tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post2807395665486452217..comments2024-03-28T16:58:17.705-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: Nazi Concentration Camps, After the NazisGrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-85942048237648935372012-06-27T12:40:24.194-04:002012-06-27T12:40:24.194-04:00Eric, I was thinking strictly of the ethnically Ge...Eric, I was thinking strictly of the ethnically German residents of the state of Prussia, rather than including the Slavic peasants in the region (high mortality), the Jews (higher mortality), or Germans from other areas. Yes, the Volga Germans got roughed up beginning even before WWI, when conscription became mandatory in Russia. That's when the Americas gained so many Mennonite settlers. The second wave came after WWI, and then a third after WWII. <br /><br />If you are ever in Brandon, Manitoba, the Mennonite Heritage Centre has fascinating information about the Mennonites and some about the other Volga Germans. There are also Volga German heritage groups in Kansas, among other places.<br /><br />LittleRed1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-64162373168172049252012-06-27T05:08:00.980-04:002012-06-27T05:08:00.980-04:00Echoing Grim, thanks LR1.Echoing Grim, thanks LR1.douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17261739259295914188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-88716665099536651802012-06-26T22:10:48.972-04:002012-06-26T22:10:48.972-04:00I thought it was millions that died. (Maybe if you...I thought it was millions that died. (Maybe if you count the Volga Germans--but I think they'd been persecuted already before WWII)<br /><br />Anyway, a solution seriously looked at was to "deindustrialize" Germany and basically turn the place back into a pastoral society so that the Germans could never again put an army together. I think Marshall talked Truman out of it. <br /><br />The name "Prussia" was abolished in 1962. <br /><br />Now, what I find amusing is that there are Poles who are reenacting Prussian regiments from the Seven Years War, because their recruiting areas were place like Breslau and other towns now in Poland. Wierd.<br /><br />Like I said before, there's always more history.Eric Blairnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-5546377494968337692012-06-26T14:28:53.322-04:002012-06-26T14:28:53.322-04:00Grim, you are very welcome. If I ever teach a cou...Grim, you are very welcome. If I ever teach a course on History and Memory, it is one of the books I'm going to use for reading and discussion. It is well written.<br /><br />LittleRed1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-289988197628410942012-06-26T11:15:16.955-04:002012-06-26T11:15:16.955-04:00Another idea, related to the first above, that I h...<i>Another idea, related to the first above, that I haven't seen widely discussed is that this was simply to eliminate an excuse for invasion that then just-defeated Germany had nakedly used as an anschluss and then invasion pretext.</i><br /><br />That's almost assuredly what it was about. And while I don't normally like ascribing motivations to other people, I cannot help but feel if that fact was left out of the article entirely (and I believe it was) then the author did so intentionally to make it seem even more of an atrocity. Without the context of WHY a thing was done, everything seems so much worse. God allows his only begotten Son to be tortured to death. If that's all you know, then Christianity is just some weird death cult.MikeDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-72363050612654782482012-06-26T09:52:52.703-04:002012-06-26T09:52:52.703-04:00Wow, "The Vanished Kingdom" sounds like ...Wow, "The Vanished Kingdom" sounds like a terrific book. Thanks, LR1.Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-85826525052974749032012-06-26T09:08:58.779-04:002012-06-26T09:08:58.779-04:00Douglas, most of the ethnic Germans who stayed in ...Douglas, most of the ethnic Germans who stayed in the state of Prussia died. The Poles and Russians were particularly determined to clean out that area for the same reason that Russia refuses to turn loose of Königsburg/Kaliningrad - can't have the Junkers or Hohenzollerns returning. Two books of interest are "The Vanished Kingdom" about Prussia (and about how history is remembered) and the newer work "Bloodlands." Don't touch Bloodlands if you are already feeling depressed; it is as cheerful as "The Black Book of Communism" (and almost as long).<br /><br />LittleRed1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-88681157563130024632012-06-26T08:36:43.933-04:002012-06-26T08:36:43.933-04:00Is this a reversal of the "Lebensraum" j...<i>Is this a reversal of the "Lebensraum" justification for the invasion of these countries by Germany?</i><br /><br />And <br /><br /><i>...weigh this [forced relocation] against the ethnic Germans staying in places where they were likely to be the next scapegoat.</i><br /><br />Another idea, related to the first above, that I haven't seen widely discussed is that this was simply to eliminate an excuse for invasion that then just-defeated Germany had nakedly used as an <i>anschluss</i> and then invasion pretext.<br /><br />This pretext has since been used by the Russians in their attacks on the Baltic nations and the nations on the western periphery of the late Soviet Union--including the Russians' invasion and partition of Georgia: "You're not taking care of my people, so I'm going to move in and take over."<br /><br />Eric HinesE Hineshttp://aplebessite.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-38939896382293264552012-06-26T03:26:54.077-04:002012-06-26T03:26:54.077-04:00The comments there are a mess of various biases an...The comments there are a mess of various biases and theories, each with their own view of who's to blame and what was worse, but the consistent thing is that if you're culture is based on blood (or language to the extent that it's taken to indicate blood), then much of it will be spilled, because it's sure that eventually something will pop up that will find two groups on opposite sides with no easy resolution. Periods of comfortable integration in European history are just priming the pump for conflict later, with an easy scapegoat when the time comes.<br /><br />I'd heard of the 'repatriation' of ethnic Germans from Silesia, but the 500,000 number is a new one. One comment did indicate that you had to weigh this against the ethnic Germans staying in places where they were likely to be the next scapegoat. How many would have died staying where they were? There were an awful lot of grievances waiting for some way to settle them.<br /><br />Reading that (and the comments), just made me appreciate this place where liberty is the principle that guides us and it's what a man does that matters, and not his bloodline, last name, or native language.douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17261739259295914188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-7981798705625336622012-06-26T00:03:24.733-04:002012-06-26T00:03:24.733-04:00My father, a second-generation American, was utter...My father, a second-generation American, was utterly contemptuous when speaking of Churchill.<br /><br />Now I know why. His 'folk' were from Southern Germany and most likely knew--through the grapevine--about these actions.Dad29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08554276286736923821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-79721062904929243712012-06-25T23:11:40.498-04:002012-06-25T23:11:40.498-04:00That anonymous was me.
ValerieThat anonymous was me.<br /><br />ValerieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-50699806595993389492012-06-25T23:10:56.523-04:002012-06-25T23:10:56.523-04:00Is this a reversal of the "Lebensraum" j...Is this a reversal of the "Lebensraum" justification for the invasion of these countries by Germany? <br /><br />Just askin'. I notice that the article doesn't deal with this aspect of the action.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com