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The Years of Great Silence: The Deportation, Special Settlement, and Mobilization into the Labor Army of Ethnic Germans in the USSR, 1941–1955
This monograph provides a detailed yet concise narrative of the history of the ethnic Germans in the Russian Empire and USSR. It starts with the settlement in the Russian Empire by German colonists in the Volga, Black Sea, and other regions in 1764, tracing their development and Tsarist state policies towards them up until 1917. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Soviet policy towards its ethnic Germans varied. It shifted from a generally favorable policy in the 1920s to a much more oppressive one in the 1930s, i.e. already before the Soviet-German war.
J. Otto Pohl traces the development of Soviet repression of ethnic Germans. In particular, he focuses on the years 1941 to 1955 during which this oppression reached its peak. These years became known as "the Years of Great Silence" ("die Jahre des grossen Schweigens"). In fact, until the era of glasnost (transparency) and perestroika (rebuilding) in the late 1980s, the events that defined these years for the Soviet Germans could not be legally researched, written about, or even publicly spoken about, within the USSR.
J. Otto Pohl traces the development of Soviet repression of ethnic Germans. In particular, he focuses on the years 1941 to 1955 during which this oppression reached its peak. These years became known as "the Years of Great Silence" ("die Jahre des grossen Schweigens"). In fact, until the era of glasnost (transparency) and perestroika (rebuilding) in the late 1980s, the events that defined these years for the Soviet Germans could not be legally researched, written about, or even publicly spoken about, within the USSR.
303 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 22, 2022
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January 19, 2025
An extremely well written, thoroughly researched and one where the information is masterfully presented. This is most certainly a scholarly effort and the attention to the rigors required to adhere to those standards are evident.
The challenges that Dr. Pohl had in conducting research into this book are laid out in the beginning. Resources can be a challenging to find and document including written and interviews with older Germans. Those challenges are discussed necessarily and the table set to proceed.
The book then goes into the living conditions experienced by the Germans as they settled into Russia, and decline of those conditions as time moved on. The Russians started out by treating the Germans fairly well, but proceeded with more restrictions until the Russians eventually moved these people into Siberia and Kazakhstan. I would recommend that if one were to only read part of this book (not recommended), this is the part to read. The conditions are well described and quite interesting. The work that was done by the Germans is discussed, the labor army description s detailed, and the awful work conditions discussed in depth.
In the interest of brevity, I'll wrap up this review by stating that I can recommend this book most highly to anyone interested in Russian history in general, and German-Russian history specifically. Dr. Pohl is to be commended for this book!
The challenges that Dr. Pohl had in conducting research into this book are laid out in the beginning. Resources can be a challenging to find and document including written and interviews with older Germans. Those challenges are discussed necessarily and the table set to proceed.
The book then goes into the living conditions experienced by the Germans as they settled into Russia, and decline of those conditions as time moved on. The Russians started out by treating the Germans fairly well, but proceeded with more restrictions until the Russians eventually moved these people into Siberia and Kazakhstan. I would recommend that if one were to only read part of this book (not recommended), this is the part to read. The conditions are well described and quite interesting. The work that was done by the Germans is discussed, the labor army description s detailed, and the awful work conditions discussed in depth.
In the interest of brevity, I'll wrap up this review by stating that I can recommend this book most highly to anyone interested in Russian history in general, and German-Russian history specifically. Dr. Pohl is to be commended for this book!
Displaying 1 of 1 review