World War II
As World War II began in 1941, the Soviet government intended to deport all the residents of Chortitza to Siberia, but the German Wehrmacht advanced so quickly, the plan could not be executed. Under German occupation, the population made a degree of recovery. But by 1943 German people were evacuated to Reichsgau Wartheland, and the Wehrmacht retreated from the Soviet Union. As the Red Army entered German territory they seized refugees attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Some escaped by going deeper into Germany, but as Soviet citizens, the Allies delivered them back to the Soviets. With a few exceptions, the former residents of Chortitza were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. There they were simply released on the bare steppe. Many did not survive. They shared the fate of other Germans from Russia.
Read more about this topic: Chortitza Colony
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“Today we know that World War II began not in 1939 or 1941 but in the 1920’s and 1930’s when those who should have known better persuaded themselves that they were not their brother’s keeper.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap, than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—John Milton (1608–1674)