“Do Not Count German Resettlers Among the Evacuated Population”. The Position of the German Intelligentsia, During the Great Patriotic War (On the Example of Kustanay Region of the Kazakh SSR)
Authors:   Lipetsk State Pedagogical University, Vashkau Nina , Legkiy Dmitriy ,   A. Baitursynov Kostanay Regional University, Berkimbayeva Assel ,   A. Baitursynov Kostanay Regional University
Published: February 2022

Introduction. The history of the deportation of the German population to the USSR up to the present time is estimated ambiguously. The issue of the situation of the German intelligentsia deported to the territory of the Kazakh SSR, including members of the AUCP(b) during the Great Patriotic War, remains problematic and has not been thoroughly studied by scholars. The war created a difficult situation: two different streams of people of German nationality merged on the territory of the Kazakh SSR. On the one hand, there were local Germans living in Kazakhstan since pre-revolutionary times, and on the other hand, there were Germans deported during the period of the Great Patriotic War, which requires a separate study. Methods and materials. Based on declassified documents of state and party bodies of regional and republican levels marked “Classified”, on the example of the Kustanay regional party organization, the features of the “privileged position” of Germans, members of the AUCP(b) in the conditions of deportation are considered. At the same time, in the regional aspect, detailed lists of teachers, medical workers – “German immigrants who arrived in Kustanay region in 1941” – are being introduced into scholarly discourse, which made it possible to find out the composition of the deported German intelligentsia. The archive file “List of teachers evacuated to districts of Kustanay region in 1941–1942” was analyzed separately, which was not reflected in the historical literature. Analysis. The analysis of the documents shows that, with rare exceptions, all the German intelligentsia deported to Kazakhstan (teachers, philologists, librarians, medical workers) turned out to be collective farm labor in 1941. Proof of discrimination against people of German nationality was the complete absence of data on German teachers (both local and resettled) in the lists of teachers and documents of local authorities. The extremely difficult situation of the deported German intelligentsia (the Volga German ASSR, the Crimean ASSR, the Ukrainian SSR) at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War on the territory of the Kazakh SSR is revealed in the regional aspect (on the example of Kostanay region). This is evidenced by the fate of German teachers, including the German party intelligentsia during the deportation to Kazakhstan at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Along with this, declassified party documents directly indicate that persons of German nationality continued to be accepted in the primary party cells into the ranks of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Kazakhstan even after the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Among them were deported German Communists as well. Results. As a result of the collective research work of historians of Russia and Kazakhstan, the situation of the German intelligentsia (including members of the Bolshevik Party) deported at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War from the Volga German ASSR, the Crimean ASSR, and the Ukrainian SSR to the territory of the Kazakh SSR (on the example of Kustanay region) was studied and subjected to scientific analysis for the first time. The article materials will help to facilitate the work of scholars, local historians, and descendants of deported Germans to establish the fate of the loved ones, find the confirmation of their being in forced settlements, and at the same time, broaden scientific topics of papers on the history of Germans in Kazakhstan.