Alfred Karasek

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Alfred Karasek , also Alfred Karasek-Langer (born January 22, 1902 in Brno , † May 10, 1970 in Bischofswiesen ), was a Sudeten German engineer and folklorist . Karasek also added the maiden name of his mother Marie Langer to his name in many publications to emphasize his German origins. During the Second World War , as a staunch National Socialist , he played a key role in the resettlement of ethnic Germans and the theft of books and archives in the occupied territories. After the war, Karasek founded the “Folklore of the Expellees ” and transferred his collections to the “Research Center Karasek for East German Folklore.” He and his friend and colleague Walter Kuhn have also been referred to as “the Brothers Grimm of the German East”. Alfred Karasek was an uncle of the literary critic Hellmuth Karasek, who died in September 2015 .

Live and act

Fairy tale collector and language island researcher

The son of a civil engineer grew up in Bielsko in Silesia . After graduating from high school , he began studying engineering at the German Technical University in Brno in 1919 . He was involved in the “Sudeten German Freedom Movement” such as the “Association of German-Völkischer Akademiker” and the Völkischer Flügel des Wandervogels , where he also met his future wife, the painter Hertha Strzygowski , who was married to the art historian Josef Strzygowski , and Walther Kuhn. On their hikes, Karasek and his friends laid the foundations for later language island research , first of all by collecting fairy tales and legends . Later migrations such as a “Volhynia trip” in 1926, which was financially supported by the Foreign Office , served not only to statistically record the German population living in the Polish part of Volhynia , but also to help them indoctrinate themselves politically nationalist.

Karasek published his first folklore publication on “the German language island Bielitz-Biala” in 1923. His concept of the linguistic island was völkisch and determined by an aggressive nationalism . By a “linguistic island” he understood “a new settlement of one people created through closed colonization in the language area of another” and referred to a racially defined “ folk race ”:

“All resistance to foreign nationality is determined by the instinctual forces of the blood, which are to be assessed as inheritance brought from the motherland. All these values, conscious or instinctive peasantry of a good kind, abundance of children, industriousness, a sense of order, hunger for land, honesty and German sense of justice, a pronounced creative power and clear determination, which, combined with a certain tenacity and perseverance, separates these Germans from the surrounding Slavs , that is the great and constantly active legacy of their blood, their origins. "

- Alfred Karasek : Language island people (Volhynia) . (1926)

From October 1926 to December 1927 Karasek did his military service in the Czechoslovak army. Between 1928 and 1932 he studied folklore and “German Studies in Eastern Europe” in Vienna, among others with Arthur Haberlandt , where he met Wilfried Krallert , with whom he was to work as a leader in the Southeast German Research Foundation (SOFG). Karasek undertook a number of other "research trips", but, like the group of Volhynia researchers as a whole, was accused of espionage by Poles and expelled from Poland in 1928. The writer Bruno Brehm wrote his book The Greater Home on the basis of Karasek's collections . German stories abroad (1934), which he dedicated to Karasek.

National Socialist folklorist

In 1933 Karasek joined the NSDAP, which was banned in Austria, and was accepted into the general NSDAP in 1938 after the " Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich" (membership number: 6.385.889). In the main training office of the NSDAP he represented the SOFG and conducted further language island research under the direction of Ernst Schwarz . He worked in the folklore department of the Hungarian "Neue Heimatblätter", founded in 1935, and traveled through Hungary for the "folklore inventory". It can be assumed that Karasek, like Krallert, also worked as a member of the security service of the Reichsführer SS . Karasek ascribed "folklore" directly political significance in the sense of indoctrination . In 1935 he wrote:

“We also regard folklore as a helper in our struggle for the preservation of our own folklore. [...] It should eradicate the outdated and harmful way of thinking according to sub-areas, help to free the individual sub-areas and tribes from the area of ​​unobjective evaluations or unfortunate judgments. It will show the Poznan how the current of German life and character poured over his homeland further east, to central Poland and Volhynia, that these tribal groups are blood from his blood. She will hammer into the Silesian that his tribal brothers are at home in all three parts of Poland and try to teach him an all-Silesian tribal attitude and responsibility. "

- Alfred Karasek : Basics of folklore . (1935)

In 1937 Karasek joined the “Vienna Translation Service” headed by Krallert and in 1938 became a scientific advisor to the SOFG under Hugo Hassinger . Karasek also looked after the magazine Karpartenland of the Slovak Germans . He was also involved in the Sudeten German Freikorps in 1938 . After the “Anschluss”, Karasek worked full-time in the management of the SOFG and directed its training work. As a result, he gave countless lectures and also made contributions for the radio .

Authorized representative for “resettlements” and robbers of cultural property

After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Karasek, one of the best experts on the Wolhynia Germans , was brought in as an advisor on the "resettlement" of this ethnic group in the Wartheland . The High Command of the Army assigned him to the "Volhynia Resettlement Command " of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle as regional representative for Lutsk . In this function he resettled 34,000 ethnic Germans . In August 1941 Karasek was called up to the SS-Totenkopfverband "Oranienburg" and sent to Berezina in the Ukraine . Here he took care of the resettlement of 27,000 Bessarabian Germans .

In July 1941 Karasek became "Sonderführer Z" (Z = " Zugführer ") with the Sonderkommando Künsberg and in this function he participated in the looting of archives , libraries and museums in Kiev , Odessa and the Crimea . He evaluated the booty for the purposes of the Vienna Publications Office headed by Krallert . In August he was reassigned to the SS resettlement command in Beresina, where he stayed until the end of 1941. In 1942 he worked again for the Künsberg special command in the area of Army Group Center . In February 1942 he was transferred to the Waffen-SS as a special leader of the SS with the rank of Untersturmführer and promoted to Obersturmführer in the same year . Until the summer of 1942, Karasek worked almost uninterrupted with the Künsberg Special Command, also together with Krallert in the southern section of the Eastern Front. In August 1942 he entered Stalingrad as a "clerk for regional studies" with the special command Künsberg's South B Task Force and, until the task force withdrew on October 14, 1942, he mainly captured books and all of the medical and historical documents of the University of Voronezh.

After the dissolution of the Künsberg Special Command, Karasek was assigned to the Reich Security Main Office Office VI G in July 1943 . This department, sometimes also called "Dienststelle Dr. Krallert ”or the“ Kuratorium für Volkstums- und Landesforschung ”(Kuratorium für Volkstums- und Landesforschung), confiscated archives and libraries in the occupied areas by means of smaller task forces. In May 1944, for example, Karasek took part in a looting of primarily Jewish bookshops and second-hand bookshops in Budapest , which Krallert personally directed .

Initiator of displaced folklore

During the occupation of Vienna, large parts of Karasek's private folklore collection were lost. Karasek himself initially worked in an artificial marble factory in Ehringshausen . In 1949 he returned to science as a freelancer. Together with Josef Hanika and Egon Lendl, he was one of the initiators of the "Cultural Working Group of German Refugees in Bavaria", which was concerned with coordinating the cultural work of the expellees in general and the Sudeten expellees in particular. With Hanika, Karasek chaired the resulting “Institute for Cultural and Social Research”, which was originally to be called “Institute for Folk and Social Research”, and also initiated the “Specialized Commission for Folklore of Displaced People” in the German Folklore Society .

In 1949, on the basis of his collection, Karasek founded the “Research Center Karasek for East German Folklore” with almost 20,000 legends, over 2,000 fairy tales, 1,200 folk plays and 12,000 Christmas cribs . At first he published mainly in the supplement to the expellees in the Berchtesgadener Anzeiger . Karasek continued to work with Kuhn and like-minded language island researchers and old comrades such as Alfred Lattermann , Viktor Kauder , Kurt Lück and Jürgen von Hehn . He also started collecting new material in the refugee detention centers. Karasek took the expulsion and resettlement on the one hand as the accelerated disappearance of traditional living conditions, for example as a "deprivation of the people's body". On the other hand, he recognized a social and cultural science problem in the social integration of the displaced. His interest in the 'new' songs and legends of the refugee camps was the exception among those investigations of this kind that were more interested in traditional customs. His work was funded by the "Commission for Folklore of Displaced People". In 1965 he received the Agnes Miegel plaque for his services .

Publications (selection)

As an author

Essays
  • Linguistic island population . In: German papers in Poland. Monthly booklets for the intellectual structure of Germanness in Poland , vol. 3 (1926), pp. 569–594.
  • The literature about the Germans in Volhynia and Polesia . In: German scientific journal for Poland , 1931, issue 22, pp. 124-136 (together with Alfred Kleindienst ).
  • East Silesian Folklore . In: Viktor Kauder (Hrsg.): The German language in Polish-Silesia. A handbook about country and people (German Gaue im Osten; Vol. 4). Wolff, Plauen 1932.
  • Basics of the folklore of Germans in Poland. In: Monthly Issues for the Spiritual Structure of Germanness in Poland , Vol. 2, (1935/36), Issue 12, pp. 126-133.
  • German folklore research in today's Hungary . In: Deutsches Archiv für Landes- und Volksforschung , vol. 1 (1937), pp. 287–308, 959–989.
  • The big trek. From the diary of Alfred Karasek-Langer, an authorized representative of the Volhynian German resettlement command. In: Kurt Lück (Hrsg.): German ethnic groups from the east return home to the fatherland (knapsack of the High Command of the Wehrmacht / Dept. Inland; Vol. 19). Berlin 1940.
  • The will to the kingdom . In: Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser (Hrsg.): The book of the great trek . Verlag Grenz und Abroad, Berlin 1940, pp. 14–29.
  • Slovakian German poetry in transition In: Volkstum im Südost. Volkspolitische Monatsschrift , 1941, Issue 2, pp. 21–27.
  • Songs of homelessness. The Volhyn Germans' songs and prison songs . In: Christ on the move. Monthly for expellees, emigrants, Germans abroad . Vol. 4 (1950), No. 7, pp. 8-12.
  • Folklore research in upheaval . In: Science and Worldview. Journal for basic questions in research , vol. 3 (1950), issue 9, pp. 419-421.
  • Folklore changes in Germany . In: Zeitschrift für Volkskunde , vol. 50 (1953), issue 1/2, pp. 35–48.
  • New formal elements in the Bavarian pilgrimage through the influx of expellees . In: Torsten Gebhard and Hans Moser (eds.): Festschrift for JM Ritz (Bavarian Yearbook for Folklore; Vol. 1951). Habbel, Regensburg 1951, pp. 103-108.
  • Crowns and headdresses in the Danube Swabian folk drama . In: Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde , 1956, ISSN  0067-4729 , pp. 27-38.
  • Resettlement in Bavaria after 1945. A turning point in our folk history. In: Alfons Perlick (ed.): Yearbook for Folklore of the Homeland Displaced, Vol. 2 (1956), pp. 24-102.
  • The Danube Swabian census in the present. A contribution to tribal lore. In: Alfons Perlick (Hrsg.): Yearbook for Folklore of Homeland Displaced People , Vol. 3 (1957).
  • 400 years of the Christmas crib in County Glatz . In: Grafschaft Glatzer Heimatblätter , vol. 19 (1967), pp. 254-258.
  • Silesian folklore and East German settlement research. Walter Kuhn on his 65th birthday . In: Schlesien , Jg. 13 (1968), Heft 3, ISSN  0036-6153 , pp. 159-168.
Books
  • The wooden churches in the vicinity of Bielitz-Biala (contributions for comparative art research; vol. 5). Historical Society for Posen, Posen 1927 (together with Josef Strzygowski ).
  • From the legends of the Pre-Carpathian Germans. A contribution to legend research in the German-speaking islands of the East. Lehmann, Munich 1930.
  • The German settlements in Volhynia. History, folklore, questions of life (German districts in the east; vol. 3). Hirzel, Leipzig 1931 (together with Kurt Lück ).
  • Danube Swabian Folklore (Göttingen Working Group; Vol. 44). Holzner-Verlag, Kitzingen / Main 1954.
  • Volksschauspiel and folk theater of the Sudeten Germans. A research report . Goose, Graefelfing b. Munich 1960.
  • Olomouc and its importance for the nativity scene in the Altvater area since the early baroque. Diwisch, Steinheim / M 1966.
  • The German folk drama in Bohemia and Moravia and Slovakia . Elwert, Marburg 1984/86 (together with J. Eduard Alexy and Josef Lanz).
  1. Main band. 1984, ISBN 3-7708-0785-5 .
  2. Tradition and change . 1984, ISBN 3-7708-0803-7 .
  3. Contact and charisma. Slovakia and Carpathian Ukraine . 1986, ISBN 3-7708-0843-6 .
  • Nativity scene in Bohemia and Moravia from early baroque to the present day , Elwert, Marburg 1974 (together with Josef Lanz), ISBN 3-7708-0500-3

As editor

  • Legends of the Beskid Germans . Wolff, Plauen iV 1930 (together with Elfriede Strzygowski).
  • Legends of the Germans in Galicia (East German homeland books; Bd. 4). Wolff, Plauen 1932 (together with Elfriede Strzygowski).
  • Legends of the Germans in Volhynia and Polesia (Ostdeutsche Heimatbücher; Bd. 5). Hirzel, Leipzig 1938 (together with Elfriede Strzygowski).
  • Hochwies . Legends, Schwänke and fairy tales (monuments of German folk poetry). Schwartz, Göttingen 1959 (together with Will-Erich Peuckert ).
  • Tell Danube Swabians. Elwert, Marburg 1976 (4 vols .; together with Alfred Cammann ).
  1. 1976, ISBN 3-7708-0561-5 .
  2. 1977, ISBN 3-7708-0572-0 .
  3. 1978, ISBN 3-7708-0601-8 .
  4. 1978, ISBN 3-7708-0669-7 .
  • Folk tale of the Carpathian Germans Elwert, Marburg 1981 (together with Alfred Cammann).
  1. Main band. 1981, ISBN 3-7708-0703-0 .
  2. Slovakia . 1981, ISBN 3-7708-0716-2 .
  • Hungarian-German folk tale from a German settlement in the old Hungarian region. 1st edition. NG Elwert, Marburg 1982, ISBN 3-7708-0737-5 (together with Alfred Cammann).

literature

  • Ingo Eser: “People, State, God!” The German minority in Poland and their school system 1918–1939 . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-447-06233-6 (plus dissertation, University of Marburg 2006).
  • Michael Fahlbusch : Science in the Service of National Socialist Politics? The “Volksdeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” from 1931–1945. Nomos VG, Baden-Baden 1999, ISBN 3-7890-5770-3 .
  • Wilhelm Fielitz: The stereotype of the Volhynian German resettler. Popularizations between language island research and National Socialist propaganda. Elwert Verlag, Marburg 2000, ISBN 978-3-7708-1158-8 .
  • Heinke Kalinke: "Teamwork". For folklore field research in Eastern and Southeastern Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Alfred Karasek and the Bielitzer Kreis. In: Yearbook for German and Eastern European Folklore , Vol. 42 (1999), ISSN  0949-3409 , pp. 20–43.
  • Walter Kuhn : Alfred Karasek 1902–1970 . In: Zeitschrift für Ostforschung , Vol. 20 (1971), ISSN  0044-3239 , pp. 70-74.
  • Ute Schmidt : The Germans from Bessarabia: A minority from Southeastern Europe (1814 until today) . 3rd edition Böhlau, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-412-01406-0 .
  • Gerd Simon u. a .: book fever. On the history of the book in the 3rd Reich . 3rd edition Edition GIFT, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 3-932613-08-2 ( digitized ; PDF; 4.5 MB).
  • Werner Vetter: Alfred Karasek. An obituary . In: Theodor Veiter (ed.): Volkstum between Moldau, Etsch and Danube. Festschrift for Franz Hieronymus Riedl (Ethnos; Vol. 10). Braumüller, Vienna 1971, ISBN 3-7003-0007-7 , pp. 149–152.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ingo Eser: “People, State, God!” The German minority in Poland and their school system 1918–1939 , p. 149.
  2. ↑ Quoting from Ingo Eser: “People, State, God!” The German minority in Poland and their school system 1918–1939. Wiesbaden 2010, p. 235.
  3. ↑ Alfred Karasek: Basics of folklore. In: German monthly books from Poland. 1935, p. 131.
  4. ^ Martin Zückert: Folklore as a neighboring discipline of "Sudeten German" historiography. Mutual influence and parallel research interests. In: Stefan Albrecht (Ed.): The "Sudeten German Historiography" 1918–1960. On the prehistory and establishment of the Historical Commission of the Sudetenland (publications of the Collegium Carolinum; vol. 114). Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-486-58374-8 , p. 196 f.
  5. ^ Rainer Bendel: Displaced Catholics - Impulses for upheavals in Church and society? (Contributions to theology, church and society in the 20th century; Vol. 5). LIT-Verlag, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-8258-5959-2 , p. 51f.
personal data
SURNAME Karasek, Alfred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Karasek-Langer, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German folklorist
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Brno , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1970
Place of death Bischofswiesen