Russlanddeutsche

[Mannet]

hi
what happened with Russian Germans during the war? all of them were sent to Labour Army, or did they server in red army too? and if, then how many of them?

[Gorque]

Transnistrian and Baltic Germans were evacuated to the west during the retreat. Volga Germans were resettled in Kazahkstan and Siberia.

[Art]

There were rare exception which confirmed the general rule:
viewtopic.php?p=2224155#p2224155

[Gorque]

Interesting info. Thanks Art.

[steve248]

Some Russlanddeutscher were conscripted into the Soviet Army immediately following the German invasion of 22 June 1941.
Some were captured with their units and once their identities were established, were released to return home. Aug-Sept 1941 timeline.
My knowledge comes from VDs [Volksdeutschers] conscripted in central and southern Ukraine.

[Mannet]

did russian Germans serve in red army after ww2 ?

[Art]

BTW the Soviet general corps included some truely exotic personalities:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Schacht
Also there were several generals and admirals of German descent, mostly from the pre-revolutionary Russian nobility and officers.

[Art]

The most unusual and exceptional case of military service of German-descent Russian nobility is Apollon Yakovlevich Kruze. The man was a regular officer of the Russian Imperial Army who fought in the WWI and graduated wartime courses of the General Staff Academy in 1917. As a military specialist Kruze was enrolled in the Red Army but soon defected and then occupied some top-level positions in staffs of the anti-Bolshevist forces on the Eastern Front in 1918-1919 and was promoted to major general. After collapse of the Kolchak's army he was taken prisoner in early 1920 and was soon enrolled again in the Red Army and in the next 20 years mostly served as instructor and lecturer in schools, academies etc. In WWII, however, he was given combat command and ended the war as major general and commander of the 24 Guards Rifle Corps in Hungary and Slovakia. In 1949 Kruze was further promoted to lieutenant generas. So, basically, Kruze was the only man who achieved the general rank both in the White and Red Army. Most surprisingly the man who was a) former nobleman, b) former White general, c) had German name apparently didn't have any problems with NKVD purges.

[Anatol]

did russian Germans serve in red army after ww2 ?

From 1946 to 1948, there was no conscription into the Soviet Army, there was a reduction in the army, in 1949 a new law was adopted "On universal military duty..." according to him, the Germans were also conscripted into the army.

[Art]

Another relatively known officer of German descent - Erik Geptner (Hoeptner). A civil pilot before the war, he volunteered to to the Baltic Fleet Air Force and was a pilot of a torpedo bomber. Geptner and his plane didn't return from a combat mission on 1 July 1944. In 1966 Geptner was posthumously awarded a title "Hero of the Russian Federation".

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Guys,

Just to drift off topic a bit. Ausslandeutsche appear to have "gone native" in exile quite easily. The commander of the Polish Navy in 1939 was a German who had previously served in the Kaiser's navy and about one in six of the pilots of the Brazilian fighter group in Italy bore German surnames. And that is before one gets to Eisenhower, etc., in the USA.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Art]

It depends. Germans living in rural enclaves retained their language, culture and identity. Those in large cities like Petersburg and Moscow or those in Russian military or bureaucracy were more easily assimilated.