Hegewald was a short-lived German colony during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, situated near

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

Reichskommissariat Ukraine During World War II, (abbreviated as RKU) was the civilian occupation regime () of much of Nazi German-occupied Ukraine (which included adjacent areas of modern-day Belarus and pre-war Second Polish Republic). It was governed by the Reich Min ...

. It was repopulated in late 1942 and early 1943 by ''

Volksdeutsche In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of '' volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sin ...

'' settlers transferred from occupied territories of Poland, Croatia, Bessarabia, and the Soviet Union to an area earmarked for the projected

Germanization Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...

of the Ukrainian lands. Plans were prepared months in advance by the SS,

RKFDV The Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood (german: Reichskommissar für die Festigung deutschen Volkstums, RKF, RKFDV) was an office in Nazi Germany, which was held by ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler. Adolf Hitler in ...

and

VoMi The ''Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle'' or VoMi (Coordination Center for Ethnic Germans) was a Nazi Party agency in Nazi Germany founded to manage the interests of the ''Volksdeutsche'', the population of ethnic Germans living outside the country. U ...

, but major problems with supplies occurred right from the region's initial establishment. Himmler's original plans to recruit settlers from Scandinavia and the Netherlands were unsuccessful.

History

The initial plans were difficult to implement for a number of reasons, including the reluctance and fear among many ''Volksdeutsche'' owing to partisan activities in the area. Elaborate guidelines were set up to prepare the locations.Nicholas, pp. 331, 474. The new settlers were to receive the homes of killed or evicted Ukrainian peasants, as well as their furniture, livestock, and food, and schools were to be built. This required a massive deportation effort, mostly on foot. Most homes were in terrible shape by German standards. There was a considerable shortage of lumber, and general lack of winter clothing and shoes.Nicholas, p. 474. The Ukrainian and Polish Germans arrived by train, having been forcibly removed from their homes, to be doled out plots of land and informed of their quotas. They received use, but not ownership, of the land assigned to them. Karel C. Berkhoff, ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule'' p 45 Neither the deported Ukrainians nor the ethnic Germans received more than a few hours' notice of their relocation. Despite damage to the houses, most could be made functional before snowfall. Elaborate Christmas pageants were set up, deliberately irreligious, to celebrate the return of light and link it to the "dark powers" surrounding Germany, and gifts and food were provided. All did not go as planned. The intended preparations were undermined by filching of craftsmen, and neither food nor clothing arrived as promised. Furthermore, many evicted Ukrainians returned to the area.Nicholas, p 339 Efforts were made to continue, with

League of German Girls The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (german: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. ...

members being sent even when they had to receive gas masks and soldier escorts, but by November 1943, the inhabitants were in flight before the Red Army. These were the first of massive flights from Eastern Europe.

Villages

The colony consisted of 27 villages, all renamed in German; they were situated along the

- Berdychiv road. The villages reverted to their Ukrainian names after the war. Lower, Wendy: ''Nazi empire-building and the Holocaust in Ukraine'', p. 176. University of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Notes

References

* {{Heinrich Himmler The Holocaust in Ukraine Cultural assimilation Poland in World War II Heinrich Himmler

History

Villages

See also

Notes

References