Sources on the History of the Deportation of the Rural Population of Kamianets-Podilskyi Region to Nazi Germany in 1942–1943

Abstract

The purpose of the article is, based on available sources and using the example of the Kamianets-Podilskyi region, to highlight the history of the deportation of the rural population of Kamianets-Podilskyi to Nazi Germany in 1942–1943. The study is grounded on the principles of historicism, scholarly objectivity, and a systemic and comprehensive approach. Problem-chronological, descriptive, and heuristic methods were applied in the research process. The conclusions emphasize that, thanks to archival sources preserved in the collections of the State Archive of Khmelnytskyi Region, as well as materials from contemporary press, the authors were able to trace two main stages of the deportation of the rural population of Kamianets-Podilskyi region for forced labor in Germany. The first stage, covering January–March 1942, was characterized by the voluntary departure of Soviet citizens to the Third Reich. Nazi propaganda actively promised Ostarbeiters free housing, food, and employment according to their professional qualifications. Families of those who left for Germany received financial support. However, by spring 1942, deportations became compulsory. German Gebietskommissars, with their characteristic pedantry, set strict quotas for the deportation of the population. Healthy and able-bodied laborers aged 16 to 45 were sent to Germany. Regulations stipulated that no one could refuse to depart due to family, social, or other reasons. Documents issued in 1943 were much harsher and no longer mentioned voluntariness or health-related exemptions. Some families whose members were in Germany still received financial assistance, but unlike in early 1942, when such aid was universal, by 1943 it was provided selectively. The conditions of Podillia residents in Germany were extremely harsh: they faced discrimination, were forced to work under brutal conditions, received meager wages, and their lives were constantly at risk. After the war, many were forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union, where they were often persecuted and accused of treason.