Wilfried Strik-Strikfeldt
Encyclopedia
Wilfried Karl Strik-Strikfeldt was a Baltic German
soldier
involved with General Vlasov
and the German
sponsored Russia
n Liberation Army of World War II
.
and attended the Russia
n Imperial Cavalry School in St. Petersburg. He attended the centenary celebrations of the Battle of Borodino
and during World War I
volunteered to fight as an officer in the Russian Imperial
Army against the Kaiser‘s Germany
. During the Russian Civil War
he fought the Bolsheviks in the Baltic countries
and Ingria
, as a supporter of the White movement
.
In 1920 he met Gustav Hilger (later a Counsellor to the German Embassy in Moscow over 1939-41) in his capacity as an official co-ordinating efforts to repatriate Austrian and German PoWs after the war. That same year Strik-Strikfeldt set up shop in Riga
, Latvia
, as a representative of British
and German
heavy engineering firms.
In the early 1920s Strik-Strikfeldt was involved in Fridtjof Nansen
's activities to alleviate the Great Famine in Russia
. Between 1924 and 1939 he represented the interests of British and German
companies in Latvia
.
"repatriated" to Nazi Germany
following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. His family was settled in Posen
, the administrative capital of the Warthegau.
In early 1941 he was interviewed by a Wehrmacht
Staff Officer in Posen and asked to undertake an interpreter’s examination in Berlin where he was awarded a certificate "Interpreter Class A". Due to his service in the former Russian Imperial Army he was only inducted into the Wehrmacht
as a Captain. He was initially attached to Field-Marshal von Bock's HQ in the Warthegau, where he met and worked with Generalmajor (Major-General) Reinhard Gehlen
and Major General
Henning von Tresckow
. Gehlen
encouraged him to lecture to other Wehrmacht
officers during the war on "Der Russische Mensch" (the Russian as Human Being) and even helped distribute Strik-Strikfeldt's lecture as an official OKW Propaganda Department paper to intelligence officers along the front line.
Early in 1942 Strik-Strikfeldt was transferred to the Oberkommando des Heeres
(OKH) "War Booty Collection Centre" office in Angerburg, East Prussia
, to sort through captured Russian military papers and documents for the "Foreign Forces—East" (Fremde Heere Ost) of the Wehrmacht
General Staff. In the Spring and Summer he worked briefly with Gehlen and Claus von Stauffenberg.
Over July and August 1942 Strik-Strikfeldt met and interviewed ex-Communist and former Soviet Army
General Andrey Vlasov
in a German PoW camp in Vinnitsa. The two developed a close rapport, with Vlasov
addressing Strik-Strikfeldt privately by a Russian pet nickname "Wilfried Karlovich". In September 1942 Strik-Strikfeldt was formally seconded to the OKW Propaganda Department office in Berlin as a "Betreuer" (Confidante) responsible for Vlasov
.
"In August 1942 I arrived in Berlin. The so-called Russian Collaboration Staff of the OKW/Pr was located in the Viktoriastrasse under lock and key. Barred windows, wooden bunks. Straw mattresses. No permission to leave the building. All doors were locked at night. I was shocked."
and von Stauffenberg were able to authorize the establishment of a “training camp for Russian volunteers, to be known as Ost-propagandaabteilung z.b.V….The proposed camp, with huts, at Dabendorf, was not far from Berlin. In due course the Ostpropagandaabteilung was known simply as Dabendorf.”
The “Propagandaabteilung Dabendorf” was granted the status of an independent battalion commanded by Captain Strik-Strikfeldt and although initially conceived as a 50-strong unit, he immediately pushed to increase its size to 1200.
“My official task, with that of my German and Russian staff, was to recruit and train ‘propagandists’, i.e. Betreuer, for the Russian Volunteers and Auxiliaries and the same for all permanent and transit prison camps throughout the whole of German-dominated Europe.”
At Dabendorf Strik-Strikfeldt and his staff initiated two Russian language
newspapers : “Dobrovolets” (Volunteers) for the ordinary Russian volunteers and auxiliaries serving in the Wehrmacht
and “Zariya” (Dawn) for the PoWs. Strik-Strikfeldt also persuaded Vlasov
to publish, in March 1943, his article “Why I took up the struggle against Bolshevism” (a bitter attack on the Soviet system) and in April 1943, his pamphlet on the nationalities/minorities issue within Russia
and Europe
.
In February 1943 Sergei Frohlich, a “resettled” Baltic
Volksdeutsche
from Riga
working in the HQ staff of the SA
, was appointed liaison officer with Vlasov
’s staff. Strik-Strikfeldt knew Frohlich well as they had played ice hockey
in rival teams as youth. Frohlich was able to help provide Strik-Strikfeldt, Vlasov
and Dabendorf with small arms, extra food rations and quarters.
In 1943 Strik-Strikfeldt escorted Vlasov
to Vienna
where he served as an interpreter at an official meeting with Baldur von Schirach
. Then he took Vlasov
to Munich
and the Allgäu
in Bavaria
. Afterwards they travelled together to Frankfurt
and Mainz
, and took a steamer down the Rhine to Cologne
. Later they met with Dr Julius Lippert
(the Lord Mayor of Berlin) and also the Reich
Minister
of Finance, Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
, to discuss the Russian liberation movement and the urgent need to reform the treatment of Russian
labourers inside Germany
.
“I regarded Dabendorf as the heart of the Russian Liberation Movement and as a purely Russian centre. So that from the beginning I had refrained from any sort of interference in Russian affairs.”
By late Autumn 1943 Dabendorf was under constant criticism from the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
(the Ostministerium), the Sicherheitsdienst
(SD or Security Service) of the SS, and even rival elements within the Wehrmacht
who wanted to absorb and “assimilate” Dabendorf. When many Russian Hiwi
’s were withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to work on fortifications in the West, Dabendorf sent propagandists to raise morale and soothe troubled spirits. However several were arrested in France
and others sent directly back to Dabendorf. Strik-Strikfeldt was obliged to travel to Paris
and liaise with the German
military authorities there.
In January 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt was interviewed by General Kostring when the later was appointed head of the Osttruppen formations. Kostring confirmed that the Führer would never deviate from his Russian policy and told Strik-Strikfeldt : “The fact is that Hitler will have nothing to do with Vlasov.’’
Gunter d'Alquen
(Chief Editor of the SS weekly, Das Schwarze Korps
/ "The Black Corps"), and commander of the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
. Henceforth some senior SS officers began to take a positive interest in Vlasov
and his movement. The most interested was Dr Arlt, head of the Freiwilligen-Leitstelle-Ost (Free Volunteers office - East). Dr Arlt informed Strik-Strikfeldt that the Waffen-SS
intended to make greater use of Soviet and Eastern European minorities under SS auspices. Strik-Strikfeldt also held meetings at this time with SS-Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf
, SS-Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg
and Dr.Otto Wächter
(later involved in the Waffen SS Division "Galicia" or 14th Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS Galicia).
Strik-Strikfeldt was even initially interviewed by the head of the SS recruitment office, SS General Gottlob Berger
. Strik-Strikfeldt was then obliged to arrange a personal meeting between Vlasov
and Gottlob Berger
where the later appointed SS Oberführer
Erhard Kroeger
as a formal liaison officer between Vlasov
and the SS. Strik-Strikfeldt agreed since Kroeger had been involved in the resettlement of Baltic
Volksdeutsche
over 1939-1940. At this meeting Berger also proposed a formal meeting between Vlasov
and Heinrich Himmler
.
“It seemed that the SS now, in the early summer of 1944, were to take the opportunity that the Wehrmacht had missed back in 1941.”
On 16 September 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt and Vlasov
met the Reichsführer-SS
at the later’s field HQ in Rastenburg, East Prussia
. Himmler had been placed in command of the Ersatzarmee following the 20 July plot, and was therefore in a position to supply Dabendorf with military equipment and training, and even offered vague political concessions. An official Communiqué was issued to mark the occasion. Returning to Berlin
in a train, Strik-Strikfeldt shared a sleeper with Dr. Felix Kersten
(Himmler’s personal physician and an Estonian-born Baltic German
) who claimed to have been supporting their “good cause”. There was an enthusiastic reception for Captain Strik-Strikfeldt and General Vlasov
at Dabendorf and work began immediately to prepare the ill fated Manifesto of the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia”.
“When General Gehlen came back to duty I gave him an unvarnished report. Himmler had appointed the SS General Berger as his plenipotentiary in all Russian affairs. Kroeger was liaison officer. SS Colonel Burg had the task of setting up the Russian divisions. Gehlen asked me to stay with Vlasov for as long as I could.”
Late in 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt met the Cossack
White Army era General Pyotr Krasnov
and tried to convince him to join Vlasov
but to no avail.
Strik-Strikfeldt was not invited to Prague
for the formal ceremony declaring the Manifesto of the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia”. However General Gehlen
ordered him to arrange a meeting and translate between Vlasov
and General Kostring, so he was present at the official programme. At the evening banquet Vlasov
made a speech and publicly acknowledged an "unnamed German officer of the rank of Captain."
“Later, I was invited to join Vlasov and Zhilenkov at a table where they were sitting with a senior SS officer. He turned out to be deputy head of Personnel Department of the Waffen SS. They quickly came to the point : I should transfer to the SS and remain with Vlasov. Vlasov emphasized that this was not his proposal, though he would be glad if I were to come back to him.”
Strik-Strikfeldt tried to squirm out of the offer and Gehlen arranged for him to take sick leave in Pomerania
where he wrote up a rough draft history of the Vlasov
movement that would later serve as the basis for his 1970 book "Gegen Stalin und Hitler. General Wlassow und die russische Freiheitsbewegung" (Against Stalin and Hitler: Memoir of the Russian Liberation Movement). In December 1944 one of Gehlen’s officers visited Strik-Strikfeldt and asked him to help accommodate units of the Russian Liberation Army in the Posen
area.
“A fellow-Balt provided an introduction to Greiser, who quickly grasped the position and promised help.”
On 20 January 1945 Strik-Strikfeldt’s wife, and daughter Dela, were evacuated from Posen. Three days later Sergei Frohlich ordered him to travel to Frankfurt an der Oder immediately, whence he was collected and taken to Dabendorf.
“I went to Zossen to see General Gehlen, who told me to go and find my family. After many adventures I found them in the little village of Sallgast between Finsterwalde and Senftenberg. My mother wanted to stay there, she was tired of being on the move. All her life she had been a refugee.”
In early April 1945 Gehlen had Strik-Strikfeldt posted as sick and after some confusion at the OKH, he left and took his family to the Allgäu
. On 14 April Vlasov
, Kroeger and a few senior officers of the Russian Liberation Army
tracked him down and they had their last meeting. Strik-Strikfeldt agreed to negotiate their surrender with the Western powers. Interrogated by the US Colonel Snyder and later General Patch, Strik-Strikfeldt became a PoW and was moved to Augsburg
where he was interned with Goring and Gehlen amongst others. Later he was transferred to Mannheim
and interned with Field-Marshals von Blomberg, Wilhelm von List, von Weichs and von Leeb; and Generals Guderian
and Kostring. Here he also met up with Gustav Hilger again and Hitler’s personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann
.
. His 1970 memoirs, "Gegen Stalin und Hitler. General Wlassow und die russische Freiheitsbewegung" (Against Stalin and Hitler: Memoir of the Russian Liberation Movement), are an important source regarding the Russian Liberation Movement and General Vlasov
, and also the axiomatic role played by Baltic Germans.
И. Хоффманн: История власовской армии. Перевод с немецкого Е. Гессен. 1990 YMCA Press ISBN 2-85065-175-3 ISSN 1140-0854
Baltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
involved with General Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
sponsored Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Liberation Army of 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...
.
Early years
Strik-Strikfeldt was born in RigaRiga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
and attended the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Imperial Cavalry School in St. Petersburg. He attended the centenary celebrations of the Battle of Borodino
Borodino
Borodino is a rural locality in Mozhaysky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located west of Mozhaysk.The village is famous as the location of the Battle of Borodino, which occurred in what is now known as the "Borodino Battlefield" . The State Borodino War and History Museum and Reserve is...
and during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
volunteered to fight as an officer in the Russian Imperial
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
Army against the Kaiser‘s Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. During the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
he fought the Bolsheviks in the Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
and Ingria
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in the eastern Baltic, now part of Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east...
, as a supporter of the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
.
In 1920 he met Gustav Hilger (later a Counsellor to the German Embassy in Moscow over 1939-41) in his capacity as an official co-ordinating efforts to repatriate Austrian and German PoWs after the war. That same year Strik-Strikfeldt set up shop in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, as a representative of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
heavy engineering firms.
In the early 1920s Strik-Strikfeldt was involved in Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
's activities to alleviate the Great Famine in Russia
Russian famine of 1921
The Russian famine of 1921, also known as Povolzhye famine, which began in the early spring of that year, and lasted through 1922, was a severe famine that occurred in Bolshevik Russia...
. Between 1924 and 1939 he represented the interests of British and German
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
companies in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
.
Germany
In late 1939 he joined the Baltic VolksdeutscheVolksdeutsche
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...
"repatriated" to Nazi Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. His family was settled in Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, the administrative capital of the Warthegau.
In early 1941 he was interviewed by a Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
Staff Officer in Posen and asked to undertake an interpreter’s examination in Berlin where he was awarded a certificate "Interpreter Class A". Due to his service in the former Russian Imperial Army he was only inducted into the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
as a Captain. He was initially attached to Field-Marshal von Bock's HQ in the Warthegau, where he met and worked with Generalmajor (Major-General) Reinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen was a General in the German Army during World War II, who served as chief of intelligence-gathering on the Eastern Front. After the war, he was recruited by the United States military to set up a spy ring directed against the Soviet Union , and eventually became head of the West...
and Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Henning von Tresckow
Henning von Tresckow
Generalmajor Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who organized German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassinate Hitler in March 1943 and drafted the Valkyrie plan for a coup against the German government...
. Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen was a General in the German Army during World War II, who served as chief of intelligence-gathering on the Eastern Front. After the war, he was recruited by the United States military to set up a spy ring directed against the Soviet Union , and eventually became head of the West...
encouraged him to lecture to other Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
officers during the war on "Der Russische Mensch" (the Russian as Human Being) and even helped distribute Strik-Strikfeldt's lecture as an official OKW Propaganda Department paper to intelligence officers along the front line.
Early in 1942 Strik-Strikfeldt was transferred to the Oberkommando des Heeres
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...
(OKH) "War Booty Collection Centre" office in Angerburg, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, to sort through captured Russian military papers and documents for the "Foreign Forces—East" (Fremde Heere Ost) of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
General Staff. In the Spring and Summer he worked briefly with Gehlen and Claus von Stauffenberg.
Over July and August 1942 Strik-Strikfeldt met and interviewed ex-Communist and former Soviet Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
General Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov or Wlassow was a Russian Red Army general who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early career:...
in a German PoW camp in Vinnitsa. The two developed a close rapport, with Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
addressing Strik-Strikfeldt privately by a Russian pet nickname "Wilfried Karlovich". In September 1942 Strik-Strikfeldt was formally seconded to the OKW Propaganda Department office in Berlin as a "Betreuer" (Confidante) responsible for Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
.
"In August 1942 I arrived in Berlin. The so-called Russian Collaboration Staff of the OKW/Pr was located in the Viktoriastrasse under lock and key. Barred windows, wooden bunks. Straw mattresses. No permission to leave the building. All doors were locked at night. I was shocked."
Dabendorf
Early in November 1942 GehlenReinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen was a General in the German Army during World War II, who served as chief of intelligence-gathering on the Eastern Front. After the war, he was recruited by the United States military to set up a spy ring directed against the Soviet Union , and eventually became head of the West...
and von Stauffenberg were able to authorize the establishment of a “training camp for Russian volunteers, to be known as Ost-propagandaabteilung z.b.V….The proposed camp, with huts, at Dabendorf, was not far from Berlin. In due course the Ostpropagandaabteilung was known simply as Dabendorf.”
The “Propagandaabteilung Dabendorf” was granted the status of an independent battalion commanded by Captain Strik-Strikfeldt and although initially conceived as a 50-strong unit, he immediately pushed to increase its size to 1200.
“My official task, with that of my German and Russian staff, was to recruit and train ‘propagandists’, i.e. Betreuer, for the Russian Volunteers and Auxiliaries and the same for all permanent and transit prison camps throughout the whole of German-dominated Europe.”
At Dabendorf Strik-Strikfeldt and his staff initiated two Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
newspapers : “Dobrovolets” (Volunteers) for the ordinary Russian volunteers and auxiliaries serving in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and “Zariya” (Dawn) for the PoWs. Strik-Strikfeldt also persuaded Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
to publish, in March 1943, his article “Why I took up the struggle against Bolshevism” (a bitter attack on the Soviet system) and in April 1943, his pamphlet on the nationalities/minorities issue within Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
In February 1943 Sergei Frohlich, a “resettled” Baltic
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
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...
from Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
working in the HQ staff of the SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
, was appointed liaison officer with Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
’s staff. Strik-Strikfeldt knew Frohlich well as they had played ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
in rival teams as youth. Frohlich was able to help provide Strik-Strikfeldt, Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and Dabendorf with small arms, extra food rations and quarters.
In 1943 Strik-Strikfeldt escorted Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
where he served as an interpreter at an official meeting with Baldur von Schirach
Baldur von Schirach
Baldur Benedikt von Schirach was a Nazi youth leader later convicted of being a war criminal. Schirach was the head of the Hitler-Jugend and Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Vienna....
. Then he took Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and the Allgäu
Allgäu
The Allgäu is a southern German region in Swabia. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia and southeastern Baden-Württemberg. The region stretches from the prealpine lands up to the Alps...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Afterwards they travelled together to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, and took a steamer down the Rhine to Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Later they met with Dr Julius Lippert
Julius Lippert (politician)
Julius Lippert was a German politician in the Nazi party.Born in Basel, Switzerland, he became an extreme anti-Semite in his youth after reading the anti-Semitic philosophers Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau and Houston Stewart Chamberlain...
(the Lord Mayor of Berlin) and also the Reich
Reich
Reich is a German word cognate with the English rich, but also used to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is the word traditionally used for a variety of sovereign entities, including Germany in many periods of its history...
Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
of Finance, Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, born Johann Ludwig von Krosigk and known as Lutz von Krosigk was a German jurist and senior government official, who served during May of 1945 in the historically unique position of Leading Minister of the German Reich, the equivalent of a Chancellorship in...
, to discuss the Russian liberation movement and the urgent need to reform the treatment of Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
labourers inside Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
“I regarded Dabendorf as the heart of the Russian Liberation Movement and as a purely Russian centre. So that from the beginning I had refrained from any sort of interference in Russian affairs.”
By late Autumn 1943 Dabendorf was under constant criticism from the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories was created by Adolf Hitler on July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert and Baltic German, Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred Meyer was Rosenberg's deputy. This ministry was created to control the vast areas captured by the Germans in...
(the Ostministerium), the Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
(SD or Security Service) of the SS, and even rival elements within the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
who wanted to absorb and “assimilate” Dabendorf. When many Russian Hiwi
Hiwi people
The Hiwi call themselves the “people of the savannah” for the vast flatlands they inhabit between the Meta and Vichada rivers in Colombia. In Venezuela, the Hiwi live in the states of Apure, Guarico, Bolivar, and Amazonas. Seventeenth and eighteenth century historians described the Hiwi as nomadic...
’s were withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to work on fortifications in the West, Dabendorf sent propagandists to raise morale and soothe troubled spirits. However several were arrested in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and others sent directly back to Dabendorf. Strik-Strikfeldt was obliged to travel to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and liaise with the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
military authorities there.
In January 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt was interviewed by General Kostring when the later was appointed head of the Osttruppen formations. Kostring confirmed that the Führer would never deviate from his Russian policy and told Strik-Strikfeldt : “The fact is that Hitler will have nothing to do with Vlasov.’’
The SS
In the Spring of 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt was introduced to SS StandartenführerStandartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Gunter d'Alquen
Gunter d'Alquen
Gunter d'Alquen was Chief Editor of the SS weekly, Das Schwarze Korps the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel , and commander of the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers Gunter d'Alquen (October 24, 1910 - May 15, 1998) was Chief Editor of the SS weekly, Das Schwarze Korps ("The Black Corps") the...
(Chief Editor of the SS weekly, Das Schwarze Korps
Das Schwarze Korps
Das Schwarze Korps was the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel . This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge. Each SS member was supposed to read the publication and urge others to do so as well...
/ "The Black Corps"), and commander of the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
SS-Kriegsberichter-Kompanie SS-Kriegsberichter-Abteilung SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers The SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was a German Waffen SS war correspondent formation which reported on the actions of all Waffen SS combat formations, seeing action in all major theatres of war with the exception of North...
. Henceforth some senior SS officers began to take a positive interest in Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and his movement. The most interested was Dr Arlt, head of the Freiwilligen-Leitstelle-Ost (Free Volunteers office - East). Dr Arlt informed Strik-Strikfeldt that the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
intended to make greater use of Soviet and Eastern European minorities under SS auspices. Strik-Strikfeldt also held meetings at this time with SS-Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
, SS-Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg
Walter Schellenberg
Walther Friedrich Schellenberg was a German SS-Brigadeführer who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944.-Biography:...
and Dr.Otto Wächter
Otto Wächter
The Baron Otto Gustav von Wächter , was an Austrian lawyer and later German SS officer and National Socialist official...
(later involved in the Waffen SS Division "Galicia" or 14th Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS Galicia).
Strik-Strikfeldt was even initially interviewed by the head of the SS recruitment office, SS General Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger was a German Nazi who held the rank of Obergruppenführer during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's main recruiting officer...
. Strik-Strikfeldt was then obliged to arrange a personal meeting between Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger was a German Nazi who held the rank of Obergruppenführer during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's main recruiting officer...
where the later appointed SS Oberführer
Oberführer
Oberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
Erhard Kroeger
Erhard Kroeger
Erhard Kroeger or “Kröger” was a Latvian-born Baltic German SS officer involved in the resettlement of Baltic Germans before World War II, and later attached to General Vlasov and the German sponsored Russian Liberation Army of World War II.-Early years:Erhard Kroeger grew up in Riga, Latvia, a...
as a formal liaison officer between Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and the SS. Strik-Strikfeldt agreed since Kroeger had been involved in the resettlement of Baltic
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
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...
over 1939-1940. At this meeting Berger also proposed a formal meeting between Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and 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...
.
“It seemed that the SS now, in the early summer of 1944, were to take the opportunity that the Wehrmacht had missed back in 1941.”
On 16 September 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt and Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
met the Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
at the later’s field HQ in Rastenburg, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
. Himmler had been placed in command of the Ersatzarmee following the 20 July plot, and was therefore in a position to supply Dabendorf with military equipment and training, and even offered vague political concessions. An official Communiqué was issued to mark the occasion. Returning to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in a train, Strik-Strikfeldt shared a sleeper with Dr. Felix Kersten
Felix Kersten
Felix Kersten was before and during World War II the personal masseur of Heinrich Himmler...
(Himmler’s personal physician and an Estonian-born Baltic German
Baltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
) who claimed to have been supporting their “good cause”. There was an enthusiastic reception for Captain Strik-Strikfeldt and General Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
at Dabendorf and work began immediately to prepare the ill fated Manifesto of the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia”.
“When General Gehlen came back to duty I gave him an unvarnished report. Himmler had appointed the SS General Berger as his plenipotentiary in all Russian affairs. Kroeger was liaison officer. SS Colonel Burg had the task of setting up the Russian divisions. Gehlen asked me to stay with Vlasov for as long as I could.”
Late in 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt met the Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
White Army era General Pyotr Krasnov
Pyotr Krasnov
Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov , 1869 – January 17, 1947), sometimes referred to in English as Peter Krasnov, was Lieutenant General of the Russian army when the revolution broke out in 1917, and one of the leaders of the counterrevolutionary White movement afterward.- Russian Army :Pyotr Krasnov...
and tried to convince him to join Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
but to no avail.
Strik-Strikfeldt was not invited to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
for the formal ceremony declaring the Manifesto of the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia”. However General Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen was a General in the German Army during World War II, who served as chief of intelligence-gathering on the Eastern Front. After the war, he was recruited by the United States military to set up a spy ring directed against the Soviet Union , and eventually became head of the West...
ordered him to arrange a meeting and translate between Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
and General Kostring, so he was present at the official programme. At the evening banquet Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
made a speech and publicly acknowledged an "unnamed German officer of the rank of Captain."
“Later, I was invited to join Vlasov and Zhilenkov at a table where they were sitting with a senior SS officer. He turned out to be deputy head of Personnel Department of the Waffen SS. They quickly came to the point : I should transfer to the SS and remain with Vlasov. Vlasov emphasized that this was not his proposal, though he would be glad if I were to come back to him.”
Strik-Strikfeldt tried to squirm out of the offer and Gehlen arranged for him to take sick leave in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
where he wrote up a rough draft history of the Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
movement that would later serve as the basis for his 1970 book "Gegen Stalin und Hitler. General Wlassow und die russische Freiheitsbewegung" (Against Stalin and Hitler: Memoir of the Russian Liberation Movement). In December 1944 one of Gehlen’s officers visited Strik-Strikfeldt and asked him to help accommodate units of the Russian Liberation Army in the Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
area.
“A fellow-Balt provided an introduction to Greiser, who quickly grasped the position and promised help.”
On 20 January 1945 Strik-Strikfeldt’s wife, and daughter Dela, were evacuated from Posen. Three days later Sergei Frohlich ordered him to travel to Frankfurt an der Oder immediately, whence he was collected and taken to Dabendorf.
“I went to Zossen to see General Gehlen, who told me to go and find my family. After many adventures I found them in the little village of Sallgast between Finsterwalde and Senftenberg. My mother wanted to stay there, she was tired of being on the move. All her life she had been a refugee.”
In early April 1945 Gehlen had Strik-Strikfeldt posted as sick and after some confusion at the OKH, he left and took his family to the Allgäu
Allgäu
The Allgäu is a southern German region in Swabia. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia and southeastern Baden-Württemberg. The region stretches from the prealpine lands up to the Alps...
. On 14 April Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
, Kroeger and a few senior officers of the Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
tracked him down and they had their last meeting. Strik-Strikfeldt agreed to negotiate their surrender with the Western powers. Interrogated by the US Colonel Snyder and later General Patch, Strik-Strikfeldt became a PoW and was moved to Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
where he was interned with Goring and Gehlen amongst others. Later he was transferred to Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
and interned with Field-Marshals von Blomberg, Wilhelm von List, von Weichs and von Leeb; and Generals Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
and Kostring. Here he also met up with Gustav Hilger again and Hitler’s personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann
Heinrich Hoffmann
Heinrich Hoffmann was a German photographer best known for his many published photographs of Adolf Hitler.-Early life and career:...
.
Death
Strik-Strikfeldt died in OberstaufenOberstaufen
Oberstaufen is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavarian Swabia, Germany, situated on the B 308 road from Lindau to Immenstadt.-History:It is first mentioned as Stoufun in AD 868...
. His 1970 memoirs, "Gegen Stalin und Hitler. General Wlassow und die russische Freiheitsbewegung" (Against Stalin and Hitler: Memoir of the Russian Liberation Movement), are an important source regarding the Russian Liberation Movement and General Vlasov
Vlasov
Vlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
, and also the axiomatic role played by Baltic Germans.
Literature
- Strik-Strikfeldt, W. Against Stalin and Hitler: Memoir of the Russian Liberation Movement, 1941-1945. — NY: Day, 1970. ISBN 0-381-98185-1 ISBN 978-0-381-98185-3
- Вильфрид Штрик-Штрикфельдт: Против Сталина и Гитлера. Изд. Посев, 1975, 2003. ISBN 5-85824-005-4
- Бахвалов Анатолий: Генерал Власов. Предатель или герой? Изд. СПб ВШ МВД России, 1994.
- Sven Steenberg: Wlassow. Verräter oder Patriot? Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Köln 1968.
- Свен Стеенберг: Генерал Власов. Изд-во Эксмо, 2005. ISBN 5-699-12827-1
- Sergej Frölich: General Wlassow. Russen und Deutsche zwischen Hitler und Stalin.
- Cергей Фрёлих Генерал Власов. Русские и Немцы между Гитлером и Сталиным (перевод с немецкого Ю.К. Мейера при участии Д.А. Левицкого), 1990. Printed by Hermitage.
- Александров Кирилл М.: Армия генерала Власова 1944-45. Изд-во Эксмо, 2006. ISBN 5-699-15429-9.
- Чуев Сергей: Власовцы - Пасынки Третьего Рейха. Изд-во Эксмо, 2006. ISBN 5-699-14989-9.
И. Хоффманн: История власовской армии. Перевод с немецкого Е. Гессен. 1990 YMCA Press ISBN 2-85065-175-3 ISSN 1140-0854
- Joachim Hoffmann: Die Tragödie der 'Russischen Befreiungsarmee 1944/45. Wlassow gegen Stalin. Herbig Verlag, 2003 ISBN 3776623306.
- Гофман Иоахим: Власов против Сталина. Трагедия Русской Освободительной Армии. Пер. с нем. В. Ф. Дизендорфа. Изд-во АСТ, 2006. ISBN 5-17-027146-8.
- О. В. Вишлёв(preface): Генерал Власов в планах гитлеровских спецслужб. Новая и Новейшая История, 4/96, pp. 130–146.
- В. В. Малиновский: Кто он, русский коллаборационнист: Патриот или предатель? Вопросы Истории 11-12/96, pp. 164–166. [letter to the editor]
- А. Ф. Катусев, В. Г. Оппоков: Иуды. Власовцы на службе у фашизма. Военно-Исторический Журнал 6/1990, pp. 68–81.
- П. А. Пальчиков: История Генерала Власова. Новая и Новейшая История, 2/1993, pp. 123–144.
- А. В. Тишков: Предатель перед Советским Судом. Советское Государство и Право, 2/1973, pp. 89–98.
- Л. Е. Решин, В. С. Степанов: Судьбы генералские. Военно-Исторический Журнал, 3/1993, pp. 4–15.
- С. В. Ермаченков, А. Н. Почтарев: Последний поход власовской армии. Вопросы Истории, 8/98, pp. 94–104.