Chapter 3. Bibliography of Verbliebene Literature
T- Z
Die Dekanin der Philosophischen Fakultät Prof. Dr. Gabriele Metzler
Erstgutachter: Prof. Michael Seadle, PhD Zweitgutachterin: Prof. Lynne Tatlock, PhD
Datum der Einreichung: 09.01.2018 Datum der Promotion: 16.02.2018
Erklärung über die selbstständige Abfassung meiner Dissertation
Hiermit erkläre ich, Dale Askey, Matrikel-Nr: 588304, dass ich die vorliegende
Dissertation selbstständig und ohne Benutzung anderer als der angegebenen Hilfsmittel angefertigt habe.
Die aus fremden Quellen direkt oder indirekt übernommenen Gedanken sind als solche kenntlich gemacht.
Die Dissertation wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt oder veröffentlicht.
Hamilton, Ontario, Kanada, den 6. Dezember 2017
Dale Askey
Abstract
At the conclusion of the Second World War, a reconstituted Czechoslovakia expelled the majority of its German population. A small community of 200,000-300,000 remained behind, consisting mainly of individuals with specialized trades or skills, in mixed marriages, and/or with antifascist credentials. For various reasons, many related to Cold War political realities and endemic anti-German discrimination in Czechoslovakia, these individuals largely disappeared from view. The expelled Sudeten Germans rapidly assimilated into post-war German society, in the process forming an influential and politically active interest group that cast a further shadow over the Germans who remained behind. Although well less than 10% of the pre-war German population remained, this community attempted to reestablish an active cultural life. Demands for the right to express their culture began immediately after the expulsions and persisted until the fall of Communism in 1989 and beyond.
In this dissertation I address two questions related to the cultural aspirations of this small community. First, I explore whether it is possible to document the community’s attempts to maintain a German cultural identity by tracking their literary efforts. Despite restrictions on publication, it emerged that the community did actively produce literature. I recorded these texts in a bibliography that offers an entry point for further research on the German minority. The other question delves into constructing an analysis of the broader cultural politics of this community. By virtue of close engagement with the community’s newspaper while searching for literature, it was possible to trace the arc of these developments, in particular the impact of changes set in motion by the Slánský trial, the Prague Spring, and the period known as Normalization. The presentation of this material here addresses a significant lacuna in research on this community.
The dissertation concludes with a chapter where I pursue the question of the extent to which the practices and policies of research libraries enable and thwart research on
marginal communities. I reflect on the gap between libraries’ claim to be neutral
organizations and the impact of human decisions and biases on collections and offer some concluding suggestions for changes that would help libraries address critical gaps in the human record.
Zusammenfassung
Am Ende des zweiten Weltkriegs hat die wiederhergestellte Tschechoslowakei die Mehrheit ihrer deutschen Bevölkerung vertrieben. Eine kleine Gemeinschaft von 200,000-300,000 blieben im Lande, die überwiegend aus Menschen bestand, die über benötigte industriellen Fachkenntnissen verfügten, in Mischehen lebten und/oder antifaschistische Aktivitäten nachweisen konnten. Aus verschiedenen Gründen, oft verbunden mit den politischen Realitäten des kalten Kriegs und der vorherrschenden antideutschen
Diskriminierung in der Tschechoslowakei, verschwanden diese Menschen aus dem Blickfeld der Geschichte. Die vertriebenen Sudetendeutsche integrierten sich schnell in die deutsche Nachkriegsgesellschaft; im Laufe dieser Integration bildeten sie eine einflussreiche und politisch engagierte Interessengruppe, die einen weiteren Schatten über die verbliebenen Deutsche warf. Obwohl weit weniger als 10% der deutschen Vorkriegsbevölkerung
vorhanden war, versuchte diese Gruppe von Verbliebenen ein aktives kulturelles Leben wiederherzustellen. Der Anspruch auf das Recht, ihre Kultur pflegen zu dürfen, wurde gleich nach der Vertreibung erhoben und dauerte bis zum Ende des Kommunismus und weiterhin an.
In dieser Dissertation gehe ich zwei Fragen nach, die mit den kulturellen Bestrebungen dieser kleinen Gemeinschaft verbunden sind. Zuerst erforsche ich, ob es möglich ist, durch die Auffindung ihrer literarischen Bestrebungen, das Bemühen dieser Gemeinschaft ihre kulturelle Identität zu bewahren zu dokumentieren. Trotz der Einschränkung von
Veröffentlichungsmöglichkeiten, wurde es klar, dass die Gemeinschaft literarisch tätig war.
Ihre Texte habe ich in eine Bibliographie eingetragen, die Anhaltspunkte für weiterführende Forschung zu dieser Gemeinschaft bietet. Die zweite Frage nimmt die Erstellung einer Analyse des generellen kulturpolitischen Umfelds der Gemeinschaft auf sich. Durch die sorgfältige Lektüre der Gemeinschaftszeitung auf der Suche nach literarischen Beiträgen, war es möglich den Verlauf dieser Entwicklungen zu verfolgen, insbesondere die Auswirkung der Veränderungen, die von dem Slánský-Prozess, dem Prager Frühling und der
Normalisierung ausgelöst wurden. Die Darstellung dieser Materialien hier schließt eine wesentliche Lücke in der Forschung zu dieser Gemeinschaft.
Im letzten Kapitel dieser Dissertation biete ich eine Reflexion zur Frage inwiefern Bibliothekspraxis und –politik ermöglichen sowie verhindern die Erforschung von
Randgemeinschaften und -themen. Ich behandle die Diskrepanz zwischen den Neutralitätsbehauptungen von Bibliotheken und der Auswirkung von menschlichen Entscheidungen und Neigungen auf Bestände und biete abschließend Vorschläge für Veränderungen, die es Bibliotheken ermöglichen würden, kritische Lücken in der Überlieferung vom menschlichen Wissen anzugehen.
Acknowledgements
I owe a debt of gratitude to many individuals who helped me bring this research project from an idea to a completed dissertation. That this work spanned nearly twenty years presents me with some challenges as I attempt to reconstruct events and interactions now long past; I beg forgiveness of anyone whom I fail to credit.
Two individuals supported me from the beginning to the end and require special recognition. First, my wife, Dr. Jennifer Askey, who has always been my best and most supportive critic and friend. Her logistical, intellectual, and motivational assistance has been gracious and expert. Prof. Dr. Gerhard Hacker has also been there since the beginning of this project, writing one of the letters of support for the original funding application that surely led to its success. His friendship and advice has made this all seem achievable.
I particularly thank Gerd and his wife, Lucia Hacker, for generously hosting me for a portion of my research leave in 2017 as I wrote these chapters. The time I spent working in
“her” library at the University of Leipzig was invaluable, as were our afternoon coffee breaks where she repeatedly rescued me from various writing traps.
Although I may never forgive him for finishing his doctorate a year ahead of me, I am grateful to Dr. Kenning Arlitsch for doing so, as it gave me hope that I could do this and strong motivation to finish. He and his wife, Dr. Deborah Keil, also opened their home to me during my research leave, enabling me to create the perfect writer’s retreat. I look forward to many more visits that combine hard work with outdoor adventures. Kenning and Dr.
Stephanie Krueger earn a special place in my heart for their encouragement and for blazing the Humboldt bureaucratic trail on my behalf. I am glad not to be lost in those woods.
Dr. Michael Seadle has my sincere gratitude, first for suggesting that I consider writing my dissertation with him at the Humboldt University, then for recognizing long before I would have that my initial topic was simply not going to work. I neglected to see the potential in the research I had done earlier, but his encouragement to revisit it has proven to be a sage piece of advice. Dr. Lynne Tatlock, as my second reader, has been utterly critical to its completion. Her close reading and sharp eye have surely made it a far more lucid and readable text, but it is her support for my career direction and her intellectual guidance that I value far more. She first opened the door to graduate study for me, so it seems only fitting that she is here at the conclusion, a generation later.
I extend my gratitude to the staff at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the research library at the Collegium Carolinum in Munich, and the Archive of the City of Ústí nad Labem. Without their assistance and collections, this research would have been impossible. I also thank the staff at my current employer, the McMaster
University Library, for their expert interlibrary loan work on my behalf. They worked several minor miracles, sparing me an entire trip to Prague. Particular thanks go to my colleagues and managers who ably filled my shoes while I was out on research leave: Anne Pottier, Wade Wyckoff, Jason Brodeur, John Fink, David Kemper, David Kidney, Chris McAllister, Gabriela Mircea, and Rhonda Moore. Please let me return the favour someday. My boss and University Librarian at McMaster, Vivian Lewis, has been nothing but supportive and
endlessly patient as I have laboured to bring this project to its end.
Ingrid Pavel, long-time journalist at and the last editor of Die Prager Volkszeitung, has been generous and gracious to me from the start of this project to the present day. Our conversations unlocked many mysteries and her deep knowledge of personalities and events enriched my understanding immensely. She helped me see the personal and human dimension behind the texts. I am also grateful to Dora Müller, Lenka Reinerová, and Bertl Hannich, members of the Verbliebene community who spoke with me, quite literally in their last years of life. I wish I had met them much earlier.
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) generously funded the original research project in 1998-1999. The DAAD staff were incredibly helpful and creative. I am also grateful for the financial support of the Coutts Nijhoff West European Study Grant, which funded a research trip in 2006.
Last, I am eternally indebted to Shannon Argentati, Tina DuBois, Dirk Baay, Armin Wishard, Horst Richardson, Richard Koc, and Ursula Ziebarth, none of whom have anything to do directly with this research or dissertation. They are, in order, the high school teachers and university faculty who opened my mind to the German language. It all began with nothing more than a casual conversation in a grade nine high school counselor’s office, but learning German has been a rewarding and life-shaping journey.
Table of Contents
Abstract ... 3
Zusammenfassung ... 4
Acknowledgements ... 6
Abbreviations ... 12
Introduction ... 14
Finding My Topic ... 14
Aims of this Dissertation ... 17
Chapter 1: Research Questions, Scope, Literature Review, Methodology ... 20
Research Questions ... 20
Research Question 1 ... 20
Research Question 2 ... 21
Research Question 3 ... 22
Subject Population ... 23
Definitions and Terminology ... 24
Scholarship on the Verbliebene ... 28
An invisible community ... 28
Scholarship on the expulsions ... 31
Post-revolution scholarship ... 34
Language and scholarship ... 35
Scholarship on significant personalities ... 37
Bibliographic Methodology ... 39
Types of bibliographies ... 39
Classifying this bibliography ... 41
Methods and techniques used for this bibliography ... 43
Bibliography as scholarly contribution ... 47
Ethnographic Methodology ... 48
Bibliography as an ethnographic method ... 48
Ethnography versus historical analysis ... 51
Acknowledging bias in ethnography... 54
Chapter 2: The Verbliebene Community in its Czechoslovak Context... 56
Shifting the Focus from the Vertriebene to the Verbliebene ... 56
The Verbliebene as Political Football ... 56
A People with No History ... 58
Historical Background ... 59
Before the Twentieth Century ... 60
The First Czechoslovak Republic ... 61
Henlein/Nazi Era ... 62
(En)forcing Nationality ... 64
National Indifference, Hermaphroditism, and Amphibianism ... 65
Czechoslovak as Nationality ... 68
Expulsion ... 71
Beneš and the Beneš Decrees ... 71
Expulsion Years ... 74
Life After the Expulsions ... 77
Counting the Community ... 77
Reasons Germans Remained ... 79
Discrimination ... 81
Communist Easing of Anti-German Measures ... 83
Wandertheater and Other Cultural Activities ... 85
1960 and 1968 and the Nationality Question ... 87
Founding of the Kulturverband ... 89
Politics and the Paper ... 91
The Verbliebene Community After the Velvet Revolution ... 98
Germany and Czechoslovakia Redefine Their Relationship ... 99
Coda – division and decline ... 100
Conclusion ... 102
Chapter 3. Bibliography of Verbliebene Literature ... 103
Goals and Purpose of the Bibliography ... 103
A Bibliography with No (or Few) Books ... 104
Kreibich “Affair” ... 106
Alternative Bibliographic Sources ... 107
Constructing a Complete Newspaper Run ... 108
Newspapers and Qualitative Research ... 110
Aufbau and Frieden and Prager Volkszeitung as Cultural Connection ... 112
Role of the German-Language Newspapers in the Community ... 112
Editorial Feedback ... 114
Turning Readers into Writers ... 117
Literary Contests ... 118
Literary Life in the Community ... 120
“Reading” the Literature ... 122
Scope of the Bibliography ... 126
Temporal Scope ... 127
Language ... 127
Textual Type ... 127
Author’s Residence ... 128
Technical Note ... 129
Ensuring Accuracy ... 131
Authors in the Bibliography... 132
General Profile of an Author ... 132
Author Biographical Notes ... 133
A-F... 134
G-M ... 139
N-S ... 150
T-Z ... 158
Chapter 4: The Impact of Library Policy and Practice on Research on Marginal Communities ... 162
Libraries as Collectors ... 163
Collection Policies ... 163
Collecting as a “Neutral” Practice ... 165
Collecting Verbliebene Materials ... 166
The Limits of Collecting ... 169
Descriptive Practice and Newspapers ... 169
Digitization and Newspapers ... 173
Newspaper Digitization ... 173
Digitization and Retrospective Cataloging ... 174
Access to Esoteric Materials ... 175
Preserve or Provide? Access and Use Policies ... 177
Using Newspapers in Libraries ... 178
Libraries’ Impact on Scholarly Possibility ... 181
Facilitating New Modes of Inquiry ... 184
Conclusion and possible solutions ... 185
Conclusion ... 189
The Legacy of the Expulsion ... 189
Future Research Directions ... 191
Digitization and Digital Humanities ... 192
Implications for Library Practice ... 194
Works Cited and Consulted ... 196
Note
The dataset containing the bibliography of literary contributions is available via Scholars Portal Dataverse at https://dx.doi.org/10.14289/1.0000016.
Abbreviations
AuF Aufbau und Frieden
CRL Center for Research Libraries CSSR Czechoslovak Socialist Republic FRG Federal Republic of Germany GDR German Democratic Republic
ICON International Coalition on Newspapers
KSČ Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Komunistická strana Československa)
KV Kulturverband der Deutschen in der ČSSR, later Kulturverband der Bürger der ČSSR deutscher Nationalität, now Kulturverband der Bürger deutscher
Nationalität in der Tschechischen Republik
LV Landesversammlung der Deutschen in Böhmen, Mähren und Schlesien, now Landesversammlung der deutschen Vereine in der Tschechischen Republik NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
OCR Optical character recognition PVz (Die) Prager Volkszeitung SdP Sudetendeutsche Partei
SL Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft
To Jennifer, for your steadfast love, infinite patience, and expert guidance.
To my daughters Greta and Ingrid, for being a source of great joy and inspiration.
May this accomplishment in turn inspire you to set your own high goals, even if they take twenty years to realize. I love you both and cannot wait to see where your lives take you.
Introduction
Finding My Topic
In 1995, after a summer stint teaching English in Slovakia, my future wife and I decided to visit a friend of hers serving in the United States Peace Corps in Bucharest, Romania.
While there, we took a side trip to Transylvania, during which we visited Biertan / Birthälm, a small agricultural village near Sighişoara / Schäßburg. As with most of the previously German-majority municipalities in Transylvania, Biertan was already largely empty after the massive wave of German emigration triggered by the fall of Communism and the Ceaușescu regime. It was already clear, within half a decade, that the German exodus had deprived small communities such as Biertan of a sustaining cultural and social component.
This phenomenon of mass German exodus was not new to me, but I had rarely seen its effects firsthand at the source. Living in Germany in the wake of reunification in 1990, I experienced the influx of ethnic Germans from many nations of Central and Eastern Europe.
While Germans flowed from those countries into the Federal Republic in a steady but modest stream during the decades of the Cold War, the numbers seen in the early 1990s brought to mind the staggering numbers that arrived in the wake of the Second World War, when various nations expelled large portions of their German populations. Due to the increasingly stable economic and political conditions that developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the Federal Republic, the experiences of the expellees both during and after their expulsion are comparatively well documented, not least given the existence of myriad expellee associations with considerable political and economic clout. Similarly, the fate of those who left the east under far less dangerous and traumatic circumstances in the late 1980s and 1990s is also relatively well documented given the orderly response to their arrival and their relatively rapid assimilation into the culture and economy of the Federal Republic.
What tends to get lost in these waves of emigration is the fate of those who were not expelled in the 1940s or could not or chose not to emigrate in the 1990s. While in Biertan, we met Germans who remained. They seemed isolated and somewhat disoriented by the world in which they now found themselves. They continued to maintain and express their German identity, but in a situation where it must have been evident to them that the German community had no viable future. As humans, we understand intuitively that no
expulsion, even the most horrific acts of genocide or ethnic cleansing, is ever complete.
Given the fluidity of ethnic identity, multilingualism, and the complex webs of human relationships, a small community remains behind, struggling to survive in what is often a hostile environment.
It seems unnecessary to assert that expulsions by any name or method are traumatic for the individuals who experience them. During such moments, documenting one’s community and history takes a much lower priority than daily survival and adaptation. This is true both for those expelled as well as for those who remain behind. In particular, those that remain behind must find a way to make a living in an environment where their former titles and status likely no longer hold sway. They will also typically face enormous pressure from the groups who carried out the expulsion to assimilate into the dominant culture. In such scenarios, one cannot expect to find curated archives of documents within the
community. Generally speaking, our attention—as nations, as scholars, as humans—follows those who have been expelled, while the rump communities that remain behind slowly drift out of view. The case of the community I study and present here exemplifies this
phenomenon.
My interest originated in wanting to understand better the situation for the Germans living outside Germany’s post-war borders who escaped the fate of most of their ethnic kin in 1945 and remained in other Central and Eastern European nations. In 1998-99, a research grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) enabled me to explore methods of documenting the existence of these German minority populations. The specific facet I chose to emphasize given my educational background was the general question of whether these post-expulsion communities had attempted to reassert their cultural identity in ways that can be identified and documented. Specifically, I sought to locate and catalogue their published literary expressions: poems, stories, essays, novels, or any other literary genre.
Not only would the mere existence of such texts demonstrate cultural ambitions, the texts themselves would present various analytical possibilities.
These regions were not terra nova for me. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I spent a considerable amount of time in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania. As a
German speaker, I was struck both by the number of older individuals who spoke German as well as by the obvious presence of traces of the German past, particularly in cities such as Wrocław / Breslau or Liberec / Reichenberg. The dramatic redrawing of Poland’s borders
after 1945 and the concomitant westward shift of Germans and Poles explained why Silesia and Pomerania had been German territories but were now considered Polish. One could see this change plainly on a simple map. Yet in other locations outside the former German Reich borders, the German legacy was often just as significant but, at least for a North American,
after 1945 and the concomitant westward shift of Germans and Poles explained why Silesia and Pomerania had been German territories but were now considered Polish. One could see this change plainly on a simple map. Yet in other locations outside the former German Reich borders, the German legacy was often just as significant but, at least for a North American,