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My grandfather, Simeon M, was a Russian national living in Germany during WW-1. His wife Rochel M with their one-year-old son immigrated to the United States in 1915. Simeon stayed in Germany and died during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1917-18.
I am not seeking details regarding these individuals. My only question deals with Simeon remaining in Germany. Oral history (not always reliable) told that male foreign nationals of military age were forbidden to leave, lest they join an allied army.
Simeon earned a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Jena in 1913. He was working in or near Berlin, in civilian industry, at the outbreak of the war. The story as passed down from Rochel was that Simeon was needed for the war effort. Consequently he was prohibited from leaving Germany.
I hope to learn about the treatment of Russian nationals during the war years, and confirm or refute this family story.
you first have to understand the situation of those years. at the moment I am talking about Russian and Germans. in Germany there was a patriotic wake up during this period. even before the beginning of the war, Germany had outlined in the press that Russia announced a war. Russians.and of course that in Germany looking in Russians and foreigners in General, everywhere have seen them spies. in the first months of the war were unpleasant incidents, but they were not GENERAL. but it was a lot. people can return to their homeland, although it did make a bit more difficult and more dangerous. This attitude was on both sides and it was naturally.the only difference is that in Germany, people became more aggressive.real documents of those times, there is practically no available. Therefore, it is more exaggerated than reality though is not without basis. later, already in the 15-16 years yes. especially when the Austro-Hungarians conquered Galicia. in this period was the mass genocide of the Russian people. who agreed that he was a Ukrainian as required, those sparedwho disagreed with this, those planted in prison camps, tortured and executed. Thus the Austro Hungarians created a new nation and a buffer zone between Russia and Europe.but that is another topic
Last edited by GreyKarast; 01-16-2016 at 07:24 PM..
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