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GENOCIDE of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944-1948 Stalin Demanding
Deportations in Violation of Human Rights
In late fall of 1944, Stalin
demanded from Romania and the territories of
Hungary and Yugoslavia which it had occupied at
that time, to make available German laborers for
the reconstruction of Russian areas destroyed
during the war. The process started at Christmas
1944 even though it was only during the Jalta
Conference, February 4-11, 1945 that Stalin
obtained the approval of the Western Powers to
receive from Germany a portion of its allocated war
reparations in the form of labor. This agreement by
the Allies to the "fait accompli" gave Stalin a
quasi-legal base for the German "reparation slaves"
from the Southeast European nations, even though
this act was a human rights violation. The military administration
of the partisans made available to the Russians at
least 12,000 Danube Swabian civilians from the West
Banat and Batschka (8,000 women and 4,000 men) who
were forcibly shipped to the mining and industrial
areas in the Ukraine. The women were between 18-40
and the men between 16-50 years of age. There were
at least 8 trains, 4 from the Batschka and 4 from
the Banat and each had up to 45 freight cars which
were stuffed with up to 45 persons to a car. These
transports, routed via Romania, took place during
frigid winter weather and lasted about three weeks.
It was during the Christmas
days of 1944 that the ones selected by Russian
doctors had to leave all their loved ones, spouses,
children, relatives and friends. They were forced
to march with their baggage, often long distances
and under strict military escort, to the collection
railway stations. The uncertainty of their own
future was only matched by the anxiety about the
loved ones left behind. During frigid temperatures
the work slaves were shipped in cattle cars that
were locked from the outside. There was no space
for movement, ability to sleep only in a sitting
position and running the risk of freezing to death
while asleep. Food supplies were almost
non-existent and people had to survive on what
little they could bring along. The lack of water
was particularly painful since it was often
withheld for sheer sadistic reasons. In the crowded
space and absence of all hygienic facilities,
bodily functions could only be taken care of with
greatest difficulties. In addition, they had to
suffer the mental and emotional anxiety of not
knowing where they were going and when this trip
was going to end. The first casualties occurred
already during the three-week trip. In Russia, initially the
tightly guarded billets often had neither windows
nor doors. The premises were fenced in by barbed
wire. Considering the notorious Russian winters,
heating material was inadequate and often
completely lacking, hygienic facilities
insufficient, no warm water for washing and toilet
facilities catastrophic. Epidemics and infestations
started to erupt. The food supply consisted
almost entirely of lumpy, sour-tasting and hardly
digestible bread as well as cabbage or flour soup
without any meat or fat. The food had to be picked
up from kitchens that were up to 3 km away. The
dishes consisted of rusty tin cans. Sometimes they
were forced to exchange good clothing against torn
and lice-infested military garb. Extremely hard work had to be
performed under all weather conditions. The work
targets were usually set much too high. While bread
rations were adjusted to the work requirement, they
were still insufficient. In addition to the heavy
work load, the long distance to the work stations
entailed long arduous marches, even during snow
storms. The women too had to perform hard labor,
many of them below ground, down deep in the coal
pits. Twelve hours and more daily, including
Sundays were mandatory, in winter at minus 40
degrees Celsius (40°F) in wet and torn
clothing. Even though Danube Swabian
men and women were used to hard physical work, many
could not endure the working conditions in the
mines and at the railroad and construction sites.
Undernourishment, humidity, rain, cold, excessive
work hours and the excessively long distance
marches led to the total exhaustion of many. Men in
particular, who had to work the hardest, soon
suffered from dystrophy. The additional insecurity
of ones' own fate which often turned into
hopelessness, homesickness, longing for the loved
ones at home and anxiety about their well being,
soon led to the great mortality rate. The slave labor in the Soviet
Union resulted in the loss of life of at least
2,000 Danube Swabians. That is about 17 percent,
including 1,100 men and 900 women. For those who
were able to survive, the term of the slave labor
lasted up to five years. The first repatriation of the
very sick and unable to work started towards the
end of 1945. At that time, many had already died.
One of the first repatriation trains went to
Yugoslavia where the returnees were promptly put
into camps, most of them into the death camps.
It was only during the last
two years of their stay in Russia, 1948 and 1949
that the conditions improved. Food was adequate and
working conditions more bearable. At the end of
1949 the Russians dissolved the camps and shipped
the deported to Frankfurt an der Oder, in East
Germany. The last to leave had spent five years of
hardship in the "workers' paradise." After their arrival in
Germany, the discharged slave workers had to learn
that they could not return to their homeland and
that their dependents, their children, parents and
grandparents suffered a fate worse than their own.
Bit by bit they found out who of their family and
relatives did not survive the genocide perpetrated
by the Tito regime. Almost all temporarily orphaned
children were shipped to unknown children homes and
unknown locations in Yugoslavia. It was many years
before they could be located and reunited with the
help of the Red Cross. Many of the younger ones no
longer recognized their parents and had partially
or totally forgotten their mother tongue. Every
third of the deported women had to find out that
her husband was lost in the war and she stood alone
in the world. Almost all of the slave
workers suffered from health problems. Many, after
their return to Germany and confronted with the
loss of their loved ones and their home, were
overcome and passed away. The survivors, particularly
those who after their flight or expulsion, settled
in Germany and Austria organized themselves into
"hometown societies." These societies compiled
rather exact statistical documentations of the fate
of their former communities and inhabitants.
Knowledgeable observers determined that the life
span of surviving slave workers was much shorter in
comparison to those who did not suffer those
hardships. Josef Purr from
Parabutsch, a First Person Report "We all, men 18-45, women
18-35, had to report to the town hall. From there
we went to the Helleis Inn. Only pregnant women
were excused. No consideration was given to mothers
with small children. We were told we are being sent
to work for one month and to bring our own food for
that time. After being held for three days we, 57
persons, were chased to Hodschag, guarded by
partisans. Youth is somewhat more optimistic and we
celebrated New Year's Eve with the youths of Batch.
When the light was turned off at midnight we wished
one another a happy New Year. The 'happy' New Year
came very quickly; we had to get ready for the
trip. After marching for miles in the snow we
suddenly had to turn around and go to the railroad
station. They started loading us into freight cars.
The next day, at Apatin, the loading was completed
and the doors locked. One engine in front and one
in the back in between over 30 cars, each crowded
with 30-40 persons. More than 1,200 ethnic Germans
began their trip into an uncertain fate. Nobody
anticipated that over 400 would never return. We
had some inkling that we were heading for Russia
and we learned that several transports preceded us.
"The trip took us through
Hungary and Romania. Every two days the doors were
opened to get water. Only a few of us had bottles;
washing was out of the question. We rubbed our
hands and face with snow. Nearby fences were torn
down for heating. After 19 days we reached our
unknown destination, 13 km from Krasani Lutsch. The
train stopped and we had to disembark. The camp
consisted of stone buildings, windows were bricked
shut and the only light consisted of small broken
glass panes overhead as a skylight. Most of the
double bunk beds still had to be constructed. We
had to haul the wooden boards, which were frozen
and snow covered, from the sawmills. Since we were
weak from the long trip it took two persons to
carry one board. There was no water since the pipes
were destroyed. Day and night it had to be brought
in a large tub by sled from the shed where the
train engines were refilled. It took 16-20 men to
pull the sled. The kitchen consisted of four
bathtubs on pedestals and the fire underneath. For
weeks the same menu was cooked: diced green
tomatoes, cucumber or cabbage soup with four
tablespoons of barley or millet gruel. "After the speech at the
shaft the Natschalnik ordered the 'instruments' to
be brought up. I thought they were going to play
music but the instruments were pickaxes and
crowbars. With these 'instruments' we played for
five years. The work below ground was very hard and
dangerous. For this reason they attached us to
groups of Russians, Polish or Ukrainian girls who
were also forcefully conscripted. I still think
often of Marusja who collected Machorka from her
colleagues so we could have a smoking break. I also
think of Njusa, who often gave me a piece of bread
or milk, and of the old Russian who did not talk
very much, bowed three times, made the sign of the
cross, divided the cornmeal polenta and shared it
with us. Later on we got some additional help. The
Russian POWs (Prisoners of War) and displaced
Russians returned from Germany. They were not sent
to their homes, but again became slave laborers.
"Almost daily, accidents
occurred in the shafts. One of the casualties was
Heinrich Hirschberger who was killed by falling
rocks. Because of the unsanitary living conditions
we were all infested with lice. Therefore they
shaved our heads, both men and women. During the
autumn of 1945 typhus broke out in the camp and we
were quarantined, the sick outside the camp. People
died daily, including eight Parabutscher. After we
returned to the camp we found that not only the
dead but the living as well were robbed of their
last few possessions. The culprits were not only
the Russian camp personnel but our own fellow
countrymen. There were enough informers who
betrayed some of us to the political Kommisar.
Those poor souls were then sent to penal or
prisoner of war camps. "In 1946 two transports of
the sick were released; they were very ill or
severely injured and unable to work. It was with
sadness that we saw them departing and waving to
us. The camp administration withheld a large
portion of our wages, for the administration
expenses of the camp. But we now could purchase,
depending on our income, clothes, shoes and fabric.
Throughout the year we were given the slogans
'Skoro domoi' (going home soon). However, we didn't
believe it anymore. "Finally, in November 1949
the day came. We didn't have to go to work anymore,
and were allowed to do some necessary shopping
since we could take care of our own travel
provisions. Everybody had to be dressed properly
since nobody could leave 'paradise' in rags.
Streamers for the decoration of the freight trains
were made proclaiming: 'We came as enemies, we
return as friends.' We were asked if we didn't want
to stay in the 'paradise' and were given many
promises. As far as I know, nobody stayed. Finally,
on November 23, our day of departure came. The
trucks that normally carried coal took us and our
wooden suitcases to the Antrazit railroad station.
Suddenly the Russian coal miners from the other
shafts appeared to bid us farewell. Our trip took
us via Warsaw to Frankfurt/Oder in East Germany.
Here we were again inundated with Socialist
slogans. We were apprehensive as to what we were
going to encounter in the West. We had our fill of
Socialism. "We continued to the camp at
Gronefelde. We were really surprised when we were
finally free. At our final destination at the camp
at Ulm (West Germany) a priest welcomed us with a
short prayer." (This first person report was
extracted from the documentation series
Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen
Jugoslawien, Volume II,
München/Sindelfingen 1991, published by the
Donauschwäbische Kulturstiftung, München,
pages 961-963.) |