Here, and throughout the world, probably, too, the Germans are considered a disciplined, hardworking and extremely talented people. Indeed, even in the most difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, despite all the hatred caused by the actions of the Nazi troops, their discipline and the highest quality of military equipment were still recognized. After the war, a large number of German prisoners worked in the USSR, restoring the destroyed. And it is generally accepted that what they did also bore the stamp of German quality and discipline. But is it really so?
From savagery to avant-garde
For a long time, Germany was considered a backward and wild part of Europe. Indeed, divided between Prussia, the fragmented German principalities and the Holy Roman Empire, the German lands could not boast of great cultural and technological achievements. Germans often worked in neighboring states, then returning home, which is where the term "guest worker" came from.
However, in the 18th century, everything suddenly changes. German science and philosophy are becoming progressive, the school system suddenly shows an unprecedented breakthrough, after which it is copied in many countries, including Russia. In the 19th century, there is a real boom in invention and industrial growth. Finally, under Bismarck, Germany is unified, becoming a powerful empire that is often looked upon as a model. Then a stereotype is fixed in the public consciousness: German means excellent.
The fate of the prisoners
In 1939, Hitlerite Germany unleashed World War II. In the summer of 1941, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, and in December the German army was stationed near Moscow. A large number of Soviet servicemen and civilians were captured. Some were taken to Germany to work, others became prisoners of concentration camps. The conditions in them were absolutely barbaric. The prisoners were not provided with medical assistance, but were fed so that many in the morning simply could not get up to work. The rooms in which our soldiers slept were almost unheated and swarmed with lice.
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After 1943, a turning point came in the war. From July 1942 to February 2, 1943, the famous Battle of Stalingrad was fought. For the Germans, the city was important as a transport hub through which the Caucasian oil was supplied, which the Soviet troops needed, as well as a springboard for a breakthrough of their own army to the oil fields of the Caucasus, so the Wehrmacht command threw huge forces to capture the city. For the entire time of the battle, the city was almost completely destroyed, each house sometimes changed hands 8-9 times. This happened until Stalingrad was completely occupied by Soviet troops, and the Nazi group led by Field Marshal Paulus, encircled, capitulated. The losses were enormous on both sides. The Red Army lost 474 thousand people in battles, the German army - more than 500 thousand!
But now we have more than 100 thousand soldiers in captivity. What to do with them and how to create at least acceptable conditions for such a mass of people? Since there were no suitable buildings near Stalingrad, and there were no spare sets of clothing, the prisoners had to walk five kilometers on foot to the village of Beketovka, where a detention camp was hastily set up. Many of the Germans were sick and exhausted, and Field Marshal Paulus himself had bloody diarrhea. Not all reached then, but the Soviet leadership cannot be blamed for this, since, as mentioned above, there were no resources to keep prisoners in such numbers. Subsequently, the prisoners of war received both food and medical assistance. The camp authorities, of course, treated the Germans worst of all than the soldiers from the armies of other countries, so many of them attributed to themselves a different nationality,called Hungarians, Romanians or even Czechs. Also the life of the Wehrmacht soldiers was complicated by the former "brothers in arms". Often, fiercely hating inmates of German origin, under the threat of extradition, they robbed them of their food, in some camps a kind of "Romanian mafia" even developed, occupying the main positions in the kitchen and literally starving the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956. Also the life of the Wehrmacht soldiers was complicated by the former "brothers in arms". Often, fiercely hating inmates of German origin, under the threat of extradition, they robbed them of their food, in some camps a kind of "Romanian mafia" even developed, occupying the main positions in the kitchen and literally starving the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956. Also the life of the Wehrmacht soldiers was complicated by the former "brothers in arms". Often, fiercely hating inmates of German origin, under the threat of extradition, they robbed them of their food, in some camps a kind of "Romanian mafia" even developed, occupying the main positions in the kitchen and literally starving the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956. Fiercely hating inmates of German origin, under the threat of extradition, they took away their food, in some camps even a kind of "Romanian mafia" took shape, occupying the main positions in the kitchen and literally starving the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956. Fiercely hating inmates of German origin, under the threat of extradition, they took away their food, in some camps even a kind of "Romanian mafia" took shape, occupying the main positions in the kitchen and literally starving the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956.took the main positions in the kitchen and literally starved the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956.took the main positions in the kitchen and literally starved the Germans. Nevertheless, the survival rate of prisoners in Soviet camps was incomparably greater than in German ones. After the end of the war, 3.2 million German prisoners of war remained in prison, many of whom worked for the good of the country they had come to conquer. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956. Most of them were released by 1949 under a treaty between the victorious Allies. Some remained in the 50s, and war criminals, whose number was about 17 thousand, were released only after 1956.
Are they really great workers?
How did prisoners of war work in the victorious USSR? Did they really build miraculous houses, which remarkably kept warm inside, and outside the eyes could not be taken away from them? Of course, it is possible that over the years everything has changed, and now the German carpenter, plasterer, painter, excavator or plumber are really wonderful and disciplined workers.
True, all this has little to do with many of the Germans who worked on construction sites in those already distant years. Indeed, according to the laws of Nazi Germany, everyone in the Wehrmacht was subject to conscription, including students, peasants, bank employees, etc. Naturally, not all of them had blue-collar specialties. And work on construction sites in the Soviet Union guaranteed increased rations and high wages (yes, just imagine, prisoners of war in the USSR received a salary!). It is not surprising that a huge number of Germans called themselves either bricklayers or plasterers, just to get into the construction team. Therefore, it is no longer possible to find out exactly which of the migrant workers who called themselves a carpenter or a plasterer really belonged to the named profession.
In addition, do not forget that many Germans did not have the desire to reveal their true nationality at all. Many, as mentioned above, registered themselves as Hungarians or Romanians, which makes the overall picture even more vague. In addition to the myth of German houses, for some reason an even stranger belief was entrenched in the minds of people, as if the captured invaders were rebuilding Stalingrad, destroyed by the battles. And this is despite the fact that in the years when such a conviction was formed, those who actually rebuilt it (Soviet citizens) and those who saw how it was rebuilt (the same Soviet citizens) were still alive. Apparently, the Germans were involved only for the simplest work, but Soviet brigadiers supervised them. Projects of factory workshops, railway bridges can also be credited to local architects (by the way,again Soviet). As for the residential buildings, on the construction of which the Germans made up the bulk of the labor force, they are by no means striking in their beauty. As a rule, these are cheap cinder block houses for working-class districts, presumably temporary, with poorly functioning sewers and low ceilings. Their appearance is also very unpresentable.
Houses of old and new construction
People relate to the Stalin era in completely different ways. But how can a truly culturally educated person not admire buildings built in the style of the so-called Stalinist Empire? !!! After all, it was really a completely new word in urban architecture. Magnificent, decorated with stucco, but at the same time monumental structures are mesmerizing, giving the feeling of something titanic, formidable and at the same time beautiful.
If you live in St. Petersburg or decide to visit this city, then be sure to go to the Avtovo metro station. There you can enjoy the view of huge columns with graceful patterns soaring up to a massive vault, or heavy and pompous chandeliers covered with gilding.
By the way, many residential buildings built in those days delight in their grandeur and beauty. These houses have high ceilings, separate bathrooms, and even rooms for servants. Families of scientists, party workers and art workers settled there. However, it was planned to use elements of a new type of architecture for mass development. The first houses "for everyone" according to the Stalinist project were built already in the post-war period. There were, of course, not too many external decorations, but the apartments in them also had high ceilings. By the way, a little information: according to the standards, the ceiling height should have been 3-3.5 meters, the area of a one-room apartment in such a house was from 40 to 45 m2 and, of course, there was a separate bathroom!
However, then Stalin's death followed, and Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev became the general secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The General Secretary did not like the presented projects of mass housing, since they reduced the speed of construction.
In a country where traces of recent devastation were still visible, according to Khrushchev, it was extremely important to build as much and as quickly as possible cheap housing. So the requirements for the height of the ceilings and the size of the area have been cut. If in a Stalinist building the area of a three-room apartment was 100 m2, then in Khrushchev it was a maximum of 55. The ceiling height also radically decreased, and the bathroom in most apartments became combined. There is no need to even talk about the appearance of these "boxes" - Khrushchev was a supporter of minimalism. At one of the meetings, he even told the architect that he would not argue with him about artistic tastes, but all kinds of decorations in this case are absolutely unnecessary.
About myths and stereotypes
It is human nature to create stereotypes about everything. Some of them are good, others are not. And in the same way, some stereotypes are more consistent with the truth, while others are less. The fact that there are many excellent engineers in Germany is evidenced by the quality of German cars. Who would argue that this nation has ingenuity? Of course not: after all, for example, half of the names of the same working tools are of German origin.
But sometimes misconceptions and myths are born on the basis of such stereotypes. In one American comedy series, the only black boy in school, Chris, is forced to join the basketball team, although he has no ability to do so. But the same cannot be, because once black means a basketball player! In approximately the same way, we imagine any German as an excellent builder, mechanic, etc. From all of the above, a simple conclusion follows: you should still remember about the influence of stereotypes, and then there will be much less myths like those described in the article.
Magazine: War and Fatherland # 4. Author: Daniil Kabakov