thumb|Streckerau, 1920 ([[Novokamenka).<!--ru:Новокаменка (Саратовская область)-->]]

thumb|Pokrowsk, 1928 ([[Engels, Saratov Oblast|Engels).<!--ru:Энгельс (город)-->]]

The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), abbreviated as the Volga German ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. Its capital city was Engels (known as Pokrovsk or Kosakenstadt before 1931) located on the Volga River. As a result of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the republic was abolished and Volga Germans were exiled.

History

thumb|Map of the [[Labour Commune of Volga Germans, 1922]]

The first provision of a special status for Volga Germans in the Russian SFSR was created following the October Revolution, by a 29 October (some claim 19 October) 1918 decree of the Soviet government, establishing the Labour Commune of Volga Germans. This gave Soviet Germans a special status among the non-Russians in the USSR. It was restructured as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 20 February 1924 (claims of 19 December 1923), Baltsersky, Gmelinsky, Gnadenflyursky, Dobrinsky, Zelmansky, Zolotovsky, Ilovatsky, Kamensky, Krasnoyarsky, Krasnokutsky, Kukkussky, Lizandergeysky, Marientalsky, Marxshtadtsky, Pallasovsky, Staro-Poltavsky, Ternovsky, Untervaldsky, Fedorovsky, Franksky, Ekgeimsky and Erlenbakhsky.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 marked the end of the Volga German ASSR. On 28 August 1941, the republic was formally abolished and, out of fear they could act as German collaborators, all Volga Germans were exiled to the Kazakh SSR, Altai and Siberia. Many were interned in labor camps merely due to their heritage.

Population

The following table shows population of the ethnic groups of the Volga German ASSR:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! !! 1926 census !! 1939 census

|-

| Germans || 379,630 (66.4%) || 366,685 (60.5%)

|-

| Russians || 116,561 (20.4%) || 156,027 (25.7%)

|-

| Ukrainians || 68,561 (12.0%) || 58,248 (9.6%)

|-

| Kazakhs || 1,353 (0.2%) || 8,988 (1.5%)

|-

| Tatars || 2,225 (0.4%) || 4,074 (0.7%)

|-

| Mordvins || 1,429 (0.3%) || 3,048 (0.5%)

|-

| Belarusians || 159 (0.0%) || 1,636 (0.3%)

|-

| Chinese || 5 (0.0%) || 1,284 (0.2%)

|-

| Jews || 152 (0.0%) || 1,216 (0.2%)

|-

| Poles || 216 (0.0%) || 756 (0.1%)

|-

| Estonians || 753 (0.1%) || 521 (0.1%)

|-

| Others || 710 (0.1%) || 3,869 (0.6%)

|-

| Total || 571,754 || 606,352

|}

Leaders

Heads of state

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan=2|

! Portrait

! Name<br />

! colspan=2| Tenure

! width=100| Notes

|-

! colspan=7| Central Executive Committee Chairmen

|-

! 1

! style="background:" |

| 60px

| Ernst Reuter<br />

| 1918

| 1919

| German statesman, diplomat, Mayor of Berlin

|-

! 2

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Adam Reichert<br />

| 1919

| 1920

| Teacher, journalist, kolkhoznik

|-

! 3

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Alexander Dotz<br />

| colspan=2| 1920

| World War I participant, Russian statesman

|-

! 4

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Vasiliy Pakun

| 1920

| 1921

| Russian statesman

|-

! 5

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Alexander Moor<br />

| 1921

| 1922

| World War I and Russian Civil War participant, Russian general and statesman, Turkmenistani statesman, Uzbekistani statesman, shot in Tashkent

|-

! 6

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Wilhelm Kurz<br />

| 1922

| 1924

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 7

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Johannes Schwab<br />

| 1924

| 1930

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 8

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Andrew Gleim<br />

| 1930

| 1934

| Russian statesman

|-

! 9

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Heinrich Fuchs<br />

| 1934

| 1935

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 10

! style="background:" |

| 60px

| Adam Welsch<br />

| 1935

| 1936

| World War I participant, chekist, regional party leader, Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 11

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Heinrich Lüft<br />

| 1936

| 1937

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 12

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| David Rosenberger<br />

| 1937

| 1938

| Russian statesman

|-

! colspan=7| Supreme Soviet Chairman

|-

! 1

! style="background:" |

| 60px

| Konrad Hoffmann<br />

| 1938

| 1941

| World War I participant, railway worker, Russian statesman

|}

Heads of government

;Sovnarkom of the Republic

Created on 12 January 1924, by declaration at the first session of the Central Executive Committee of the Republic.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan=2|

! Portrait

! Name<br />

! colspan=2| Tenure

! width=100| Notes

|-

! 1

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Wilhelm Kurz<br />

| 1924

| 1929

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 2

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Andrew Gleim<br />

| 1929

| 1930

| Russian statesman

|-

! 3

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Heinrich Fuchs<br />

| 1930

| 1935

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 4

! style="background:" |

| 60px

| Adam Welsch<br />

| 1935

| 1936

| World War I participant, chekist, regional party leader, Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 5

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Heinrich Lüft<br />

| 1936

| 1937

| Russian statesman, shot

|-

! 6

! style="background:" |

| 60px

| Wladimir Dalinger<br />

| 1937

| 1938

| Russian Civil War participant, security forces officer, Russian statesman, entrepreneur

|-

! 7

! style="background:" |

| <!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->

| Alexander Heckmann<br />

| 1938

| 1941

| Engineer, Russian statesman, Gulag survivor

|}

Maps

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="250px">

File:Немцев Поволжья АССР.png|Russian topographic map of the republic.

File:Volga German ASSR in modern Russia (English).svg|Administrative division of the republic after its dissolution.

</gallery>

See also

  • History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union
  • Ethnic Germans
  • Baltic Germans
  • German Quarter
  • Yellow Ukraine

References

  • Autonomous SSR of the Volga Germans
  • Native Volga-German - researcher of his heritage
  • German Villages in the Volga Valley of Russia
  • High resolution map of Volga German ASSR
  • City of Pallasowka, Canton of the Volga-German ASSR
  • Guide to the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union
  • City of Marx, Canton of the Volga-German ASSR
  • Документальный фильм о городе Маркс (documentary about the city of Marx, in Russian)