“We are not so Fuzzy to Build Riots and Rebellion...”: Attempt of Massive Exemption of German Population from the USSR to Canada in 1929.

Main Article Content

V. Dönninghaus

Abstract

The mass exodus of German peasants to Moscow in 1929 attracted international attention to the plight of Soviet Germans. The unexpectedly stubborn resistance of the German rural population to the policy of socialist transformations, his desire to leave the USSR for Canada, accompanied by appropriate calls for the West, reinforced the regime’s distrust of “disloyal” nationalities. As relations between the USSR and Germany worsened, prejudice grew in Moscow against the Germans as an extremely reactionary group of people that discredited the Soviet system in the eyes of the world community. The Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) paid great attention to the “emigrants” not only because the periphery was unable to cope with this problem, but also because it was a question of Western national minorities. Moreover, this group, which in an organized manner opposed the policy of the Soviet regime, did not fit into the “class” scheme, since among the German peasants who decided to emigrate from the USSR, there were mainly middle peasants and poor people. The opposition to the Soviet system was not a social, but a national group. The regime resolved this contradiction by ceasing to consider the German peasants engulfed by the “American fever” “neutral” and collectively transferring them to the category of “class enemies”. Against the background of forced collectivization, the Kremlin regarded the mass movement of Germans for leaving the USSR as direct support for the “right deviators”, which gave this movement an “anti-Soviet character”. The belonging of the fugitives and their many supporters to the Western minority prompted the organs of the OGPU to look for the organizers of the emigration movement on the other side of the border. Peaceful emigration of Germans from the USSR turned out to be a specific, but very effective way of protesting collectivization. Its avalanche-like character, as well as the appeal for help to Germany as a “historical homeland” was considered a manifestation of disloyalty to the USSR of the entire German population of the country. Germany’s protectorate policy aimed at protecting the life, property and fundamental rights of its “diaspora” was expressed both in diplomatic pressure on the Kremlin and in specific acts of assistance to Soviet Germans. Such patronage of the Germans in the USSR inevitably aroused fears among the Kremlin leadership that they, especially in the atmosphere of impending war, pose a threat to the security of the state.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Dönninghaus, V. (2020) “’: Attempt of Massive Exemption of German Population from the USSR to Canada in 1929”., Problems of World History, (11), pp. 53–77. doi: 10.46869/2707-6776-2020-11-4.
Section
Articles
Author Biography

V. Dönninghaus

Dönninghaus Victor – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Deputy Director of Nordost-Institut (Institut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen in Nordosteuropa) an der Universität Hamburg (Lüneburg, Germany)

References

Gosudarstvennyy arkhiv Rossiyskoy Federatsii (futher – GARF) [The State Archive of the Russian Federation (futher – GARF)]. F. R-3316. Op. 23. D. 1339. [In Russian].

Toews, J.B. (1967). Lost Fatherland. The story of Mennonite emigration from Soviet Russia, 1921-1927. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press. [In English]. https://doi.org/10.2307/3163174

Dzhafarli, M. (1988). Politicheskiy terror i sud’by azerbaydzhanskikh nemtsev [Political terror and the fate of Azerbaijani Germans]. Baku. [In Russian].

Unger, H. (1923). Ein paar Worte über die Emigration der Ukrainer Mennoniten nach Amerika. Die Arbeit, 1, (20), ss. 471-473. [In German].

Savin, A.I. (ed.) (2009). Etnokonfessiya v sovetskom gosudarstve. Mennonity Sibiri v 1920-1930-ye gody: emigratsiya i repressii. Dokumenty i materialy [Ethnic denomination in the Soviet state. Mennonites of Siberia in the 1920-1930s: emigration and repression. Documents and materials]. Novosibirsk: Posokh. [In Russian].

Ehrt, A. (1932). Das Mennonitentum in Rußland. Langensalza-Berlin-Leipzig: Verlag von Julius Beltz. [In German].

Detlef, B. & Savin, A. (2001). Die Sibiriendeutschen im Sowjetstaat 1919-1938. Essen: Klartext Verl. [In German].

GARF. F. R-3316. Op. 17. D. 677. [In Russian].

GARF. F. R-3316. Op. 16. D. 177. [In Russian].

GARF. F. R-3316. Op. 13. D. 2. [In Russian].

Sakharov, A.N. & Khristoforov, V.S. (2003). “Sovershenno sekretno”: Lubyanka – Stalinu o polozhenii v strane (1922-1934 gg.): Sb. dok. v 10 t. T. 5. 1927 g. [“Top Secret”: Lubyanka – to Stalin about the situation in the country (1922-1934): Coll. Doc. in 10 vol. Vol. 5. 1927]. Moskva: IRI RAN. [In Russian].

Ostasheva, N.V. (1998). Na perelome epokh... Mennonitskoye soobshchestvo Ukrainy v 1914-1931 gg. [At the turn of the era ... Mennonite community of Ukraine in 1914-1931]. Moskva: Gotika. [In Russian].

Yevtukh, V.B. & Chyrko, B.V. (1994). Nimtsi v Ukrayini (1920-i – 1990-i roky) [Germans in Ukraine (1920s - 1990s)]. Kyiv: Intel. [In Ukrainian].

Belkovets, L.P. (1995). “Bol’shoy terror” i sud’by nemetskoy derevni v Sibiri (konets 1920-kh – 1930-ye gody) [“The Great Terror” and the fate of the German village in Siberia (late 1920s – 1930s)]. Moskva: IVDK: Lit. agentstvo Varyag. [In Russian].

GARF. F. R-3316. Op. 42. D. 99. [In Russian].

Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv sotsial’no-politicheskoy istorii (futher – RGASPI) [The Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (further - RGASPI)]. F. 17. Op. 85. D. 289. [In Russian].

Savin, A.I. (ed.) (2006). Etnokonfessiya v sovetskom gosudarstve. Mennonity Sibiri v 1920 – 1980-ye gody. Annotirovannyy perechen’ arkhivnykh dokumentov i materialov. Izbrannyye dokumenty [Ethnic denomination in the Soviet state. Mennonites of Siberia in the 1920s – 1980s. An annotated list of archival documents and materials. Selected Documents]. Novosibirsk; SPb. [In Russian].

Sakharov, A.N. & Khristoforov, V.S. (2002). “Sovershenno sekretno”: Lubyanka – Stalinu o polozhenii v strane (1922-1934 gg.): Sb. dok. v 10 t. T. 6. 1928 g. [“Top Secret”: Lubyanka – to Stalin about the situation in the country (1922-1934): Coll. Doc. in 10 vol. Vol. 6. 1928]. Moskva: IRI RAN. [In Russian].

Ivanenko, V.V. & Golub, A.I. (1996). Golod nachala 30-kh godov i sud’ba nemetskikh kolonistov [The famine of the early 30s and the fate of the German colonists]. Voprosy germanskoy istorii. Nemtsy v Ukraine [Questions of German history. The Germans in Ukraine]. (Pp. 150-156). Dnepropetrovsk. [In Russian].

Mick, C. (1995). Sowjetische Propaganda. Fünfjahrplan und deutsche Rußlandpolitik 1928-1932. Stuttgart: Franz Steinez. [In German].

Auhagen, O. (1942). Die Schicksalswende des rußlanddeutschen Bauerntums in den Jahren 1927-1930. Leipzig: Verlag von S. Hirzel. [In German].

Hedeler, W. & Savin, A. (2006). Die Deutschen in der UdSSR – eine “fünfte Kolonne’’. Die sowjetisch-deutschen Beziehungen Mitte der 1920er Jahre aus der Sicht der OGPU. Internationale wissenschaftliche Korrespondenz zur Geschichte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung, 2, (3), ss. 309-310. [In German]. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111632582-004

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 744. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 755. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 757. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 764. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 771. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 772. [In Russian].

Klaube, M. (2000). Die Mennoniten-Dörfer im Amurgebiet – Verlauf und Entwicklung der letzten größeren deutschen Mennonitenkolonisation in Russland. Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur der Rußlanddeutschen, 10, ss. 5-62. [In German].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 113. D. 822. [In Russian].

GARF. F. R-3316. Op. 42. D. 95. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 113. D. 717. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 113. D. 719. [In Russian].

Sudorgina, T.V. (1995). Emigratsiya orenburgskikh nemtsev 1929 g. i yeye itogi [The emigration of Orenburg Germans in 1929 and its results]. Arkhivy Urala [Archives of the Urals], 2, pp. 198-200. [In Russian].

Danilov, V.P. & Ivnitskiy, N.A. (1989). Dokumenty svidetel’stvuyut. Iz istorii derevni nakanune i v khode kollektivizatsii 1927-1932 gg. [Documents attest. From the history of the village on the eve and during the collectivization of 1927-1932]. Moskva: Politizdat. [In Russian].

Savin, A.I. (2010). Emigratsiya mennonitov iz SSSR 1929 g. v svete dokumentov Arkhiva vneshney politiki RF [Mennonite emigration from the USSR in 1929 in the light of documents of the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation]. Nemtsy Sibiri: istoriya i kul’tura. Materialy VI mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii [Germans of Siberia: History and Culture. Materials of the VI international scientific and practical conference]. (Pp. 312-322). Omsk 2010. [In Russian].

Ruland, B. (1964). Deutsche Botschaft Moskau: 50 Jahre Schicksal zwischen Ost und West. Hestia, Bayreuth. [In German].

Dirksen von, H. (1949). Moskau, Tokio, London. Erinnerungen und Betrachtungen zu 20 Jahren deutscher Aussenpolitik (1919-1939). Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag. [In German].

(1929). Dasdeutsche Elendvorden Toren Moskaus. Hamburger Fremdenblatt, 25 Okt. [In German].

(1929). Die Sibiriendeutschen vor Moskau. Wird die Ausreiseerlaubnis erteilt? Kölnische Zeitung, 26 Okt. [In German].

(1929). Deutsche Sibirienbauern nach Kanada. VossischeZeitung, 29 Okt. [In German].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 113. D. 786. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 162. D. 7. [In Russian].

RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 113. D. 791. [In Russian].

GARF. F. 1235. Op. 124. D. 59. [In Russian].

Quiring, W. (1935). Die Urenkel kehren heim. Die Massenflucht der rußlanddeutschen Bauern 1929. Deutschtum im Ausland, 5, (22), ss. 263-277. [In German].

Quiring, W. (1990). Die Tragödie eines Auswanderungsversuchs. Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Rußland: 1985-1989. (Ss. 100-101). Stuttgart. [In German].

Day, D. (1929). 90.000 Russian Mennonites May Migrate; Cruel Soviet Policies Have Utterly Ruined Russia’s Best Farmers. Mennonite Weekly Review, Nov. 13, p. 1. [In English].

(1929). Den Kulaken wird der Boden zu heiß. Rote Fahne, 9 Nov. [In German].

(1929). Die Not der Deutschen in der UdSSR ein entlarvter Wahlschwindel. Rote Fahne, 14 Nov. [In German].

Kichikhin, A.N. (1990). Sovetskiye nemtsy: otkuda, kuda i pochemu? [Soviet Germans: where, where and why?]. Voyenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal [Military History Journal], 8, pp. 33-35. [In Russian].

(1930). Das Rote Kreuz bei Notständen: Deutsche-Russen-Hilfe 1929/30. Blatt des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes, 3, (9), ss. 119-128. [In German].

Auhagen, O. (1930). Die Ursachen der Massenflucht der deutschen Bauern aus Sowjetrußland. Deutsche Post aus dem Osten, 1, (5), ss. 271-273. [In German].

Rosenberg, A. (1929). Das deutsche Bauernsterben in Sowjetrußland. Völkischer Beobachter, 29 Nov. [In German].