Volga Germans: history, surnames, lists, photos, traditions, customs, legends, deportation

In the 18th century a new ethnic group of Volga Germans appeared in Russia. It was the colonists who went east in search of a better share. In the Volga region they created a whole province with a separate way of life and life. The descendants of these immigrants were deported to Central Asia during the Great Patriotic War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some remained in Kazakhstan, others returned to the Volga region, the third went to their historical homeland.

Manifestos of Catherine II

In the years 1762-1763. Empress Catherine II signed two manifestos, thanks to which in later Volga Germans appeared . These documents allowed foreigners to enter the empire, receiving benefits and privileges. The biggest wave of colonists came from Germany. Arrivals were temporarily exempted from tax duties. A special register was created, which included lands that received the status of free for settlement. If Volga Germans settled on them, they could not pay taxes for 30 years.

In addition, the colonists received a loan without interest for ten years. Money could be spent on building your own new houses, buying livestock, food needed before the first harvest, inventory for working in agriculture, etc. The colonies were noticeably different from neighboring ordinary Russian settlements. They established internal self-government. State officials could not interfere in the life of the arriving colonists.

Set of colonists in Germany

Preparing for the influx of foreigners into Russia, Catherine II (herself a German national) created the Office of Guardianship. It was headed by a favorite of the Empress Grigory Orlov. The Chancellery acted on a par with other colleges.

Manifestoes have been published in many European languages. The most intensive agitation campaign unfolded in Germany (which is why the Volga Germans appeared). Most of the colonists were found in Frankfurt am Main and Ulm. Those wishing to move to Russia were sent to Lubeck, and from there to St. Petersburg. Not only government officials, but also private entrepreneurs, who became known as callers, were engaged in the recruitment. These people contracted with the Office of Guardianship and acted on its behalf. Callers founded new settlements, recruited colonists, ruled their communities, and left part of their income from them.

New life

In the 1760's. By joint efforts, the callers and the state have sagited to move 30 thousand people. At first the Germans settled in St. Petersburg and Oranienbaum. There they swore allegiance to the Russian crown and became subjects of the empress. All these colonists moved to the Volga region, where the Saratov province was later formed. In the first few years 105 settlements appeared. It is noteworthy that they all bore Russian names. Despite this, the Germans retained their identity.

The authorities undertook an experiment with the colonies in order to develop Russian agriculture. The government wanted to check how Western norms of farming would get accustomed. Volga Germans brought with them to their new homeland a scythe, a wooden thresher, a plow and other tools that were unknown to Russian peasants. Foreigners began to grow up the potatoes, unknown to the Volga region. They also cultivated cannabis, flax, tobacco and other crops. The first Russian population was wary or vague about strangers. Today, researchers continue to study what legends went about the Volga Germans and what their relationship with the neighbors was.

Prosperity

Time has shown that the experiment of Catherine II was extremely successful. The most advanced and successful farms in the Russian village were the settlements in which Volga Germans lived. The history of their colonies is an example of stable prosperity. Growth of well-being due to effective farming allowed the Volga Germans to acquire their own industry. At the beginning of the 19th century, water mills appeared in the settlements , which became an instrument for flour production. The oil industry was also developing, making agricultural implements and wool. Under Alexander II in the Saratov province there were already more than a hundred tanneries, which the Volga Germans founded.

The story of their success is impressive. The appearance of the colonists gave impetus to the development of industrial weaving. Its center was Sarepta, which existed in the modern borders of Volgograd. Enterprises for the manufacture of scarves and fabrics used high-quality European yarn from Saxony and Silesia, as well as silk from Italy.

Religion

The confessional identity and traditions of the Volga Germans were not uniform. They came from different regions at a time when there was no united Germany, and in each province there were separate orders. It concerned religion. The lists of the Volga Germans compiled by the Office of Guardianship show that among them were Lutherans, Catholics, Mennonites, Baptists, as well as representatives of other confessional currents and groups.

According to the manifesto, the colonists could build their own churches only in settlements where the non-Russian population was the overwhelming majority. The Germans, who lived in large cities, were deprived of such a right at first. It was also forbidden to propagate Lutheran and Catholic teachings. In other words, in the religious policy, the Russian authorities gave the colonists just as much freedom as could not damage the interests of the Orthodox Church. It is curious that at the same time, the settlers could baptize Muslims according to their rites, and also make serfs out of them.

Many traditions and legends of the Volga Germans were associated with religion. Holidays, they celebrated the Lutheran calendar. In addition, the colonists had preserved national customs. Among them is the Harvest Festival, which is still celebrated in Germany itself.

Under Soviet power

The revolution of 1917 changed the lives of all citizens of the former Russian Empire. The Volga Germans were no exception. Photos of their colonies at the end of the tsarist era show that the descendants of immigrants from Europe lived in a milieu isolated from their neighbors. They retained their language, customs and self-awareness. For many years the national question remained unresolved. But with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the Germans got a chance to create their own autonomy within Soviet Russia.

The desires of the descendants of the colonists to live in their own subject of the federation were met with understanding in Moscow. In 1918, according to the decision of the Council of People's Commissars, an autonomous region of the Germans of the Volga region was created, which in 1924 was renamed the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Its capital was Pokrovsk, renamed Engels.

Collectivization

The work and customs of the Volga Germans allowed them to create one of the most prosperous Russian provincial corners. The blow to their well-being were the revolutions and horrors of the war years. In the 1920s, there was a certain recovery, which took the greatest scale during the NEP.

However, in 1930 a campaign of dekulakization began throughout the Soviet Union. Collectivization and the destruction of private property led to the most unfortunate consequences. The most efficient and productive farms were destroyed. Farmers, owners of small businesses and many other residents of the autonomous republic were repressed. At that time the Germans were under attack on a par with all the other peasants of the Soviet Union, who were driven to collective farms and deprived of their usual life.

Hunger of the early 30's

Due to the destruction of the usual economic ties in the Republic of the Germans of the Volga region, as in many other regions of the USSR, famine began. The population tried to save their situation differently. Some residents went to the demonstrations, where they asked the Soviet authorities to help supply food. Other peasants, finally disappointed in the Bolsheviks, made attacks on the warehouses, where the state-selected grain was kept. Another type of protest was the neglect of work on the collective farms.

Against the backdrop of such sentiments, the secret services began to seek out "saboteurs" and "rebels", against which the most severe repressive measures were used. In the summer of 1932, the famine was already engulfing the city. Desperate peasants resorted to the plundering of fields with a still unripened harvest. The situation stabilized only in 1934, when thousands of people died of starvation in the republic.

Deportation

Although the descendants of the colonists experienced many troubles in the first Soviet years, they were of a general nature. In this sense, the Germans of the Volga region at that time hardly differed in their share from the ordinary Russian citizen of the USSR. However, the Great Patriotic War finally separated the inhabitants of the republic from the rest of the citizens of the Soviet Union.

In August 1941, a decision was taken, according to which the deportation of the Volga Germans began. They were exiled to Central Asia, fearing cooperation with the advancing Wehrmacht. The Germans of the Volga region were not the only people who survived the forced resettlement. The same fate awaited the Chechens, Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars.

Elimination of the Republic

Along with the deportation, the Autonomous Republic of the Germans of the Volga region was abolished. Part of the NKVD was introduced into the territory of the USSR. Residents received an order within 24 hours to collect a few allowed things and prepare for resettlement. In total, about 440 thousand people were deported.

At the same time, people liable for military service were removed from the front and sent to the rear. Men and women fell into the so-called labor armies. They built industrial enterprises, worked in mines and logging.

Life in Central Asia and Siberia

Mostly deported settled in Kazakhstan. After the war, they were not allowed to return to the Volga region and restore their republic. About 1% of the population of today's Kazakhstan considers themselves to be Germans.

Until 1956 the deportees were in special settlements. Each month they had to visit the commandant's office and put a mark in a special magazine. A significant part of the settlers settled in Siberia, finding themselves in the Omsk Region, the Altai Territory and the Urals.

Modernity

After the fall of communist power Volga Germans finally got freedom of movement. By the end of the 80's. Only old-timers remembered life in the Autonomous Republic. Therefore, very few returned to the Volga region (mainly in Engels in the Saratov region). A lot of deportees and their descendants remained in Kazakhstan.

Most of the Germans went to their historical homeland. After the unification in Germany, they adopted a new version of the law on the return of their compatriots, an early version of which appeared after the Second World War. The document stipulated the conditions necessary for the immediate acquisition of citizenship. These requirements also corresponded to the Volga Germans. The names and language of some of them remained the same, which facilitated integration in the new life.

According to the law, all descendants of the Volga colonists received citizenship. Some of them had long been assimilated with Soviet reality, but they still wanted to go west. After the authorities of Germany complicated the practice of obtaining citizenship in the 1990s, many Russian Germans settled in the Kaliningrad region. This region was formerly East Prussia and was part of Germany. Today in Russia there are about 500 thousand people of German nationality, 178 thousand more descendants of the Volga colonists live in Kazakhstan.