[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Executed in Zhitomir 1938

[richard benert]

Michelle,

The most obvious place to look for the 350 Germans executed Sept. 20, 1938 
is Don Miller's "Under Arrest:  Repression of the Russian Germans in the 
Zhitomir Region".  On pp. 225-231, Don gives the names of all of them, and 
discusses the horrible episode, plus many others, in his text.  You can 
easily order the book from Don at http://inthemidstofwolves.com. 
Unfortunately, I don't find the name, Honig, anywhere in the book, but the 
book is indispensible for learning about the era and the tactics of the 
Bolshevik interrogators and executioners.

Another book that must be mentioned is Kate Brown's "A Biography of No 
Place:  From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland", (Harvard U. Press, 
2004).  This book was brought to our attention a couple weeks ago by Laurel 
Davies, and I'm now in the process of reading it.  I'm very impressed by it, 
and I think it should be required reading for anyone interested in Volhynia 
during the 1920s to 1945.  It sets the repression of ethnic Germans in the 
context of Soviet (and later, Nazi) policies towards the region (which 
included repressing Poles, Ukrainians and Jews also), so it helps us 
overcome the sometimes myopic view we get when we concentrate only on our 
own relatives in the region.  In addition, it's beautifully written, and it 
pays a lot of attention to the ordinary life of "little people" (like our 
relatives).  I'm really excited about this book, and I would urge everyone 
to get a copy.  I was lucky.  I found it in the library of Montana State U 
here in Bozeman, much to my surprise.

Dick Benert
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michelle Bakke-Purnell" <wldrose at telusplanet.net>
To: "SGGEE mail list" <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 10:01 PM
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Executed in Zhitomir 1938


> 300+ people, mostly Germans, included in a legal case tried by a troika of 
> officials.  All were executed in the Zhitomir area in September 1938.
>
> George Shoning
>
> George
> Can you give me some more information on this or where to find more on it. 
> The reason is that I can't get through a brick wall on my 
> Greatgrandfathers family.  He came from near this area, escaping in the 
> middle of the night with his brother.  The only story he ever told his 
> family was that his family back home was taken in the middle of the night 
> and executed. I have his parents names, yet I would like to find more 
> information on the family and what happened.  If that is even possible. 
> Thanks for your time.
> Michelle Bakke-Purnell
>
>
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