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For Russia with Hitler
White Russian Émigrés and the German-Soviet War
Oleg Beyda (Author)
9781487556488
Hardback, published 6 September 2024
392 pages
23.1 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm, 0.66 kg
The Bolshevik takeover of Russia created an alternative Russia in exile that never laid down its arms. For two decades, expelled White Russians sought ways to retaliate against the Soviet Union and return home. Their irreconcilability was galvanized by a superstructure, the dominant military organization, the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). Eventually, militant anti-Bolshevism led the exiled Russians into alliance with Nazi Germany, despite the latter’s anti-Slavic stance. For Russia with Hitler tells the story of how thousands of White Russian émigrés joined the German invasion of the Soviet Union as soldiers, translators, and civilian workers. Oleg Beyda investigates and contextualizes émigré collaboration with National Socialist Germany, explaining how it was possible for Russians to fight against the Russians. The book reveals that the exiles, although united ideologically by Russian nationalism in a general sense, did not establish one single, clear-cut political solution for a future "liberated Russia." Drawing on wide archival material, For Russia with Hitler details the background and ideological framework of the émigrés, how they rationalized their support for Nazism, and what they did on the Eastern Front, including their reactions to life in occupation, war crimes, and the Holocaust.
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Lasting Crusade: The Russian All-Military Union (ROVS) in the World of Exile The Puzzle: Organisations and Structures 2. Swastikas Rising: Émigrés and Nazi Germany Russian Aryans: "Aryanization" and Foreign Passports 3. A Dawn of Liberation Is Rising over Russia: Russian Military Exile and the German-Soviet War, 1941–1945 Behind Bars: Arrests of Émigrés in Belgium and France 4. A Troubled Cooperation: Russian Émigrés and the German Bans Unerwünscht: German Policy on the Use of Émigrés 5. Forbidden but Still Marching On: Recruitment of Émigré Volunteers and Forms of Involvement Germany 6. Homecoming: Personal Outlooks on the War in the USSR Not Just Interpreters: The Role of White Émigrés as Mediators and Collaborators 7. "Collecting the Shards": Perspectives on Life under Occupation The Russian Soul: Soviet Peasants and Other Civilians 8. Darker Shades of Field Grey: Émigrés and Nazi Occupation Policy The Jewish Question: Antisemitism and White Russian Émigrés 9. The Long Defeat: Russian Military Exile after 1945 Bolshevik Roulette: The White Émigrés and the End of War in Europe Conclusion
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
The White Idea: ROVS Ideology
Counter-Revolution from Abroad: Defencism and Defeatism
Seeking Hostilities: ROVS in Preparation for War
Into the Vortex of Illusion: Émigré Assessments of the German-Soviet War, 1941–1943
Swan Song: 1943–1945
Kriegsentscheidend: The Wehrmacht’s Need for Émigrés
Czech Protectorate
The General Government
Bulgaria
France
Contract Work and Civil and Military Engineering
Demobilization
Émigrés as Soldiers from 1942 On
"All of Russia Is a Graveyard": Émigrés’ Assessment of the Soviet Union
Them: The Red Army, Partisans, and Soviet POWs
Through Their Eyes: Soviet Citizens Meet the Émigrés
Back to the Roots: "Soviet" White Guards and Their Relatives
"God Is With Us": The Church and Religion
Off Duty: Private Time and Leisure Activities
Mourning the Fallen: Death on the German-Soviet Front
Farewell, Motherland: Reflections by White Émigrés on Their Second Exile
Shock, Awe, Compromise: War Crimes and Excesses
Saviours in German Uniforms: White Émigrés’ Actions to Defend the Oppressed
Verbal Masquerade: ROVS Self-Presentation after 1945
Notes
Bibliography
Index