THE DEATH OF EAST PRUSSIA War and Revenge in Germany’s Easternmost Province THE DEATH OF EAST PRUSSIA War and Revenge in Germany’s Easternmost Province PETER B. CLARK Cover design by Liz Trovato Andover Press and the Andover Press colophon are registered trademarks of Vantage Press, Inc. FIRST EDITION All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Copyright © 2013 by Peter B. Clark 5503 Montgomery Street Chevy Chase, MD 20815 DeathofEastPrussia@gmail.com Published by Andover Press ISBN: 978-1-481935-75-3 Library of Congress Catalog Card No: 2012936102 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Excerpts from PRUSSIAN NIGHTS: A POEM by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, translated by Robert Conquest. Translation copyright © 1977 by Robert Conquest. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Wieck, Michael. A CHILDHOOD UNDER HITLER AND STALIN. © 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Reprinted by permission of The University of Wisconsin Press. To my wife CONTENTS Acknowledgments Concordance of Place Names List of Maps Maps List of Illustrations Introduction CHAPTER I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: FROM THE CONQUEST OF THE PRUSSEN BY THE TEUTONIC ORDER TO THE EVE OF WORLD WAR II A. Conquest of the Prussen by the Order of the Teutonic Knights: 1230–1283 B. Rule of East Prussia by the Teutonic Order: 1283–1525 C. The Duchy of Prussia: 1525–1701 D. Kingdom of Prussia: 1701–1815 E. From the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to World War I F. From the Versailles Treaty of 1919 to the Eve of World War II in 1939 CHAPTER II PRELUDE TO THE END OF EAST PRUSSIA A. Germany’s Invasion of Poland and Russia: Sowing the Seeds for Revenge B. An Island of Comparative Calm before the Storm C. The War Comes Home: The Bombing of Königsberg in August 1944 CHAPTER III THE BATTLE OF EAST PRUSSIA AND THE FLIGHT FROM THE RED ARMY A. The Center Does Not Hold B. Two Incursions into East Prussia in the Fall of 1944 C. The Invasion of East Prussia and the Flight from the Red Army in January 1945 D. The End of Königsberg E. The End of East Prussia CHAPTER IV THE BRUTAL BEHAVIOR OF SOVIET TROOPS: WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? A. German Eyewitness Reports of Rape B. Soviet Accounts of Rape and Pillage by the Red Army C. What Explains the Brutal Behavior of Soviet Troops? 1. Nazi Atrocities in the Soviet Union 2. The Soviet Campaign to Incite Hatred of the Germans D. How Soviet Troops Behaved in Budapest and Soviet-Occupied Germany CHAPTER V THE SINKING OF THE WILHELM GUSTLOFF AND THE MASSACRE OF JEWS AT PALMNICKEN A. The Sinking of the Gustloff B. The Massacre at Palmnicken CHAPTER VI THE FATE OF EAST PRUSSIANS UNDER RUSSIAN AND POLISH RULE A. The Immediate Aftermath of the Soviet Victory in Königsberg B. The Forced Marches out of Königsberg in April 1945 C. The Internment Camp at Rothenstein D. The Return of Refugees to East Prussia E. Deportations to the Soviet Union F. Survival—or Extinction—in East Prussia under Russian Rule 1. A Death in Königsberg 2. Conditions in the Hospitals in Königsberg 3. Escape to Lithuania G. Conditions Facing Germans in Polish East Prussia from 1945 to 1950 H. Deportation of the East Prussians from Their Homeland 1. Expulsions from Russian East Prussia 2. Expulsions of Germans from the Polish Part of East Prussia CHAPTER VII DECIDING THE FATE OF EAST PRUSSIA A. Polish Views on East Prussia before the First Conference of World War II Allies at Teheran B. Views of the Allies Regarding East Prussia before Teheran C. Preparations for the Teheran Conference D. The Teheran Conference: November 28–December 1, 1943 E. The Aftermath of the Teheran Conference F. The Yalta Conference: February 4–11, 1945 G. The Potsdam Conference (July 17–August 2, 1945) and the Expulsion of Germans from the Territory Ceded to Poland 1. Sealing the Fate of East Prussia 2. The Decision on Poland’s Western Borders 3. The Expulsion of German Minorities in Eastern Europe to Germany H. Concluding Observations Bibliography Map and Illustration Credits W ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ithout my wife, Heide-Hede Könitzer Clark, this book could not have been written. Her East Prussian background and that of her family provided the motivation for this book. She painstakingly edited each draft of the text and her extremely high standards and insistence on clarity vastly improved the manuscript. Moreover, she made innumerable suggestions regarding the tone and organization of the book that I incorporated in the text. I am most grateful for her sound advice and unstinting support throughout all phases of the creation of The Death of East Prussia I wish to acknowledge the generous support and very helpful assistance from other close family members. My daughter, Vanessa J. H. Clark, a keen student of the English language, carefully read the manuscript and made many suggestions of style and substance that significantly improved the text. In addition, I appreciate very much her encouragement to persist with the publication of the book. My son, Barton B. Clark, made many insightful comments on the manuscript, and with his background and knowledge of history, he helped to clarify some of the threads of the narrative. He also provided invaluable assistance and advice regarding the publishing process. I wish to thank my brother-in-law, Burkhard Könitzer. With a strong interest in German history, he encouraged me from the outset of my research and gave me twenty-five pages of detailed comments and suggestions after reading an entire draft. He corrected a number of errors I had made concerning German history and proposed the inclusion of additional historical detail that fleshed out the exposition. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the published copy that incorporates many of his suggestions. Early on in my research I had the good fortune to interview Michael Wieck. Growing up in Königsberg and being half-Jewish, he barely escaped being killed by the Nazis but then nearly perished under the Russian occupation. His memoir, A Childhood under Hitler and Stalin – Memoirs of a “Certified Jew ,” is one of my main sources; it describes his incredible struggle to survive under the harsh conditions of post-war Königsberg. Herr Wieck read the entire manuscript and made a number of suggestions that improved the text. I also thank him for his efforts to have the book published in Germany. While I was researching, writing, and polishing my manuscript, he was a constant source of inspiration and support, and I deeply appreciate his encouragement to persevere in the publication process. I would like to express my thanks to Lorenz Grimoni, head of the Museum Stadt Königsberg in Duisburg, Germany. He graciously welcomed my wife, brother-in-law, and me to his office where he shared his extensive knowledge of the demise of Königsberg. On these visits he gave me several books and other publications of considerable relevance for my research, and he also sent me a number of photographs of Königsberg for which I am most grateful. I would also like to thank Michael Röskau for his careful reading of the manuscript and pointing out a number of errors. In addition, I greatly value his gift of a book by his grandfather, Erich Göttgen, Der Wiederaufbau Ostpreussens ( The Reconstruction of East Prussia ), which describes the reconstruction of East Prussia following the Russian invasion in World War I. I benefited from discussions with Charles McCain, author of An Honorable German , particularly concerning the German Navy in World War II. After he read the manuscript, he provided key references on Operation Hannibal, the evacuation via the Baltic of German civilians and soldiers from East Prussia. He also went out of his way to help me find a literary agent. Rita Warnock kindly sent me a detailed account of how she survived the end of the war in Stettin under Russian and then Polish occupation, and on her treks east and then finally west, for which I wish to thank her. I would in addition like to mention Iris Rörup, my wife’s second cousin. As a young girl she experienced firsthand the Russian occupation of Königsberg which she described in her book, Also Sprach Vielliebchen , and also conveyed to me in an interview and several conversations. My book, which draws on her vivid accounts and that of many other East Prussians, bears witness to their fate. While doing research for my book in Germany, I visited the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz and wish to thank Klaus-Dieter Postupa and Barbara Sander for their assistance in locating relevant documents and other material. I am also grateful to Dr. Ernst Gierlich at the Kulturstiftung der deutschen Vertriebenen (Cultural Foundation of German Expellees) in Bonn for a lengthy interview and for providing me with vivid eyewitness accounts of the fate of women in Königsberg under Russian rule. In the United States most of my research was conducted at the European Reading Room in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The staff was unfailingly cordial and helpful in guiding me to the vast collection of material at the Library of Congress related to my topic. I would like to thank in particular Grant Harris, Harold Leich and Predrag Pajic, and especially Regina Frackowiak for her assistance in locating Polish sources and translating a number of passages from Polish into English. While researching at the European Reading Room I met Steve Grant and Chalmers Hood, and I am indebted to them for steering me to some especially relevant references. Others read all or parts of the manuscript and provided helpful suggestions, including which publishers might be attracted to the topic. These are John Buntin, Prof. Donald Horowitz, Prof. Jerome Stein, and Chris Ward. I would also like to thank Matt Fullerty for implementing some important improvements in the arrangement of the text. Finally, I was most grateful to have Fiona Hallowell as my editor at Andover Press. Her patience and cheer-fullness were very much appreciated. I also wish to thank my copy editor, Grace Morsberger, who significantly helped improve the text, and Richard Rothschild for facilitating the final production. T CONCORDANCE OF PLACE NAMES he towns and cities in East Prussia mentioned in the text are referred to by their German names, given that the province was German territory during most the time period covered by the book. They are now in Poland, Russia, and Lithuania, and their contemporary names are provided below following their German names. German Name Contemporary Name Allenburg Druzhba Allenstein Olsztyn Balga Wesjolnoje Bartenstein Bartoszyce Brandenburg Uschakowo Braunsberg Braniewo Bromberg Bydgoszcz Cranz Zelenogradsk Danzig Gdansk Darkehmen/Angerapp Ozyorsk Deutsch Eylau Ilawa Dirschau Tczew Ebenrode/Stallupönen Nesterow Elbing Elblag Eydtkuhnen/Eydtkau Chernyshevskoye Fischhausen Primorsk Frauenburg Frombork Friedland Pravdinsk Friedrichstein Kamenka Gdingen/Gotenhafen Gdynia Georgenburg Mayovka Gerdauen Shelesodororoshnyi Gilgenburg Dabrowno Goldap Goldap Gotenhafen Gdynia Graudenz Grudziadz Gumbinnen Gusev Heilsberg Lidzbark Warminski Hela Hel Heiligenbeil Mamonovo Heydekrug Silute Insterburg Chernyakhovsk Johannisburg Pisz Juditten Mendeleevo Kahlberg Krynica Morska Karthaus Kartuzy Katowitz Kattowitz Königsberg Kaliningrad Kulm Chelmno Küstrin Kostrzyn Labiau Polessk Landsberg Gorowo Lemberg Lwow Libau Liepaja Lötzen Gizycko Lyck Elk Marienwerder Kwidzyn Marienburg Malbork Memel Klaipeda Metgethen Lesnoye Mohrungen Morag Neidenburg Nidzica Nemmersdorf Mayakovskoye Neukrug Nowa Karczma Neukuhren Pionersky Nidden Nida Ortelsburg Szczytno Osterode Ostroda Palmnicken Yantarny Pillkallen/Schlossberg Dobrovolsk Pillau Baltiysk Posen Poznan Preussisch Eylau Bagrationovsk Preussisch Holland Paslek Ragnit Neman Rastenburg Ketrzyn Rauschen Svetlogorsk Rosenberg Susz Rossitten Rybachy Rössel Reszel Schlossberg/Pillkallen Dobrovolsk Schneidemühl Pila Schwirwindt Kutusowo Sensburg Mragowo Soldau Dzialdowo Stallupönen/Ebenrode Nesterov Strasburg Brodnica Stettin Szczecin Stuhm Sztum Stutthof Sztutowo Suwalki Suwalki Tannenberg Stebark Tapiau Gvardeysk Tauroggen Taurage Thorn Torun Tilsit Sovetsk Tolkemit Tolkmicko Trakehnen Yasnaya Polyana Wartenburg Barczewo Wehlau Znamensk Wilna Vilnius Wormditt Orneta LIST OF MAPS 1. Germany before World War I 2. Germany after World War I with Polish Corridor 3. Germany after World War II 4. Union of the Duchy of Prussia and Brandenburg 5. East Prussia 1923–1939 6. The Heiligenbeil Cauldron 7. Towns on the Bay of Danzig 8. Last Voyage of the Wilhelm Gustloff 9. Westward Shift of Poland’s Borders 10. Poland: Eastern Frontier with Stalin’s Red Line 11. The Oder-Neisse Line Map 1 . Germany before World War I. Map 2 . Germany after World War I with Polish Corridor. Map 3 . Germany after World War II. Map 4 . Union of the Duchy of Prussia and Brandenburg. Map 5 . East Prussia 1923–1939.