Bundesarchiv Bild 137-000471, Russland, Dorf Streckerau an der Wolga

Bundesarchiv Bild 137-019721, Russland, Pokrowsk, Sägemühlen

The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (german: Autonome Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik der Wolgadeutschen; russian: Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика Немцев Поволжья, Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika Nemtsev Povolzh'ya), abbreviated as the Volga German ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. Its capital city was

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...

. As a result of the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

in 1941, the Volga German ASSR was abolished and

Volga German The Volga Germans (german: Wolgadeutsche, ), russian: поволжские немцы, povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov ...

s were exiled.

History

The republic was created following the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, by October 29 (some claim 19) 1918

Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...

of the

Soviet government The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...

, ''Volga German Workers' Commune'', giving Soviet Germans a special status among the non-Russians in the USSR. It was upgraded to the status of

Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, russian: автономная советская социалистическая республика, АССР) was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR) created for certain nat ...

on February 20, 1924 (claims of December 19, 1923), by the Declaration of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

of the

. It became the first national autonomous unit in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

after the

Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic The Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic or Donetsk–Kryvyi Rih Soviet Republic (russian: Донецко-Криворожская советская республика , translit = Donetsko-Krivorozhskaya sovyetskaya respublika, ) was a se ...

. It occupied the area of compact settlement of the large

minority in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, which numbered almost 1.8 million by 1897. The republic was declared on January 6, 1924. At the moment of declaration of autonomy, an amnesty was announced. However, it eventually was applied to a small number of people. According to the policy of

korenizatsiya Korenizatsiya ( rus, wikt:коренизация, коренизация, p=kərʲɪnʲɪˈzatsɨjə, , "indigenization") was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their speci ...

, carried out in the 1920s in the Soviet Union, usage of the German language was promoted in official documents and Germans were encouraged to occupy management positions. According to the 1939 census, there were 366,685 Germans in the autonomy. By January 1, 1941, the Volga Germans Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic included the city of Engels and 22 cantons: Baltsersky, Gmelinsky, Gnadenflyursky, Dobrinsky, Zelmansky, Zolotovsky, Ilovatsky, Kamensky, Krasnoyarsky, Krasnokutsky, Kukkussky, Lizandergeysky, Marientalsky, Marxshtadtsky, Pallasovsky, Staro-Poltavsky, Ternovsky, Untervaldsky, Fedorovsky, Franksky, Ekgeimsky and Erlenbakhsky. The

in 1941 marked the end of the Volga German ASSR. On August 28, 1941, the republic was formally abolished and, out of fear they could act as German collaborators, all Volga Germans were

exiled ''Exiled'' () is a 2006 Hong Kong action drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To, and starring Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Nick Cheung, Josie Ho, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet, with special appearances by Richie Jen and Simon Yam. The action ...

to the

Kazakh SSR ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...

, Altai and

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. Many were interned in labor camps merely due to their heritage. On September 7, 1941, the republic was formally extinguished and its territory divided between the

Saratov Oblast Saratov Oblast (russian: Сара́товская о́бласть, ''Saratovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Saratov. As of the 2010 Cen ...

(15 cantons) and the Stalingrad Oblast (7 cantons). Following the death of Stalin in 1953, the situation for Volga Germans improved dramatically. In 1964, a second decree was issued, openly admitting the government's guilt in pressing charges against innocent people and urging Soviet citizens to give the Volga Germans every assistance in their "economic and cultural expansion". With the existence of a socialist German state in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

now a reality of the post-war world, the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was never reestablished. Beginning in the early 1980s and accelerating after the fall of the Soviet Union, many Volga Germans have emigrated to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

by taking advantage of the German ''

law of return The Law of Return ( he, חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Isr ...

'', a policy which grants citizenship to all those who can prove to be a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such a person.

Population

The following table shows population of the ethnic groups of the Volga German ASSR:

Leaders

Heads of state

;Central Executive Committee Chairmen (see

Ispolkom The Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, commonly known as the Ispolkom (russian: исполком, исполнительный комитет, literally " executive committee") was a self-appointed executive committee of the Petrograd So ...

) # 1918–1919: Ernst Reuter (1889–1953) (German statesman, diplomat, Mayor of Berlin) # 1919–1920: Adam Reichert (1869–1936) (teacher, journalist,

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

nik) # 1920: Alexander Dotz (1890–1965+) (World War I participant, Russian statesman) # 1920–1921: Vasiliy Pakun (Russian statesman) # 1921–1922: Alexander Moor (1889–1938) (World War I and Russian Civil War participant, Russian general, Russian statesman, Turkmenistani statesman, Uzbekistani statesman, shot in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

) # 1922–1924: Wilhelm Kurz (1892–1938) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1924–1930: Johannes Schwab (1888–1938) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1930–1934: Andrew Gleim (1892–1954) (Russian statesman) # 1934–1935: Heinrich Fuchs (?–1938) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1935–1936: Adam Welsch (1893–1937) (World War I participant, chekist, regional party leader, Russian statesman, shot) # 1936–1937: Heinrich Lüft (1899–1937) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1937–1938: David Rosenberger (?–?) (Russian statesman) ;Supreme Council Chairman #1938–1941: Konrad Hoffmann (1894–?) (World War I participant, railways worker, Russian statesman)

Heads of government

;

Sovnarkom The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

of the Republic Created on January 12, 1924, by the declaration at the first session of the Central Executive Committee of the Republic # 1924–1929: Wilhelm Kurz (1892–1938) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1929–1930: Andrew Gleim (1892–1954) (Russian statesman) # 1930–1935: Heinrich Fuchs (?–1938) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1935–1936: Adam Welsch (1893–1937) (World War I participant, chekist, regional party leader, Russian statesman, shot) # 1936–1937: Heinrich Lüft (1899–1937) (Russian statesman, shot) # 1937–1938: Wladimir Dalinger (1902–1965+) (Russian Civil War participant, security forces officer, Russian statesman, entrepreneur) # 1938–1941: Alexander Heckman (1908–1994) (engineer, Russian statesman,

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

survivor)

References

External links

Autonomous SSR of the Volga Germans

German Villages in the Volga Valley of RussiaCity of Pallasowka, Canton of the Volga-German ASSR

Guide to the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet UnionCity of Marx, Canton of the Volga-German ASSR

Документальный фильм о городе Маркс
(documentary about the city of Marx). {{Authority control * Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Early Soviet republics Germanic countries and territories German communities in Russia Forced migration in the Soviet Union 1918 establishments in Russia 1941 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Former socialist republics Post–Russian Empire states