Wolf children
Flight and expulsion of Germans during and after World War II |
(demographic estimates) |
Background |
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|
Wartime flight and evacuation |
Post-war flight and expulsion |
Later emigration |
Other themes |
Wolf children (
Evacuation of East Prussia
By the end of 1944, as World War II had irreparably turned against Nazi Germany, civilians were forbidden from evacuating the eastern territory of East Prussia even as the inevitable invasion of the Red Army came closer.[2] The Gauleiter of East Prussia, Erich Koch, gave orders that fleeing was illegal and punishable ("strenges Fluchtverbot" – flight strictly forbidden), but as the Red Army approached Königsberg many Germans prepared to evacuate anyway. In January 1945, the Evacuation of East Prussia began at the last moment and flight from the territory was allowed.[3]
The Red Army's
Lithuanian aid
Many German children went on food-scrounging trips into neighboring
Lithuanians who assisted the German children had to hide their efforts from the Soviet authorities, risking severe punishment if detected, with many German children's names changed, and only after the
Most of them became orphans by war and flight in the stage of child or baby. They had to care for themselves and find out how to survive. Many reached Lithuania, where they worked at farms to gain their living. Most had no chance for school education. A larger part never got lessons to write or read. In many cases, the children got new Lithuanian first and family names and became Lithuanians. There was no choice, as it was forbidden for them to opt as Germans.[6]
Soviet rehoming
Soviet authorities sent some children who could be identified as German orphans in the former East Prussia to stay in orphanages administered by Soviet military officers but staffed mostly with some of the remaining Germans.
Expulsion to Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany
In 1946, the Soviets began emptying
Survivors
None of the events of the Wolf children were reported in the press and they only became known to the public from 1990 after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. The official position of the Soviet and Polish governments [citation needed] at the time was that there were no Germans in these areas, and this had been their official position as early as the Potsdam Agreement in August 1945. Historian Ruth Leiserowitz, who lived in Lithuania, researched and published books about the Wolfkinder of East Prussia under her maiden name, Ruth Kibelka, and her married name. Some historical records given by children from East Prussia survived, describing how their families were overtaken by advancing Soviet forces as they tried to flee. They were sent back to their old homes in East Prussia, found them destroyed, were expelled from their homes, and then some died from starvation, cold, and typhoid fever. The orphans had to find a way of surviving and became Wolf children.[11] Another five orphans, born in the years 1930-1939, told Leiserowitz how they managed to survive and were transferred to a children's home in East Germany.[12]
In an obituary notice for an East Prussian woman, born in 1939 and deceased in 2009, it was revealed that she had lived as a Wolf child under terrible conditions as an orphan without home and shelter in East Prussia and Lithuania.[13]
The story of one survivor can be read in ABANDONED AND FORGOTTEN: An Orphan Girl's Tale of Survival in World War II by Evelyne Tannehill, in which Evelyne and her family fell victim to the Soviets who invaded her parents' farm by the Baltic Sea in East Prussia. Her family was separated; only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was she able to return to East Prussia to revisit her childhood homeland.[14]
Another outstanding story is that of Liesabeth Otto, born in 1937, who, after her mother had died from starvation, went with her brothers and sisters to her homeplace
Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn described his experiences in Prussia as a Soviet soldier, in his poem Prussian Nights.
Wolf children today in Lithuania
Fate
Several hundred Wolf children were discovered in Lithuania after the separation from Russia. In 2010, almost 100 still lived there.[16] From the beginning of the 1990s on, Wolf children have fought for their German citizenship. They have their own association. The Federal Office of Administration within the German Federal Ministry of the Interior long held that persons who left Königsberg territory after World War II had renounced their German citizenship.
From January 1, 2008, on, compensation is granted by Lithuanian law for those persons who suffered on account of World War II and the Soviet occupation. Consequently, Wolf children get a small additional pension. In German laws, the Wolf children are not mentioned. From private sponsors they get a small quarterly stipend, organized by Wolfgang Freiherr von Stetten.[17]
Today, some Wolf children aim to learn the fate of their relatives, obtain German citizenship, reunite with their families, leave the country for Germany, and remain faithful to German culture.[18]
Association
The association Edelweiß-Wolfskinder is headquartered in
Search for relatives
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, people could once again travel to research or reclaim their identities as Germans.
The German Red Cross helps to identify and locate family members who lost contact with one another, such as the Wolf children, during the turmoil in East Prussia. "It was only the politics of Gorbachev which allowed the opening of the Russian archives. Since the 1990s, the fates of about 200,000 additional missing persons have been clarified. More information about the fates of Germans who were taken prisoners and died still remain in unopened archives in Eastern and South-eastern Europe.[20]
In memory
Valdas Adamkus, then President of Lithuania, stated that an exhibition will be opened in Bad Iburg which will be named "The Lost History of East Prussia: Wolf Children and Their Fate".
Five kilometers north of
The aid by Lithuanian people for the hungry East Prussians was invaluable. Every historical record brings new facts and insights. Mentioning this time and these circumstances will always cause thankful thoughts for the Lithuanian people of that time.[23]
Former German President Christian Wulff was visited on May 10, 2011, by a group of Wolf children from Lithuania. The leader of the parliamentary group within CDU/CSU for expelled, relocated and German minorities, Klaus Brähmig, believes that research on Wolf children should be intensified:
The president gives an important sign of solidarity by meeting Wolf children, whose fate is not well known in Germany. It is encouraging that politics and the media report more and more on these orphans, of whom many up to now are not aware of their German descent. The union goes on requiring, that scientific research ought to be intensified and matters of Wolf children dealt within the Bundesvertriebenenstiftung.[24]
In popular culture
- Wolfskinder. Documentary film, about 120 min., ISBN 3-939504-09-2.
- Irgendwo gebettelt, irgendwo geklaut… Ein Wolfskind auf Spurensuche Report, 30 min., Ingeborg Jacobs (Regie), Hartmut Seifert (camera), first shown on May 5, 1994.
- Die eiserne Maria. Documentary film, 60 min., Ingeborg Jacobs (Regie), Hartmut Seifert (camera), first shown on March 13, 2002.
- Die Kinder der Flucht. Part 2 Wolfskinder. first shown on December 1, 2009. Directed by Guido Knopp. Regie Hans-Christoph Blumenberg. 2006.
- Vilko vaikai, a novel by Eugenijus Remigijus Baltrušaitis
- Wolf Children , a 2013 German film filmed in Lithuania
- Wolfskinder the second part of the 2006 docudrama Die Kinder der Flucht
- Ruth Leiserowitz
- Wolfskinder: Grenzgänger an der Memel (Wolf children: Commuters at Memel); 1996; ISBN 3-86163-064-8
- Vilko Vaikai – kelias per Nemuną (Wolf children: across the Neman); 2000; ISBN 9955-00-014-7
- Von Ostpreußen nach Kyritz: Wolfskinder auf dem Weg nach Brandenburg (From East Prussia to Kyritz: Wolf children on the way to Brandenburg); 2003; ISBN 3-932502-33-7
- Wolfskinder: Grenzgänger an der Memel (Wolf children: Commuters at Memel); 1996;
See also
- Evacuation of German civilians during the end of World War II
- Evacuation of East Prussia
- Kidnapping of Polish children by Nazi Germany
- Feral child
- Robinson Crusoes of Warsaw
References
- ^ a b Vilko vaikai
- ISBN 3-932502-33-7, p. 9
- ISBN 3-932502-33-7, p. 6
- ^ a b (in German) Sabine Bode: Die vergessene Generation. Die Kriegskinder brechen ihr Schweigen. (title translated to English language: The forgotten generation. War children break their silence.) Erweiterte und aktualisierte Taschenbuchausgabe. Piper Verlag GmbH, München, March 2011. ISBN 978-3--492-26405-1. P. 141.
- ISBN 3-932502-33-7, p. 21, 23-26
- ^ (in German) translated citation to illustrate the strategies for survival in Wolfskinder: Leben zwischen den Welten (title translated: Wolf children: Living out of borders) in "Das Ostpreußenblatt" from September, 15 2009 Archived 2009-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (in German) Sabine Bode: Die vergessene Generation. Die Kriegskinder brechen ihr Schweigen. (title translated to English language: The forgotten generation. War children break their silence.) Erweiterte und aktualisierte Taschenbuchausgabe. Piper Verlag GmbH, München, March 2011. ISBN 978-3--492-26405-1. P. 142-143.
- ISBN 3-932502-33-7, p. 31
- ^ (in German) Sabine Bode: Die vergessene Generation. Die Kriegskinder brechen ihr Schweigen. (title translated to English language: The forgotten generation. War children break their silence.) Erweiterte und aktualisierte Taschenbuchausgabe. Piper Verlag GmbH, München, March 2011. ISBN 978-3--492-26405-1. P. 141-142.
- ^ (in German) Sabine Bode: Die vergessene Generation. Die Kriegskinder brechen ihr Schweigen. (title translated to English language: The forgotten generation. War children break their silence.) Erweiterte und aktualisierte Taschenbuchausgabe. Piper Verlag GmbH, München, March 2011. ISBN 978-3--492-26405-1. P. 142.
- ^ (in German) Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. (Hrsg.): Treibgut des Krieges - Zeugnisse von Flucht und Vertreibung der Deutschen. (Historical records on flight, expulsion, Wolf children). P. 120-128. Verlag Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V., Kassel. Kassel 2008.
- ISBN 3-932502-33-7, p. 48-106
- ^ (in German) Obituary notice in Hamburger Abendblatt from December 19, 2009, p. 27
- ISBN 978-1-58736-693-2.
- ISBN 3549073712
- ^ (in German) Ruth Geede: Die ostpreußische Familie. (Title translated: The East Prussian family). In: Das Ostpreußenblatt (Beilage in der Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung) from April 17, 2010, p. 14
- ^ (in German) Ruth Geede: Die ostpreußische Familie. In: Das Ostpreußenblatt (Beilage in der Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung) from April 17, 2010, p. 14
- ^ ""Edelweiß-Wolfskinder" feierte in Kaunas sein zehnjähriges Bestehen". Der Verein. 15 September 2001. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2018 – via www.webarchiv-server.de.
- ^ Leiserowitz, Michael. "Wolfskinder". wolfskinder-geschichtsverein.de. Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Red Cross Children tracing service. Retrieved on May, 24 2012". Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Wolfskinder - Reise nach Ostpreussen". www.reise-nach-ostpreussen.de. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Leiserowitz, Michael. "Wolfskinder". wolfskinder-geschichtsverein.de. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ISBN 3-932502-33-7. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ citation translated from (in German) Research on Wolf children ought to be intensified Archived 2022-05-18 at the Wayback Machine
Literature
- Christel Brandenburg: Ruined by the Reich: Memoire of an East Prussian Family, 1916-1945. McFarland and Co Inc. 2003. ISBN 0-7864-1615-7
- Evelyne Tannehill: ABANDONED AND FORGOTTEN: An Orphan Girl's Tale of Survival in World War II. Wheatmark 2007. ISBN 978-1-58736-693-2
- ---Documentation for a student project, no blog---. Stian Eisenträger: The Wolfskinder Project. The forgotten War Orphans - Hitler's Last Victims?
- Matthias Pankau: ‘I Thought There Was No German Anymore‘’. In: The Atlantic Times. A Monthly Newspaper from Germany, May 2009 Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- (in German) Ruth Kibelka: Wolfskinder. Grenzgänger an der Memel. (title translated to English: Wolf children - Passing the border at river Memel.) 4. Auflage. Basisdruck, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-86163-064-8
- (in German) Ruth Leiserowitz: Von Ostpreußen nach Kyritz – Wolfskinder auf dem Weg nach Brandenburg. (title translated to English: From East Prussia to the city of Kyritz - Wolf children on their way to Brandenburg.) Potsdam 2003, ISBN 3-932502-33-7. Im Internet abrufbar unter Wolfskinder aus Ostpreußen.
- (in German) Ingeborg Jacobs: Wolfskind. Die unglaubliche Lebensgeschichte des ostpreußischen Wolfskindes Liesabeth Otto. Propyläen, Berlin 2010, ISBN 3-549-07371-2
- (in German) Keine Hilfe für deutsche "Wolfskinder". (title translated to English: No help for German "wolf children") In: ISSN 0038-7452
- "Neue Zürcher Zeitung vom 13. November 2008: Litauens «Wolfskinder» – Fremdlinge im eigenen Selbst. (title translated to English: Lithuanian "Wolf children" - strangers in their own self)" (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2008.
- Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V., ed. (2008), Treibgut des Krieges - Zeugnisse von Flucht und Vertreibung der Deutschen (Zeitzeugenberichte über Flucht, Vertreibung, Wolfskinder) [flotsam and jetsam of war - Witnesses of flight, kicking out, wolf children] (in German), Kassel: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V., Kassel
- (in German) Hans-Joachim Kroschewsky: "Königsberg/Ostpreußen - Wir wollen nur leben - Familiendrama von Flucht und Vertreibung 1944 bis 1948." (title translated: We want to live - Dramatic family story of flight and expulsion 1944 to 1948). Wagner-Verlag. (Father had to stay and was member of Wehrmacht, grand parents resettled in 1947, mother relocated in USSR, alone until March 1948, resettled to the west).
- (in German) „Keine Sprache, keine Heimat“. (title translated to English language: No mother tongue - no home). In: Der Spiegel 3/1996, S. 62-68
- (in German) Ursula Dorn: Ich war ein Wolfskind aus Königsberg. (title translated to English language: I was a Wolf child from Koenigsberg). Biographischer Roman. Edition riedenburg. Salzburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-902647-09-2
External links
- (in German) Wolfskinder Geschichtsverein e.V. (Wolf Children Historical Association) Archived 2018-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
- (in German) Literaturliste Wolfskinder. (Title translated to English language: literature on wolf children. Archived 2015-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
- (in German) Verein "Edelweiß-Wolfskinder" (Association of Edelweiss-Wolf Children) in "Das Ostpreußenblatt"
- (in German) Background information concerning the book „Wir sind die Wolfskinder. Verlassen in Ostpreußen“(title translated to English language: We are the wolf children. Abandoned in East Prussia.