Suchergebnisse

The article examines the attempts to return the Volgagermans, deported in 1941, to their places of pre-war residence. The author gives a periodization of these processes and reveals the features of each period. Attempts to relocate to the Volga from Siberia and Kazakhstan began to be undertaken since 1956 after the abolition of the special settlement regime for the Germans (1955). Until the end of 1972, they were illegal, the settlers faced many difficulties, since there was a ban on the return of the Germans to the places of the pre-war accommodation. Subsequently, untilthe end ofthe 1980sthestate did not interfere inthese processes,thewell-being ofthesettlerswas determined bythe attitude of the local authorities towards them. During the years of perestroika, the inconsistent and contradictory policy of the country's leadership on the rehabilitation of the Germans contributed to the emergence of resistance to their return to the Volga region. Meanwhile, an alternative to returning to the Volga appeared and emigration to Germany began. Public statement by President B. N. Yeltsin in January 1992 that there would be no German autonomy on the Volga was a turning point. An avalanche-like departure to Germany began. Belated attempts by the central and local authorities to attract the Germans to the Volga region by socio-economic measures had a weak short-term effect.

The author of the article examines the changes that occurred in the life and work of the population of the Volga German Republic under the state of emergency caused by the outbreak of the war. The article examines the transformation of the state's policy towards the Volga German: from emphasized loyalty to deaf hostility and their eviction from the region. Special attention is paid to the reaction of the Volga German population to the beginning of the war, the participation of the population in activities caused by the war: military mobilization, reception and placement of evacuated enterprises and refugees, the creation of fighter detachments and militia. The most important event that required great efforts of citizens was the harvesting of a rich harvest. The article reveals the participation of the Volga German in a counter-propaganda campaign aimed at the armed forces and the population of Germany. Due to major failures at the front as a reinsurance company in September 1941 the German population of the Volga region was evicted to Siberia and Kazakhstan.

August 25–29, 2011 at the Saratov State University named after N. G. Chernyshevsky, the Third International Scientific Conference "The Initial Period of the Great Patriotic War and the Deportation of Russian Germans: Views and Assessments in 70 Years" was held, which became a new serious step towards the study of the history of Russian Germans in the 20th century. On the one hand, previously acquired knowledge about the course of deportation and its consequences was generalized and systematized, on the other hand, it allowed us to look into those depths of historical knowledge that had not been possible to reach before and, thus, the conference participants became witnesses of a number of original and interesting reports that made it possible to fairly accurately reconstruct the events that took place seven decades ago.