Nazi-Soviet population transfers
Encyclopedia
The Nazi–Soviet population transfers were a series of population transfer
s between 1939 and 1941 of tens of thousands of ethnic Germans and ethnic Russians in an agreement according to the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation between Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union
.
's main goals during his rule was to unite all German-speaking peoples into one territory. There were hundreds of thousands of ethnic German
s living outside the borders of Germany, mostly in central and eastern Europe with the largest numbers being the Germans from Russia
. Most of these groups of Germans had lived outside Germany for hundreds of years, after moving eastwards between the 12th to 18th centuries.
Despite this Hitler planned to move these people westwards (away from their homes and from the areas they had been living in for centuries) into Nazi Germany. However, Hitler also believed that the 1937 borders and territories of Nazi Germany, i.e. before the "Anschluss
" (annexation) of Austria
and the Sudetenland
, were quite inadequate to accommodate this large increase in population. At this time the propaganda for more Lebensraum
or "living space" greatly increased.
and the Soviet Union. In late August 1939 (a week before the invasion of Poland
and the start of World War II
) Hitler sent his foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
to Moscow
to arrange a pact of non aggression with the Soviet Union. This became known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In reality Hitler's aim was to avoid Germany fighting on two fronts when the Second World War was about to begin a week later.
The real issues agreed upon in the pact was the partition
of territories in central and eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence and the reciprocal transfer of ethnic German and Russian people's to each other's countries. These secret agreements were not made public at the time.
Hitler's plan was to invade the western part of Poland (having assigned the eastern part to the Soviet Union in the pact) and then force all non German peoples (mostly Polish citizens) out of their homes and either use them for forced labour or move them further east to the General Government
area. Once these territories were "free" of non Germans, the population transfers could begin and ethnic Germans would be settled in the same homes that until a few weeks earlier had Polish citizens living in them.
The planned transfers were announced to the ethnic Germans, and general knowledge, only in October 1939.
The Nazis set out to encourage the departure of "Germans from outside Germany", known as Volksdeutsche, from the Baltic States by the use of propaganda. This included using scare tactics about the Soviet Union, and led to tens of thousands leaving. Those who left were not referred to as "refugees", but were rather described as "answering the call of the Fuhrer." To encourage support of this program, German propaganda films such as GPU and Friesennot
depicted the Baltic Germans as deeply persecuted in their native lands.
Families were transported by ship from the Baltic states and by train from other territories. The German government arranged the transfer of their furniture and personal belongings. All immovable property was sold, with the money being collected by the German government and not given back to the families. This was an intentional act designed to destroy all links with the areas these people had been living in. The value of the real estate
left behind was to be compensated in cash and Polish property in occupied Poland.
They were kept in camps for racial evaluation, to prevent contamination of the native German population. There they were divided into groups: A, Altreich, who were to be settled in German and allowed neither farms nor business (to allow for closer watch), S Sonderfall, who were used as forced labor, and O Ost-Falle, the best classification, to be settled in the Eastern Wall—the occupied regions to protect German from the East—and allowed independence. This last group, after spending some time in refugee camps in Germany, were eventually resettled in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
and in Zamosc County
, as decided by Generalplan Ost
. The deportation orders required that enough Poles be removed to provide for every settler -- that, for instance, if twenty German "master bakers" were sent, twenty Polish bakeries had to have their owners removed. The settlers were often given Polish homes where the families had been evicted so quickly that half-eaten meals were on tables and small children had clearly been taken from unmade beds. Members of Hitler Youth
and the League of German Girls
were assigned the task of overseeing such evictions to ensure that the Poles left behind most of their belongings for the use of the settlers. Once they were settled, the process of Germanization was begun.
Germans were evacuated from territories occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, notably Bessarabia
and the Baltic states
of Estonia
and Latvia
, all of which traditionally had large German minorities. However the majority of the Baltic Germans had already been resettled in late 1939, prior to the occupation of Estonia and Latvia by the Soviet Union in June 1940. In most cases they were given farms taken from 110,000 Poles
who were expelled from the area http://www.zamosc.pl/historia/historia.php?i=historia_m.
. Considering that they had only been living in these homes for about 5 years at most, this was almost seen as a second forced resettlement for them (after the first in 1939) albeit under different circumstances. But this time practically all of them had to leave their belongings behind.
Population transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
s between 1939 and 1941 of tens of thousands of ethnic Germans and ethnic Russians in an agreement according to the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation between Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Conception
One of Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's main goals during his rule was to unite all German-speaking peoples into one territory. There were hundreds of thousands of ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
s living outside the borders of Germany, mostly in central and eastern Europe with the largest numbers being the Germans from Russia
Germans from Russia
Germans from Russia refers to the large numbers of ethnic Germans who emigrated from the Russian Empire, peaking in the late 19th century. The upper Great Plains in the United States and southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan have large areas populated primarily of descendants of Germans from Russia...
. Most of these groups of Germans had lived outside Germany for hundreds of years, after moving eastwards between the 12th to 18th centuries.
Despite this Hitler planned to move these people westwards (away from their homes and from the areas they had been living in for centuries) into Nazi Germany. However, Hitler also believed that the 1937 borders and territories of Nazi Germany, i.e. before the "Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
" (annexation) of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
, were quite inadequate to accommodate this large increase in population. At this time the propaganda for more Lebensraum
Lebensraum
was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...
or "living space" greatly increased.
Legal basis
With the largest number of ethnic Germans living in Russia, Hitler knew that he could not resettle all these people without the full cooperation of Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and the Soviet Union. In late August 1939 (a week before the invasion of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) Hitler sent his foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to arrange a pact of non aggression with the Soviet Union. This became known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In reality Hitler's aim was to avoid Germany fighting on two fronts when the Second World War was about to begin a week later.
The real issues agreed upon in the pact was the partition
Partition (politics)
In politics, a partition is a change of political borders cutting through at least one territory considered a homeland by some community. That change is done primarily by diplomatic means, and use of military force is negligible....
of territories in central and eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence and the reciprocal transfer of ethnic German and Russian people's to each other's countries. These secret agreements were not made public at the time.
Hitler's plan was to invade the western part of Poland (having assigned the eastern part to the Soviet Union in the pact) and then force all non German peoples (mostly Polish citizens) out of their homes and either use them for forced labour or move them further east to the General Government
General Government
The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
area. Once these territories were "free" of non Germans, the population transfers could begin and ethnic Germans would be settled in the same homes that until a few weeks earlier had Polish citizens living in them.
Population transfers 1939–1941
The Nazis set out to encourage the departure of "Germans from outside Germany", known as Volksdeutsche, from the Baltic States by the use of propaganda. This included using scare tactics about the Soviet Union, and led to tens of thousands leaving. Those who left were not referred to as "refugees", but were rather described as "answering the call of the Fuhrer." To encourage support of this program, German propaganda films such as GPU and Friesennot
Friesennot
Friesennot is a 1935 German film directed by Peter Hagen.The film is also known as Dorf im roten Sturm and Frisions in Distress .- Plot :...
depicted the Baltic Germans as deeply persecuted in their native lands.
Families were transported by ship from the Baltic states and by train from other territories. The German government arranged the transfer of their furniture and personal belongings. All immovable property was sold, with the money being collected by the German government and not given back to the families. This was an intentional act designed to destroy all links with the areas these people had been living in. The value of the real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
left behind was to be compensated in cash and Polish property in occupied Poland.
They were kept in camps for racial evaluation, to prevent contamination of the native German population. There they were divided into groups: A, Altreich, who were to be settled in German and allowed neither farms nor business (to allow for closer watch), S Sonderfall, who were used as forced labor, and O Ost-Falle, the best classification, to be settled in the Eastern Wall—the occupied regions to protect German from the East—and allowed independence. This last group, after spending some time in refugee camps in Germany, were eventually resettled in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
At the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under German civil administration, while the rest of Nazi occupied Poland was named as General Government...
and in Zamosc County
Zamosc County
Zamość County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Zamość, although the city is not part...
, as decided by Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...
. The deportation orders required that enough Poles be removed to provide for every settler -- that, for instance, if twenty German "master bakers" were sent, twenty Polish bakeries had to have their owners removed. The settlers were often given Polish homes where the families had been evicted so quickly that half-eaten meals were on tables and small children had clearly been taken from unmade beds. Members of Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
and the League of German Girls
League of German Girls
The League of German Girls or League of German Maidens , was the girl's wing of the overall Nazi party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only female youth organization in Nazi Germany....
were assigned the task of overseeing such evictions to ensure that the Poles left behind most of their belongings for the use of the settlers. Once they were settled, the process of Germanization was begun.
Germans were evacuated from territories occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, notably Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, all of which traditionally had large German minorities. However the majority of the Baltic Germans had already been resettled in late 1939, prior to the occupation of Estonia and Latvia by the Soviet Union in June 1940. In most cases they were given farms taken from 110,000 Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
who were expelled from the area http://www.zamosc.pl/historia/historia.php?i=historia_m.
"Second transfer" 1945
The Soviet advance into Poland in 1945 resulted in the ethnic German settlers being evacuated or fleeing from their "new homes" (in which Hitler had resettled them in 1939) to areas even further in the west to escape reprisals from the advancing Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Considering that they had only been living in these homes for about 5 years at most, this was almost seen as a second forced resettlement for them (after the first in 1939) albeit under different circumstances. But this time practically all of them had to leave their belongings behind.
Sources
- European Population Transfers, 1939–1945 by Joseph B. Schechtman
- Eestist saksamaale ümberasunute nimestik : Verzeichnis der aus Estland nach Deutschland Umgesiedelten, Oskar Angelus, Tallinn 1939
- "Izceļojušo vācu tautības pilsoņu saraksts" : "The list of resettled citizens of German ethnicity". 1940