Their history deserves to be acknowledged and respected.

I’m a decedent of Volga Germans. They immigrated to to the Volga river valley in the mid-1800’s and then left between 1912-1914 due to the Bolshevik Revolution. My Great-Great Grandfather’s portrait (the one that immigrated to the US) he’s in a Russian military uniform. He considered himself Russian his whole life even though he didn’t speak the language. My other Great-Great Grandfather that immigrated to the US from another village to the US during that same time came over and started a sugar beet farm in Colorado because that’s what they grew on their farms in Russia. But when I put in my family’s DNA to Ancestry not a lick of Russian DNA in us. It’s fascinating the stories I’ve been told of that generation. I’m proud of my heritage.

My great grandparents are Volga Germans and Black Sea Germans. Many of these people who immigrated back to Germany have relatives here in United States. Too bad we're still separated 150 years later.

@hoobuddy

22 күн бұрын

My great grandparents were as well. Started here in North Dakota and Kansas. Ended up in Louisiana and Memphis. Never had anything easy in my life. Guess it runs in the family 😂. We should definitely reconnect our people at some point. Unfortunately only a few of us even know our true history and how much adversity our families went through

I am a Volga Deutsch descendant in the USA. In 1993, I worked in a German company with many young German co-workers (mostly west-German). Their attitude towards the Volga Deutsch coming to Germany at that time was less than enthusiastic. Some were outright negative and even hostile. Then, what I saw in Germany in 2015 until present still saddens me. The Germans were so enthusiastic then and still give generous benefits to foreigners with very different religions and cultures. They even build them mosques. Today's Germany still doesn't recognize the horror Volga Germans went through because of German politics of the 1930s and 40s and the destruction of our culture. The Volga Deutsch and other Germans in Russia did not favor war with Germany or Russia. Germans largely settled the Volga Gebeit because they were anti-military and against the endless wars in Germany-France. There are still millions of Volga Deutsch descendants in Russia, Khazakstan, North America and South America. I would encourage any ethnic German still in Russia or Khazakstan who still wants to leave, but doesn't because they think Germany is the only option, to come to North America or South America. You can integrate here without erasing your history.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your story. We're sorry to hear about the obstacles you've encountered in Germany, and it's true that the history of the Volga Germans is a blind spot in German society. That's why we released the video, to draw attention to it. And of course, you are allowed to criticize Germany's handling of the Volga Germans, however, we would like to ask you not to take out your frustration on other immigrants. Thanks you.

@kingofohio5689

5 ай бұрын

Deutsch? Понятно русский язык?

@mshark2205

5 ай бұрын

Why was such attitude?

@AgentDaleCooper482

5 ай бұрын

Funny how you keep spreading Afd talking points, despite claiming to be American...

@IhaveBigFeet

5 ай бұрын

Same thing in Poland, Poles exiled by Russians to Kazakhstan and our Prime Minister says we can’t give them citizenship. Meanwhile over the last 2 years, 2 million foreigners came to Poland.

I'm from Eastern Kazakhstan, and we used to have a lot of German settlements here. Most of them moved to Germany now, but some are still living here, with german surnames.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

My wife’s family is “German From Russia” that came from the Beresan district, part of the “black sea German” population between Odesa and Kherson. In the late 1800s much of the population (especially landless younger sons) chose to come to Nebraska and South Dakota. Their prosperous older siblings were very well established and stayed. I’ve read letters that told the sad saga of their fate in the 1920s. The civil war (red, white, black and green armies each looting), followed by forced famine of these prosperous farmers. They wanted to send help, but that would have been a death sentence… Many more in the family bible says “disappear to Siberia” with death date the day they were arrested. They have no idea what happened to them. So very sad.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing. We appreciate you taking the time to share your wife's family's story with our community.

@brandonconamara6662

5 ай бұрын

1918 там грабили и германские войска.

My great grandparents on my fraternal side are Germans from Russia. In Lincoln Nebraska many settled there. There is also a museum there about Germans from Russia.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@kornvondorn5275

5 ай бұрын

Do you uphold your German language and stuff?

@user-1rg9f2-g3l6d

5 ай бұрын

In high school history class, I read how ethnic Germans from Russia settled in the Great Plains, around the turn of the last century. There they introduced the red winter wheat, a hardy wheat suitable to the harsh climate and environment of the Great Plains, thus helping make the region the "breadbasket" of the US (and much of the world).

@robinleggett2448

Ай бұрын

My grandparents were Volga German immigrants. I would love to know anout that museum.

@rip_biggie4202

21 күн бұрын

Just looking into my ancestry and on both my mother and father’s side I have Germans that migrated from Russia to Germany then to America and I ended up in Nebraska as well. My great grandparents on my dad’s side settled in Oklahoma and my moms side in Kansas

My ethnic German ancestors settled in Volhynia in what is now western NW Ukraine under Catherine the Great. They emigrated to Western Canada in the 1890s. Thank you for this.

@asmirann3636

5 ай бұрын

You are Gypsies !!! Migrating from one place to another while never having a permanent home. It must be a hard life.

@asmirann3636

5 ай бұрын

@@user-84-rg9-8n2 Not necessarily. Some people live in settled societies while some others are like Gypsies. Why didn't the Chinese or Japanese migrated all over the world, despite being very old countries and people !!! This is because they are settled societies. Regards to Germans, they are most likely a Gypsy society, despite having a home country as well. If you read Roman history, it talks about Germanic tribes migrating into Roman territory. Even earlier we have evidence that these tribes were located more eastwards near Danube river and beyond, but migrated towards west later. So the tribes are not even native to Germany , but migrated somewhere from eastern Europe or may be beyond. But this migration doesn't just end in Rome. The same tribes then migrated/invaded North Africa as well. So there is a very old pattern of continuous migration that can be observed in Germans. The same happened during the age of Colonialism. Germans migrated to almost every colony. The Volga Germans first migrate to Russia, then to the Caucasian region. Later they migrate in completely opposite direction towards Canada/America. So what are they !!! This is why I wrote that they are like Gypsies. Migrating generation after generation or century after century. It seems like a very hard life, but still they are able to move to complete foreign lands.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

Volk auf dem Weg! @@asmirann3636 What I can tell you is people don't move without some outside force moving them.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

All over east Asia and central Asia there have been continous movement of people and tribes. This is why east-Asians hve similar characteristics just like Europeans have similar characterisitics. It is a world-wide phenomena In the Americas indigenous people have similar characteristics.@@asmirann3636

@jonahayers8711

5 ай бұрын

My ethnic German ancestors are also from the volhynia region. Cool to see that there are others with similar backgrounds.

I have two personal touch points with Volga Germans. One, there is a character in James Mitchener's multi-generational saga "Centennial" called Potato Brumbaugh, an immigrant from Russia who starts farming potatoes in Colorado. The other is a small museum dedicated to Volga Germans in Fresno, CA.May not exist anymore, it's been a while. What I remember are hand-drawn maps, some from the 19th century, with the names of villages and settlements with distinctly German names.

@DerekWitt

3 ай бұрын

Victoria, Kansas has a a Volga German Heritage Center. :)

i was thinking about the volga germans earlier today and the struggles that they've gone through. i hope that they can find peace, if not in the volga region, then in germany or amongst german communities internationally. thank you for quenching my thirst on this topic.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. And we're glad you liked the film. We upload documentaries regularly so don’t forget to subscribe.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

Interestingly, We, Volga Germans, don't see ourselves as "having gone through events" or have to find "peace." Volga Germans don't say the 1941 deportations were a genocide or anything like that. We simply don't see ourselves as victims. I think our strong sense of community and culture, even if we are far away from each other, more defines our mindset. We're at our best when left alone.

I highly respect and always loved Germans who lived in Kazakhstan, mostly Germans were hard working people in agriculture and might be only Europeans who speak in kazakh language and respect Kazakh culture! God bless you Germans!🇰🇿 🇩🇪

I'm not a German but that was great mini documentary. I would like you to continue to this series. Let's talk about Danziger Deutche, their foods and accent too

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Glad you liked the film. Thank you very much for your suggestion. We will forward it to our production team. We are happy to know that you enjoy our content. Greetings!

@romeoandjuliet6522

5 ай бұрын

Me too make more videis

@francesbernard2445

5 ай бұрын

I am Metis. Never heard of the phrase Danziger Deutche before. Does it have anything to do with the tribe which used to be called Dan? The mother of 2 pastors in a church I used to give and recieve help in told me it was her opinion that most Indigenous people in North America now are from the tribe which used to be called Dan. I highly doubt that is true however you just never know. There is more than one dialect of the language which is now called, "Low German."

Yes, their history worth remembering. Thank you for making this video to help us remember them.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot for watching and for your positive feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to comment and are glad you like our content!

Not just the Russian Germans, similar stories from all over eastern Europe. Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, etc..

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

I understand right after the War the Germans being "not friendly" to the ethnic German refugees. However, it is only since 2015 that they are refugee friendly but these are not ethnic Germans.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

It's true that there were German communities in many Eastern countries. @daylightmoon7285 In the discussion, it is certainly not helpful to distinguish between what you call "ethnic Germans" and others.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture Please clarify. I don't know what you are referring too. Ethnic Germans were German Speaking groups that originate in Germany but settled other parts of Europe. Are you German or of another origin? Any German would understand this term.

@star-gs9kh

5 ай бұрын

@DWHistoryandCulture of course, there is a German ethnic.

My mother's family was Black Sea German descent. They came to Argentina at the beginning of the century and settled in Epu Pell, province of La Pampa. My grandfather was Safenreider and my grandmother Metz. They were happy here and formed a large family. Many Volga Germans and Black Sea Germans settled in Argentina.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your family's story. We appreciate you taking the time to share it with our community.

@MrLaizard

12 сағат бұрын

Wolgadeutsche immigration to Argentina was MASSIVE, they make out the bulk of Deutschargentinier, folllowed in much minor proportion by Deutsch-Schweizer, Donauschwaben, Sudetendeutsche, Banatdeutsche and Alt-Oesterreicher

In the early 80s I served in the army with guys from northern Kazakhstan. They grew up and lived next to the Germans, then in Kazakhstan German villages alternated with Russian ones. Despite this, they lived very amicably; many families were mixed. In general, they told only good things about the German community. The Germans are a very labor-loving nation and therefore their villages were considered rich and prosperous. In the 90s, when the Soviet Union collapsed, its inhabitants were overwhelmed by poverty and many Germans left for Germany. Once upon a time I watched a film about them. Many of the older generation were disappointed, it seems to me more because of the difference in mentality; after all, they are more Russian than German. The young people have probably assimilated, but it’s better if they talk about it themselves.

@iche9373

5 ай бұрын

Sir, you just can’t generalize or stereotype that Germans are labor-loving people. It’s cultural racist by saying that. Don’t you think that’s cynical?

@tomsmith5488

5 ай бұрын

​@@iche9373 sorry, but i disagree. People should not censor what or how they want to say for fear of some perceived transgression. The world would be a better place if we spoke honestly and openly, and did not fabricate all sorts of reasons why not to.

@iche9373

5 ай бұрын

Generalizing people based on their nationality, including Germans, can indeed be problematic and lead to biases or stereotypes. Such generalizations often rely on simplistic assumptions about an entire group of people, without considering the diversity, individual differences, and complexities of each person. It's important to understand that culture, views, and personalities within a group of people cannot be fully defined solely by their nationality. This approach can be seen as culturally insensitive or racially biased, as it relies on stereotypical assumptions or prejudices about a specific culture or nationality. Generalizing people based on their nationality can lead to misunderstandings, discrimination, and prejudices. It's crucial to consider each person as an individual and be aware that the diversity within a culture can be as vast as between different cultures. Respect, tolerance, and openness towards others are essential to appreciate cultural diversity and avoid perpetuating stereotypes.

@zg104

5 ай бұрын

Kazakhstan was a place of exile for various nations from Koreans to Meskheti Turks and Chechens. Many Russophones traditionally live in the north, either from Cossack past as frontiersmen or from Soviet industrialization, and former president Nazarbaev as a factory engineer learnt metallurgy from Russians etc.

@tomsmith5488

5 ай бұрын

@@iche9373 apologies, i agree with you about generalisation. I was referring to communication without fear of being called racist or whatever. Basically, we should just be open and honest and say it. We can't forsee everyone's sensitivities, or even censor ourselves based on all sorts of perceptions. A great footeballer, Eusebio was asked if he got upset being called black. He replied something to the effect that he was black, and he was'nt going to let them get to him.

I am from Georgia, where there have been several big German settlements since the 1800s. Despite Stalin's ethnic purges and resettlements, the traces of German livelihood were still noticeable and tangible. One of the best examples of this is the town of Elisabethtal-Asureti. This small but beautiful German town still shines as the best example of how German life was during their lives.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@kornvondorn5275

5 ай бұрын

Dear Giorgi, thanks for sharing. What's the current name of the town in Georgia?

"Germans From Russia" is the largest ethnic group in North Dakota.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. It is true that an estimated 30-40% of North Dakota’s population has German-Russian ancestry.

@jonlenihan4798

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture There are "Germans From Russia" history courses at UND (University of North Dakota), and a museum, located in Bismarck, ND, the state capitol. The American Historical Society of Germans From Russia is located two states south of North Dakota, in Lincoln, Nebraska. In the US midwest, one encounters old time cemeteries with elaborate wrought-iron grave markers.They are a Germans From Russia traditional art.

@Ukraineaissance2014

5 ай бұрын

I watched something about the interesting churches they built there Germans were by far the largest ethnic group in the US after British colonialist ancestors. German was at one point spoken as much as English in the the US

@user-1rg9f2-g3l6d

5 ай бұрын

It sounds similar to the Scot-Irish settlements in Appalachia, the South and Great Lakes region.

@hisownfool1

5 ай бұрын

@@Ukraineaissance2014 Well into the 20th century, New York was the third largest German speaking city in the world after Berlin and Vienna,

As a Russian German living in Germany I can say that many comments here are true, the Germans in Germany did not accept us as their own and until these day there are many prejudices. But I honestly don’t think it is their fault: 1) We were centuries apart and even though we have the same cultural background, it evolved obviously differently 2) The German government did not teach our history or who we are and why we came AT ALL. They just let the situation be 3) Through centuries and Russia + Soviet gov repressions, we were russified by force. It was not allowed to speak German, our churches were closed, our schools as well. While my grandmother couldn’t speak Russian, her daughter (my mom) couldn’t speak German. After the war it went down in like a generation. Obviously the Russians hated the Germans and our people wanted to fit in in order to survive 4) We had wrong expectations. We didn’t think it through that the real Germans are by now completely different people than we are. We always identified as Germans in Russia. That was clear as death to us. When we came to Germany we honestly thought we will come to our own. We were wrong, because we became different people. 5) The migration and realization became a self identity crisis for almost everyone. After the Germans called us „Russians“ we just accepted this new identity, even though with real Russians/Ukrainians we say that we are Germans. That was then. Now we see that our people integrated very well and a big chunk is highly assimilated. No one in my Family born after 2000 identifies as a Russian or speaks Russian at all.

@MrLaizard

12 сағат бұрын

Long story told short, Germany is ABSOLUTLEY UNLIVEABLE, for anyone....... unless you are a hungering displaced african (with all due respect to our african "Mitmenschen"), I would never make Krautland eligible for a life project...and I (Argie) have austrian and german roots, was often enough in Germany so I feel am entitled enough to share mi view on this By the way, where I grew up in Argentina we were surrounded by Wolgadeutsche descendants and I must reckon they were all incredibly decent, hard working, ernest and lovely people

I'm Russian-German, I'm 20 and have two citizenships and was born and lived in Russia, but after war began I moved to Germany and feel finally at home. My grandfather was repressed in Siberia, then in Kazakhstan.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for sharing your personal story with us. Sending you all the best

@taghiabiri3489

4 ай бұрын

Welcome, and take care! Every new start is difficult and always different as you first thought. But after some time it will turn out well. Greetings from Switzerland

@olegshtolc7245

4 ай бұрын

Im russian german too and you are a traitor. We should stay and oppose putin here, bc as failed ukranian counter offence showed us , only we , the various people of russia can stop this war

@user-sx1eq7ev9e

4 ай бұрын

@@olegshtolc7245 why am I a “traitor”?

@nadinwong9520

3 ай бұрын

ich bin auch Wolga deutsche und wir sind alle für Russland.

Thank you for bringing light to these people's struggles.

My grandpa was born in a German settlement in Russia (Black Sea Region, now Crimea.) Immigrated to Canada in approx 1952. Such an interesting watch- thank you!

@DWHistoryandCulture

4 ай бұрын

It is always very interesting to hear your stories. Thank you very much for sharing!

@achatcueilleur5746

3 ай бұрын

Your grandpa was born in Ukraine but didn't know that only orthodox church goers had a right to own the land in Russia.

This was a very interesting, enjoyable and informative video and reading the comments was very good interesting showing how we are all connected in some way. Thank you all.

Excellent documentary, discovering our history. 👌

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! We're glad you liked the documentary. Subscribe to our channel for the latest uploads.

The most extensive Volga German records including cultire, geneology and history are housed In Lincoln, Nebraska, USA at the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR). The AHSGR was started in the 1970s by the relentless work of a distant cousin of mine, Ruth Amen. Our family originates in Frank, Russia and further back in Hesse, Germany. The AHSGR has professional librarians, translators and reseachers. Their records are extensive and include detailed Eastern European and Russian records. They also include all Eastern European origin Germans. For people in Entre Rios, Argentina and other provinces, they have the records you are looking for.

@woodbutcherjohn

5 ай бұрын

My Grandmother's family is from Frank and my Grandfather is from Balzer. I think those places have been renamed.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@woodbutcherjohn These villages are still there. They just have different inhabitants. The houses are still there. There was a big church in the town but it is in very bad shape. In soviet times the churches were turned into industrial use buildings. Before the Ukraine war, we were able to visit the area. The Russians promoted this kind of tourism. I think on Russian maps Frank is called Medvedvitsa (I'm not sure).

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing. It's certainly interesting for many other viewers.

@zg104

5 ай бұрын

Where is the Frank you mentioned? Never heard of it in Russia.

@BradBolton-wq6ub

5 ай бұрын

Many of the Lutherans from Frank Russia (i think Saratov area) settled in Lincoln Nebraska. They built a scale model of their church in the “south bottoms” neighborhood southwest of the state capital downtown by the rail yard. Friedens ELCA. This is right across the street from the Germans from Russia museum. My wife and I were married there!

Best mix no doubt

I met a Russian German here in California in the 1990's. He was a friend of a friend visiting me from Munich. His name was KinderVater he was originally from the Ural Mountains. He grew up just outside the Gulag his father had been sent to during the 2nd world war. Immigrated to Germany in the early 1990s. His father was in the Russian army outside Stalingrad and was told to report to the camp. We drove to just outside Fresno CA from to the Bay Area to meet a relative of his whose name was KinderVater. The road to the Ranch was named KinderVater. They had their own runway and hanger. The American KinderVater restores old World War 2 planes for air shows as a hobby. He had a Messerschmitt, another German plane and a couple American planes. Nice people, it was an interesting trip. Struck me KinderVater fighting for the American, Russian and German armies during WW2. It was interesting to learn the history as well.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

Great documentary! My great grandparents immigrated from Yagodnaya Polyana, Saratov Oblast, to Washington state and grew wheat outside of Endicott. I was fortunate to know them and grow up with their stories of their lives and all they had seen and experienced. Thank you for this!

@DWHistoryandCulture

29 күн бұрын

Thanks for sharing a bit of your family history with us.

Thank you, very interesting.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! We're glad you liked the documentary. We kindly remind you to adhere to our netiquette guidelines and comment in English. This allows the community to participate in constructive discussions. You can find our guidelines in the information box of our videso or by visiting the following link: p.dw.com/p/MF1G

Some of my ancestors were Mennonites Germans who fled from the port of Odesa to Saskatchewan, Canada in the 1890s when the Russian tsar burnt our village to the ground. It’s very well documented in family journals. If the Ukrainians didn’t get my ancestors out of the genocide I wouldn’t exist. During the first Holodomor we took in Ukrainian refugees.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing parts of your family history with us and our community!

@georgemilicevic2304

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. What's ironic is that Tsar Nicholas II was hardly Slavic Russian by blood (less than 2%). He was mainly German by blood and was, it is well know, the 2nd cousin of Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II. From the mid-1700s onward, most of Imperial Russia's tsars/tsarinas were mainly German by blood even though they identified as Russian. And some, notably Tsar Paul I, were actually very pro-Prussian (and pro-German more generally).

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

The Volga Deutsch suffered enormously under the Holodomor. The Mennonites were a well respected group among all Russian German communities.

@zg104

5 ай бұрын

Must be strange as Romanov dynasty was themselves German to a great degree, Nicholas II having 1/128 Russian blood in him. Peter I 's disobedient counter reform son the unfortunate Alexis was married to a German princess, Peter III was paternally German, and officially all the following tsars were his lineage.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@zg104 I don't know the Romanov geneology but I'm sure they thought of themselves as Russian royalty. They were Russia. They were in no way concerned with a bunch of farmers on the steppe. It was Catherine's grandson who revoked her manifesto which gave the Volga Deutsch things like freedom from military conscription, freedom to establish their own schools, freedom to use the German language, etc. Very few Volga Deutsch spoke Russian. They weren't forced to speak Russian until 1941. Then the German language was outlawed until 1956. In spite of these historical facts, the Volga Germans liked their lives in Russia, Kazahkstan, etc. In 1992-93 many went to Germany but many returned to Russia also.

Vielen Dank ❤

Wow, great video

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! We're glad you liked the documentary. Subscribe to our channel for the latest uploads.

I’d love to see something similar about Tyrol and a breakdown of the present status of German in Italy. This short documentary is fantastic!

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! We're glad you liked this short documentary. Subscribe to our channel for the latest uploads.

@user-1rg9f2-g3l6d

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture If you haven't already done so (and even if you have), DW should also make documentaries about the Amish or "Pennsylvania Dutch" (Deutsch).

@walsch80

5 ай бұрын

I'm from Welschtirol. My ancestors were from Germany and Bohemia (german settlers too). Here, we are completely italianized and remins just a little area where people maintain the german dialect alive. Personally? My grandfather wouldn't teach german to my dad because after WWII, the situation was complicated for all ethnic germans around the world. Here in Italy, the german minority was pretty preserved. Especially in South Tyrol. Me? I lived years in South Tyrol, and there I felt at home. Now I speak german and I am proud to be one ethnic german in Italy.

@asmirann3636

5 ай бұрын

​@@walsch80In Germany, people like you are disliked. Not you exactly, but foreign origin people who still maintain their language or culture. German idea of integration and assimilation is complete destruction of the foreign culture and language. Even when that is done, many foreign origin people are still foreigners because of blood, religion or race. And some people can never ever be integrated in Germany, these are Non-European or dark skinned people. Its really funny that Germans or Germany has been such a big source of migrants across the world, with Germans migrating to completely alien and far off countries. These German migrants have been accepted and assimilated in those foreign lands. But back home in Germany, the same Germans have the most xenophobic culture since centuries.

@walsch80

5 ай бұрын

@asmirann3636 If you don't like Germany, it's simple: return to your country. Me? Yes, unfortunately, people like me are hated. Do you know why? Because germans are rieducated. After WWII, they were under the winners. Winners decided to destroy Germany and substitute germans in 100 years. And this is a fact. But mio germans are bored to see this criminal plan actuated. Now they are bored to see strangers around. They are bored to see their country under invasion. Remember that people like me traveled a lot. I speak italian, spanish, portuguese, english, german and a little bit romenian and ukranian. I am not scared to say clearly that in Europe, we are starting national movements that can finish this craziness of mass immigration. We are white, christians and european patriots. Holland is finally the first nation on our side. Sooner could be Germany with AfD. From time to time. For the scumxxx that we have in our lands soon could start the end! That day, I'll be the happiest man on the planet. Oriana Fallaci spoke clearly, and people like me can't say anything more about this. Our nations are giving too much. Now Italy, for example, is a nightmare. Everywhere blacks and arabs are giving noise and committing crimes smiling in front of police too. In the right nation, they should be simply suppressed without any process. Europe sooner or later will return to the normality.

This sort of topic always fascinates me-ethnic groups building enclaves far away elsewhere like the welsh speakers in argentina. Id be interested to see about the german settlers of the balkans (slovenia and crostia mainly I believe)

@carolinecerovski7358

5 ай бұрын

Why are you interested in the German settlers of the Balkans; Slovenia and Croatia? I was born in Croatia. I understood that after the Second World War Tito got rid of most of the German’s in former Yugoslavia. Their property and houses were taken away from them, and given to the local people. Most of them were forced to move to other countries.

@Ukraineaissance2014

5 ай бұрын

@@carolinecerovski7358 yes most of them were ejected. I find ethnic enclaves interesting. They were accused of working with the ustasha. I have no idea how true that is

@serbianwarrior385

5 ай бұрын

Slovenia and Serbia,not much Croatia

@serbianwarrior385

5 ай бұрын

​@@carolinecerovski7358Slovenia and Serbia*.Serbia had 260k Germans while Croatia had barely 10k😂Exactly Tito and commies expelled all Germans

@JamieBar

5 ай бұрын

There's a sizeable community of Saxons who settled in Romania during the Renaissance.

This was a very well created video with high interest content! I wonder if there could be a documentary on the Germans from Prussia with the struggles they faced with wars, emigration and loss of their lands, culture and identity?

@severmiu9097

5 ай бұрын

You mean Russia.

@krisjustin3884

5 ай бұрын

@@severmiu9097 Modern day Russia and Poland.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We will forward it to our production team. We are glad to know that you enjoy our content. Greetings!

@stuartbailey9287

5 ай бұрын

@@severmiu9097 No this one was about the Germans in Russia. Prussia - think Frederick the Great, Bismark etc - was the founding Kingdom of a united Germany. But after 1945 what in many ways was the heart land of the German state was lost to Russia and Poland. Its towns and cities re-named and its German population which had not already fled the advance of the Red Army were exiled to the remaining bits of Germany. No doubt very upsetting for the German population of Prussia but in many ways easier to understand - as in if you start a war and really upset the neighbours bad things happen - than the Russian-Germans crushed between two conflicting Nationalisms.

Fascinating story. I know that I can always depend on DW for educating its viewers. Thank you

Very nice video 📹 👍 👌. .ww2 and cold war brought misery to both the nations

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and we're glad you liked the film. We upload documentaries regularly so don’t forget to subscribe.

После 2015 года идёт миграция из Германии в Россию, от 3 до 5 тысяч человек в год переезжают из Германии в Россию

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to comment. We kindly ask our viewers on this channel to engage with topics in English so that both DW and the community have the chance to respond. For further information, please refer to DW's netiquette policy: p.dw.com/p/MF1G Thanks for watching!

@metanoian965

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture Translation in nearly every language is available in one click.

@europeets

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture Болеете? На русский язык аллергия?

Very sad story 😢 life is so painfill

They all went to Dakotas and Canada. Met some German Russians from Manitoba four months ago .Got out in early 50s Lovely peoples

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

@leonastarkelstarchick8816

Ай бұрын

My family were along the southern Volga. Mother village. Norka

I'm from Buenos Aires Argentina. My mother's family were Volga-Germans. They came to Argentina around de 1880's to the province of Entre Rios, where there are still colonies of Volga-Germans. My great inheritance has been the evangelical Christian faith that I received from them. I would like to know more about them, but I have only been able to find birth, marriage and death certificates in the province of Entre Rios. The oldest certificates show that their nationality was "Russian" and that they came from Saratov. I would like to know more about who they were in Russia and where they emigrated from in Germany. God Bless

@iche9373

5 ай бұрын

Evangelical? So you are ultra conservative according to the FR German constitution?

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

The AHSGR (American Historical Society of Germans from Russia) have the info you want. Just search "AHSGR"

@omessiasdogol

5 ай бұрын

La familia de mi abuelo paterno también era alemana del Volga, pero de fé católica y no evangélica. Yo todavía no pude encontrar nada sobre esa parte de mi familia. Lo poco que se es que mi bisabuela vino a una edad bastante jóven para Argentina (16 años, más o menos) y de que mi bisabuelo se fué con sus hermanos tomando caminos separados. En el caso de mi bisabuelo, él terminó en la provincia de Buenos Aires, mientras que sus hermanos pudieron terminar en Entre Ríos o el sur de Brasil.

@omessiasdogol

5 ай бұрын

​@@daylightmoon7285I'll take your advice. Danke 👍🏻

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@omessiasdogol Espero que esta información ayude. Siempre estamos felices de saber de nuestros amigos en Argentina y Brasil.

Two things I want to mention: 1. Russian Germans have the highest level of education of all migrants, illustrating how identity matters. 2. “They were given citizenship” makes it sound like we were something else. In the Soviet Union and then the independent states themselves Germans were Germans. We had no Soviet or Kazakh Passport. Maybe some had it after the fall of the iron curtain but under the Soviet Union it wasn’t even possible.

@igelusurbanis1475

5 ай бұрын

Have you any evidence or statistics confirming your first comment? Your second comment has to be deleted: Germans in the Soviet Union and later in independent states have had of course passports and were/are citizens of these countries. Think a second - what passport your parents have presented at the German border as they came from USSR/Russia/Kazakhstan?

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@igelusurbanis1475 This is complicated and depends on the time period. Everybody had an identity card (papers) which would clearly list "German" on the document. There were special rules for ethnic Germans until 1956. No passports were issued to ethnic Germans before 1956. After 1956, something like a passport would have to be arranged at or near the time of departure. For all practical purposes, ethnic Germans were not able to leave until after 1989.

@metanoian965

5 ай бұрын

@@daylightmoon7285 Who in the Soviets was allowed to have a passport on request ? Germans always have crocodile tears over distorted facts to suit themselves

@Politik-mit-Kopf

5 ай бұрын

@@igelusurbanis1475 1. This can be looked up rather easily through google. 2. It’s funny how you say my comment is wrong and needs deletion while clearly showing yourself that you don’t know. We had to proof to German authorities beforehand that were eligible for relocation and once granted, this was our documents that enabled entering Germany. We had no Russian or Soviet or Kazakh passport. Ever. And again, there has also been a difference between nationality and citizenship in the Soviet Union.

Olga Wagner has an interesting german dialect! I wonder if they spoke like that in the 19th century, or if she has a little accent and changes in language.

As a Volga German-Russian, I feel more Russian than I do German, I speak in Russian, my values are Russian, my family for the past 300 years lived and integrated with Russians in Russia. Yes, some of my ancestors came from Germany but I overall feel more Russian.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your family's story. We appreciate you taking the time to share it with our community.

Dona Olga, muitíssimo obrigada por ter dividido esta parte da história de sua vida com nosco o, passado é muito importante para que possamos compreender o presente e até arriscar um palpite para o futuro para a manutenção da carne humana na terra, Gratidão, Amilcar 60 anos, pescador Brasil, Um abraço e tudo de bom !

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot for watching. We appreciate you taking the time to comment and are glad you like our content! We kindly ask our viewers on this channel to engage with topics in English so that both DW and the community have the chance to respond. For further information, please refer to DW's netiquette policy: p.dw.com/p/MF1G Thanks for watching!

cool video! I would be interested in seeing more videos exploring Germans that lived outside of Germany - such as those in the Caucasus, Baltics, Balkans, Sudetes and Carpathians (basically Eastern Europe). perhaps an exploration of Sorbian Lusatian history would be interesting as well, I do not see much content concerning that online.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Glad you liked the film. And thank you very much for your suggestions. We will forward them to our production team. We are happy to know that you enjoy our content. Greetings!

@user-1rg9f2-g3l6d

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture You ought to make a doc about the ethnic Germans in Romania, or the "Transylvanian Saxons", who had lived in the region since the Middle Ages, and built many German-style towns, villages, cathedrals and castles! At one time they numbered ca 800k. And Romania's current president is Klaus Iohannis.

@serbianwarrior385

5 ай бұрын

Sorbs are Serbs!

@pookapine

5 ай бұрын

@@serbianwarrior385 once, a long while ago

@serbianwarrior385

5 ай бұрын

@@pookapine I know😔

i Read All the 132 comments Really Enjoy the video

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Glad you liked the film. We upload documentaries regularly so don’t forget to subscribe.

@romeoandjuliet6522

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture ok 👌 thanks

Lots of Germans of USSR moving back from Germany back to Russia. They posting video's here According to their experience life in Russia better than in Germany

Linguistically interesting that in English you used the literal translation from German "Russian-Germans". For me, this emphasizes being German. Like others have already commented, in North America we tend to say Germans from Russia, and similarly this syntax also emphasizes being German. Colloqually in my family and in my home area, I hear more often German-Russians in English. Could be a shortened form of the long Germans from Russia. Otherwise, maybe history impacted it? One of my grandmothers used to talk about being German-Russian during WWII in Northern Colorado. You emphasized the Russian part during the war (even though they didn't speak a word of Russian). Men were even arrested for being suspected German spies. Shortly after the war, they had to switch again to emphasizing the German part of their origins so they wouldn't be considered "commies" or communists. Maybe social pressure helped the word order switch in English to become the norm in my area?? In any case, thanks for sharing history about Germans from Russia ❤

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing! Your story highlights how migrants often have to adapt to changing geopolitical relations in order to not be perceived as "foreign" and which puts a lot of pressure on the communities.

@zg104

5 ай бұрын

Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a Russian early 20 century adventurous Russian author was during the war in the Caucasus against Turkey given a bunch of German farmer recruits to train as a drill sergeant and he wrote that knowing standard German from school he couldn't communicate with them properly because they spoke a dialect.

@BradBolton-wq6ub

5 ай бұрын

I noticed this as well. In English we here in America call them “Germans from Russia”, but in German they themselves used the term “Russian-Deutch”, as opposed to their “Reichs-Deutch” neighbors that came to America directly from the fatherland without a roughly century stopover in Russia. At least in Nebraska, the two didn’t get along well. Reichs-Deutch looked down on the Russ-Deutch as very backward, rural savage vulgar country bumpkins speaking archaic dialects… while the Russ Deutch saw the Reichs Deutch as being pompous, arrogant, city slickers that had given up too much of their heritage for modern cosmopolitan life.

@degrelle1

5 ай бұрын

In germany we actually dont call them russian german, but russia german (russlanddeutsche) which translates more or less to germans from russia.

@maureenstevens6824

4 ай бұрын

As an American, I believe anyone who has citizenship in America should be American- whatever your ethnic background, ie...German-Russian or African and so forth. I am sorry if this makes me sound arrogant or insensitive because I don't mean to be. Your ancestors had/did suffer a great deal and to work so very hard through so much to get here to make a future for their families I just think your present citizenship should be first which ever country you are in.

My grandmother is a Wolga German, and none of our family were prosecuted in the USSR! Yes, she and her mother were sent to the work camp, the so called "Labor-army". But not because they were german! Many people in the USSR were sent to work camps, in order to direct construction of mines, factories and other important infrastructure to wage war. The war was very intense, so much that many civilians had to work under such terrible conditions. Her father was also Wolga German, and he served in the red army. He served as a regular soldier with medical training. He was handled just as harsh as all the other soldiers in the war! He survived the Great Patriotic War, but he died in the Soviet-Japanese War. He saved 100s of lives by carrying soldiers out of no-man's-land at night, and treating their wounds. I can say, that there was no such discrimination or prosecution against Wolga Germans in the USSR. There was some fear and paranoia by some pseudo intellectuals that might have spread to other minds, but it was exactly those people who were prosecuted and then shown how wrong they were thinking!

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your family's story. We appreciate you taking the time to share their experiences with our community. Your family has had their story, but let's not forget that there are also other accounts and experiences. These are very personal stories, so we should not generalize.

My paternal grandfather's family was Volga German with Catholic faith. I still couldn't find anything about that part of my family. The little I know is that my great-grandmother came at a fairly young age to Argentina (16 years, more or less) and that my great-grandfather left Russia (probably because of Russian Civil War and WWI) with his brothers, going their separate ways. In the case of my great-grandfather, he ended up in the province of Buenos Aires, while his brothers could have ended up in Entre Ríos or in the southern region of Brazil.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your family's story. We appreciate you taking the time to share their experiences with our community.

@omessiasdogol

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture No problem 👍🏻

@MrLaizard

12 сағат бұрын

Most of the Wolgadeutsche who emigrated into Brazil could not cope with the tropical climate and proceeded to re-emigrate into central Argentina (Provinces of Entre Rios, Buenos Aires and La Pampa)

My ancestors were Volga German. They managed to escape from a colony several miles outside of Saratov in the 1870s. They settled in western Kansas. I read of persecution by the Imperial government. Nothing changed after Czar Alexander II abolished serfdom. A few years ago, I contacted the Catholic Bishop of Saratov. He’s also the Bishop of Munich. I asked him about any remaining records of Volga Germans. He unfortunately didn’t know. We both suspected those records were destroyed by Stalin before or during WWII. It’s disheartening to see very little evidence of these colonies along the Volga River left on Google Maps.

@DWHistoryandCulture

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing this with us and our community.

Im descended from Volga Germans. Migrated to Iowa and then Wisconsin around ww1

Gibts den Beitrag auch auf deutsch, ohne englischen Sprecher? Wäre glaube ich ganz hilfreich. In der Sovietunion stand English nicht auf dem Lehrplan, zumindest nicht bei meiner Mutter und ich glaube sie würde der Beitrag interessieren.

My respect from Russia to German people.❤ Yes, you devastaded our country, BUT before that you did soooo many cool things here! 👏👏👏

@tancreddehauteville764

5 ай бұрын

Well, the Nazis devastated the western regions of your country, and the Nazis were German, but not all Germans were Nazis.

@omessiasdogol

5 ай бұрын

​@@MrSoulDevourerN-zis like the Wagner Group in Russia.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@omessiasdogol Wagner Group is a Russian organization.

@metanoian965

5 ай бұрын

What ?

My grt grandparents were Germans from Russia and moved to the US late 1800. Thank God they left before the many horrible things happened to those who stayed. Leona Starkel

Thank you for this very interesting yet little known story of a migration with vast consequences for European and world history!

Very interesting. My great grandfather, Gerhard End, a German Mennonite who was forced to immigrate to Canada from the Ukraine in 1890. He eventually became a member of Parliament in the 1st Saskatchewan Parliament in 1911.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your family's story. We appreciate you taking the time to share it with our community.

i had russian german ancestors but they emigrated to canada before ww1

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for sharing your family's history with us. Sending you all the best

I´m Argentine of Volga German descent like Heinze (footballer) or Sergio Denis (his real surname was Hoffmann) and my parents spoke German at home when they didn´t want me to understand what they were saying. My father´s parents were Catholic and very religious, so they had to pray in German and Latin before eating. Greetings from Entre Ríos, Argentina

@DWHistoryandCulture

29 күн бұрын

Thanks for sharing part of your family history with us and our community!

@greenbelly2008

29 күн бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCulture You are welcome.

History is never over

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

Ich moechte das Museum in Detmold besuchen. Hoffentlich kann ich das im kommenden Jahr tun. Ist jemanden hier auch da gewesen? Lohnt es sich dieses Museum zu besuchen? Braucht man einige Stunden um alles zu studieren? Danke

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to comment. We kindly ask our viewers on this channel to engage with topics in English so that both DW and the community have the chance to respond. For further information, please refer to DW's netiquette policy: p.dw.com/p/MF1G Thanks for watching!

Excellent video! What about the Black Sea Germans? I would love to know more about this group.

@BradBolton-wq6ub

5 ай бұрын

This group came a bit after the Volga Germans… 1810-15 or so. Odesa/Kherson region primarily, then as these grew, they set up daughter colonies in Zaporezhia and Crimea. My wife’s family is from the Worms/Rohrbach colonies in Beresan district.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

We're glad you liked the documentary. Thank you very much for your suggestion. We will forward it to our production team. We are glad to know that you enjoy our content. Subscribe to our channel for the latest uploads. Greetings!

❤

Do you have a German language KZread Channel ?

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for asking. We do! Here is a selection of various KZread channels in German language from DW: www.youtube.com/@dwdeutsch www.youtube.com/@dwdoku/featured

Из видео может создаться впечатление, будто бы только немцам хреново жилось в начале 20 века в СССР, но наверное правильно было бы упомянуть что жилось хреново вообще всем, вне зависимости от национальности.

To me it is very annoying that you dubbed an old women. Let me hear what she says in her own language. Only subtitle it into high German and English. She has a right to be heard in her own voice. And than the German speaking girl at 1:14 is dubbed as well. Please stop doing that. Respect someones culture and language! DW! Danke.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

We are sorry to hear that you are bothered by the dubbed version - we aim to make our videos understandable for all viewers on this channel, and the primary language is English. This is not a disregard for the respective culture of the individuals featured in our videos but rather a decision based on making our content accessible to a broad audience. Thank you for understanding.

@addeenen7684

5 ай бұрын

@@DWHistoryandCultureIf you use two speakers at the same time, it is not understandable. Just a mash of sounds... And why not let the old lady speak and translate it. Everybody can read, but only the lady can speak.

@stephenmallary4865

5 ай бұрын

@dwhistoryandculture, I’m a native English speaker and I watch your channels more than anything else, but I agree with those asking for subtitles instead of voiceovers. I’m assuming a huge portion of your audience is interested in the German language; I do still want English content, for the sake of ease, but I’d rather interviews remain VO. I’d also really like to see as much content as possible also available in German (maybe even link the German version in the description). Since it’s my regular entertainment and news source, I’d still mostly watch the English version (for now), but I also like the listening comprehension help of the German versions (and they’re higher-quality and more interesting than most other options).

I always found it fascinating why a German family would emigrate to Russian Empire / Soviet Union. Black Sea Germans etc.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

@MrLaizard

12 сағат бұрын

At that time (XVII Century) the German Lands were terrible impoverished

My ancestors from both sides of my family were Volga Germans. Often times when I talked to my grandparents they would talk about how their grandparents’ family members would be there and the next day gone. Would this have been the Russian Secret Police at the time?

Hermann Gräf - is a head of the Russian central bank (SberBank), Alexey Miller - the head of Gazprom.. there are a lot of Russian Germans in Russia at the moment

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

Sometimes people still say "back home in Russia" "dahaom in Russland" when referring to Russia. Russia is a special part of who we are.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for mentioning.

@MrLaizard

12 сағат бұрын

@@daylightmoon7285 Its actually "dahoam"

There's a lot of hate in comment section for Russian-germans and russians. Is this how generally most germans view too? Hatred?

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for commenting. We also addressed the relationship between Russian-Germans and people living in Germany in the video.

@MrLaizard

12 сағат бұрын

Most Wolgadeutsche I know could never ever live in the wavelenght of nowadays Germany, thet prefer to stay in Argentina

My wife's great-grandparents left Russia in 1908 and emigrated to the USA. First they went to Milwaukee, then Kansas, and finally Missouri.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

Add the story of the Prussian refugees that has been silenced for too long

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We will forward it to our production team. We are glad to know that you enjoy our content. Greetings!

Please do a documentary about the Transylvanian Saxons and Banat Swabians 🇩🇪! One of them is the current president of Romania 🇷🇴. Two of them, Hertha Müller and Stefan Hell, received the Nobel prize for Litterature and Chemistry, respectively.

Early into the Soviet years ethnic diversity WAS recognised, and peoples including Volga Germans were given nominal autonomy and designated regions, and only later some ethnicities were deemed possible or actual traitors and deported to inland Central Asia.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

Yes. In 1924 the Bolsheviks established the Autonomous Soviet German Republik and it ended in August 1941. All Volga Germans were deported to the east.

@zg104

5 ай бұрын

@@daylightmoon7285 like Russian Finns from northwest. After recapturing territories by the Red Army in 1944 other ethnicities were accused of actual collaboration with Nazis and deported: from Crimean Tatars to Kalmyks and Chechens. Some returned to homelands in 1950s after Stalin passed away, others under Gorbachev, increasing tensions with people who were relocated to these peoples ' lands.

@zg104

5 ай бұрын

@@daylightmoon7285 two cities/ town in the Volga German region were given German Communist names: Marx and Engels. Engels is probably still there, it makes trolleybuses for other Russian cities. Another German Communist name - of Ernest Thalmann was given to a German village near Kolpino, a suburban town of Saint Petersburg.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for commenting. In this short video, unfortunately, we could not delve into the history of the Soviet Union but focused on the history of Russian-Germans using the example of the Wagner family. However, perhaps the history of ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union could be the subject of a future video. Thank you for watching.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

@@zg104 Yes. I know. Engels is a center of Russian German culture and is known for their efforts to display this. It is worth visiting.

Think Video could have mentioned that Catherine the Great of Russia who invited the Germans to settle on lands in the Ukraine and on the Volga lands her armies had recently captured from the Ottomans and others was a German herself and also invited in many other nationalities to settle. So her foundation of Odessa was built by a Frenchman in her service and mostly settled by Germans, Poles, Jews and merchants from many lands. Which makes Putin claim that a City founded by a German, built by a Frenchman and settled by all sorts or land taken off the Ottoman Turks is 100% Russian somewhat interesting.

Can I ask something to this channel's admin? This question I have might be something controversial but here it goes: What was the opinion of Volga-German people towards National-Socialism and everything related to it? I ask this as a descendent from Volga-German immigrants who came to Argentina.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

The Germans started leaving central West Europe in 1766 mainly to avoid military conscription. You have to remember in 1916 the Bolsheviks took over in Russia. Until then, most Volga German priests, ministers, teachers, etc. were educated in Germany. In 1916, that changed and ended the Volga connection to Germany. The Volga Germans were only vaguely aware of the politics of Nazi Germany because the German language newspapers were censored by the Bolsheviks. Even when the Nazi Germans occupied Stalingrad, the local Volga Deutsch were friendly with them but they didn't join the German military or provide any special support. Volga Germans were historically skeptical of militaries and military conscription. It is part of our culture. Interestingly, it wasn't until later during the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) that the German high command recognized there were some Volga Deutsch conscripted by the Russians and they were to be treated as VolksDeutsch if captured among the Russians. The average German soldier didn't usually see it that way and treated them as a curiosity because of their German dialects. We only started leaving Russia in 1878 because that is the year the Czar withdrew our exemption from military service.. Please Note: I am telling this from what was told to me so there could be some minor differences of dates, etc.

You can make this same video about Poles scattered across Russia and Kazakhstan please?

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for your suggestions. We will forward it to our production team. We are happy to know that you enjoy our content. Greetings!

Curious the Crimean War is mentioned, and that it involved Russia. But Crimea is, and always has been, Ukrainian, not Russian, right?

@europeets

5 ай бұрын

Ложь

The most interesting part of their story is that German farming colonists never immigrated to Russia, but to Ukraine only.

Read a book Forgotten Lands by Max Ergamont, could re-read it brilliant real life story of an emigre in England that as an adult discovered he had a native German different surname...

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

In the late 1800s thousands of German Mennonites living in Russia, left and settled in the plains states and western Canada. There were many in Kansas.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

My great grandparents were Black Sea Germans and Transylvanian Saxon. The Olheiser and Goetz families. There were at least a dozen siblings in each family, and several marriages between those siblings. The Olheiser family left Odessa around 1900 and settled in North Dakota, and then after great grandpa Anton Goetz was conscripted into the Russian Army before WWI, great-great Opa Dominic Goetz made the travel plans to get the hell outta there. Anton came home on routine family leave, and Dominic told him they weren’t staying. Anton was apparently very wary of the plan, as it meant certain death for the whole family if they were caught. Nevertheless, off to Bremen they went, caught a ship to Liverpool, and then across to Nova Scotia, and from there they made their way down to where the Olheiser’s were already settled in Strasbourg ND. Our family was also helped by the Welk family… Lawrence being my cousin, which I heard about every damn time that show came on the tv. I can still hear the German spoken by my grandparents when I was a kid in the 70s. I also still remember the anti German sentiments that ran strong in America. And how I wasn’t to repeat anything discussed by my elders in school. I mean, they remained ardently loyal to the German nation and people, so I get it now. They were also hardcore Catholics who called Vatican II heresy and the pope was a fraud. Several of my grandparents siblings (so, grand aunts and uncles) refused to speak English their whole lives. And back in their day, in North Dakota, that was actually a very easy thing to do. There were essentially German colonies on the prairie just like back on the steppes.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing part of your family's history with us and our community!

My ancestors are coming from south Ukraine, near the mennonites settlement Khortitza. They lived in a village that was destroyed by Makhno gangs during the civil war (Neuehorst, or Zeleni Guy), and many of its inhabitants were raped and killed. It was the time when Germans living in Ukraine were forced to either leave or take the weapons to arms to defend, even though it was prohibited by the religion. Thank you for the video, it’s not only a blind spot in Germany but also in Ukraine.

@amalgama2000

4 ай бұрын

Makhno was an anarchist. Like all left leaning ideologies, anarchism denies any cultural identities. Anarchism is just the most brutal and primal of them all. Also Makhno and his gang supported bolsheviks in their fight for Ukraine against tsar loyalists and pro-independence Ukrainians. The irony is, bolsheviks betrayed him twice and killed in the end

Russian German population in RSFSR, USSR - 1926 - 1,2 mil 0.8%, 1939 - 1,4 mil 0.8%, 1959 - 1,6 mil - 0.8%

100,000 left Germany, and 3,000,000 came back....

@ironsugar8690

5 ай бұрын

what does that mean?

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

We would also like to know that.

@amadiohastruck4331

5 ай бұрын

Populations grow bucko

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

Why did 3,000,000 come back? The answer will hurt some national feelings.

@herbertziege2371

5 ай бұрын

That means that something is wrong here. It's not very sure if those 3 Million are actually descendents from the Germans. It is supposed to be 500.000 until 1 Million. 1,5 Million max

We have 13 million refugees most are from Syria, Africa, Ukraine, Russia etc. While Turkey doesn't give citizenship to other brotherly Turkic country citizens, it gives citizenship to many others. Interesting things happening everywhere.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Sorry, we may not be following along yet. Could you please elaborate on your point?

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

It is eye-opening for me to hear things from DW like "It is not helpful to say ethnic Germans." What is going on in Germany, Turkiye and other places? I can see why there is so much happening on immigration in Europe. It appears Europe doesn't know what they are doing and we hear the results of immigration are disastrous in countries like Sweden. I have to look more into this and this will help me understand more.

My well educated guess is that a lot of them ended up in Saskatchewan while only wanting to live peaceful hard working for their family lives. Of course those families were no exeption when ending up with the odd outlaw being among them from time to time while they were all going through hardships. Some people would false assume they speak Russian. Others would false assume they were from Britain. In my own grandmother's case she witnessed 3 of her infant siblings dying of influenza while in poverty when she was growing up untl for a short period of time during the upswing of the wild ups and downs during the lazzei-faire politics prevelant here in North America during the 19th century and the early 20th century. I am not sure when or where the German heritage identity in her family first started. My only a guess so far based on her appearance only is that her family fled from Spain to Germany before having to flee again to North America. In my grandfather's case he was born in German before moving here to marry her just before the Great Depression began. After maybe his family maybe went from Ireland to Holland and then to Germany. Why do I believe it was maybe Holland where his family spent some time in? Only because he spoke what is now being called only, "Low German." Whatever that is supposed to mean.

Да,это было конечно очень круто,но ведь пострадали не только немцы,страдали почти все,включая и русских...😮😢

The explosion of ethnic German who live outside of Germany has always interested me , those ppl lived in countries like poland, Czech Republic, Romania, former Yugoslavia , Baltic countries and other Former USSR countries especially Russia for many centuries, yet they were kicked like they were nothing, and there is little to no recognition to their explosion from those countries and cuz of the little to no effort made by Germany to make those countries recognize it and apologize for it cuz Germany don't want to upset those countries

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and our community. It's true that there were German communities in several Eastern European countries, the history of which is unknown to the broader population. However, we don't know if it has to do with Germany not wanting to upset those countries or simply a general nescience of their history.

@metanoian965

5 ай бұрын

Polish People never need to apologize to psychopaths.

I now understand why we have lot of Germans in my country kazakhstan.

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and our community.

It's called Russia-German btw. Not Russian-German. The later is wrong (not for all of course)

Sadly same thing happened to Germans in north Serbia(Vojvodina) ex Yugoslavia.Although they didint anything to do with bad German leaders at that time,Tito and he's communists expelled them all.DW,maybe u should do some documantary on that?

@DWHistoryandCulture

5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We will forward it to our production team. We are glad to know that you enjoy our content. Greetings!

Imagine how many more of these stories will surface in the future after 1 million or so russians left their country just recently.

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

I fail to see the connection between ethnic Russians leaving because of Putin's war and ethnic Germans.

All my ancestors are some part of german settlers in the russian empire. Mostly Volga German, Baltic German and Black sea german. We are not a small minorty in Germany or Russia. We are just quiet people. We dont call for Freedom. We dont call for an own Nation. We obey our Masters. That is the mentality most have. Our History is long and complicated with not much Footage.

@DWHistoryandCulture

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

What the name of young women?

I’m surprised they would migrate to Russia of all places especially in that time. Russia was very de-industrialized but had a lot of land. Prussia on the other hand was industrializing during that time if I were them I would go there but eh. I’m just glad they get to live where they believe it’s best for them. Thank you for bribing this up DW I knew a little bit of this topic but not the full extent.

@flopunkt3665

5 ай бұрын

They were farmers and wanted to stay farmers.

@Cocoisagordonsetter

5 ай бұрын

There are probably always poor people in search of opportunities.

@baileygregory9192

5 ай бұрын

Russian Germans have existed for centuries into the Middle ages before any nation was industrialised

@daylightmoon7285

5 ай бұрын

The Volga Germans were mostly German but also from France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The primary reason for leaving was because of the endless wars and destruction in Germany at the time. This is why Russia offered them freedom from military service.

@flopunkt3665

5 ай бұрын

@@daylightmoon7285 those from France were from Alsace where nobody talked French at the time.

It was brutal wars by Germany ( Prussia) against Russian Empire in WW1 ( 12 million dead) and Nazi Germany in WW2 ( 27 million dead), with the WW2 being "War of annihilation" , especially brutal against Russians, Belorussians, Eastern Ukrainians, Jews, Gypsies, members of the government, families of Red Army soldiers, with 9 million military killed by Nazi Germany and their allies ( 3 million of Soviet POW's killed in captivity), and 18 m million civilians tortured , hanged , shot, raped and killed in concentration camps, with cities, villages and infrastructure destroyed, crops shipped to Germany with livestock, black soil loaded onto trains and shipped to Germany, Leningrad siege for 3 years with 2 million dead. How many atrocities and horrors were committed by Germans, Romanians and their allies is a mind boggling. Wone, children killed for no reason, burned alive in the barns. How should have the people and the government of Soviet Union reacted to it's German population ? The Germany's Kaiser and Nazi Germany Hitler needs to be blamed for deportations of Russian Germans

I myself am a Tajik by nationality, I believe that Stalin and Hitler were both fascists. Stalin, as a dictator, intended to kill more Germans, while Hitler, in turn, wanted to destroy the Jews. all the tunnels of the Moscow metro dug up German prisoners, it was German prisoners, the German people suffered the most from the war unleashed by Stalin and Hitler!

The most hilarious part is that the same people (or their descendants) are the most vivid Russia's supporters in Germany, lol. Stockholm Syndrome: the nation.