- This page describes the origins and historical use of the term Volksdeutsche. For the article about the people this term describes, see Ethnic German. This article is about the German diaspora See Germans for the German ethnicity in general
Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century to describe ethnic Germans living outside of the Reich. This article is about the German diaspora See Germans for the German ethnicity in general (ˈraɪk German ˈʁaɪç is a German Loanword cognate with the English Reign, Region, and Rich, but used most to designate This is in contrast to Imperial Germans (Reichsdeutsche), German citizens living within Germany. Imperial Germans is the common translation of the German word Reichsdeutsche (adj Imperial Germans is the common translation of the German word Reichsdeutsche (adj The term also contrasts with the modern term Auslandsdeutsche (Germans abroad) which generally denotes German citizens residing in other countries. This article is about the German diaspora See Germans for the German ethnicity in general
This is the loosest meaning of the term, which was used mainly during the Weimar Republic. The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 In a stricter sense, Volksdeutsch came to mean ethnic Germans living abroad but without German citizenship, i. e. , the juxtaposition with Reichsdeutsch was sharpened to denote difference in citizenship as well as residence.
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Origin of the term
According to Doris Bergen, Hitler himself is reputed to have coined the definition of "Volksdeutsche" that appeared in a 1938 memorandum of the German Reich Chancellery. In that document, the Volksdeutsche were defined as "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship. However, for Hitler and other Germans of his time, the term "Volksdeutsche" also carried overtones of blood and race not captured in the common English translation "ethnic Germans". According to German estimates in the 1930s, about 30 million Volksdeutsche and Auslandsdeutsche (= German citizens residing abroad, see McKale 1977: The Swastika outside Germany, p. 4) were living outside the Reich, a significant proportion of them in easteren Europe - Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic states and Romania. The Nazi goal of expansion to the east assigned the Volksdeutsche a special role in German plans for the east as embodied in Generalplan Ost. Generalplan Ost ( GPO) was a secret Nazi plan of Genocide and Ethnic cleansing to be realised in the territories occupied [1]
History of the term
Ostsiedlung
Over the last thousand years, Germans emigrated from traditional German lands in Central Europe and settled further east in Russia, present day Romania and other countries. This article covers the medieval eastward migrations of Germans Central Europe is the Region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Many Germans settled in the Baltic and parts of present day Poland in colonies established by the Teutonic Knights beginning in the Thirteenth Century. Baltic Seven Islandsgif|right|thumb|330px|A contemporary transnational Euroregion encompasses the islands of the Baltic countries Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order. The Knights were also granted rights in Transylvania resulting in the settlement of many Germans. Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian
In the Sixteenth Century Vasili III invited small numbers of German craftsmen, traders and professionals to settle in Russia so that the empire could exploit their skills. Vasili III Ivanovich (Василий III Иванович, also Basil) ( March 25[[ 479]] – December 3[[ 533]] Moscow was the Grand Prince of Moscow These settlers (many of whom intended to stay only temporarily) were generally confined to the German Quarter in Moscow (which also included Dutch, British and other western or northern European settlers who the Russians came to indiscriminately refer to as "Germans") and gradually in other cities so as to prevent the spread of alien ideas to the general population. German Quarter, also known as the Kukuy Quarter (Неме́цкая слобода́ Nemetskaya sloboda) was a neighborhood in the northeast of Moscow Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of In his youth, Peter the Great spent much time in the German quarter and when he became Tsar he brought more German experts (and other foreigners) into Russia and particularly into government service in his attempts to westernize the empire. He also brought in German engineers to supervise the construction of the new city of Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Catherine the Great, who was herself German, invited German farmers to immigrate and settle in Russian lands along the Volga River which had recently been conquered from the Ottoman Empire. Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish She guaranteed them the right to retain their language, religion and culture.
Treaty of Versailles
In the process of reconstituting the Second Republic of Poland, the Treaty of Versailles threw millions of Germans who had been part of Prussia and later the German Empire into the newly reconstituted country of Poland. The Second Polish Republic or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I.
During the Nazi Era
During Nazi times, the term "Volksdeutsche" referred to foreign-born Germans living in countries occupied by Germany who applied for German citizenship. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Prior to World War II, well above ten million ethnic Germans lived in Central and Eastern Europe. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including They constituted an important minority far into Russia. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
Pre-war relations with the Nazis
In 1931, prior to its rise to power, the Nazi party established the Auslandsorganisation der NSDAP (Foreign Organisation of the Nazi Party), whose task it was to disseminate Nazi propaganda among the German minorities living outside of Germany (Volksdeutsche). In 1936, the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (Ethnic Germans' Welfare Office), commonly known as VoMi, was set up under the jurisdiction of the SS as the liaison bureau for the Volksdeutsche, headed by SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Werner Lorenz.
In 1936 the Nazis set up an office to act as a contact for the Volksdeutsche. According to Lumans Valdiso,
- "[one of Himmler's goals was] centralizing control over the myriad of groups and individuals inside the Reich promoting the Volksdeutsche cause. Himmler did not initiate the process but rather discovered it in progress and directed it to its conclusion and to his advantage. His principal instrument in this effort was an office from outside the SS, a Nazi party organ, the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VoMi), translated as the Ethnic German Liaison Office. "[2]
Collaboration with the Nazis
Before and during WW2, some Volksdeutsche in some countries like Czechoslovakia, Poland or Yugoslavia, actively supported the Nazis by espionage, sabotage and other services against their countries of origin. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
In September 1939 in Poland, an armed self-defence unit called Selbstschutz (Self-Defence) was created for the Volksdeutsche. Selbstschutz (Self-protection stands for two organisations it was (1 a name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by Ethnic Germans in Central Europe At the beginning of 1940, the Selbstschutz was disbanded and its members transferred to various units of the SS and German police.
In Yugoslavia, the "Prinz Eugen" Division of the Waffen-SS was formed, and was conspicuous in its operations against the partisans and among the population. About 300,000 Volksdeutsche from the conquered lands and the satellite countries joined the Waffen-SS. From Hungary alone, some 100,000 ethnic Germans volunteered for service in it. Among the populations in the Nazi-occupied lands, Volksdeutsche became a term of ignominy.
Poland
After the Germans occupied Poland in September 1939, they established a central registration bureau, called the German People's List (Deutsche Volksliste, DVL), where they registered Polish citizens of German origin as Volksdeutsche. Poles were greatly encouraged to register themselves, and were sometimes compelled to do so. Those who joined this group were given benefits, including better food, and were accorded a special status.
Among its activities on behalf of the Volksdeutsche, the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle organised large-scale looting of property. The Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (commonly translated as the "Ethnic Germans' Welfare Office" or "Main Office for Ethnic Germans" was an SS institution The Volksdeutsche were given apartments, workshops, farms, furniture, and clothing that had belonged to Jews and Poles. In turn, hundreds of thousands of the Volksdeutsche joined the German forces, either willingly or under compulsion.
In Poland during World War II, Polish citizens of German ancestry, who often identified themselves with the Polish nation, were confronted with the dilemma of whether to sign the Deutsche Volksliste, the list of Germans living in Poland. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Deutsche Volksliste (German People's List was a Nazi institution whose purpose was the classification of inhabitants of Nazi occupied territories into categories of desirability according This included ethnic Germans whose families had lived in Poland proper for centuries, and Germans (who became citizens of Poland after 1920) from the part of Germany that had been transferred to Poland after World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
Often the choice was either to sign and be regarded as a traitor by the Polish, or not to sign and be treated by the Nazi occupation as a traitor of the Germanic race. After the collapse of Nazi Germany, some of these people were tried by the Polish authorities for high treason. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Even now, in Poland the word Volksdeutsch is regarded as an insult, synonymous with the word "traitor".
In some cases, individuals consulted the Polish resistance first, before signing the Volksliste. Volksdeutsche played an important role in intelligence activities of the Polish resistance, and were at times the primary source of information for the Allies. In the eyes of the postwar Communist government, having aided the non-Communist Polish resistance was not considered a mitigating factor; therefore, many of these double-agent Volksdeutsche were prosecuted. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based
In occupied Poland, the status of "Volksdeutscher" gave many privileges, but one big disadvantage: Volksdeutsche were subject to conscription into the German army.
The Deutsche Volksliste categorised Poles into one of 4 categories:
- Category I: Persons of German descent who had engaged themselves in favour of the Reich before 1939.
- Category II: Persons of German descent who had remained passive.
- Category III: Persons of German descent who had become partly "polonized", e. g. through marrying a Polish partner or through working relationships (especially Silesians and Kashubians). Etymology One theory claims that the name Silesia is derived from the Silingi, who were most likely a Vandalic (East Germanic people Kashubians/Kashubs/Kaszubians (Kaszëbi Kaszubi also called Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic Ethnic group of north-central
- Category IV: Persons of German ancestry who had become "polonized" but were supportive of "Germanisation".
Volksdeutsche of statuses 1 and 2 in the Polish areas annexed by Germany numbered 1,000,000, and Nos. 3 and 4 numbered 1,700,000. In the General Government there were 120,000 Volksdeutsche. The General Government (Generalgouvernement refers to a part of the territories of Poland (and Ostrava Czechoslovakia under German Military occupation Volksdeutsche of Polish ethnic origins were treated by the Poles with special contempt, but were also committing high treason according to Polish law.
The Volga Germans
The Volga Germans were granted an autonomous republic after the Russian Revolution of 1917 but the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was abolished by Stalin after the German invasion of the USSR with many of its inhabitants being deported to Siberia. The Volga Germans (Wolgadeutsche or Russlanddeutsche) were Ethnic Germans living along the Volga River in the region of southern European Russia See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( German: Autonome Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik der Wolgadeutschen, abbreviated A Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving
Exodus from Eastern Europe
Most Volksdeutsche left or were expelled from their countries in the course of the German exodus from Eastern Europe. The German exodus from Eastern Europe refers to the exodus of ethnic German populations from lands to the east of present-day Germany and Austria. The German exodus from Eastern Europe refers to the exodus of ethnic German populations from lands to the east of present-day Germany and Austria. Both those who became Volksdeutsche by signing the list and Reichsdeutsche retained German citizenship during the years of Allied military occupation, after the establishment of East Germany and West Germany in 1949, and later in the reunified Germany. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (
Tiny remnants of the ethnic German community remain in the former Soviet republics in Central Asia. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 There is also a small surviving German community in Siebenbürgen (Transylvania) in Romania. Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania
Legacy
The Nazis popularized the terms Volksdeutsche, and also exploited this group for their own purposes. As a result, the term is not much used today - often one uses either Auslandsdeutsche, or names that more closely associate them with their earlier place of abode such as Wolgadeutsche or Volga Germans, the ethnic Germans living in the Volga basin in Russia; and Baltic Germans, those ethnic Germans who generally called themselves Balts and were removed to German-occupied Poland during WW2 by an agreement between Hitler and Stalin). This article is about the German diaspora See Germans for the German ethnicity in general The Volga Germans (Wolgadeutsche or Russlanddeutsche) were Ethnic Germans living along the Volga River in the region of southern European Russia The Baltic Germans (Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche) were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party
See also:
Bibliography
- Nazi Fifth Column Activities: A List of References, Library of Congress, 1943
- The German fifth column in the Second World War, by L. Goralenvolk - was Germanization action of Gorals started in Occupied Poland. Selbstschutz (Self-protection stands for two organisations it was (1 a name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by Ethnic Germans in Central Europe de Jong
- The German Fifth Column in Poland, Hutchinson & Co Ltd, London
- Luther, Tammo (2004): Volkstumspolitik des Deutschen Reiches 1933-1938. Die Auslanddeutschen im Spannungsfeld zwischen Traditionalisten und Nationalsozialisten. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart
See also
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- Imperial Germans, for a discussion of the different concepts and the shift of meaning between them. Imperial Germans is the common translation of the German word Reichsdeutsche (adj
- Fifth column
- Heimatvertriebene
- Aussiedler (de:Aussiedler)
- German exodus from Eastern Europe
- World War II evacuation and expulsion
- Pursuit of Nazi collaborators
- Nur für Deutsche
External links
- Hitler's Fifth column in Czechoslovakia
- Hitler's Fifth column in Croatia
- Hitler's Fifth column in Yugoslavia
- Hitler's Fifth column in Poland
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