Housden Martyn. Forgotten Pages in Baltic History: Diversity and Inclusion. (On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics) (ENG)

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The View from the Top

227

intellect of a nation whose language originally touched on the secrets of

Sanskrit, whose ornamentation bravely, independently and modestly

expresses an innate feeling of form, and which today—still without

schools—is exhausting itself in the twilight of an agricultural existence….‖

The above mentioned long-serving chief of the German administration

in Lithuania, Isenburg-Birstein, was a particularly staunch proponent of the

colonial mentality. As early as one of the first reports of January 1916 he

took the opportunity to make a statement which speaks for itself: ―The

Lithuanians are farmers and labourers and behave in thoroughly peaceful

ways. They are not Russophiles, have no ideas about a Greater Lithuania and

will not have any in the future, unless they are whipped up artificially (by

agitation and the press). Any attempt to play on their good nature is based on

a misunderstanding. It is taken to be weakness and consequently results in the

opposite of the desired aim. Strong, consistent and quiet politics is

appreciated, even if it takes into account the necessities of the war.‖

The

commander of the armed forces in Ostland, Cavalry General Braemer, argued

something similar at the end of 1942 in a memorandum which otherwise was

very critical about German policy. He believed he recognised behaviour

typical of the indigenous population: ―The administration‘s organisational

activity and methods are too ‗perfect‘ and therefore too slow-moving. They

are unsuitable for an indigenous population used to primitive and direct

administration.‖

This way of thinking is particularly clear in a description

of German policy drawn up after the First World War. It says the following

about the alleged use of violence against the civil population: ―…Ob.Ost

remarked initially correctly that a brutal or severe treatment of helpless

prisoners or indigenous people was not at all in the nature of the German

soldier, much more that he would act good-naturedly towards people who

were suffering through no fault of their own. On the other hand, police

institutions had to apply the threat of force as well as its actual use since

severe fines and prison sentences were unsuccessful. This was and had been

the case during the Russian period and certainly was not regarded the same

way in Lithuania as, for instance, in Germany. The inhabitants were very well

able to distinguish between mistreatment and a certain patriarchal

punishment.‖

The image of a terra incognita was suggested to a German reader:

―Conditions in OberOst were just like in a colonial land lying unexplored

before its acquisitor.‖

And a correspondent from Berlin went so far as to

suppose as follows: ―Even the Teutonic Knights did not describe the

Lithuanians as very different from how they are today.‖

In this respect it is

unsurprising to find occasional talk of the civilising mission reminiscent of

the ―white man‘s burden‖:

―Now we have been here for two years since

Hindenburg‘s victory train led us to this place. We have stamped our

character on the city [i.e. Kaunas]. We have always done it surrounded by the

din of war, and so have not be able to do and to keep everything just how we

Joachim Tauber

228

wanted it. The time was too difficult and too short, the tasks were too

numerous. In this light, what has been achieved appears so much the

greater.‖

In this connection, high crimes rates were not just interpreted as the

result of war, but also as a characteristic of the people and their

backwardness. Not only cattle rustling was the order of the day in Lithuania:

―A raw and violent mentality is related to an inclination to thieve in broad

circles of the uneducated population and this explains the shocking frequency

of robbery and robbery with murder.‖

In revenging the crimes, the German

authorities generated further relevant experiences with the native population:

―In all aspects of their activity, the courts encountered a particular difficulty

owing to the unreliability of the population and its poor love of truth.… The

situation can only be ameliorated (…) by improving the intellectual and

especially the moral education of the population.‖

Administrative chief of

Lithuania, von Heppe, maintained in his memoirs that the ―moral obligation

to be truthful‖ has not been spread among Lithuanians.

Little unexpected was to be said about the cultural quality of the land.

A report about the press system in OberOst said: ―This [i.e. the translation of

administrative ordinances] was a particularly difficult job owing to the poor

development of the individual languages, all the more so if it is a matter of

translating concepts which were foreign to the impoverished culture of this

land.‖

At the end of 1917 there was a certain transformation in thinking

such that people living in Lithuania were no longer regarded as only an

appendix to the Polish question, but rather an independent object of German

influence. Naturally this change derived from the general re-orientation of

German policy. It was no mere chance that Lithuania suddenly at this point

was counted among the ―cultured nations‖, whose fate had been decided

particularly by the predominant Polish influence.

100

The simple, happy locals

mutated into a ―strong, war-like people‖ which formed the true heart of

Polish-Lithuanian power.

101

This re-evaluation

102

found its ultimate

expression from a famous mouth: ―Speaking with the warmth of the sun, the

Kaiser said that he only got to know a national group more fully on his last

journey in the East and he still seemed impressed by its character. He spoke

about the upright bearing of the Lithuanians, the dignity of their men and the

healthy charm of their women and girls: ‗They have something of an

aristocrat‘s pride about them: without becoming servile, they approach

everything with a noble sense of decency. This differentiates them noticeably

from other eastern lineages. You could discover something of Spanish

grandeur in these simple people.‘ Anyone who knows something of the

Lithuanians will see how sharply the Kaiser has observed things. They are a

national group which has nothing in common with the Slavs who live all

around them.‖

103

The View from the Top

229

Conclusion

The convictions displayed by Captain Pellner in July 1941 about Lithuania‘s

future show how little German impressions and ideas of mission had changed

in more than 20 years: ―When the German crusade against the mindlessness

of the East is over and more questions need clarification, the responsible

offices will see clearly that the direction of development lies in an

agricultural framework which will lead to a better, more intensive

exploitation of the land and hence will also benefit the population. German

territory, which is rich in both people and industry, will be able to make full

use of all the agricultural production. Even the woodsman will learn to

manage the forest properly in the extensive wooded areas, as we have done

for a long time already throughout the German East…. The Russian

economy, which compelled many people to emigrate from here, made

development along the lines of the neighbouring Reich impossible. But from

now on new work begins in a new historical period. Land and soil are similar

to East Prussia and the climate is the same. The pride of our age must be to

make possible here the same blessings as in eastern German territory.

Moreover, improved education will be necessary for its people. A new order

will have to come to life as it exists in Germany. There will be improved

primary schooling for the peasantry. Whoever has gone shopping knows how

difficult shop assistants find it to add up even small bills and how often they

use adding machines. He knows what needs to be done. A good agricultural

foundation is only possible on the soil of an education suited to the national

group which prepares the farmer for his work―which begins in

childhood―then the paths will be opened which the vestiges of war have

helped obliterate, and the German crusade against Red mindlessness will

bring victory for the liberated territory.‖

104

OberOst could not have put it

better, although as early as late summer 1916 the chief of the German

administration felt obliged to record his observations on the Lithuanian

national character in one of his reports: ―It [i.e. the Lithuanian population]

has shown a surprising degree of understanding for the implementation of the

strict administrative orders concerning farming and which have demanded far

more than the usual amount of work which the Lithuanian sustains by virtue

of his nature. With satisfaction, he views the reward for his increased activity

in the well-ordered fields.‖

105

Comparison of the sources used here makes obvious the parallels and

continuities between 1915–18 and 1941–44. The impressions of a sparse,

impoverished land and of a primitive peasant population were the decisive

characteristics of both occupations. At best, Lithuanians were discovered to

be a simple natural people (noble savages), at worst a population ―lacking in

culture‖ but with peasant cunning. There is little surprising about the

contrasts highlighted by the image of the German homeland. It took the form

of a completely paradisiacal exaggeration which only served to highlight

more than ever Lithuanian backwardness. The concept ―culture‖ was a code

Joachim Tauber

230

for this difference, subsuming the contrasts between Germany and Lithuania.

The cultural hierarchy created in this way lent the conquerors superiority not

only in terms of power-politics and military strength, but also ideology and

idealism. From this idea it followed necessarily that they could stimulate and

provide a model for the Lithuanians, so rationalising their own presence in

the land. In the last analysis, the cultural hierarchies between the two nations

were so marked, that political co-operation could not take place between

equals. This is why the soldiers and the administrators only had one way of

looking at the Lithuanians: the view from the top.

The View from the Top

231

Notes

This article was translated by Martyn Housden, with the assistance of the

author and John Hiden.

1. The war reporter was set to work in the Second World War in order to

create this direct link. Their reports based on direct observation of battlefield

events were supposed to be especially attractive to soldiers and the Home

Front. On this topic, see Vossler, 2005.

2. Liulevicius, 2000.

3. Verwaltungsbericht der Deutschen Verwaltung für Litauen vom 13.

Oktober 1915, BAMA, PHD 23/44, p. 12.

4. Herbert Eulenberg, ―Aus Litauen, Teil I‖ in Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 291, 19.

Oktober 1916, reprinted in Korrespondenz B 134, 23 October 1918, p. 1.

5. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 151 vom 27. Juni 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, p. 6: Dr. Werner Lahne, ―In Staub und glühender Hitze

durch Litauen. Die Offensive hat ‗polnische Formen‘ angenommen

―Niederträchtige Kampfesweise der Bolschewisten.‖

6. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 152 vom 28. Juni 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, p. 3: Dr. Werner Lahne, ―Verfolgungsgefechte im

litauischen Grenzgebiet. Dem weichenden Gegner hart auf den Fersen.‖

7. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 158 vom 4. Juli 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, p. 3: Hauptmann A.E. Frauenfeld, ―Die Straße.‖

8. Herbert Eulenberg, ―Aus Litauen‖ in Korrespondenz B 134, 23 October

1918, p. 1.

9. Oberbefehlshaber, 1917, p. 190.

10. Lothar Papke, ―Das bolschewisierte Litauen atmet auf‖ in Die

Front―Feldzeitung einer Armee Nr. 69, 25 Juni 1941, p. 3.

11. Verwaltungsbericht der Deutschen Verwaltung für Litauen vom 13.

Oktober 1915, BAMA PHD 23/44, p. 13.

12. Wilnaer Zeitung ,Nr. 45, 15. February 1917: ―Sprichwörter und

Redensarten aus Samogitien.‖

13. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 311, 9. November 1916: ―Litauische Liebeslieder.‖

14. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 233, 24. August 1917: ―Mitleid―eine

Charaktereigenschaft des Litauers.‖

15. See Vidunas, 1916, p. 74.

16. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 148, BAMA RHD 69–

15, p. 3: ―Hakenkreuz verdrängte den Sowjetstern.‖

17. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 149, BAMA RHD 69–

15, p. 3: ―Ein unfehlbares Uhrwerk läuft ab. Brückenschlag der Pioniere auch

ohne Stukas von KB Heinz-Dieter Pilgram.‖

18. BAMA 8/23 ‚Ob.Ost, Korrespondenz B, Nr. 1, 11. Oktober 1916, p. 1.

Joachim Tauber

232

19. Herbert Eulenberg belongs to the circle of intellectuals assembled by

Ludendorff in Kaunas to work on his culture policy. See Liulevicius, 2000, p.

115.

20. i.e. the Lithuanian minority in East Prussia, the so-called Little- or

Prussian Lithuanians.

21. Herbert Eulenberg, ―Aus Litauen‖ in Korrespondenz B 134 (now

Litauische Mitteilungen), 23 October 1918, p. 1.

22. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 160, 6. Juli 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, p. 4.

23. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 149, BAMA RHD 69–

15, p. 4: Dr. Joachim Fischer, ―Harter Straßenkampf tobte in

Wylkowyßki―Hinhaltender Widerstand der Sowjetrussen―Ständiger

Vormarsch auf Kowno.‖

24. Land Ober Ost (as cited in note 9), p. 174.

25. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 150, BAMA RHD 69–

15, p.4: Wilhelm Krüger, ―Schamaiten―Schalauen―Litauen.

Geschichtliche Betrachtungen zum gegenwärtigen Kampf im Ostraum.‖

26. Hans Heinrich Schaeder, ― Ciurlionis, ein litauischer Maler‖ in

Korrespondenz B Nr. 4, 1 November 1916, p. 2.

27. Wilnaer Zeitung, Nr. 17, 5 February 1916: ― Litauischer Tanz.‖

28. See, for instance, Wilnaer Zeitung Nr. 45, 17. February 1917:

―Sprichwörter und Redensarten aus Samogitien.‖

29. Daina (plural Dainos) means ―song‖ in Lithuanian.

30. ―Litauische Dainos‖ in Korrespondenz B Nr. 1, 11 October 1916, p. 2

(BAMA PHD 8/23).

31. Kauener Zeitung, Nr. 140, 17 June 1942: ―Volkstum befruchtet litauische

Kunstkräfte.‖

32. Kauener Zeitung, Nr. 222, 22. September 1942: ―Bauten aus

Bauernkunst,‖ by Dipl.-Ing. Georg Gettner.

33. See, for example, Schmiedt, 1992.

34. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 311, 9. November 1916: ―Litauische Liebeslieder.‖

35. Wronka, 1917, p. 170.

36. Vidunas, 1916, p. 65.

37. BAMA FC 1179 N (NL Isenburg), Nr. 0391.

38. Cited by Linde, 1965, p. 100.

39. Vidunas, 1916, p. 66.

40. BAMA-N 196-1: Theodor v. Heppe, Aus der Rückschau, vol. V: Im

Weltkrieg (mss.), p. 124.

41. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 149, BAMA RHD 69–

15, p. 4: KB Dr. Joachim Fischer, ―Harter Straßenkampf tobte in

Wylkowyßki―Hinhaltender Widerstand der Sowjetrussen―Ständiger

Vormarsch auf Kowno.‖

The View from the Top

233

42. ―Gedenkblatt Wilna. Ein Jahr unter deutscher Flagge‖, supplement to

Wilnaer Zeitung Nr. 239, 18 September 1916: ―Das west-östliche Wilna‖ by

Dr. Manfred Bühlmann.

43. Georg W. Kruse, ―Juden müssen arbeiten! Vertauschte Rollen―Litauer

helfen sich selbst‖ in Die Front―Zeitung der 10. Armee Nr. 73, 29 June

1941, p. 3.

44. Herbert Eulenberg, ―Weihnachtsbräuche in Litauen‖ in Korrespondenz B

Nr. 11, 20. December 1916, p. 4 (BAMA 8/23).

45. ―Scheinwerfer‖ pictorial supplement to Die Front―Zeitung der 10.

Armee, Nr. 189, 31. Julmond (December) 1916: Adolf Höllriegel, ―Litauen.‖

46. ―Scheinwerfer‖ pictorial supplement to Die Front―Zeitung der 10.

Armee, Nr. 76, 19 May 1916, ―Meine Reise.‖

47. Supplement to the Die Front―Zeitung der 10. Armee, Nr. 363, 15

Scheiding (September) 1917: Walter Jäger, ―Alt-Wilna.‖

48. On this topic, see especially Volkmann, 1994.

49. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 167, 13 July 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, p.4.

50. Kauener Zeitung, Nr. 144, 22 June 1942: ―Auf der Straße nach Kauen.‖

51. Kuby, 1975, p. 109.

52. Professor Dr. Bergsträsser, ― Deutsche Kulturarbeit in Litauen‖ in

Korrespondenz B, 24. January 1917, p. 1.

53. Ludendorff, 1919, p. 138.

54. Wilnaer Zeitung, Nr. 1, 20. January 1916: ―Ein Kriegs-Friedenswerk.‖

55. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 227, 18 August 1917: ―18. August 1915–1917.‖

56. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 68, 10 March 1917: ―Kaufleute ohne Kunden.‖

57. Strecker, 1917, p. 30.

58. Wilnaer Zeitung, Nr. 262, 24 September 1917: ―Ein Landesrat für

Litauen.‖

59. Lothar Papke, ―Das bolschewisierte Litauen atmet auf. Kämpfe im

litauischen Ödland―Deutsche Infanterie stürmt vor‖ in Die Front Nr. 69, 25

June 1941, p. 3.

60. Georg W. Kruse, ―Sowjet-Sadisten. Herrschaft des Untermenschentums‖

in Die Front―Zeitung der 10. Armee Nr. 71, 27 June 1941, p. 3.

61. Oberbefehlshaber, 1917, p. 189.

62. Kauener Zeitung, 17 November 1943: ―Im Zeichen des Verstehens.‖

63. Ibid.

64. Wilnaer Zeitung started this job in an editorial dated 20 January 1916: ―It

[the newspaper] wants to deepen understanding of the German spirit and the

German nature, for German discipline and order.‖

65. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 156, 2 July 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, p. 7. Günther Kaufmann, ―Erstes Ergebnis des

Vormarsches in Litauen.‖

66. Wilnaer Zeitung, Nr. 13, 1 February 1916: ―Deutliche Hausnummern.‖

Joachim Tauber

234

67. Die Front―Zeitung der 10. Armee, Nr. 412, 11 Nebelung (November)

1917: ―Die Deutsche Straße in Wilna.‖

68. ―Ein Jahr unter deutscher Flagge‖, memorial edition of the Wilnaer

Zeitung Nr. 239, 18 August 1916: ―Wilna.‖

69. Kauener Zeitung, Nr. 239, 10 October 1942: ―Die Kauener Zeitung

unserer Väter. Das Gedicht aus der Zeitung vom 23. Januar 1916 ‗Aus dem

Leserkreise‘.‖

70. ―Scheinwerfer‖ pictorial supplement of the Die Front―Zeitung der 10.

Armee, entitled ―Das Gouvernement Wilna‖ Nr. 55, 7 April 1916.

71. Zeitung der 10. Armee, Nr. 109, 24 Heumond (July) 1916: ―Hinter der

Front.‖

72. Struck, Skizzen, chapter ―Litauischer Holzfäller‖ (without page numbers).

73. Wilnaer Zeitung, Nr. 6, 7 January 1917: ―Zivilentlausung in Ob.Ost.‖

74. Strecker, 1917, p. 27 f.

75. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 11, 12 January 1917: ―Zivil-Entlausung in Ob.

Ost.‖

76. Wilnaer Zeitung, Nr. 158, 29 June 1916: ―Das Kowno von heute.‖

77. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 173, 25 June 1917: ―Wechsel in der Kownoer

Stadtverwaltung.‖

78. Weber, 1917, p.10. For a particularly dramatic description of the

conditions which were encountered, see Strecker, 1917, p. 9.

79. ―Erntefest in Ob.Ost‖ in Korrespondenz B, 22. November 1916, p. 2.

Also see BAMA-N 196-1: Theodor v. Heppe, ―Aus der Rückschau‖, vol. V,

Im Weltkrieg (mss.), p. 129f.

80. Verwaltungsbericht der Deutschen Verwaltung für Litauen, January 1916

(BAMA 23/45), p. 29f.

81. BAMA Nachlaß Trotta N 234-7, letter of 31 August 1917, concerning

―Unruhen im Etappengebiet―Behandlung von Einwohnern‖, p. 2.

82. BAMA Nachlaß Trotta N 234-7, letter of 31 August 1917, concerning

―Unruhen im Etappengebiet―Behandlung von Einwohnern‖, p. 3.

83. Land Ober Ost (see note 9), p. 93.

84. BAMA-N 196-1: Theodor v. Heppe, ―Aus der Rückschau‖, vol. V, Im

Weltkrieg (mss.), p. 139. Likewise the description in Verwaltungschef

Litauen, Abwicklungsbehörden,1921, p. 12.

85. BAMA-N 196–1: Theodor v. Heppe, ―Aus der Rückschau‖, vol. V, Im

Weltkrieg (mss.), p. 139.

86. Fritz Zielesch, ―Kaufleute ohne Kunden‖ in Korrespondenz B Nr. 22, 7

March 1917, p. 5f, here p. 6.

87. ―Sport im besetzten Gebiet‖ in Korrespondenz B Nr. 46, 22 August 1917,

p.1f. Similar article, albeit oriented more towards military exercise is in the

supplement to the Die Front―Zeitung der 10. Armee, Nr. 385, vom 11.

Gilbhart (October) 1917: ―Feldsportfest des Feldrekrutendepots Wilna,

Gruppe I.‖

The View from the Top

235

88. ―Der Turm von Wilna‖ in Korrespondenz B Nr. 98, 8 March 1918, p. 1.

89. Verwaltungsbericht der Deutschen Verwaltung für Litauen, Januar 1916

(BAMA 23/45), p. 30.

90. Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Ostland concerning ―Lage im Ostland‖.

Memorandum of 26 December 1942 (BAMA RW 41, no page numbers,

annex to sitrep. Ic of 16.7.1944–8.8.1944, p. 6).

91. Verwaltungschef Litauen (see note 86), p. 16.

92. Oberbefehlshaber Ost, 1917, p. 93.

93. Michaelis, 1917, p. 191.

94. See Münkler, 2006, p.132ff. For the famous quotation from Rudyard

Kipling, see p. 144.

95. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 227, 18 August 1917: ―Wir.‖

96. Oberbefehlshaber Ost, 1917, p. 118.

97. Ibid.

98. BAMA-N 196–1: Theodor v. Heppe, ―Aus der Rückschau‖, vol. V, Im

Weltkrieg (mss.), p. 124.

99. Oberbefehlshaber Ost, 1917, p. 147.

100. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 244, 4 September 1917: ―Die Polonisierung

Litauens.‖

101. Ibid.

102. For a different opinion ,see Wronka, Kurland, p. 77.

103. Kownoer Zeitung, Nr. 265, 25 September 1917: ―Der Kaiser über die

Litauer.‖ For Wilhelm II‘s meaning, see Vidunas, 1916, p. 70.

104. Feldzeitung von der Maas bis an die Memel, Nr. 168, 14 Juli 1941,

BAMA RHD 69–15, S. 3. Hauptmann Pellner, ―Eindrücke in Litauen.‖

105. Verwaltungsbericht der Deutschen Verwaltung Litauen vom 1. August

1916 which extends Verwaltungsbericht vom Mai 1916, Tilsit o.J. (1916), p.

22 (BAMA PHD 23/47). Likewise, Verwaltungsbericht für die Zeit vom

1.Juli bis 1.Oktober 1916, p. 33f (BAMA PHD 53/48).

Bibliography