That is exactly what happened to the German people who were living in East Prussia at the end of World War II.
In “Forgotten Land: Journeys Among the Ghosts of East Prussia,” Max Egremont reconstructs the tragic sequence of events that took place in this picturesque region on the Baltic Sea.
In 1945, the Red Army swept through on its final approach to Berlin. The grand estates of the Prussian nobility were sacked and burned. British bombers had left the once beautiful city of Konigsberg in ruins. Egremont describes how “at first the Russians wanted at least some Germans to stay, to teach them how to run the place.” By 1951, almost all the Germans in Prussia had been deported.
The former lands of East Prussia were divided between Poland and Russia. Konigsberg became Kaliningrad and the base for the Soviet Baltic Fleet. The area was closed off to foreigners.
When Hitler’s Reich finally fell, German people who had lived for generations in Yugoslavia, Romania and other European regions were driven out and forced to go to Germany.
East Prussia was an important part of the German empire. The author goes through history to reveal how Germans first came to the area. The Teutonic Knights invaded, bringing Christianity to the Lithuanians, the last pagans of Europe.
The castles they built there became physical manifestations of their dominion over that land. Over the centuries, East Prussia became a productive agricultural region and a recurring battleground. The author takes readers through this compelling history.
Here’s an example: “in February 1807, Napolean ruled his empire from the East Prussian castle of Finckenstein for ten weeks, while having a liaison with the Polish Countess Marie Walewska, before winning a decisive victory in June at Friedland. The Teutonic Knights had built fortifications at Friedland some four hundred and fifty years before.”
“Forgotten Land” is a series of intertwined essays. As we delve into the history of East Prussia, the author introduces us to a range of people.
Tracking these individuals across time provides us with a nuanced sense of how each person dealt with conflict and turmoil. Some became martyrs, others villains.
The artist Kathe Kollwitz allowed her son to enlist in the German Army during what would become known as World War I. When he was killed, her patriotism abated. She lost a grandson during the next war. Her paintings and sculptures depicted her deep sense of loss. Walter Frevert was an honored Nazi gamekeeper in East Prussia and later, in Poland. He participated in atrocities to protect his favored status.
Egremont observes: “Terrible things happen to countries — yet most of them can be proud of much of their past; here such pride skulks in secret, as if within a forbidden sect.”
Most of the people who were driven out of their East Prussian homeland are gone now.
This potent book bestows an overdue honor to their memory.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Friday at 1:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 11 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, go online to www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
About the Author