On this date in 1941, the Soviet government announced the total banishment of Germans from Russia. The decree led to the deportation, imprisonment, and death for hundreds of thousands of German-Russians.

The campaign of annihilation had quietly begun long before, but on August 28th, the Soviets dropped all pretenses by accusing Germans in the Volga region of “concealing the existence of thousands upon thousands of subversives and spies.” German families who were unable to escape were imprisoned in forced-labor camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan, and as a result, August 28th has become the International German-Russian Day of Remembrance.

Source: Media Release: “August 28, 1941: Important Date in Germans in Russia History.” Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland, Stuttgart, Germany. Translation from German to English by Alex Herzog, Boulder, Colorado. 28 Aug 2002. <http://www.volgagermans.net/volgagermans/Volga%20German%20News.htm>

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