ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 18

September 2003
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

Enigma 2000 article - German speaking groups outside Germany - Part 2

Part 2 of the interesting piece from our German Desk continues from Issue 17:

Schlesvig

This region, originally a Duchy belonging to Denmark, and lying on the border between Denmark and Germany was Danish until the mid 19^th Century and named 'Slesvig'.

Today it is divided between Denmark and Germany, with minorities of Germans and Danes living on each side of the border. In both cases there exists a rigid monolingual policy.

These minorities are exactly that, even locally. The members of these minorities define their identity through tradition and their loyalty to culture, rather than language.

Historical Note: During the WW2 German occupation of Denmark this entire region would have become part of Germany. Its inhabitants were subject to the same laws and conscription and draft labour regulations as the rest of Germany. From the middle ages and at various other times, it has changed hands as a settlement of various wars. Most BAOR current and former soldiers are familiar with Schleswig-Holstein.

Source notes [and place names]: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/slesvig.html

Switzerland

This small country lies in central Europe and shares borders with France, Germany, Austria and Italy. This probably accounts for the various ethnic groups. These are: German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1% others 6%. As can be seen German is the prominent group and the language spoken by the majority. As is commonly known the Swiss are renowned for their ability to speak all the other languages. They also appear to have a very large percentage of the population who can speak English.

Traditionally neutral since the 16^th Century, Switzerland is famous for its banking and financial industry. Its occupation by the Austrian [Hapsburg] dynasty in the 1200's as well as its proximity to Germany and Austria may account for the German majority amongst the population.

Historical Notes: Traditionally, by virtue that the country is home to the International Red Cross the Swiss have, in both World Wars, provided the valuable service of intermediaries between the various combatants and prisoner of War monitoring. Switzerland has also been the base [probably unwillingly and unwittingly] spy rings and espionage operatives for all nations. The Lucy Ring and Rote Kapelle [Red Orchestra] groups spring to mind.

Many Swiss served, as individual volunteers, in various Wermacht units during WW2.

Germans in Eastern Europe

Having covered those groups of German speakers in Western Europe let us look East. Prior to World war Two, the Germans living in East Europe numbered in the millions. Obviously, WW2 changed all that.

The present day Ukraine was home to a over a million Germans, now, of course. Long dispersed. Other communities, such as, and surprisingly, in Poland, have survived and even prospered. There follows a list of areas in which are to be found German speaking ethnic groups.

Poland

Sudetenland	[present day Czech Republic]
Slovakia	[Carpathian Germans]
Hungary
Transylvania and the Banat regio of Romania
Yugoslavia	[Serbia]
Bosnia
Croatia
Slovenia	[the Gotschee area]
Russia	[the Volga Germans]
Kaliningrad	[present day Russia, formerly part of Germany]
South Russia	[Bessarabia, Odessa, Crimea (present day Moldavia and Ukraine)]

Source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/deu1.html

Germans in Poland

The post WW2 era saw the border between Germany and Poland redrawn. One of the results of this was the expulsion from Poland of approximately 3.5Million Germans. However, many remained in the post war Poland with the result that today , they number between 40000 to 800000. In the 21^st Century Polish Parliament counts amongst its members some ethnic German representatives.

Historical Note: Readers will recall that WW2 was triggered in this area, mainly by Hitler's wish to include the so-called 'Polish Corridor' as the strip of land separating East and West Prussia came to be called, into Germany proper. During WW2 this area became filled with the German version of 'carpetbaggers' ; eager to claim vacant property and land. The resident ethnic Germans of all areas were called by homeland Germans 'Beute-Deutshe' , booty Germans' a slightly derogatory term.

The way the war was triggered was pure Frederick Forsyth. A pseudo-Polish army team [in reality Polish speaking Germans in Polish uniform] attacked Radio Gleiwitz [today: Gliwice] but that, as they say, is another story.

Germans in Hungary

Today, the ethnic German population of Hungary are between 200000 and 220000 in number. There are several traditional German enclaves in Hungary; along the Hungarian-Austrian Border, to the south of the Danube, or in the mountain regions of the central Hungarian highlands, for example. Today these are mostly rural in nature. In http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/deu1.html are listed some major cities and villages which house German communities, to allow comparison of the names within the various regions. {See Siebenburgen].

German speaking Groups in Russia

In the 18^th Century the Russian Tsarina Ekaterina established by invitation large settlements of Germans in 'southern Russia' now known as the Ukraine, as well as the Volga region. In the area of Kaliningrad was another large German enclave which was, until 1945 part of East Prussia, which was, at that time, part of the German state. WW" saw these Germans moved towards Siberia and Central Asia, from which areas they were not allowed to returm. Between 1950 and 1994 1.4 Million of these ethnic Germans from the Soviet Union emigrated to Germany. However thousands of their fellow Germans remain in Russia.

Volga Germans

In the area of the Volga Basin around Samara, the 18^th Century influx of Germans mentioned above, saw the establishment of over 100 colonies. These Germans prospered, and by the year 1914 they numbered 1.6Million persons. By the time of the establishment of the Soviet Regime, between 1924 and 1941, an autonomous Republic of Volga Germans existed. With the invasion of the USSR by Hitler's Germany this Republic was abolished and all Germans were expelled.

Today it is possible that there remain in this area, some ethnic Germans who are now Russian citizens, but any German communities are long gone.

Kaliningrad

Situated on the shore of the Baltic Sea, this region of the Russian Federation lies between Poland and Lithuania. Prior to WW2 it was part of East Prussia. With the post war boundary changes, East Prussia was divided between Poland and Russia. The vast majority of Germans living there were forcibly relocated, but by the late 1980's ethnic Germans from other parts of the USSR were in-migrating to the region. Now there are perhaps some 10000 Germans living there, almost half of whom have settled in the capital, Kaliningrad.

This area they share with other Baltic peoples, including Lithuanians, who make up some 4% of the population.

The Ukraine

German settlements grew up in many areas of the Ukraine. In the South of the Ukraine, along Besserabia, Odessa and Crimea. These areas were home to what were named the 'Southern Russian' colonies, so named because, at the time of their foundation, these areas were in the south of the Russian empire.

In the north west of the Ukraine area were colonies in the Volhynia region. In the west were the settlements which grew up in Transcarpathia and northern Bukovina; some groups of which could trace their ancestry as far back as the Middle Ages. To this day there is a surviving German population numbering about 2000.

Part 3, the concluding section, of this interesting piece from our German Desk will appear in the next Newsletter.