Sunday, August 12, 2012

Article on Russian-Germans in Kazakhstan

This article is a few months old, but I just found it. It is on how the German ambassador to Kazakhstan was shocked to learn the truth about the full extent of Soviet mistreatment of Russian-Germans in the labor army in Karaganda (Karlag). The fact that the German ambassador was not fully aware of this history in 2011 is what really shocks me. It would be the equivalent of an Israeli ambassador to Poland in 2011 not knowing the full extent of what happened at Auschwitz. On the bright side the ambassador has now taken a keen interest in the history of Stalinist repression of ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan including their mobilization as slave laborers in the labor army. It is never too late to learn. But, the fact that it took so long for somebody in his position to learn the details of the labor army is evidence of just how strong the taboo on discussing these issues remains.

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