I was born in Belarus part of the USSR occupied by Germans, and the German military doctor delivered me. Three years of occupation mum worked as nurse helper in this hospital, at the expense of what we managed to survive. After the war, we have moved to East Prussia occupied by the USSR. I remember starving German civilians thrown out from own homes and waiting for dispatch to foreign land, somewhere in the West Germany. Stalin has taken away those German lands as reparation and under a false pretext, that in East Prussia once there lived related to Slavs tribe of Prussians. The occupied land was named Kaliningrad Oblast, in honor of communist official M. I. Kalinin who has never been here. The German land have been occupied by the people, who lost their habitats during the war, such as we were, Byelorussians and other hopeless people from burnt down villages.
It has passed half-centuries as I have graduated the school there and has left to travel all over the world, and here I am again stand in the middle of the square of small town, even the settlement named Znamensk (Banner-town), and in German Wehlau. For the last years the population, apparently, was not lowered and even has increased for the account of Armenians and the Azerbaijanians who are holding in their hands trade and the real estate. Now it is normal not only in the middle of Russia, but also here to see at a crossroads the Caucasians squatting, gutturally exchanging words and nibbling sunflower seeds. They look like vultures flied on the getting numb body of the Mother Russia.
There are no jobs in this small town: for last years two paper-mills were closed flour-grinding mill and margarine factories, the furniture factory hardly puffs. However, oil industry workers somewhere work, but they are as some Martians receiving big money and living separately from the ordinary people. I have an impression that all these people live on retirement pensions. Some workaholics make money dismantling ancient and sound German buildings for bricks and hands them over to junkman Stanislav, who also buy stolen copper wires of a power line. And then he sells those bricks to the contract restorations company employed by Germans for restoration of destroyed by the war medieval cathedral.
And war has reminded of itself when at the area, near to the mayoralty I have seen a couple of the foreigners, helplessly trying to start talking to passers-by. Though at our schools teach foreign languages, but our people don’t speak English not saying German’s, I had an advantage of twenty years' residing far abroad. I presented myself and have offered the help to foreigners. That married couple from D;sseldorf, arrived to visit a native land. It has appeared, the head of family Hartmut, was born in 1940 in Berlin and during summer vacation came with his sister and mother to nearby, Wilkendorf to his grand parents farm in seven kilometers from Znamensk, the town of my adolescence which also was the town of his childhood while it was called Wehlau. Hartmut suffers some symptoms of Parkinson disease, but regular acceptance of some kind of remedy holds him in tonus, but it disturbs his speech and thought process.
My new mate has shown the book about this nice and ancient small town published by the Wehlau’s descendants. The town used to be known as the biggest horse fair for this area and it was proud with its magnificent rath-house in which the peace treaty with Sweden has been signed in XVII century. I could recall from my childhood the town-hall, and thick, red-brick fortification walls as well as medieval narrow streets which have been taken down by the war and the subsequent negligence of its present dwellers. Even now I could recall vivid pictures of my childhood when I went across town hall’s lobby with multi-colored floor because of light coming through the stain glass windows. I also was amazed by view of XV-th century’s Lutheran church which roof was gaped after a shell explosion.
It used to be cozy town with deep historical roots which was constructed by Germans for themselves and descendants, but the strangers have defiled it. For half a century of life of our occupation the immigrants didn’t become owners of this land, therefore they haven’t created anything good for it. The newcomers managed to construct on the site of town hall two very ugly three-store buildings, without any court yard, children's playgrounds and even similarity of any trees or bushes around, it is possible to name those two barracks only as a mockery og architecture and memory of the passed away town.
We used kind of taxi cub to reach the farm of Mr. Morgenroth b. It used to be called Wilkendorf but Soviets named it Îrechovo, the site of used to be here collective farm. Now the drug’s addicts have found a refuge here, they have been rehabilitated here by means of remoteness from any civilization and work’s therapy. They were good, kind and sincere youngsters who have adapted for habitation the former Morgenroth’s stable. They have served us coffee with newly-baked bread and have told, that the rehabilitation centre exists without any government aid, only on the donations which considerable part comes from Germany.
Hartmut has in turn told to them, as his grandfather has bought this farm in the end of XIX century. He dragged boulders by own hands for construction of the big family house for three sons and two daughters. The Morgenroth’s family used to specialize in a dairy farming, gardening and potatoe growing. His children have continued to work on a farm and found also profitable to apply their skills in fertilizers’ trade, and also cultivation of exotic grades of fruit-trees. Hitler has taken away from the old man his sons.
In the beginning of 1944 the Red Army has moved to East Prussia, hundred thousand Germans, being afraid of vengeance for evil deeds of nazis, became refugees and moved to a seaports. On January, 21st the gross-admiral Charles Denits has given the order: "All German ships available should rescue everybody that it will be possible to rescue from upcoming Red Army". Officers of the military ships have obtained the order in any free site to place refugees, and first of all women and children. Operation "Hannibal" became the largest evacuation of the population in navigation history: over two millions persons have been forwarded on the West.
Four-year-old Hartmoot hardly has not sunk at transportation, his family was lucky to be late for evacuation by the ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" which was sunk by submarine of our hero Alexander Marinesko. Probably, he considered being right, making «Attack of a century» and killing about nine thousand civilians and crews of the ship. He has revenged for all in full, but his destiny wasn’t good and his life wasn’t long and happy.
Together with mother and the grandmother Hartmut has appeared in Berlin and has gone through all horrors of bombardment and city assaults by the Soviet armies. The family members who have remained on a farm have been thrown out from own house by the guerrillas who have arrived from Belarus. They have organized here the collective farm, named in honors of German communist Clara Zetkin.
The Morgenroth family has moved to a farm of relatives near D;sseldorf where Hartmut has graduated high school and then learnt to be the podiatrist and all his life has worked rescuing children not only in Germany. Five years he has worked in Africa, in medical centers of the USA he carried out researches of children's death rate, till now he is engaged in private practice. Hartmoot has a lot of contacts in the international charitable organizations, therefore there is a hope, that the rehabilitation centre which has shown us hospitality, will receive in future additional financing.
After coffee we have gone to the main building of a farm where there have passed early years of Hartmut. It was necessary to go through old apple orchard which for a long time nobody looked after, the ground has been entirely covered with rotten fruits. The house with its foundation from boulders, with barns and the big courtyard has been enclosed by a fence from a rusty barbed wire. From a front entrance it was protected by huge wooden gate with small entrance door which was locked.
Our new friends from the centre have told us that the house belongs now to high ranking police officer living in Kaliningrad. That guy never worked on his land, and there he wasn’t in need, living on pay offs and bribery from people around. He comes here only by weekends, on an off-road BMW, thus way the invader of another's property keeps in contact with Germany. I have photographed Hartmut with the wife in middle of used to be own orchard, this single material acknowledgement of their staying on own land which they could carry away with themselves to Germany. Surprisingly, I have not heard from them any word with condemnation of aggressors, or desires to return back their family property.
After all and it is clear even to any hedgehog, that we’re as occupants could not master and make the land of East Prussia being snatched from Germans. The affairs of this enclave haven’t gone better even after appointment George Boos in 2005 as the Governor, the guy with the German blood whose ancestors came to Russia in XVIII century. From the very beginning of area’s management the German has put forward the idea to move in area millions immigrants from former republics of the USSR and Baltic States. He promised to reach also by the end of 2008 a living standard of neighboring Lithuania and Poland. Besides that to construct Steel Works similar as used to be in Detroit, the USA. But his ideas fix is to accommodate “Formulas 1” and horse races with a hippodrome. Actually even that sickly streamlet of tourists, the former inhabitants of area from Germany, runs low, they invariably go even to more distant emigration - on a next and better life out of their bodies.
For five years of his ruling as Gaulaiter of the occupied zone many hospitals and maternity homes and schools have been closed. Tariffs for housing and communal services were increased; delays of payment of the salary have grown. In area transport maintenance has worsened, problems are not solved with freedom of travels of inhabitants out of area borders. There’s huge pressure of authorities upon mass-media, the complete control of regional politics by "United Russia» party has been amplified. All that mentioned and much more not described matters create discontent of the population in which eyes G. Boos is the foreigner, which activity is under the control of Moscow as well as German oligarchs.
The most possible results of the governor’s activity for 2010 there is only a creation of a gambling zone, our Russian Las Vegas and construction of the Baltic atomic power station. And it’s on the land which used to be a granary of whole Germany. If he consider these plans as shining horizons of the occupied zone it’s better for him to commit suicide.
Looking at abandoned fields and meadows with many storks’ nests, I understand, what’s not for Russian horse German forage. If we with the German land couldn’t produce anything worthwhile, what we shell do with the occupied territories!? The stalemate could be solved having transformed all Kaliningrad area in All-European Sanctuary Park, type of the American Yellowstone National Park. I used to write about this couple times to a regional deputies and to the governor, the answer have not been received. These rulers know how to manage own electorate, and they prefer to see people in a comfortable coffins.
We were coming back to Wehlau, passing fields and meadows with nobody working after them. The eyes of Hartmut were wet, he was saying goodbye to his native nest for ever. Hardly his children and grandchildren would want to return for this future gambling den with dirty money and new thermonuclear Chernobyl near by. My God, rescue Prussia from Russia.
Operation Hannibal was a German military operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor from mid-January to May, 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary operations.
The Soviet East Prussian Offensive by 3rd Belorussian Front under Army General Ivan Chernyakhovsky commenced on January 13, 1945 and, with Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front, subsequently cut off Prussia between January 23 and February 10, 1945. German Grand Admiral Karl D;nitz ordered General Admiral Oskar Kummetz, as Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the Kriegmarine's shipping department, to plan and execute the Rettungsaktion (evacuation operation).[1] Donitz radioed a message to Gdynia in occupied Poland on January 23, 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside of the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed "Hannibal". D;nitz stated in his post-war memoirs that his aim had been to evacuate as many people as possible away from the Soviets.[2]
Right up until his suicide, Adolf Hitler insisted that the war go on. The flood of military personnel and refugees eventually turned the operation into one of the largest emergency evacuations by sea in history (over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft[3], and utilizing Germany's largest remaining naval units, would transport between 800,000 - 900,000 refugees and 350,000 soldiers[4] across the Baltic Sea to Germany and German-occupied Denmark. This was more than three times the number of people evacuated at Dunkirk.