Extract From Ukraine Trip 2015

27 July– 02 SeptemberRoman Korol

AUGSBURG

TOUR OF OUR FORMER POST-WAR DP CAMP

Day 4 in Kempten and Augsburg

Visit to Augsburg• Friday 31 July. Big day, we

travel for a rendez-vous at 11h00

• Car transport is supplied by Olja’s work colleague Stefan Rimmele.

• Straight to Somme Kaserne.• Fortuitously, we are early and

meet Gerald Fiebig, administrator of Der Rabe im Kulturhaus Abraxas.

Kulturhaus Abraxas

We continue…

So we begin• Kulturhaus Abraxas is the

former Wehrmacht/American officers’ mess

• A beautiful club• Here we meet our main

contact Herr Max Lohrmann (left) and his colleague Tomas from the City of Augsburg, who take us to tour Somme Kaserne proper.

Our official contact group

Type of barracks where we lived in Somme Kaserne 1945-1949

Somme Kaserne, as it was back then

In 1945-49 . . .

• We lived on the second floor in the middle block, with civic number 51.

• Our room is currently the workshop of painter Siegried Stiller, shown in photo

• Olja’s help as interpreter was indispensable.

Some Stats on DP Camp Complex• Information kindly provided by Herr Lohrmann• The facilities at their peak, in the fall of 1945, consisted of 3 Kaserne of the

Wehrmacht, namely: Somme, Panzerjäger, and Arras (see the air photo overleaf). The entire complex was eventually named Reese Kaserne. At present, only Somme Kaserne remains.

• In 1950, one year after we left, the DP population lodged there was:

Ukrainians: 4700Poles: 4025Estonians: 2100Lithuanians: 1800Latvians: 2300Rumanians: 57

• For a grand total of 14 982 persons.

Reese Kaserne Complex, 1950

Somme Kaserne

Kulturhaus Abraxos

Panzerjäger

Arras

Mess Hall

Reese Kaserne Complex, 1950

Somme Kaserne

Kulturhaus Abraxas

Panzerjäger

Arras

Mess Hall

A historical curiosity

There remains a mural painting above the main entrance to the Somme Kaserne Mess-Hall, created in the 1930s when the Kaserne was built under the National Socialist regime.

Bearing in mind that this was home base to a Bavarian artillery regiment, the scene depicts German horse artillery, pulling their guns through heavy mud on their way to battle. It is still in good condition. I remember it well. (The garish neon paint below was done by modern youths)

Evidently, the local American occupying powers had some sensitivity as to its historical value, and just let it be.

One can imagine what would have been its fate, had the occupying power been Russian.

Mess-hall Main Entry

Some History (1/4)• The extent of postwar Displaced Person (DP) camps may be appreciated by

examining this webpage• This was a “DP Archipelago” in its own right• In May 1945, there were approximately 3 million surviving

Ukrainian Displaced Persons • By autumn 1945, all but 200,000 were repatriated to the USSR. • Many, if not most, of the 2.8 million Ukrainians were forcibly repatriated against

their will and in violation of their rights under the Geneva Convention. • Hundreds of thousands of these repatriated Ukrainians were quickly killed under

Stalin’s orders, while many others were shipped to the Gulag concentration camps and tortured or worked to death.

• This deportation was a war crime in which the Allied powers (USA, UK, France, Belgium) were complicit.

• The world was kept in the dark about the Ukrainian victims, much the same as the Ukrainian victims who died in the famine genocides (Holodomors) in the pre-war years.

Some History (2/4)• The number of Ukrainians shown for Somme Kaserne (4700) is only what

remained in the post-repatriation phase and it is 2,4% of the total. Prior to the repatriation, it would have been much higher: say, 70 000.

• About half of the remaining 200,000 Ukrainians were eventually resettled by the International Refugee Organization (IRO) to USA (80 000), UK (10 000), Australia (10 000), Canada (30 000), and South America.

• Under Stalin’s pressure, the Grand Alliance did not recognize the Ukrainian nationality of the refugees.

• Stalinist propaganda falsely smeared Ukrainian refugees as Nazi war criminals (an on-going campaign).

• Western Powers are complaisant with the false portrayal of Ukrainians as Nazi war criminals (e.g., the case of John Demjanjuk), as it deflects attention away from Ukrainians as victims of war crimes perpetrated by Stalin with the assistance of the Western Powers.

Some History (3/4)• In the 1950’s the DP population gradually declined through

emigration. • The rise of the Cold War led to these barracks being modernized

and pressed back into service for military purposes; this time under the umbrella name of Reese Kaserne, which (post-war) had come to encompass the individual Wehrmacht-era structures of Somme Kaserne, Panzerjäger Kaserne, and Arras Kaserne .

• As the Cold War ultimately receded and American forces were withdrawn, all the facilities were transferred to local authorities.

• The Panzerjäger and Arras portions of Reese Kaserne – these were by far the largest - were then demolished, but the Somme Kaserne, fronting on Somme Straße, remains. It is administered by the City of Augsburg.

Some History (4/4)• The buildings at present are put to social use. For instance, the barrack where

we lived (the middle one of the three) is now used by various artisans for living space and work space. That explains how Herr Stiller comes to use our former room as a studio for his paintings.

• The Kulturhaus Abraxas which adjoins the Kaserne is a remarkable going concern and is actually growing, with a focus on cultural community activities.

• The future of these facilities (except Abraxas) is now in question. Consideration is being given by the City to their demolition. This is strongly opposed, however, by the artisan community and their sympathisers.

• These are very solid old buildings, now of historic value, and it would be regrettable to see them all disappear. I do hope the City finds a viable solution for their survival.

• I am very grateful to Herr Lohrmann and his colleague for their time, their patience and their kind attention in providing us with this tour and this most interesting information.