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Concept
Volga Germans
Summary
The Volga Germans (Wolgadeutsche, ˈvɔlɡaˌdɔɪ̯t͡ʃə; povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Russia Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov and close to Ukraine nearer to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain their German culture, language, traditions and churches (Lutheran, Reformed, Catholics, Moravians and Mennonites). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Volga Germans emigrated to the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.
During the Great Purge, Volga Germans were targeted, and following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, ethnic Germans were deported to concentration camps in Siberia and Central Asia resulting in the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Volga Germans. Scholars refer to the deportations and subsequent mass casualties of the ethnic minorities under Stalin as ethnic cleansing and there is debate whether or not the expulsion was genocidal. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, many Volga Germans emigrated to Germany under resettlement.
In 1762, Catherine II, born a German princess and a native of Stettin, Pomerania, deposed her husband Peter III, born a German prince in Kiel, and took the Russian imperial throne. Following the lead of Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and Hungary, inviting Germans to settle on the Danube in the Balkans, Catherine the Great published manifestos in 1762 and 1763 inviting non-Jewish Europeans to immigrate and become Russian subjects and farm Russian lands while maintaining their language and culture. Although the first received little response, the second improved the benefits offered and was more successful in attracting colonists. People in other countries such as France and England were more inclined to migrate to the colonies in the Americas. Other countries, such as Austria, forbade emigration.
Those who went to Russia had special rights under the terms of the manifesto.
Official source
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