German Occupation Research Articles

„So muß Loki gelacht haben“: Zum Einfluss nordischer Mythologie auf Arno Schmidts Juvenilia

Abstract Arno Schmidt is one of the most thoroughly researched German post-war authors. However, there is a significant gap with regard to his stationing in Øverås, Norway, as part of the German occupation troops during the Second World War. This applies not only to Schmidt’s experiences in Norway, but also to the influence of this period on his literary work. Accordingly, I will pursue the question of how Schmidt used his ’Norwegian years’ in his literary work. In particular, I will consider the influence of Nordic mythology on the group of the so-called “Juvenilia”, four of which originated in Norway.

Между террором и святостью: жизнь и судьба Ильи Бунакова-Фондаминского (1880–1942)

The article examines the life path of the Russian intellectual and politician Ilya Isidorovich Fondaminsky (1880–1942; literary and political pseudonym “Bunakov”). Coming from a Jewish merchant family, Fondaminsky was unable, due to the “Jewish quota”, to get a decent education in Russia and, after graduating from a private gymnasium, went to study philosophy and history at the Universities of Berlin and Heidelberg, where his professors were Kuno Fischer, Wilhelm Windelband, Heinrich Thode. After returning to Russia in 1904, he became one of the leaders of the Moscow committee of the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries, participated in the work of the Combat group, preparing terrorist acts, and during the December (1905) armed uprising in Moscow, purchased weapons at the personal expense. He was repeatedly arrested, and in 1907 went to the first emigration (1907–1917). After the February Revolution – he was one of the leaders of the Executive Committee of the Council of Peasant Deputies, the General Commissar of the Provisional Government in the Black Sea Fleet, from which he was elected a deputy of the Constituent Assembly. After the Bolshevik coup and the dispersal of the constituent assembly – a member of the “white” underground, and since 1919 again an emigrant. I.I. Fondaminsky became one of the central figures of the Russian post-revolutionary emigration in France: he published the journals “Modern Notes” and “Novy Grad”, conducted extensive cultural and educational activities, becoming increasingly interested in religious issues. During the German occupation of France, Fondaminsky received Orthodox baptism, but in 1942 he ended his earthly days together with his fellow Jews in the gas chamber of Hitler's Auschwitz-Oswenzim. In 2004. he, along with three other Russian ascetics-emigrants, was beatified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the Orthodox Church.

Jewish Surname Changes (Sampling of Prague Birth Registries 1867–1918)

The study focuses on changes of surnames among Czech and Moravian Jews. The changes are tracked until the start of the German occupation in 1939. The source material is comprised of Jewish birth registers from 1867 to 1918 from Prague, as this was the most populous Jewish community of the region. These records are part of fund No. 167 stored in the Czech National Archive. More than 17,000 Jewish children were born in Prague during this period and only 350 of them changed their surnames. Surnames were mostly changed by young men under the age of 30. A large wave of renaming occurred mainly at the beginning of the 1920s shortly after the formation of Czechoslovakia (1918). Renaming was part of the assimilation process but was not connected to conversion to Christianity. The main goal was the effort to remove names perceived as ethnically stereotypical, which could stigmatize their bearers (e.g., Kohn, Löwy, Abeles, Taussig, Goldstein, etc.). Characteristic of the new surnames was the effort to preserve the same initial letter from the original surname. The phenomenon is compared with the situation in neighboring countries (Germany, Hungary, and Poland).

Насильственное перемещение гражданского населения города Таганрога на принудительные работы в Третий рейх: опыт комплексной характеристики

The presented research is based on an extensive source base, including materials of the management activities of the German occupation administration and collaborationist structures, characterizing the forced sending of Taganrog residents to forced labor in Germany, including those from the funds of the Taganrog Branch of the State Archive of the Rostov Region. Within the framework of the proposed paper, a systemic reconstruction of the social and managerial mechanism created by the Nazi administration in occupied Taganrog was carried out, aimed at the constant implementation of the forced displacement of the civilian population to Germany for subsequent work, localized in a differentiated system of local economic institutions. Systemic processes related to the official registration of Soviet citizens at the labor exchange, the formation of group lists of displaced persons, their preliminary distribution according to the stated requests of potential employers were consistently reflected. The study also identified specific representatives of the occupation administration and collaborationist structures directly involved in the forced displacement of the civilian population of Taganrog to the Third Reich.

Everything but Restraint: Aldo van Eyck and Constant Nieuwenhuys’ Visions of Post-War Society in Light of Their Lived Experience

This essay investigates how Aldo van Eyck and Constant Nieuwenhuys’ respective visions of post-war society were influenced by their lived experiences. Rejecting the functionalism prevalent in society, both found a guiding principle for their post-war visions in the relation-based thinking found in Johan Huizinga’s 1938 book Homo Ludens. Seeking to reintroduce play into daily life to counter the societal rigidity prevalent prior to the Second World War, they developed visions of societal structures that facilitated and reflected new societal relations. Their respective wartime experiences influenced these visions. Van Eyck, who spent the war years in neutral Switzerland, developed a humane structuralist architecture while Constant, who lived under German occupation in Amsterdam, zeroed in on an all-encompassing utopian vision which surpassed Van Eyck’s, in everything but restraint. Through a comparative analysis, this essay will illustrate how Constant’s more extreme experiences pushed him to take a more radical stance than his spared counterpart.

Prywatna wielka własność ziemska na Litwie. Dobra retowskie Marii z Potulickich Ogińskiej w okresie I wojny światowej

The source article presents problems related to the functioning of Maria Ogińska’s private estate in Rietavas, Lithuania, during the First World War. A handwritten report of Kazimierz Rzeszowski, the estate’s manager, found in the National Archives in Krakow, enabled the creation of this article. The estates were located in the territory of the Russian Partition. From 1915, they were under German occupation. For several years, the plenipotentiary took formal and informal measures to secure the Duchess’s assets. As a result of his personal intervention, a palace in Pojeziory, owned by Zygmunt Nagurski, was saved from being burned down. After the end of the war and the establishment of the Lithuanian state, the Rietavas estates were nationalized. The unique manuscript provides information about the fate of the cultural property gathered in the palace in Rietavas. It is a proof of the destruction and dispersion of cultural heritage valuable for Lithuanians and Poles, related to the large private landed property of Ogiński’s princes.

Die GfM als gesamtdeutsche Gesellschaft


 
 
 The “Gesellschaft für Musikforschung” (GfM) was, from its foundation until 1968, the professional representation of musicologists in all German occupation zones and of both German states. Since the establishment of the branch office in Leipzig (1954), the GfM was politically instrumentalized by the GDR party and state apparatus as well as by musicologists loyal to the SED. The most important goal was the creation of two sections representing East and West Germany respectively; alternatively, the foundation of a separate musicological society in the GDR was prepared. These efforts were intensified after the construction of the Berlin Wall (1961). A central role was played by Karl Laux, the director of the Dresden Music Academy, and a personal friend of GfM president Friedrich Blume. Following a decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the SED on April 5, 1967, the GfM finally had to end its activities in the GDR in September 1968, and East-German musicologists joined the “Verband Deutscher Komponisten”.
 
 

Deconsecration: Symbolic Sanctions, “Courts of Honour,” and the Cleansing of Denmark’s Who’s Who After the German Occupation, 1940–1945

How may elites experience a symbolic fall from grace? Elite scholarship has typically described how symbolic structures contribute to consecrate and reinforce existing power relations. Processes of deconsecration are, however, less well described. Deconsecration as a social process is distinct from déclassement, as well as from cultural or juridical processes of exclusion. It is the loss of the very status as “elite.” We address the question of deconsecration through a historical case study of the exclusion of elite groups from the Danish Who’s Who and professional bodies in the wake of the liberation after the German occupation of Denmark 1940–1945.

How to Enable Participation until the End of Life? A Survey of German Occupational Therapists Working in Palliative Care.

In palliative care, the needs of people with life-limiting illnesses must be addressed with the support of a multidisciplinary team. Occupational therapy is a profession that focuses on activity and participation. In Germany, there are no surveys to date that demonstrate the work of occupational therapists in palliative care and which problems can occur in this field. The aim of this study is to describe the work and problems of occupational therapists in German palliative care. The survey consists of 17 questions and could be conducted anonymously. Descriptive statistics and a thematic analysis of the free text responses were used to analyze data. Respondents were German occupational therapists who are members of the "German Association of Occupational Therapy". A total of 281 valid responses were evaluated, of which 120 respondents work in the context of palliative care. Most of them provide needs-based therapies (74%), train relatives (69%), or help patients with positioning (69%) or relaxation therapy (66%). Four themes were developed in the free text responses that describe problems in the utilization of occupational therapy in palliative care. The evaluation shows that occupational therapy in palliative care offers a variety of possible applications and approaches. The findings urgently need to be implemented in daily practice to improve the status of occupational therapists. This requires appropriate billing modalities and clear guidelines. There is still a significant need for research and training in this area.

Eesti mobilisatsioonipõgenike kirjasuhtlusest Soome Jätkusõja ajal

The article deals with the letters of young men who escaped from Estonia to Finland during the German occupation in order to avoid the mobilization announced in 1943. Almost immediately after arriving in Finland, some of the refugees illegally emigrated to Sweden, but the majority started looking for temporary accommodation and work in Helsinki and its surroundings. The Continuation War (1941–1944) was going on, and thus a large number of Estonian male refugees were recruited into the Finnish army as volunteers; they started fighting on the Karelian front against the Soviet Union. The letters analysed in the article come from the years 1943–1944 and were sent by the men who remained in Finland to their friends who escaped to Sweden. The letters show that both civilians and soldiers faced problems caused by the political situation resulting from the Second World War and the complicated allied relations between Finland and Germany. The refugees did not have enough knowledge of life in wartime Finland and their language skills were also poor. In the course of escaping from Estonia to Finland, friends had lost sight of each other. After arriving in Finland, they started to restore their contacts in order to share experiences and find some support. The main aim of the article is to demonstrate the role of epistolary communication in finding solutions to the problems of Estonian refugees. The article gives an insight into the main topics of the letters, in which the authors of the letters tell stories about their escape from Estonia to Finland, share information about the destiny of their schoolmates and friends, but also discuss fine arts, and dream about life in peacetime. The letters show that they wish to get away from the war and continue their unfinished university studies in some war-neutral country. In their letters, they came to understanding that in order to implement their future plans, they had to get to Sweden and thus, already in the late autumn of 1943, the topic of fleeing from Finland to Sweden became dominant. At that time, the legal emigration of Estonians to another western country was limited by Finnish legislation, and, as field post letters were censored, writing about this topic was risky. The letters contain interesting examples of what verbal and visual means of expression were used to hide the true content of the messages from the censor. Compared to ordinary private letters, war letters also have another peculiarity: they contain some features of collective communication. For instance, an envelope addressed by one person to another may contain a letter consisting of messages written by several people and these messages can be intended to be distributed to several persons. Thus, wartime correspondence has similarities with the principles of information transmission in modern social media networks.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BELARUSIAN PARTISANS WITH THE POLISH UNDERGROUND ON THE TERRITORY OF THE BARANOVICHI REGION (1941–1944): ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMBAT ASPECT

The article studies the relationship of the partisan formations of Belarus with the Polish underground on the territory of Baranovichi region in 1941–1944, represented on the one hand by Polish pro–Soviet structures, and on the other handby units that were subordinated to the Polish emigrant government in London. It is concluded that local Soviet underground and partisan structures sought to establish quickinteraction with the emerginggroups of the Polish pro-Soviet underground and direct their activities towards an active fight against the German invaders. Partisan units organized on the basis of such groups were usually included in the Belarusian detachments and brigades. The main factors that influenced the nature of the relationship between the Belarusian partisans and the structures of the Home Army in different periods of the German occupation are shown. The content and forms of the relationship between the Belarusian partisans and the "Akovites" are revealed during two stages: July 1941 – spring 1943 and summer 1943 – July 1944.

Volksdeutsche w Krakowie i dystrykcie krakowskim Generalnego Gubernatorstwa w latach 1939–1941

One of the first tasks of the German occupation authorities after taking over Poland was to identify and assign Polish citizens of German stock to a special ethnic category called Volksdeutsch. The aim of this article is to describe how this process played out in Cracow and its environs in the first years of the German occupation. There were some villages inhabited by people of German origin who used an archaic dialect of German, but nonetheless refused to register as Volksdeutsche. Others became a Volksdeutsch, because of the material and social advantages that designation brought with it, but whose German heritage was highly doubtful. The article also discusses the tensions and conflicts between the Reichsdeutsche, or the civilian Germans from the German Reich who settled in Cracow and were onsidered first-class citizens, and Volksdeutsche, who were treated as the second-class citizens.

A History of Danish Cinema

A History of Danish Cinema

Lietuvos studijų biuro veikla vokiečIų okupacijos metu,1941–1944 m.

The article analyses the founding, functions, and activities of the Bureau of Lithuanian Studies and its subdivision, the Museum of the Red Terror, which worked during the German occupation of Lithuania (1941–1944) and is fragmentarily represented in historiography. The institution discussed performed three functions: archival, by collecting and accumulating materials about the first Soviet occupation in Lithuania; research, by analysing and publishing the collected material in its publication; and, finally, the museum function, by organising an exhibition and developing the idea of the Museum of Red Terror. The article states that during the entire period of occupation, the smooth functioning of the Bureau of Lithuanian Studies and the Museum of Red Terror subordinated to it was determined by the activities carried out by both institutions, which were favourable to both Lithuanian and German interests.

Files of the Polish Welfare CommitteeKraków-Miasto as a source for studyingwomen’s history in 1939–1945

Files of the Polish Welfare Committee Kraków–Miasto (Polish name: Polski Komitet Opiekuńczy Kraków-Miasto, acronym PolKO) are stored in the National Archives in Kraków and have been open to research for years. These files are a highly valuable source for researching the reality of life under occupation, and one of the archival collection whose potential is not being fully exploited by researchers. The purpose of this review is therefore an attempt to show the potential that the PolKO files contribute to the study of women’s history and its interdisciplinary potential. The Polish Welfare Committee Kraków–Miasto was a local branch of the Central Welfare Council (Rada Główna Opiekuńcza, RGO) that remained the only Polish welfare organisation in the General Government whose operation was permitted by the Germans. The records produced by the committee, albeit incomplete, reflect the main courses of activities these institutions undertook. Why can they useful as a source for researching women’s history? During the German occupation, official charitable activities became the domain of women. They were the majority among PolKO Kraków–Miasto personnel and cooperating individuals. The wartime circumstances also made women a majority among the committee’s beneficiaries. Analysing the PolKO records, you find information concerning both individual women’s motivation for embarking on charitable activity, the nature of work they performed, and the degree of involvement on the one hand, and reasons for poverty, and the types of support expected and delivered on the other.

MYKHAILO KOZYK – ARTIST AND EXECUTIVE: RETURN FROM OBLIVION

The article is dedicated to the half forgotten Ukrainian artist Mykhailo Kozyk (1879–1947) – a master of impressive still lifes, portraits, landscape paintings, genre paintings and monumental church paintings, as well as an artist of original illustrations. Kozyk belongs to the generation of artists who entered the arena of Ukrainian cultural and artistic life at the beginning of the 20th century. The heyday of his talent came in the 1930s – the first half of the 1940s. During the years of his work, M. Kozyk created more than 500 paintings and monumental paintings, as well as several hundred graphic compositions (most of which are considered lost). For more than 25 years, he was involved in the formation of higher art education in Ukraine. Kozyk taught and was the head of Kyiv Art School (1915), held the position of professor at the Kyiv Institute of Architecture (1918), and Kyiv Art Institute (1925); was a teacher (1932), and then a professor at Kharkiv State Art Institute (1939), acting director of the National Institute of Art during the German occupation of Kharkiv (November 1941 – November 1942), taught painting at the Lviv Academy of Arts (1944). Among his students, the most famous are: Ye. Volobuyev, V. Golovaty, N. Umansky, F. Nyrod, O. Vandalovsky, M. Ashikhman, M. Slipchenko, L. Chernov, V. Yatsenko, G. Tomenko, O. Yakovenko, S. Gruzberg. A purposeful study of the artist’s work began after 1979, when thanks to the insistence of children, friends, and grateful students, the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth was celebrated. During the time of independence, the period of the early 1910s, and middle 1920s of the master’s work was well studied. However, the period of maturity of the master associated with Kharkiv (1932–1942), as well as the years of his forced stay in Western Ukraine (1943–1946), are not sufficiently reflected in the existing publications. A large part of the present publication is devoted to the last fourteen years of the artist’s life and work. A significant part of the illustrations is published for the first time.

Defense strategy in post-war trials before the Supreme National Tribunal

One of the most important conditions for a "fair trial" is not only the right of every defendant to a defense, but also the diligent work of lawyers. Post-war trials before the Supreme National Tribunal took place in an extremely difficult atmosphere. The communist takeover, especially in the area of the judiciary, resulted in a departure from the principles of fair trial. However, before the NTN, accused Germans were defended by prominent pre-war attorneys who provided a guarantee that the highest standards of defense would be realized. Nevertheless, their work was extremely difficult. The course of the cruel German occupation resulted in a vengeful mood in society, with many Poles showing a lack of understanding of the need for judicial defense. Advocates, often themselves aggrieved by the German occupier, undertook defense ex officio, despite the perceived public reluctance. The article focuses on the role and strategy of the defense, particularly in terms of the mitigating circumstances presented by the attorneys, which were intended to soften sentences. The analysis presented in the text is intended to prove that the lawyers defending German defendants in trials before the NTN, fulfilled this duty in accordance with the principles of "fair trial" thereby significantly contributing to the perception of the Supreme National Tribunal as a court operating in accordance with the standards of Western civilization.

Автопортрет на тлі жорстокої доби: Катерина Білокур в епістолярному, спогадовому та мистецькому дискурсах

Ukrainian history is once again experiencing increased interest in its past, namely the history of Ukrainian art and artists as seen through the lens of postcolonial studies and research of self-narrative. While reading autobiographical documents of artists, it is important to involve interdisciplinary practices and a broader context of documents from a specific era as well as the artistic discourse. A corpus of Kateryna Bilokur’s letters compiled and edited by Mykola Kaharlytskyi is a written testimony of self-narrative amid violent circumstances – the people’s artist was contemporary of the twentieth century, her life and creative biography have clearly overlapped with the dramatic events in the history of Ukraine, including two world wars, the Soviet government coming to power, Holodomor, German occupation, a famine of 1947, political repressions of Ukrainian artists. Kateryna Bilokur’s letters to Stepan Taranushenko and other prominent cultural figures of the time are compelling evidence of her resilience, willpower and internal opposition to the system. Memories about the artist record her multiple attempts to defend her right to paint, have her own view of creativity and protest against Soviet and German occupation. Th e article studies inter-art relations between letters, memoirs, and literary works about Kateryna Bilokur and her paintings.

In the name of Belarusian nation-building: Children as national capital during the German occupation of Belarus (1941–1944)

The model of an ethnically homogeneous nation-state propagated from the mid-nineteenth century onwards was accompanied throughout Europe by the “discovery” by nation-states of their children as a national and political resource. Using children for the nationalist cause was a widespread phenomenon. Advocates of an independent Belarusian state were no exception in this respect. Under German occupation they saw an opportunity for their dream of an independent Belarusian nation-state to be fulfilled, a dream that rested on children as the repositories of values and at the same time the guarantors of national cohesion. The creation of a linguistically homogeneous national community was the first and crucial stage on the path to a nation-state. Children were to be molded into a loyal national community through education and a shared mother tongue. The article deals with a form of cooperation with the occupiers that was designed to harness children and youth as national capital and to raise them as members of a loyal national community.

Biografie farmaceutów z czasów okupacji niemieckiej w świetle spuścizny naukowej Witolda Włodzimierza Głowackiego (1909-2001)

Artykuł porusza problem autentyczności biografii dotyczących czasów II wojny światowej, które zostały opublikowane w latach 1945-1989. Przedstawiono wątpliwości związane z zakresem działalności dywersyjnej kierowanej przez dr. Franciszka Witaszka (1908-1943) i trudności w ustaleniu jego współpracy z farmaceutami z Poznania i Mosiny. Ponadto wykazano, że wiedza o represjach i zbrodniach popełnionych przez Niemców na niewinnych ludziach podejrzewanych o współpracę z F. Witaszkiem jest niepełna. Omówiono nieopublikowane dotąd wspomnienia Wiktora Bawankiewicza (1910-1991) i Danuty Lipka-Dziewanowskiej (1920-2008), które zachowały się w spuściźnie historyka farmacji Witolda W. Głowackiego (1909-2001) i zostały przez niego dostosowane do oczekiwań władz komunistycznych. Wspomnienia te zostały zamieszczone w wersji możliwie najbardziej zbliżonej do oryginalnej. Wykazano względną wartość dokumentacyjną artykułów biograficznych i wspomnień opublikowanych w latach 1945-1989.