Hegewald (colony)
Encyclopedia
Hegewald was a short-lived German colony in Reichskommissariat Ukraine
near Zhitomir during World War II
. Its purpose was to hold Poles and Ukrainian settlers who had been classified as Volksdeutsche
for Germanization. Heinrich Himmler
's original plan to recruit settlers from Scandanvia and the Netherlands were unsuccessful.
The initial plans were difficult to implement, owing to partisan activities, but elaborate guidelines were set up to prepare the location. The new settlers were to receive the homes of killed or evicted Ukrainians, and their furniture, livestock, and food, and schools were to be built. This required a massive deportation effort, mostly on foot.
Many Ukrainians and Poles did arrive, forcibly removed from their homes on trains, to be doled out plots of land and informed of their quotas. They received use, but not ownership, of the land assigned to them.
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 underminded by flinching of craftsmen, and neither food nor clothing arrived as promised. Furthermore, many evicted Ukrainians returned to the area. Efforts were made to continue, with Bund Deutscher Mädel 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
.
road:
Reichskommissariat Ukraine
Reichskommissariat Ukraine , literally "Reich Commissariat of Ukraine", was the civilian occupation regime of much of German-occupied Ukraine during World War II. Between September 1941 and March 1944, the Reichskommissariat was administered by Reichskommissar Erich Koch as a colony...
near Zhitomir during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Its purpose was to hold Poles and Ukrainian settlers who had been classified as Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...
for Germanization. Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
's original plan to recruit settlers from Scandanvia and the Netherlands were unsuccessful.
The initial plans were difficult to implement, owing to partisan activities, but elaborate guidelines were set up to prepare the location. The new settlers were to receive the homes of killed or evicted Ukrainians, and their furniture, livestock, and food, and schools were to be built. This required a massive deportation effort, mostly on foot.
Many Ukrainians and Poles did arrive, forcibly removed from their homes on trains, to be doled out plots of land and informed of their quotas. They received use, but not ownership, of the land assigned to them.
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 underminded by flinching of craftsmen, and neither food nor clothing arrived as promised. Furthermore, many evicted Ukrainians returned to the area. Efforts were made to continue, with Bund Deutscher Mädel 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
Flight and evacuation of German civilians during the end of World War II
Plans to evacuate German population from the occupied territories in Central and Eastern Europe and from Eastern Germany were prepared by German authorities at the end of World War II. However, the evacuation in most of the areas was delayed until the last moment, when it was too late to conduct it...
.
Villages
The colony consisted of 27 villages situated along the Zhitomir-BerdychivBerdychiv
Berdychiv is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Berdychiv Raion , the city itself is of direct oblast subordinance, and is located south of the oblast capital, Zhytomyr, at around .The current estimated population is around...
road:
- Schröbelesberg
- Neuheimat
- Bubenhausen
- Neubiesing
- Pfenningstadt
- Heimkehr
- Troja
- Reichstreu
- Preuersdorf
- Arbeit
- Fleiß
- Au
- Zehnhub
- Neuposen
- Altposen
- Bosfershof
- Wertingen
- Heinrichsfeld
- Reinharding
- Am Hügel
- Klein Lüneburg
- Neu Trudering
- Mödersdorf
- Tiefenbach
- Sachsenhard
- Maienfeld
- Ichstingen