This is a well and densely written book about the intriguing topic of how a German city changed hands and turned into a Soviet one in the course of a few years. It combines the local level of Nazism and Stalinism, providing many instances of comparison of both regimes. Another topic is the end phase of World War II and the immediate postwar years. The author focusses mainly on 1944–48 but also offers insights into earlier and later periods. The meticulously researched narrative is grounded in a vast amount of literature in English, Russian, and German, as well as sources from German, Polish, and Russian archives. Especially interesting is the use of memoirs by former German and Soviet inhabitants of Königsberg/Kaliningrad. These memories are treated with the necessary amount of criticism. Contemporary guidebooks cited by the author offer the reader a view onto the city before destruction. Many larger towns changed hands after the redrawing of postwar borders but this was a special case. Nicole Eaton analyzes the finest details and presents highly differentiated arguments. The monograph consists of an introduction, seven mostly chronologically organized chapters, and a conclusion.
A minor critique concerns some inaccuracies in the text. According to Eaton, for example, Nidden was part of East Prussia in 1932 (31), however, it was then located in Lithuania. Market trading in the postwar Soviet Union was not illegal (189), there were officially approved markets and illegal ones. The Soviet famine of 1946/47 was not caused by an extremely cold winter (215), but by a poor harvest in 1946. However, those minor points do not minimize the value of this study.
In the introduction, Eaton sets out the scene, delivers the historical background on East Prussia and its capital, raises her research questions, and touches on the major issues. The introduction is short, but covers a variety of topics and prepares the reader for the entire text well. The first chapter deals with the function of Königsberg as a German bridge to the East and a bulwark covering cursorily regional history since the Middle Ages. Being a relatively backward and overwhelmingly Protestant province of the Reich isolated through the Polish corridor, East Prussia turned to the Nazis in elections. In 1932 and 1933, proportionally more people here voted for them than the German average. The chapter ends with Hitler's invasion of Poland.
Ch. 2 covers East Prussian gauleiter Erich Koch's rule over his province, deriving occasionally from the party line. For example, he could apply quite a pragmatic approach towards the local Lithuanian and Masurian minorities, which could become Germans, as opposed to Jews, who could not. Koch and his administration participated in the exploitation of the German occupied east, with Koch becoming head of the civilian administration of Białystok and Reichskommisar of Ukraine. The next chapter looks at the end of the war and the downfall of Königsberg. Since fall 1944, the fight for East Prussia killed massive amounts of soldiers and civilians, mass evacuations came too late. Already in rubble, Königsberg finally had to surrender.
The following part bears the title “liberation and revenge,” summing up perfectly the situation for the civilian population after the end of fighting. Being liberated from the Nazis, people now faced revenge from Soviet soldiers, who wondered why the “rich” Germans had attacked the USSR. The next chapter deals with the hopeless situation of the population after the war. Malnutrition had started during fighting, turning later into outright hunger. In addition, epidemic diseases took their toll and the remaining Germans were filtrated into special camps. Staggering death rates occurred.
Ch. 6 gives an overview of how the incoming Soviet settlers and the Germans, who were not entitled to leave, lived together. The German faced both inclusion and exclusion, but remained stateless. Due to the dismal living conditions, the Soviet population remained unstable. The final chapter analyzes the expulsion of the Germans 1947–48 and the way the new province was be seen as “Slavic soil”. The conclusion rounds off the text.
Altogether, this monograph is a fine read, rich in detail, new information, and interpretation. This reviewer can only recommend it for a broader readership. German and Soviet history are well interwoven in this excellent case study.
