdle in their minority act.
Many representatives of expelees organizations support
the erection of bilingual signs in all formerly German speaking territory as a
visible sign of the bilingual linguistic and cultural heritage of the region.
While the erection of bilingual signs is technically permitted if a minority
constitutes 10% of the population, the minority is also forced to sign a
petition in favour of the signs in which 40% of the adult minority population
must participate.
German minority in Hungary
Today the German minority in Hungary have minority
rights, organisations, schools and local councils but spontaneous assimilation
is well under way. Many of the deportees visited their old homes after the fall
of the Iron Curtain in 1990.
Russia
Many descendants of Germans who were expelled from the
former city of Königsberg can be found today in Germany. Although the
deportation of Germans from this northern part of former East Prussia often was conducted in a violent and aggressive way
by Soviet officials who sought to revenge the Nazi terror in Soviet areas
during the war, the present Russian inhabitants of the Kaliningrad sector
(northern East Prussia) have much less animus against Germans. German names
have even been revived in commercial Russian trade. It is possible that, in the
future, the name of Kaliningrad might be reverted to the original name,
Königsberg. Because the exclave during Soviet times was a military zone which
nobody was allowed to enter without special permission, many old German
Prussian villages are still intact, though they have become dilapidated over
the course of time. The city centre of Kaliningrad however was entirely
rebuilt, as British bombs (1944) and the siege of Königsberg (FestungKönigsberg in 1945 siege) had left it in ruins.
Africa, Oceania, and East Asia
Unlike other major European powers of the 20th
century, Germany was not very involved in colonizing Africa (though mainly
because it came too late and from a difficult geopolitical location), and lost German East Africa and German South-West Africa after World War I. Similarly
to those in Latin America, the Germans in Africa tended to isolate themselves
and be more self-sufficient than other Europeans. In Namibia there are 150,000 ethnic Germans, 6% of the
population, though it is estimated that only a third of those retain the
language.
Like North America, Australia has received many German immigrants from Germany and
elsewhere. Numbers vary depending on who is counted, but moderate criteria give
an estimate of 750,000 (4% of the population).
During the Meiji era (1868-1912), many Germans came to
work in Japan as advisors to the new
government. Despite Japan's isolationism and geographic distance, there have
been a few , since Germany's and Japan's fairly parallel modernization made Germans
ideal O-yatoi gaikokujin.
In China, the German trading colony of Jiaozhou Bay in what is now Qingdao existed until 1914, and did not leave much more than
breweries, including Tsingtao Brewery. Communist East Germany had relations with Uganda and Vietnam, but in these cases population movement went mostly
to, not from, Germany.
Note that many of these groups have since migrated
elsewhere. This list simply gives the region with which they are associated,
and does not include the Germans from countries with German as an official
national language, which are:
In general, it also omits some collective terms in
common use defined by political border changes where this is antithetical to
the current structure. Such terms include:
·German-Mexicans, including
Mennonites as well as many notable figures, see German-, Austrian-, Hungarian-,
and Polish- subcategories of European Mexicans
