скачать книгу бесплатно
The Conference agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet government to transfer the city of Königsberg and surrounding area to the Soviet Union, as described above. However, the exact boundary was the subject of expert’s study. The US President and the British Prime Minister have declared that they «will support this proposal at the forthcoming Peace Conference»[128 - Berlinskaja (Potsdamskaja) konferencija rukovoditelej trech sojuznych derzhav – USSR, USA i Welikobritanii 17 ijulia – 2 avgusta 1945. Moscow 1980, p. 491—492.].
Therefore, the Potsdam Conference recognized the need to detach the East Prussia from Germany and incorporate it in Poland and the Soviet Union. The so-called «expert’s study» was not followed due to certain changes in the foreign policy that led to the beginning of the «Cold War».
Owing to the agreements reached at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the northern part of East Prussia, which is about one-third of its total area, was incorporated into the Soviet Union. On 7 April 1946, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued the decree «On the establishment on the territory of Königsberg and surrounding area the Königsberg Oblast and inclusion of it in the RSFSR». On 4 July 1946, the area was renamed Kaliningrad Oblast and the town was renamed Kaliningrad.
The main Soviet newspaper «Pravda» wrote about it: «Forever was hoisted the flag of the Soviet Union there, where began their plundering raids to Russia a Teutonic knights, hordes of Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler’s armoured gangs; nowadays Königsberg and surrounding areas have unforgettable name of the great son of Russian nation, Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin»[129 - Pravda, 30 November 1946.].
2.2. Migration as a source of demographic shift before the collapse of the USSR: Formation of regional society
2.2.1. After the end of hostilities: Deportation of German population
Small or large territories were transferred from one state to another at various points in history. However, the Kaliningrad region is unique in a sense that in a very short period (several years) the population changed completely on a certain territory with defined borders. The population as a medium of historical memory and cultural heritage is gone and other people who had no idea about the new place of residence have replaced it.
The Kaliningrad region is characterized by a «migration genesis» of the population. This feature is confirmed by the fact that more than a half of the region’s inhabitants are not indigenous. They were born out of the territory of the Kaliningrad region. This feature is relevant even to the present time.
Even now, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, about a half of residents of the area were not born in the Kaliningrad region, of which only about 20% arrived more than 50 years ago and spent here most of their life[130 - Kaliningrad: len’ vo spasenije? Kaliningradskaja Pravda, 12 Mai 2005.]. At present, a significant proportion of non-indigenous population is represented due not only to contemporary migration flows, but also to historical reasons. The Kaliningrad region became part of the Soviet Union after World War II: In the early years, there took place a mass migration of people from other regions of Russia and the republics of the USSR.
It would be emphasized that detailed knowledge about the past is valued not only for its accuracy, but for its ability to influence and estimate present affairs and situation. So how has been Kaliningrad society established?
Migration flows and challenges are among decisive parameters of the life of society and human. Migration is covering the knowledge of the physical and social landscape where people live. They are trying to identify themselves with the place where life take place, and identify with other people with whom migrants interact.
An individual sense of security has high importance for first migrants to the Kaliningrad region. This sense reflected in state’s power to protect people’s interests and ensure their expectations. Interaction between the new place and the state – primarily, with central authorities in Moscow – plays a significant role for the politics of identity in Kaliningrad and has a historical roots to the beginning of the Soviet period of the region’s history.
After the end of hostilities, the humanitarian situation in Königsberg and surrounding area was no less challenging than in last months of the war.
In the aftermath of the hostilities, the industry of East Prussia was almost completely disrupted. According to accounting records of military commandant offices during April —May 1945, 40 per cent enterprises and factories were destroyed[131 - Kolganova, Energija: Obrazovanie i razvitie Kaliningradskoj oblasti – nacionalnyj podvig sovjetskogo naroda. Kaliningrad 1974, p. 43.]. Lack of appropriate staff not allowed the enterprises to start the recovery of factories immediately. By the decision of the Hague Conference, the countries were not allowed to practice massive migration of citizens to the occupied territory. The USSR got that right only in accordance with the decisions of the Potsdam Conference. For this reason, the initial source of the labour forces included demobilized soldiers and officers, repatriates, and local German population.
Conditions of everyday life were very difficult. The housing problem was paramount. The act of a survey, conducted in early 1946, witnessed about enormous difficulties to solve this problem: «Before the war, there were six million square metres of residential space in Königsberg. As on 15 May 1946, the city was spread over an area of 650,000 square metres. However, overhaul of 50% of them is required»[132 - GAKO. The state archive of the Kaliningrad region. Box 298, folder 4, file 2, sheet 1.]. That is, about only 5% of pre-war accommodation was more or less suitable for housing.
In the city of Königsberg and surrounding area left about 139,000 German citizens after the war[133 - Isupov, Vladimir; Kretinin, Gennady (ed.): Vostochnaja Prussija s drevnejshih vremen do konza vtoroj mirovoj voyny. Kaliningrad 1996, p. 494—495 (on 1
of September 1945 the Special Military District of Königsberg was populated by 139614 persons).]. It should be noted that these figures might not be accurate, because to take into account all inhabitants was impossible. However, on the basis of these figures I can say that in compare to the pre-war period the number of German residents reduced by almost eight times[134 - According to the census of 1939 on the same territory lived 1089000 persons.].
In legal terms the local population was seen as hostile, because formally enacted the occupation regime. Therefore, initially the local population was under curfew, and communication of Soviet military and civilians with them was forbidden.
However, soon things began to change rapidly. In the autumn of 1945 many of the restrictions formally or de-facto ceased to exist. German citizens were allowed freely communicate and change place of residence. Many of them worked at military facilities and bases. Germans filled some local administrations.
In the early post-war months before the mass migration of Soviet citizens, local residents were the main labour force only. Therefore, on 15 February of 1946, the Military District’s Council adopted a resolution that granted local Soviet and German population the right to occupy working positions in industry and agriculture. By the summer of 1946, only in Konigsberg 19,000 German workers were registered[135 - Isupov, Vasilij (ed.): Vostochnaja Prussija. S drevneishich vremen do konza vtoroj mirovoj voiny. Istoricheskie ocherki. Dokumenty. Materialy. Kaliningrad 1996, p. 493.], according to the records of the Office of Civil Affairs[136 - Temporary Office of Civil Affairs existed in the period from July1945 to July 1947 until the first election of permanent executive authorities.]. At that time, more than 25,000 German citizens were employed[137 - Isupov, Vladimir; Kretinin, Gennady (ed.): Vostochnaja Prussija s drevnejshih vremen do konza vtoroj mirovoj voyny. Kaliningrad 1996, p. 493.]. German and Soviet citizens «often lived under the same roof, received the same wages, and worked together on cleaning up the city streets»[138 - Hoppe, Bert: Auf den Trümmern von Königsberg. Kaliningrad 1946—1970. München 2000, p. 34.].
Gradually, the policy of isolation of the local population was reduced, and they were included in the field of ideological propaganda. The Soviet administration has attempted to cover the German population with typical methods of Soviet propaganda. In February of 1946, «the Central German club» and its district offices were opened in Königsberg. German clubs were the centres of political and cultural life of local population. Information sources in German language were established – radio and the newspaper «New Time»[139 - Stroganova, Natalja: «Neue Zeit» – gazeta dla nemezkogo naselenija Kaliningradskoj oblasti. In: Vestnik Baltijskogo federalnogo universiteta imeni I. Kanta, 6/2006, p. 52—56.].
The newspaper «New Time» had been in publication since 1947. Journalist Maria Kubareva who worked with the newspaper remembers: «The German newspaper was established by the decision of the central committee of the party, and was governed by the regional committee of the party. On the front page of the newspaper was written, «New Age. The newspaper for the German population of the Kaliningrad region. Published twice a week». In general, «Neue Zeit» was so typical as most of newspapers of the time. Each copy of newspaper contained a topical article, a selection of news about work on factories, agriculture, and housing reconstruction. It also contained interviews with Germans about working conditions and wages[140 - Kostjashov, Juri: Op. cit., 2002, p. 144.].
In 1947 – 48, German schools were opened in all districts of the Kaliningrad region. However, the regular learning process began only in 1948, when German schools have become an integral part of the public education system. At this time, the resettlement of German population began, which was why the German schools were closed soon.
Two resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR regarding the resettlement of the local population were taken on 11 October 1947 and 15 February 1948. It was entitled «On the resettlement of Germans from the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR to the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany». First, two groups of people were resettled – inhabitants of coastal areas and the disabled. Each family had the right to take up to 300 kilograms of belongings and a 15-day food ration for the move.
Transportation to Germany took place in several phases. Primarily, echelons of trains were formed. Each echelon contained of 55 cars, each of which housed 40 people. Consequently, by the end of 1948, about 102,000 people were deported to Germany[141 - Kretinin, Gennady: Ocherkii storii Vostochnoj Prussii. Kaliningrad 2004, p. 463.].
According to the memoirs, many people did not want to leave, but Germans had no opportunity to obtain Soviet citizenship. Among thousands of respondents who were interviewed in Kaliningrad by historians, only an insignificant part considers deportation of Germans as a right decision[142 - Obrussenie Prussii; http://www.vremya.ru/2010/2/13/245113.html, accessed 12. 04. 2013.].
2.2.2. The settlement: First Kaliningradians
By the time of the establishment in April 1946, the Oblast was inhabited by 35,000 Soviet citizens, and by 1 August 1946, it had 84,500. Some of them were Soviet repatriates who have returned from the concentration camps and «Ostarbeiters». Another category of new residents is demobilized soldiers.
Systematic colonization of new Soviet Oblast launched only after the entry into force of decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on 9 July 1946. The document announced the beginning of voluntary resettlement of Soviet citizens in the autumn of 1946. The first social contingent of migrants was collective farmer’s families (kolchosniki) from various regions of the Soviet Russia and Belarus.
The description that characterized the heterogeneity of this category of migrants is important. In regional political department, it was noted that to villages of the Kaliningrad region «under the guise of collective farmers migrates all who wants, except of farmers: there are lawyers, doctors, musicians, technologists, and teachers»[143 - GAKO. The state archive of the Kaliningrad region. Box 121, folder 1, file 7, sheet 51—51.].
Here is the description of one of these typical cases: «T. A. before her resettlement to Kaliningrad worked as a seamstress at „kolkhoz“ „Zarya“ in Turov district of Gomel region; in the emigrant ticket for resettlement she attributed herself with imaginary distant relatives. At the expense of cash benefits she bought a sewing machine to work at home instead of work at „kolkhoz“, when she was not allowed to do it and was asked to proceed to the collective-farm work, she voluntarily left the kolkhoz»[144 - GAKO. The state archive of the Kaliningrad region. Box 183, folder 5, file 154, sheet 51].
Of course, a strong incentive was needed, especially material, for a decision on the voluntary resettlement to Kaliningrad. The settlers were granted with free travel and luggage transportation to the destination, tax exemptions for three years, a lump sum benefit equal to a thousand roubles for the head of the family, and 300 roubles for each family member. Especially for the residents of rural area the important reason was a house and plot of land in a half of hectare, and preferential loans for the purchase of agricultural implements and livestock. A family should consist of two able-bodied members to get the full amount of benefits. As a result, nearly two-thirds of the immigrants were under thirty years old[145 - GAKO. The state archive of the Kaliningrad region. Box 330. folder 1. file 18., sheet 2.]. People of working age have presented significantly higher proportion of the population in the Kaliningrad region in compare to the national average.
Settling in the Kaliningrad region occurred in two ways – voluntary and by force. Incentive measures and compulsion were applied to the same group of immigrants at the same time. For example, soldiers who fought in East Prussia were offered to stay here after the war and bring their families. Significant hopes were pinned on the institute of political officers («politryki») of military units to solve this task. Here is one of the typical memories of participants of storming out of Königsberg, who were recruited to stay in Oblast: «Political department of our regiment invited demobilized communists, and explained to them: «Dear friends, you fought here, now it is necessary to reconstruct this new land». I told them: «We Communists are people too! I have not been at home for a long time. I am from Saratov region. Why do I need this East Prussia?» In addition, they said, «Communists must be the first»[146 - Kostjashov, Juri: Vostochnaja Prussia glazami sovjetskih pereselencev. Pervye gody Kaliningradskoj oblasti v vospominanijah i dokumentah, St. Petersburg 2002, p. 69.].
It is important to note the fact that among the first settlers were the majority of those who lost their property and shelter during the war. This is because migration came from areas that were vastly devastated during the war. These people were fully familiar with the hardships of war; they easier agreed to immigrate, as they often nothing to have at the previous place of residence. Many of them have fled of hunger with hope on a better life at new place[147 - Kostjashov, Juri: Zaselenie Kaliningradskoj oblasti posle vtoroi mirovoj vojny, In: Humanitarnaja nauka v Rossii, Moscow 1996. Vol. 2, p. 87.].
Here, one of memories of inhabitant from Smolensk region, who has been forced to move to Germany as «Ostarbeiter’ in 1942: «After being released we passed through East Prussia to home. In the distribution camp, a man approached us and said, «Girls, stay here. Returning home to Smolensk means living among ruins». So I decided to stay in Kaliningrad»[148 - Kostjashov, Juri. Op. cit., 2002, p. 72.].
Immigrants of different social groups of the Soviet Union arrived to towns of Kaliningrad Oblast, but farmers who settled on a principle of affinity groups mostly populated the countryside. To some extent, the population of each district – there were 13 in Kaliningrad Oblast – was formed by people from a particular area of the Soviet Union.
The second category of migrants is a working staff of different qualification. They immigrated centralized by directions of ministries or by the invitation of some large enterprises. Among them were graduates of technical schools and institutes, who arrived by distribution. Therefore, in the Kaliningrad region was originally a high proportion of the urban population.
Another important category is employees of various government, party and komsomol organizations. They arrived by so-called «permit of the Central Committee».
There was another category of persons, who in the documents and records of agencies were mentioned under «accepted on the spot». These people arrived on their own, outside relocation and control procedures, so their numbers are difficult to estimate.
As a result, in the second half of the 1940s the population of Oblast was formed by immigrants from Russia, Belarus, to a lesser extent from Ukraine and the Baltic states. The share of the other Soviet republics was negligible.
Expectations of many immigrants did not materialize. This explains the considerable outflow of people. Nearly all immigrants agreed that Königsberg impressed them as ’burnt, destroyed to the ground, and left by inhabitants place’. One of the first detailed textbooks on the history of the region for students of the Faculty of History explained the reasons for returning of migrants: «Not everyone had the courage to participate in the reconstruction of the territory under unusual climatic and geographical conditions»[149 - Birkovski, Vasilij; Gordeev, Ivan, Zaboenkova, Alla. (ed.): Istorija kraja (1945—1950). Uchebnoe posobie dla studentov-istorikov Kaliningradskogo universiteta. Kaliningrad 1984, p. 75.].
However, the expectations of other nature were met: Many immigrants understood that they are going to other «world». The consequences of the war could not eliminate feelings of great curiosity among immigrants. «When we approached the city by train, the houses with a slate roof amazed us. It was very unusual and immediately clear – here lived other people. Gabled roofs of the houses looked beautiful», describes Alevtina Tselovalnikova from Ryazan – «Everything around us seemed strange, unusual, and a bit frightening: a neat village houses, roofed with red tiles and tree-lined roads and asphalt everywhere». «Even through the ruins, which I watched from the window of the car, it was clear that here is not Russia, but Western Europe… all around us was interesting, strange, curious», says Anna Kopylova, giving her first impressions[150 - Kostjashov, Juri. Op. cit., 2002, p. 78.].
However, the frequent lack of basic amenities made about a third of the first immigrants to leave Kaliningrad. Especially significant was the proportion of returnees among the inhabitants of the Baltic states. Among other reasons, this can be explained in the following terms – the geographical proximity of their home, a lesser degree of post-war devastation in the Baltic states, and a slightly better level of living conditions.
The most significant flow of population took place during 1946—49. This was due to the deportation of the German population, the active recruitment of Soviet citizens, and the flow of the first «returnees». In the mid-1950s, the social structure of population began to take stability, and the population started to grow mainly due to high birth rates.
However, in contrast to other regions of Russia, boundaries of social groups in Kaliningrad were more diffuse and continued to emerge for a long time. One of the reasons was the professional background of population. Many immigrants had to learn new profession, or content of their work was different from what they did at the previous job. The above-mentioned fact caused the marginal nature of professional specialization and its instability. Formation of the local educational system has solved this problem, but it was only towards the end of the 1950s. Until then, the situation was extremely complex: «Twenty per cent of downtime was due to the inexperience of mechanics. Accountants had no experience with calculations; they demanded to be under control around the clock. Among investigators, there was nobody in entire region who could meet the most elementary requirements of their job, and the other half of them never worked as prosecutors before»[151 - Maslov, Vilaly. (ed.): V nachale novogo puti: Dokumenty i materialy o razvitii Kaliningradskoj oblasti v gody dejatelnosti chrezvychainych organov upravlenija (aprel 1945 – ijun 1947). Kaliningrad 2004, p. 144, 194.].
2.2.3. Migration and society in 1950—1980: Creation of a Soviet city in Kaliningrad
In the late 1950s, the value of net migration was negative for the first time. Between 1946 and 1958, 1,286,000 migrants arrived at the Oblast while 820,000 left. This means that nearly two-thirds of immigrants left the Kaliningrad Oblast. In fact, there was no permanent population in Kaliningrad Oblast until the end of the 1950s. Life in the province was marked by a «method of rotation». Such shifting of population has formed a kind of psychology with a sense of temporality that to some extent stuck in the mentality of Kaliningradians[152 - Kostjashov, Juri: «Obratnichestvo» v processe zaselenija Kaliningradskoj oblasti v poslevojennye gody, In: Baltijckij region v istorii Rossija i Europy. Kaliningrad 2005, p. 211—219.].
The city as a space for a new community of people would reflect the socio-economic development. However, the nature of the urban population of the Kaliningrad region in the early 1950s had a significant qualitative difference from the average Soviet indicators. There was a significant mix of rural and urban population in regional cities and villages in Kaliningrad Oblast. This leads to difficulties in adapting to unusual way and pace of life, and most importantly, to the other types of employment and professional occupation not typical for the average Soviet city.
The surprising fact: up to one third of the population of towns was engaged in natural household. It means that share of households and small farms of individual property in urban areas were somehow comparable to their share in villages. Lifestyle of urban residents was partly associated with agricultural work – about a third of urban households had a so-called «dacha», where they grew fruits and vegetables for their own consumption.
Migration flows, frequent change of residence, significant social disruption, and the complexity of development of the new territory led to the above-mentioned consequences. The song «Kaliningrad, my city, my garden» was very popular during the Soviet period. The distinction between town and country was present somehow conditionally for a long time.
The city did not exist in a typical Soviet sense of this word. By the end of the 1950s, the delay of recovery of the Kaliningrad was so obvious that became the theme for the local press[153 - Hoppe, Bert: Op. cit., p. 150.]. On the pages of the official newspaper of the regional committee of the Communist Party «Kaliningradskaja Pravda»: «There are beautiful, well-lighted main street in every Soviet city: in Moscow, the avenue of Gorky; in Leningrad, Nevsky Prospect; and in Kiev, Khreschatyk. The workers love these streets, they are proud of them; these streets are their favourite places of recreation. There are no so far such streets in Kaliningrad. Many streets poorly equipped with lighting. We have some beautiful houses, but we have no streets that are one-piece architectural ensemble, architectural and artistic unity»[154 - Zastroit i blagoystroit, Kaliningradskaja Pravda, 6 February 1954.]. It is obvious that this view expressed the anxiety of both ordinary citizens and party leadership of the city; otherwise, this article could not appear in the newspaper.
Together to build the entire city was the central point of identification of people with new place[155 - Sezneva, Olga: Modalities of Self-understanding, Identification and Representation in the Post-1991 Kaliningrad. A Critical View, In: Kaliningrad in Europe: Perspectives from inside and outside. Lüneburg 2010, p. 42.]: «We are the builders of this city». Not for nothing, in post-Soviet time was established a medal «For participation in the reconstruction of the Kaliningrad Oblast», as recognition for those people who were involved in the recovery of the regional economy and infrastructure. However, in Soviet time, nobody talked about ’restoration»; it was only about the «construction» of a new one. «The German architectural standard should be completely buried in oblivion, as it leads to discouragement of Russian people,» argued the largest regional newspaper «Kaliningradskaja Pravda» on behalf of Kaliningrad builders[156 - Stroiteli, Kaliningradskaja Pravda, 1 May 1948.]. It means that new Soviet society must build a new city of future; this city needs a new art of architecture.
However, the division of the city in the prestigious and non-prestigious areas began to form in the Soviet time early. These areas largely kept pre-war urban planning, as well as historic architecture, parks, and gardens. In addition, there remained elements of the exterior of the old city, such as cobbled roads.
In general, Kaliningrad is a typical example of the division of s urban habitat in the Soviet Union, but it retained a number of local features such as the pre-war urban planning with clear local demarcation. During the war, the central part of the city was largely destroyed, so there was no integrity of the urban centre.
The city of Kaliningrad had to play a role of extension of the entire Soviet Union. That psychological and physical experience had to be associated with macro-national Soviet identity. The process of the reconstruction of the city was dominated by the construction of standardized Soviet-style modernist structures, new street layouts, and insertion of public spaces that are typical of many other cities of the Soviet Union. City planners viewed the wartime destruction of the city as an opportunity to disregard historical «layer» of urban space: This approach was related to the ideological concept of complete historical discontinuity between Königsberg and Kaliningrad[157 - Sezneva, Olga: Op. cit., p. 43.]. Newcomers after the war did not feel a sense of belonging to the place and they had no sense of belonging together[158 - Ibid., p. 41.].
The establishment of the «Soviet man» has required a feeling of belonging to a certain group of people, and this feeling was weak in Kaliningrad. The authorities knew it. Therefore, the city of Kaliningrad was chosen as the centre to establish a new society, which itself would create its place from scratch. The city of Kaliningrad became the centre of attraction of the population. From 1959 (first Soviet census) to 1989 (last Soviet census), the number of residents increased gradually, and it eventually doubled from 200,000 to 400,000[159 - Data of the USSR census of 1959 and 1989.]. It should be emphasized that up to the present time the growth of Kaliningrad population never has a negative dynamics.
2. 3. Generational change and perception of cultural and historical heritage: Change in cultural paradigm
2. 3.1. Primary perception of a new territory
The frame of perception of East Prussia as a territory with its own history and unique features was determined during the war. «Public opinion» of the Soviet people, mentioned in 1943[160 - Sovetskij Sojuz na mezhdynarodnych konferencijach perioda Velikoj Otechestvennoj voiny 1941—1945. Мoscow 1978. Vol. 1, p. 183.], was formed gradually as it evidenced by the rhetoric of official propaganda. The main medium of «public opinion» had to come from soldiers and officers of the Red Army, as they were the first who physically confronted with a new cultural and historical landscape. These people had to be important reporters of the official discourse.
Crossing the border of East Prussia, the Red Army were able visually to perceive negative information, which had accompanied them all the way to Königsberg. There were posters with similar content near the border pillars: «Warriors of the Red Army! You stand in front of the lair of the fascist beast!» Apart from Königsberg, no other German city was perceived as the concentration of aggressive and revanchist spirit. The first published literature explained in simple language the image of East Prussia[161 - Glebov, V.: Vostochnaja Prussia: Kratkij spravochnik. Moscow 1944.].
The newspaper «Pravda», as official media of the Communist Party, almost immediately after the assault on Königsberg voiced an official point of view in the article «The Fall of Königsberg»: «The history of Königsberg is a history of crime of Germany. Entire history of the city was full of plunder, and another life was unknown»[162 - Padenie Königsberga, Pravda, 13 April 1945.]. This ideological axiom was supposed to be some sort of code for the perception of history and culture of the province.
The war was the auspicious background for the perception of such propaganda. Therefore, it was relative easy task to establish the corresponding mood among participants of hostilities, who have seen the enemy face to face.
A special «semi-closed» status of the Kaliningrad Oblast played role of positive background for official propaganda. On 29 June 1946, almost simultaneously with the decision to establish the Kaliningrad Oblast, a secret decree of the Soviet government was issued. This decree classified the entire territory of the Oblast as «closed border zone». The access to the area was allowed only with permission issued by the militia[163 - Kostjashov, Juri: Sekretnye dokumenty otdela spezposelenij MVD USSR o zaselenii Kaliningradskoj oblasti v 1946. In: Problemy istochnikovedenija i istoriografii. Kaliningrad 1999, p. 64—67.].
Conservation of negative perception of the area among newly arrived migrants was a more complicated task. It required the establishing of direct and consistent association between the «enemy» and the space, which was inhabited, built, and developed by migrants. Therefore, stereotypes that arose under military conflict should save their strength and actuality even after the war. First flows of migrants were relatively convenient material and a springboard for the training of such sentiments. It was a relatively easy task, as most of them did not have any insight into the territory to which they migrated.
The Kaliningrad Oblast is an unusual social and historical phenomenon. On the one hand, the previous population completely left the region, on the other hand, new residents who have never been there, arrived to the region. As a result, in a short span of time the population was completely replaced.
Migrants from the Soviet Union found themselves under new conditions of life. People felt themselves «abroad»; they knew only that before here lived «strangers». Settlers frankly said that they «come to Germany», «in Prussia». Such expectations raised a feeling of great interest to the new place. Conducting of meaningful social activities required comprehension of this land, its traditions, centuries-old ways of economic management, and social infrastructure[164 - Kostjashov, Juri: O nacionalnoj strukture, etnograficheskich osobennostyach i socio-kulturnoj adaptacii sovietskich pereselencev v Kaliningradskoj oblasti (1945—1950). In: Nacionalnye otnochenija v novoe i novejshee vremia: teorija i praktika. Kaliningrad 2000, p. 66—79.].
According to Hoppe, shortly after the end of the war the city was in a state of stagnation – «Kaliningrad is not a German city, but has not yet become a Soviet»[165 - Hoppe, Bert: Op. cit, p. 29.]. First settlers arrived in this vacuum.
2.3.2. Process of cognition: «Complex of temporality» or «outpost in the West»?
Feeling of «other landscape» and depressive emotions led to the perception of residence in the area as temporary. Many settlers claimed that they did not think to stay here for a long time. As a result, many people obtained complex of ’temporary worker’ («vremenshchik»), which was based on the absence of ties to the new ground.
Psychological emptiness in addition to economic reasons has led to a significant flow of return migration to other more familiar parts of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, among the specialists, who worked in Oblast, was popular ’rotational’ («vahtovij») approach to professional career. Systematic and significant financial investment in social infrastructure substantially solved this problem until the end of 1960.
Settlers remember: «The relatives scolded us – why are you leaving your home? We did not expect to live here for a long time – we wanted back to Russia… We did not know what would go on»[166 - Obrussenije Prussii; http://www.vremya.ru/2010/2/13/245113.html, accessed 12. 04. 2013]. It was a common emotional mood accompanying many settlers. Party authorities understood the need to reverse migrant’s sentiments in a sense that they live at home, but not on a hostile foreign land. Therefore, the cognition of reality was required, but in the particular framework: regional authorities stayed faithful to ideological orientation of total negation of region’s history. Frameworks of knowledge had specific physical boundaries. On 5 September 1946, a secret order was issued that required «improving border security in order to include the entire territory of the Kaliningrad region in the restricted border zone». In practice, this decision meant that the access to the area was permitted only at presence of the passes issued by the relevant authorities. Consequently, the freedom of movement was restricted. Mobility of residents within the area was allowed with a special stamp in passports only. Local authorities acted in a fair way. The Kaliningrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party on 15 August 1947 addressed the Central Committee with a request to «make Kaliningrad a fortress of the Soviet Union in the West’ and, therefore, to tighten control to prevent the infiltration of ’undesirable elements»[167 - Ibid.]. On the other hand, Kaliningrad was to be the «socialist sample, an example for democratic Europe», as claimed by the agitation programme of Stalin’s time[168 - Szcherbakov, Viktor: Stalinskaja programma hoziajstvennogo i kulturnogo stroitelstva Kaliningradskoj oblasti (V pomosz agitatoru). Kaliningrad 1947.].
Therefore, in a short period the population of the entire region changed completely. However, not only people but also the commonality of people as the subject of cultural and creative activities, medium of traditions, and customs left the area of their habitat.
Meanwhile, the meaning of a cultural context includes not only the world of «cultivated» individuals and ordered groups of people, but «cultivated» habitat – cultural landscape and natural space, which has been utilized semantically and symbolically by people, where a pragmatic is inseparable from notional[169 - Kaganskij, Vladimir (ed.): Kulturrnyj landshaft i sovetskoje obitaemoe prostranstvo: sbornik statej. Moscow 2001.]. However, artefacts of the former culture are not just a background, against which occurs the development of «Russian culture», but even one of the conditions for development of «Russia culture’ in the region. Artefacts are intermediaries in cross-cultural interaction, translation and generation of new cultural meanings. Nonetheless, the set of cultural values did not have a receiver in the face of new residents. The landscape of the historical and cultural values has been violated, or even ceased to exist, not having found a new owner.
The history of East Prussia and the experience of the people were denied, no matter whether it was a constructive and practical applicable for development of Soviet economy. The centuries-old local traditions were described as unsuitable for implementation in Soviet reality. Aside from the obvious political and ideological frameworks, which did not allow perceiving the cultural landscape of Eastern Prussia, existed quite natural and social preconditions. The immigrants who arrived in Kaliningrad shortly after the war found the cultural and historical landscape quite confusing. People tried ascribe most of strange and unclear things to alien and unnecessary.
The circumstances of everyday life made it impossible to grasp the essence of reality entirely. It was not enough time to adapt you to local cultural heritage. At the new place of residence, much was destroyed. They could only clear the site of the remnants of the past and commit to build a bright future. However, in practice the new territory harboured many unknowns, so finding of unexpected discoveries became commonplace.
The first victims of adjusting to a ’new life’ were objects of infrastructure. Their characteristic feature was that they complement and enhance the favourable side of the natural landscape. This feature minimizes conflict with the natural landscape. The irrigation and drainage system can serve as a notable example that has an important function to ensure the fertility of soil and to protect communities. These systems were quickly lost because they were not exploited.
Here is how it happened: «The plough pulled out of soil some clay pipes of different diameters. They were collected and buried in the paved ditches along the borders, which had been mistakenly taken for military trenches: Due to ignorance, the progressive melioration network was destroyed[170 - Kostjashov, Juri: Istoriko-kulturnoe nasledie Vostochnoj Prussii i formirovanie istoricheskogo soznanija naselenija Kaliningradskoj oblasti; http://www.gako.name/index.php?publ=300&razd=228, accessed 28. 02. 2013.].
It was almost a comic fact, but it actually took place. In post-war Kaliningrad, roofs of many buildings were destroyed and had to be rebuilt. According to Soviet construction norms, slope angle could be in the range of 30—45°. Considering the specific problem, the chief architect of the city, Dmitry Navalikhin, said: «We must not restore Königsberg, but Kaliningrad and we, therefore, should reconsider the slope of the roof»[171 - GAKO. The state archive of the Kaliningrad region. Box 522, folder 1, file 14.]. In fact, it was not only a technical as well as a political issue. Large tiled roofs slope of 45° for Königsberg houses were required due to the climatic conditions of the Kaliningrad region. This requires the construction of the roof slope and gives the buildings a distinctive look. Small slope, as it turned out, leading to leakage of roofs and rotting of wooden structures[172 - Sologubov, Alexander: Pereselenez, kak HomoScientist: epistemologicheskij aspect osvojenija Kaliningradskoj oblasti, In: Vestnik Baltijskogo federalnogo universiteta im. I. Kanta, №6, 2012, p. 41.]. Finally, a compromise was reached between ideology and pragmatism: The slope of roofs was brought into conformity with building norms, but closer to the pre-war standards.
Pre-war architecture played a role of «witness» and medium of history; therefore, it was a source of difficulties in the process of ’cultural education’ of Kaliningradians. «The Russian—Soviet city cannot be restored according to the original pre-war image,» insisted the chief architect of the city of Kaliningrad[173 - Navalichin, Dmitry: K voprosu rekonstrukcii cetra Kaliningrada. Moscow 1955, Vol. 1, p. 33.].
New residents constantly «faced» with many manifestations of the past, which were embodied in material values: buildings, monuments, tools, household items. Those people who not only wanted to «face», but also ’perceive’ these manifestations did not have that opportunity. It was not too interested in the meaning and origin of those material values.
The feeling of foreignness led to the suspicious and cautious attitude to these artefacts along with the activities of Soviet propaganda, even to the denial of the so-called «bourgeois remnants». The list of «bourgeois remnants» contained many achievements of urban infrastructure and agricultural practices. Therefore, in the early post-war years the attitude of the population to destroying of remnants of architectural heritage and infrastructure was mostly indifferent. The position of the Kaliningrad region as ’an outpost of the Soviet Union in the far west’ imposed certain restrictions on the cognition, and on ways of obtaining knowledge. The state authorities have seen Kaliningradians, who has knowledge of the region, as «find for spies» («nachodka dlya shpiona»). Figuratively speaking, the state monopolized the «alien» cultural space and guarded it as a top secret. The lack of knowledge led to the emergence and spread of all sorts of rumours and speculation among the inhabitants, even establishing mystical local folklore.
2.3.3. Attempts to control perception
However, the desire to ignore the architectural and cultural heritage was associated not only with the desire to destroy the alien past, but also to deprive the first settlers of the possibility to compare the standards of living. It may be aligned to the contemporary situation: Kaliningradians compare the standard of living and way of life not with the rest of Russia, but with neighbouring Eastern and Central Europe. Such memories were typical of many who arrived in Kaliningrad in the late 1940s: «When approaching the city, I was struck by houses with a slate roof: It was beautiful. I immediately felt that there lived other people. Neat brick or stone village houses, asphalted roads lined with trees»[174 - Kostjashov, Juri: Vostochnaja Prussia glazami sovjetskih pereselencev. Pervye gody Kaliningradskoj oblasti v vospominanijah i dokumentah. St-Petersburg 2002, p. 76.]. It is noteworthy that districts of the city that were prestigious and attractive in Königsberg remained attractive for life now.
In contradiction with above-mentioned perception, the authorities cared about making their «mythology» of region. In the second half of the 1940s was designed a short course on the history of East Prussia, which was used for lectures at enterprises and educational institutions of the region. The history begins with a description of prosperity of ancestors of Slavs. For a description of their way of life used such expressions: «bountiful land», «cultivated fields», and «hard-working people». With the arrival of the Crusaders is a radical change of scenery and expressions took place: «The trouble came from the west – invaders, German knights». They «turned the country into a desert», «looted assets», and «massacred or enslaved the population». Then some information about Königsberg: «The knights choose providently a place for their nest of robbery. Connection to the sea by the channel made it possible to get necessary manpower and weapons and send the loot to German states»[175 - Kostjashov Juri: Istoriko-kultyrnoje nasledije Vostochnoj Prussii i formirovanije istoricheskogo soznanija naselenija Kaliningradskoj oblasti, http://www.gako.name/index.php?publ=300&razd=228, accessed 28.2. 2013.]. One can see that there is a dichotomy within the West, and Königsberg is represented as the hotbed of most negative features.
However, negative information about the history of the region has been available for a short time. Shortly after the beginning of the Kaliningrad resettlement, any mentions about East Prussia and people who inhabited it were erased from the printed historical materials. All mentions about Germany were removed from print media and publications. Phrases such as «on land reclaimed from the Germans» or «restore factory» were undesirable, because it is impossible to restore something that does not exist. It seems to be created anew, which means that the first Kaliningradians became «pioneers» of the new region.
Another important aspect of perception has been associated with the war. Immigrants is often seen a region as a trophy. On the one hand, the trophy can be seen as a gift that is easy to obtain and thus easy to lose. On the other, if take in account material and human losses incurred by the Soviet Union during World War II, the trophy has acquired a symbolic value. These two features led to perception of new habitat as an area filled with the symbolism of the official ideology. However, it was the interim habitat. Nobody knew how long would continue this interim phase: neither ordinary people, nor regional party authorities.
Under these circumstances, the construction of the collective memory of new residents becomes an important part of the official Soviet propaganda. The core element of the official discourse – which was the basis of this propaganda – is World War II as an initial point of reference to the history of the region. The long history of this area was deliberately suppressed. Artefacts of the past were destroyed, or simply not recovered.
It should be noted that this ideological politics was only partly successful. New residents – who found themselves surrounded by an alien cultural landscape – were forced to interact with material manifestations (artefacts): it was simply inevitable. Ideologues and representatives of the party apparatus themselves interacted with these material manifestations. Their interaction was understandably even closer than interaction of ordinary Soviet citizens.
Interest to the cultural and historical heritage of the past existed among professional historians and researchers, as well as among a range of local history enthusiasts who have always been. Their interest was permissible, but only within certain limits: for example, the study of ethnic or historical ties between East Prussia and Russia; search of lost Amber Room; but it is obvious that they have acquired knowledge extended far beyond that limits. In archives of party’s authorities were accumulated a lot of rare sources, which were analysed by party officials. Information about sources by word-of-mouth mechanism was passed to ordinary people.
Relation to the heritage of the past was inconsistent. On the one hand, dislike and nihilism that based on fabrications of propaganda; on the other, thrill and interest to something incomprehensible and unknown. It feels like you experience the mystery that you want, but at the same time, you are afraid to know. Therefore, the person has lost him/herself how better to proceed.
2.3.4. «Suitcase mood’
There was unequivocal official position of the Soviet authorities, which was based on the post-war agreements reached in Potsdam in August 1945, that the Kaliningrad region is an integral part of the Soviet Union. However, there were concerns among circles of the regional authorities and population, that their presence on this territory has a temporary nature. «Suitcase mood»[176 - The definition «suitcase mood» was voiced by the Secretary of the party committee of Leningradskij district of Kaliningrad at the Third party conference of Kaliningrad in 1950. The reproach was made in address of party and government employees who had intention to leave the Oblast’ forever.] was in the air, and particularly felt in the urban environment.
It is interesting to remember a phrase of Stalin, who, in conversation with Churchill at the Tehran Conference about the reasons for the transfer of part of East Prussia to the Soviet Union, noted that «historically this is native Slavic land»[177 - Sovetskij Sojuz na mezhdynarodnych konferencijach perioda Velikoj Otechestvennoj voiny 1941—1945.Teheranskaja konferencija. Мoscow 1984. Vol. 2, p. 167.]. Churchill was not confused by this argument. Nevertheless, the ordinary Soviet citizens who were in the Kaliningrad region after the war could notice the striking difference between unfamiliar territory and the places where they had lived before. Therefore, there was a need to explain somehow the thesis of Stalin, whose statements were usually considered as axiomatic.
Professional scholars of the metropolitan universities and the Academy of Sciences of the USSR have been busy with scientific substantiation of this statement. Firstly, in July 1945, a group of archivists from the Main Archival Office was sent to Königsberg to survey the surviving archival collections. The people of Kaliningrad were regularly informed about the results of the excavation. «Many of these antiquities», wrote the regional newspaper, «convict German scientists in the falsification of history, utterly smash their pseudoscientific assertions that ancient population of East Prussia is not Slavs, but Goths»[178 - Kaliningradskaja Pravda, 26 July 1950.]. Propaganda literature was met with frankly ludicrous assertion: «In hoary antiquity lived on these lands ancestors of the Soviet people»[179 - «Brief course» of history was drawn up on the texts of regional radio broadcasts of 1947—1948: GAKO. The state archive of the Kaliningrad region. Box 19, folder 1.].
This statement was repeated in the «Large Soviet Encyclopaedia» in the article concerning Kaliningrad Oblast: «…on the ancient ancestral lands of the Baltic Slavs…»[180 - Bolshaja Sovetskaja Enciklopedija. Moscow 1953. Vol. 19, p. 426.]
Therefore, the present of Kaliningrad was to be firmly embedded in the general Soviet context, not least in order to allay the fears of a possible return of territory to Germany. The urgent need to improve the living conditions was formally encoded in the pathos of altruistic work for the benefit of the Soviet Union[181 - Brodersen, Per: Op. cit., p. 170.]. Daily life in Kaliningrad should be based on the recovery of the region and its function as part of the Soviet Union.
Despite the active ideological rhetoric in the early years of post-war time seemed clear that «Soviet government had not concept of development of the city, because authorities were not sure which role the region will play in the future»[182 - Hoppe, Bert: Op. cit., p. 42.].
Given the lack of interest to Kaliningrad by the central authorities, «the regional authorities with their identity politics have gone further – the enemy was supposed to be a verifier of this policy. Constant assurances of authorities that the region would be Soviet „forever“ were reflected in relation to the pre-war history. Kaliningrad was the westernmost territory of the Soviet Union, the geographical edge of the Cold War, and regional authorities fully tried to use this fact in their propaganda»[183 - Brodersen, Per: Op. cit., p. 223—224.].
The territory had an unusual landscape, architecture, and environment in eyes of first immigrants. In order to «make the region closer to the immigrants, authorities have started to use the idea of the relationship of this land to Slavic culture, history; they presented its accession to the USSR as a return to basics»[184 - Ibid. p, 239.].
The development of Kaliningrad was the subject of identity politics. Forbidden history could not perform an instrumental role. The importance of Kaliningrad for the Soviet Union had to explain multivariate. However, in core was the idea that «Kaliningrad plays the role of the western Soviet outpost populated by «homo sovieticus kaliningradensis»[185 - Ibid, p. 240.].
