THE RUSSIA-DEPORTATION
Historical and political background of the Russia-Deportation
The year 1945 not only the end of the 2nd World War II, but also the beginning of the ordeal of the Germans in Eastern and Central Europe. According to the "Documentation of the expulsion of Germans from Eastern-Central Europe were deported more than 350,000 German civilians for work in the Soviet Union. This affected all Germans in Romania, The Germans from Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the Germans from the areas east of the Oder and Neisse. Of the 130 000 displaced persons were German from the region. 75 000 from Romania into the Soviet labor camps were deported. According to the statements of the Soviet foreign minister, JW Maisky, were for the deportation of "war criminal" and "active Nazis" to "compensation, punishment and reeducation of the German" category. In fact, were largely men and women who wore no direct responsibility for the war, were deported. The deportation was undertaken on a systematic campaign, designed by the top Soviet leadership and was handled in all German territories in the same way.
The Allies had agreed at the conference in Yalta (4 to 11 February 1945) the so-called "reparations" ("reparations in kind") to the Soviet Union. This term closed except for deliveries from current production of Germany and the dismantling of German industrial plants, the use of German labor one. It was a disguised agreement on deportation, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt are partly responsible, since they have approved it. They legitimized later by the largely closed-over action in Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia and the ongoing deportation to Poland, East Brandenburg, Silesia, Pomerania, East and West Prussia. Why the Soviets after the war did not continue the planned mass deportations in the occupied areas of Germany and Austria, is unclear. They have merely contented with 26,000 skilled workers.
Brief history of the deportation to Romania on 23
Ended August 1944, King Michael I, a Hohenzollern prince, his arms completely unexpected alliance with Nazi Germany. The royal palace guard arrested Marshal Antonescu, Hitler's most loyal allies. Romania fought alongside the Allies continue until the final surrender of Germany. The Soviets are flooding the country. As the deportation was set in motion, from the perspective of the Allies, Romania was an "occupied country". Sun Winston Churchill wrote on 19 January, the Foreign Office [the British Foreign Office]: "We must not forget that we have promised to leave the fate of Romania in the hands of the Russians." As a result of Winston Churchill and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin made and accepted by the Americans agreed Romania was in 1945 part of the Soviet empire. The Romanian government was thus practically alone, without any support from the Allies. It must also be considered that in January 1945 the war was still ongoing, and that Soviet troops were stationed throughout the territory of Romania. The Romanian government, the Soviet deportation order by surprise. Until 6 January told the government of General Nicolae Radescu - the last non-Communist government of Romania - officially the plans of the Soviets. On 16 January Prime Minister Radescu a note of protest to General Vinogradov, Deputy Chairman of the Allied Control Commission has sent. This protest had Nicolae Radescu to "the duty of the Romanian Government, the interests of all its subjects irrespective of their ethnic to protect descent "down. The protest, however, remained without success.
Immediately after the capitulation of Romania on 23 August 1944 on occasion of an impending deportation of ethnic Germans of the question. There were everywhere instead of registrations of the Germans. Among other reparations demanded Stalin supposedly 100 000 Romanian citizens as volunteer workers for the reconstruction of his country. Towards the end of the year, the rumors intensified about a pending deportation. End of December of 1944, some transports with ethnic Germans from Yugoslavia to forced labor in the Soviet Union. The deportation of Germans in the Satu Mare area [in the north-west Romania] began on 2 and 3 January 1945. On 10 and 11 January is the action in Transylvania and Bucharest started.
The deportation was by a carefully prepared plan from the Romanian authorities in close cooperation with the Soviet occupiers. The entrances were sealed off by local military and police. The telephone, telegraph and railway traffic was paralyzed. It lists were created with the stakeholders. Joint Romanian-Soviet patrols went from house to house to dig those affected. Some tried to hide, but to arrest the threat of parents or relatives as hostages, forced so many to place themselves voluntarily. The political attitude of the individual played in the Levy no role. It was enough to be German. Thus, even active German or German communists who served in the Romanian army were dug. When completed the action after several weeks was, 75,000 German nationals were deported from Romania.
Deportations Billed Banat
On 14 January, it was a Sunday, moved the military with lists from house to house and ordered all men aged 17 to 45 and all women aged 18 to 33 years, to assemble in the school. Attacks above or below were not uncommon. Only women with infants under one year of staying home. The conscripts were told to bring food for 14 days and clothing. Where it to go, they are not learned. The next day we went
walk the 20 kilometers away Perjamosch. The baggage was nachgebracht with cars. Here the procrastinate again billeted for a few days in school until the transports were collected. The 30 people, men and women came in a cattle wagon, equipped with bunks and a stove. For other human needs, a hole was cut in the ground. When everything was loaded, the doors were locked from the outside and the train began to move in the direction of Timisoara, was held out for the first time. Then it went in the direction of Transylvania until after Iasi. On the way we stopped at regular intervals, to refill water. In Iasi, the shipment was held in Russian broad-gauge cars. Still, no one knew where it went. From that 50-60 people were in a car. Billeder our countrymen were mainly brought in a labor camp in the southern Ukraine, Stalino Jenakjewo, Dnipropetrovsk, and Slowjansk Tschasowjar. From our hometown 517 people were deported to the Soviet Union. Already died on the journey of our countrymen Franz Slavik, Joseph Lauth and Hans Bohn.
arrival at destination, it walked into the camp. The luggage was transported. After that the rooms were allocated. There were about 40 people in a room equipped with bunk beds, iron and a brick oven. In Jenakjewo 2 women ever slept in a bed in Stalino there was no straw sacks and was sleeping on the wooden frame. The platform was bunk and seat in one. She also served as a table. The platform was the only thing that could be called his own. The lower bunk beds were most comfortable. To reach the upper berths, one had to climb up. But they were warmer in the winter. After the allocation of rooms we went to the delousing. Everyone had to give his career and was assigned a job. The camp was fenced with barbed wire and guard towers on the four permanently guarded.
to work, it went in columns under military guard. The work took place under difficult conditions in -40 ° C, in construction, in factories or in the coal mine instead. On 9 May 1945 came the Natchalnik [guard] in the morning and proclaimed: "Broken Dewotschki, wojna! Skoro pajedete domoj. "[Girl, the war is over! Soon it goes home.] But it should still pass four and a half years before it came true. In December 1946, the first ambulance went home. Only then were told the folks back home, where her relatives had been abducted and how they went.
The food was of an appalling monotony: morning tea with the bread ration for the day, at noon cabbage soup with kasha [porridge] and again in the evening cabbage soup. Day in, day in cabbage. If you found a piece of potato in the soup, so this was a special message. The only cutlery was the spoon. For the food monthly food stamps were issued. Trade with the food stamps became a real stock market. With the proceeds they bought on the market other foods to make their diets more varied. A much sought-after items was sugar. In most cases, they gave it bread or food stamps. The bread ration was different and depended on the severity of the work. The normal ration was 700 g, heavy workers received 1,000 g for Kolchosarbeit there were 500 g. The bread was bad, tough and never really baked.
Hygiene conditions were catastrophic. It was full of vermin: insects, bugs, fleas. Soap and water were scarce. Once a week it went into the steam room for delousing. Swarmed all over by bugs. The wall was covered with these disgusting beasts. On the day they were in hiding, but once it was dark, she crept out by the hundreds out of hiding. To defend her, was virtually useless. They tortured one until dawn.
The mental anguish was the worst. The uncertainty made the pain almost unbearable. If we had known how long they had to stay, we could have adjusted mentally prepared. But you did not even know whether we would ever again come home. Now and then a letter arrived from home. So a letter was then days and weeks the talk in the camp. At last we knew how it was going back home. How much uncertainty and doubt, these letters disperse as much light and hope to plant it in countless hearts!
Death was a constant companion in the camp. It often happened that a guy died. The death rate increased steadily. Most of them died due to malnutrition of dropsy and fever. About 15% of Russlanddeportierten died during the deportation. Billed by 76 people who lost their lives in the Soviet labor camps. They were built before the honor Billeder church a plaque where the names of all in Russia Deceased are engraved.
Late rehabilitation
On 16 October 1990, the Romanian government took the decision to submit to Parliament a draft law to compensate those persons who were persecuted under the communist dictatorship, or deported. The citation read: "After 23 August was deported a large number of Romanian citizens of German nationality for forced labor in the USSR. The deportation was arbitrary, solely on the basis of belonging to the German minority [...]. This discriminatory, wrongful action based on ethnic criteria only triggered the process of emigration of Germans from [...]. "
Because this bill was adopted Decree No. 118 in 1990, by which the years of forced labor and deportation will be counted as years of service in calculating the pension, with each arrest and Internierungsjahr as a year and six months' service time counts.
On 1 May 1997, the then Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Severin at the German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel for the wrong that the German population has been inflicted during the communist dictatorship excused. In that statement, he condemned both the suffering caused to the Germans in the postwar period as the deportation of Germans for forced labor in Soviet labor camps and the deportation of the Banat Swabians in the Baragan steppe, as well as the degrading Barter called for in the 70s and 80s, when significant financial benefits for the family reunion of people willing to leave Germany, the so-called "bounty". He condemned this deeply traumatic practices and expressed his apology for what happened "as a gesture of moral restitution to those citizens of Germany, were formerly citizens of our country, the fate of such reprehensible acts is marked permanent." These votes of the foreign minister and long overdue declaration of the persons concerned with satisfaction included, but can not undo what happened.
Elisabeth Packi
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