Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01350-6 - Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944–1945 Gareth Pritchard Frontmatter More information

Niemandsland

Niemandsland is the untold story of the largest and most enduring of the unoccupied enclaves that survived after Germany’s invasion and occupation by Allied forces in 1945. Sandwiched between American and Red Army lines, the 500,000 inhabitants were cut off from the outside world and left to fend for themselves in the face of crippling shortages of food, fuel and housing. Gareth Pritchard charts how groups of Communists, Socialists and antifascists came together to form ‘anti- fascist’ committees which seized power and set about restoring order, ensuring the supply of food and essential services and hunting down, disarming and arresting fugitive Nazis. This is not only a fascinating history in its own right, but it also sheds important new light on the fate of Germany after 1945. Only in Niemandsland do we see what happened when the currents of post-Nazi German politics were allowed to flow freely, unimpeded by Allied intervention.

gareth pritchard is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Adelaide. His previous publications include The Making of the GDR (2004) and, as co-editor, Power and the People: A Social History of Central European Politics, 1945–56 (2005).

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01350-6 - Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944–1945 Gareth Pritchard Frontmatter More information

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01350-6 - Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944–1945 Gareth Pritchard Frontmatter More information

Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944–1945

Gareth Pritchard

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01350-6 - Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944–1945 Gareth Pritchard Frontmatter More information

cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

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© Gareth Pritchard 2012

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2012

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Pritchard, Gareth. Niemandsland : a history of unoccupied Germany, 1944–45 / Gareth Pritchard. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-01350-6 (hardback) 1. World War, 1939–1945 – Social aspects – Germany. 2. Anti-fascist movements – Erzgebirge (Czech Republic and Germany). 3. Vigilance committees – Erzgebirge (Czech Republic and Germany). 4. Community policing – Erzgebirge (Czech Republic and Germany). 5. Crime prevention – Erzgebirge (Czech Republic and Germany). 6. Erzgebirge (Czech Republic and Germany) – History – 20th century. I. Title. D744.7.G3P75 2012 943.71ʹ5 – dc23 2011037167

ISBN 978-1-107-01350-6 Hardback

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© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01350-6 - Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944–1945 Gareth Pritchard Frontmatter More information

Contents

List of maps and tables page vi Notes concerning references to East German archives vii Abbreviations viii Dramatis personae x

Introduction 1 1 The antifascist committees 4 2 Conflict communities of the western Erzgebirge 30 3 Into the abyss: March–April 1945 52 4 Taking power in Niemandsland 73 5 Surviving in Niemandsland 95 6 The politics of antifascist rule 122 7 Antifascists and the wider population 152 8 The politics of Soviet occupation 179 9 Lessons of Niemandsland 213

Bibliography 230 Index 240

v

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Maps and tables

Map 1 Occupied Germany, June 1945 page xii Map 2 The western Erzgebirge xiii Table 2.1 Election results in Schwarzenberg and Germany, 1924–33 40 Table 4.1 Political composition of specific antifascist committees 88 Table 4.2 Age profile of antifa members 89 Table 8.1 Age profile of the KPD in specific localities 186 Table 8.2 KPD and SPD members in local government employment, March 1946 204

vi

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Notes concerning references to East German archives

The regulations of the East German archives stipulate that personal names that occur in archival documents should not be referred to in published texts with the exception of prominent individuals. In order to comply with this requirement, several personal names in this book have been rendered anonymous through the use of initials (S.K., A.D., H.M. etc.). These initials have been chosen at random and are used for con- venience only; they do not necessarily bear any relation to the person’s real initials. A further problem relating to the citation of archival material is that in many files the individual pages have not yet been assigned a Blatt (Bl.) number by the archivists. In such instances, the particular page of any document can only be located by finding first of all the document and then looking up the particular page within that document. Other files, however, have been worked through by the archivists, who have assigned each individual piece of paper in the files a Blatt number. In such instances, one does not need to know the title of a document in order to track down a reference; it is sufficient to know the file number and the Blatt number. In the interests of concision, the title of a document (and the page numbers within the document) is given only where there is no Blatt number.

vii

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Abbreviations

AAM Antifaschistische Arbeitergruppe Mitteldeutschlands (Antifascist Workers’ Group of Central Germany) AFO Antifaschistische Organisation (Antifascist Organisation) AfW Ausschuss für Wiederaufbau (Committee for Reconstruction) BdM Bund deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) BPA Bezirksparteiarchiv (District Party Archive) CDU Christliche Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union) DAF Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front) DFW Deutsches Frauenwerk (German Women’s Enterprise) FAB Freiheits-Aktion-Bayern (Freedom-Action-Bavaria) FO Foreign Office GDR German Democratic Republic KdF Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) KgF Kampfgemeinschaft gegen den Faschismus (Fighting Community against Fascism) KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany) KPO Kommunistische Partei Opposition (Communist Party Opposition) KrA Kreisarchiv (County Archive) LDPD Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (Liberal Democratic Party of Germany) NKFD Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland (National Committee Free Germany) NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party) OMGUS Office of Military Government, United States PRO Public Record Office (National Archives) RdG Rat der Gemeinde RdS Rat der Stadt

viii

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List of abbreviations ix

SAP Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei (Socialist Workers Party) SAPMO Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR (Archive Foundation for the Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR) SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) SStA Sächsisches Staatsarchiv (Saxon State Archive) StA Stadtarchiv (Town Archive) ThHStA Thüringisches Hauptstaatsarchiv

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Dramatis personae

OLD REGIME Georg Dude Landrat in Stollberg to 12 May Ernst Rietszch Mayor of Schwarzenberg to 11 May Herr Friedrich Mayor of Stollberg to 21 April Friedrich Hänichen Landrat in Schwarzenberg Emil Krauss Owner of the Krausswerke in Schwarzenberg Martin Mutschmann Nazi Gauleiter of Saxony

COMMUNISTS Paul Bach Mayor of Raschau from 14 May Paul Günther Leader of the antifascist police in the county of Schwarzenberg Willy Irmisch Mayor of Schwarzenberg from 12 May Paul Korb Leader of the antifascist police in the town of Schwarzenberg Richard Lötzsch Chair of the action committee in Beierfeld Ernst Scheffler Co-chair of the Antifa-Bewegung in the county of Schwarzenberg Felix Unger Mayor of Eibenstock from 16 June

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS Heinrich Bley Landrat in Stollberg from 12 May Alfred Fellisch Co-editor of Schwarzenberger Zeitung Oskar Schieck Chair of the District Action Committee and co-editor of Schwarzenberger Zeitung

x

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Dramatis personae xi

OTHER ANTIFASCISTS Richard Altenhain Chair of the Industry Committee in Aue Walter Lehm Factory director and leading antifascist in Schneeberg Walter Röhner Hotelier and mayor of Stollberg from 12 May

EYE-WITNESSES Edward Isbell American POW in Schwarzenberg Wolfgang Kiessling Hitler Youth member in Beierfeld Klaus Richter Teenage boy from Aue

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Key Western zones of occupation Soviet zone of occupation Hamburg Under temporary Soviet occupation to July 1945 Bremen Soviet (US) zone Under temporary western Hanover occupation to July 1945

British zone Berlin Niemandsland

Dresden Cologne Leizpig Chemnitz Zwickau

Frankfurt Niemandsland French zone American zone Czechoslovakia

Stuttgart France

Munich Austria

Switzerland

Map 1 Occupied Germany, June 1945

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Stollberg Meinersdorf Thalheim Brünlos Wildenfels Thum Hartenstein Dorfchemnitz Ehrensfried- ersdorf

Zwönitz Lössnitz Kirchberg Geyer Schneeberg AUE Neustädtel Elterlein Annaberg- Beierfeld Grünhain Zschorlau Buchholz Lauter Hundshübel Schwarzenberg Scheibenberg Bermsgrün Auerbach Wolfsgrün Raschau Schönheide Bockau Pöhla Sosa Eibenstock Breitenbrunn Rittersgrün

Wildenthal Tellerhäuser Carlsfeld Oberwies- Johanngeorgenstadt enthal

Czechoslovakia 0 5 km 10 km 15 km

Map 2 The western Erzgebirge

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