Büblingshausen prisoner of war camp

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The Büblingshausen prisoner-of-war camp was a camp for prisoners of war during the First World War , where around 15,000 Russians , Ukrainians and probably prisoners of other nationalities had been housed since the end of 1914, at the latest since 1915 .

Ukrainian cemetery - entrance area

Geographical location

The camp was located in Büblingshausen , today a district of Wetzlar , about two kilometers southeast of the city center of Wetzlar.

Ukrainian POW camps in Germany and Austria-Hungary

Prisoners of war from the Russian army in Wetzlar, probably in the Büblingshausen camp

After the German army suffered a defeat in the Battle of the Marne in early September 1914 , the strategy of a rapid German advance to the west had failed and the fighting turned into a positional war . The Supreme Army Command and in particular the Prussian War Ministry, which is also responsible for Ukraine issues, now had to plan for the longer term. This also included destabilizing Russia with the help of political dissidents . This included Finns , Georgians , Poles and also Ukrainians . The organization of military units was not initially considered.

Germans and the Austrians allied with them , with the help of Austro-Hungarian Ukrainians, separated from the mass of Russian prisoners of war Ukrainians who had been captured primarily on the German-Austro-Hungarian south-eastern front, and transferred them to special camps in which they were compared conditions improved compared to other prisoner-of-war camps. As an ethnic minority, you should be won over to Ukraine's secession from Russia. Targeted anti-Russian instruction about Ukrainian history, culture and language took place in these special camps. Educational and self-employment offers were extensive.

Ukrainian prisoner-of-war camps, popularly referred to as "Russian camps", existed as officers' camps from September / October 1914, first in Freistadt (Upper Austria) and later also in Vienna-Josefstadt . In Germany, the first camp of this type existed in Rastatt, Baden, since May 1915. From March of the following year, this camp also took in Ukrainian officers. A camp was added in Wetzlar by September of the same year at the latest, as the number of prisoners of war reporting was gradually exceeding the capacity of the Rastatt camp. Since November 1915 at the latest there was a so-called “third special camp” in the Prussian Salzwedel . 1916 was created in Hann. Münden an officers' camp. In these places, military properties, parade and maneuver areas, shooting ranges, etc. were used to set up prisoner-of-war camps.

The camps were financed by the Foreign Office, while the Army Administration took over the construction of the buildings and rooms. Cooperation with the Federation for the Liberation of Ukraine (BBU) was necessary for the establishment and work in the camps . He undertook to carry out his work according to the model of the Ukrainian camp in Freistadt and to set up a central office in Berlin for this camp work , which was headed by Oleksandr Skoropys-Joltuchowski , co-founder and manager at the BBU.

The beginnings of the Wetzlar-Büblingshausen camp

On 14./15. In September 1914, the Wetzlarer Anzeiger reported that a larger prisoner of war camp for several 10,000 men would be built on and next to the parade ground of the NCOs on Frankfurter Strasse. Two months later, on November 15, it was said that the first prisoners had arrived in Wetzlar. There were 16 wounded Russians.

Tasks, structure and life in the prison camp

Functions of the camp

Concert program from the camp

The camp had a general and a political-ideological educational mission . The targeted political education work played a prominent role. The high number of non-working Ukrainians in the camp testifies to this. The German and the Ukrainian side offered the prisoners numerous educational opportunities that could benefit them after the war. The anti-Russian propaganda education aimed at mobilizing the Ukrainians against Russia. Initially, the formation of fighting troops was not intended.

Structures of the camp

Like other camps in which Ukrainians were imprisoned, the camp in Wetzlar was structured by guidelines from the Berlin War Ministry. The German personnel consisted of a commanding officer , officers (including so-called "reconnaissance officers "), NCOs and guards. The German war laws applied. Orders and announcements were given by the commandant. Written orders were drawn up in German and in Ukrainian . The teams were obliged to work .

In the course of 1916 "Ukrainized" and "democratized" the structures within the prisoner community. At the beginning of 1917 they elected a “Volksrada”, a representation of the prisoners, with which they wanted to have a say in shaping camp life. The German camp administration had no fundamental objection to this.

Life / everyday life

As part of the extensive cultural work and the numerous educational opportunities in the camp, various cultural and educational groups, societies and interest groups as well as numerous cultural events such as concerts, theater performances, festivals, lectures and readings shaped everyday camp life.

Initially, the inmates feared punishment in Russia after returning. At times there was resistance, for example by disrupting the propaganda (teaching) events. Prisoners also asked to be transferred to other camps. The authorities responded to these fears with a promise that the names of those prisoners who cooperated would not be disclosed to Russian authorities. The goal of this "enlightenment" was achieved despite initial resistance. The prisoners gained confidence in Germany's (military) strength and criticized the political situation in Russia. They became increasingly interested in the Ukrainian question. The number of activists grew. The societies and associations of the prisoners increasingly supported the propaganda work, at the same time they gained steadily in autonomy .

A Ukrainian-language newspaper, Prosvitnyi Listok, was published in the camp . It was published fortnightly, since January 1917 as Hromadska Dumka six times a month with an edition of 3,500 copies. The publisher was the BBU. The newspapers from the other Ukrainian camps were also delivered to Wetzlar. These were the first publications in Ukrainian to appear in Germany. The contents of these writings were not only articles on world affairs, but also stories and poems about important Ukrainian personalities. Cultural life and educational work in the camp were also discussed in detail. The camp newspapers reflected the work of the various societies and organizations in the camp. The camp was a small town on the outskirts of Wetzlar. There was probably very little contact between the citizens of Wetzlar and the prisoners.

Dissolution of the camp and further development

Ukrainian cemetery
Ukrainian cemetery - eastern memorial stone
Section of the plaque of the eastern memorial stone

On August 13, 1919, the Wetzlarer Anzeiger reported that the camp was being closed as a main camp for Russian prisoners of war.

Subsequently, between 1921 and 1923, using the old barracks on the grounds of the prison camp, a settlement with 84 apartments developed: the Wetzlar district of Büblingshausen was created. The street Unter dem Nussbaum is located at the point of exit from the camp .

The only still recognizable facility of the former camp is the "Ukrainerfriedhof", in the street "Am Pfingstwäldchen", between the house numbers 30 and 32. On the slightly sloping terrain on the outskirts, it is now a long, rectangular lawn with trees. Individual graves are not recognizable. A quarry stone wall separates the cemetery from the street. On the right and left of the entrance area of ​​the cemetery, two diagonally placed memorial stones from the period after the Second World War indicate those buried here. This includes people who died in World War II. The facility is a cultural monument according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act .

literature

  • Fritz Fischer: Reach for world power . Düsseldorf 1964.
  • Frank Golczewski: The German "POW Work" with Ukrainians in the First World War . In: Rainer Hering u. a .: Living social history. Commemorative publication for Peter Borowsky . 1st edition. Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-531-13717-4 , pp. 551-572.
  • Claus Remer: The Wetzlar-Büblingshausen Ukrainian camp (1915–1918) - a special camp? In: Messages from the Wetzlar History Association . tape 37 , 1994, pp. 77-124 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Lenin's passage through Germany in 1917 also belonged in this context .
  2. ↑ This publication is dedicated to the singer and tenor Modest Menzinsky (Modest Omeli͡anovych Ment͡synsʹkyĭ) (1875–1935). It was made by inmates of the Wetzlar-Büblingshausen prisoner of war camp on the occasion of the singer's appearance in the camp in February 1916. It contains essays and poems dedicated to the singer, the program of his performance and the texts for the pieces performed. This also included poems by Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko . The booklet was published by the Federation for the Liberation of Ukraine in the Wetzlar-Büblingshausen POW camp.
  3. ↑ " Information leaflet " / "Educational leaflet" .
  4. ↑ "Community Thought" .
  5. ↑ Gemarkung Büblingshausen, hall 37, parcel 16/42.
  6. ↑ Claus Remer gains particularly positive things from the prisoner of war camp. The prisoners of war who once lived there should not only be viewed as victims in captivity, they also had a number of advantages: they had strengthened their national awareness, trained themselves, lived culture, deepened their knowledge of their language, history, culture, economy, etc. and theirs Broadened horizons with regard to German customs and world history (Remer, p. 116). Golczewski criticizes this as “specific ideological socialization” (Golczewski, p. 551).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Russian prisoners of war near Wetzlar, 1914–1918". Historical image documents from Hessen. (As of April 13, 2011). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ↑ Basically: Golczewski, pp. 552f.
  3. ^ Fischer, p. 163.
  4. ↑ Golczewski, pp. 552f.
  5. ^ Remer, p. 87.
  6. ^ Remer, p. 89.
  7. ↑ Aleksandr Skoropys-Joltuchowski in the Russian Wikipedia
  8. ↑ Wetzlarer Anzeiger, No. 215 of September 14, 1914 and No. 216 of September 15, 1914.
  9. ^ Remer, p. 97.
  10. ↑ Golczewski, p. 559.
  11. ↑ Golczewski, p. 559.
  12. ↑ Remer, p. 105 f.
  13. ^ Remer, p. 115.
  14. ↑ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Ukrainerfriedhof In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse

Coordinates: 50 ° 32 ′ 50.4 ″  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 18.2 ″  E