Nazi Ideology in the Archeology of East Prussia

Mirosław Janusz Hoffmann

Nazi Ideology in the Archeology of

East Prussia

Echa Przeszłości 12, 165-172

M irosław Janusz Hoffmann

NAZI IDEOLOGY IN THE ARCHEOLOGY

OF EAST PRUSSIA

T he 1 9 2 0 s and th e ea rly 1 9 3 0 s, th e y e a r s th a t d irectly p reced ed th e m o st tra g ic and sh a m e fu l period in G erm an y’s h isto r y b e tw e e n 1933 an d 1945, w ere a v ery d ifficu lt tim e for th e W eim ar R epublic. A lo st w a r and the e n su in g econ om ic crisis p lu n g ed ord in ary G erm an s d eep er in to d esp a ir and fru stra tio n , k in d lin g a com m on se n se o f in ju stice. M ost o f th e m s till had v iv id m em o ries o f th e r e c e n t prosperity, fo r g e ttin g t h a t th is tim e o f p len ty had b e e n la rg ely fin a n ced from th e F ren ch rep a ra tio n s after th e Franco- P r u ssia n war.

E conom ic d eclin e an d th e d isillu sio n m e n t a m o n g th e m em b ers o f th e w o rk in g c la ss con trib u ted to th e p op u la rity o f th e rad ical N a tio n a l S o cia list G erm an W orkers’ P a rty (N S D A P ) h e a d ed by A d o lf H itler. T he F ü h re r prom ­ ise d quick ch a n g e, a p ow erfu l G erm any, w ork, p rosp erity an d n e w territories a w a itin g colon ization . B u t th o se p o stu la te s req u ired a n u m b er o f radical m e a su r es, above all, th e e lim in a tio n of racial e n e m ie s, in p a rticu la r th e J e w s, from th e fabric o f th e G erm an society. T h e fu tu re o f th e S la v s w a s not clea rly la id o u t in H itle r ’s program . In th e T hird R eich, th e S la v s w ou ld be red u ced to th e role o f in ferior peop le, p rim arily su ite d for sla v e labor. In oth er territo rie s, th e y w ou ld b e a llow ed a certa in d egree o f freedom , p rovi­ ded, o f course, th a t th e y y ield e d to G erm an control.

T he N a z is’ v ie w s o f G erm any’s global su p rem acy did n ot com e as a su r­ p rise, and th ey w ere a n a tu r a l con seq u en ce of th e th eory p o stu la tin g th e su p erio rity of th e G erm an ic p eo p les in E urope, w h ich had b e e n in s tille d in th e G erm an s from th e e a rly 19th century. T he N a z i ideology, w hich relied on th e philosophy o f Friedrich N ietsch e (1 8 4 4 -1 9 0 0 ) and th e v iew s o f certain Ger­ m an h istorians, in clu d in g Karl Otfried M üller (1 7 9 7 -1 8 4 0 ), w a s further exp an d ­ ed by one o f th e Third R eich’s propagandists, Alfred R osen b erg (1 8 9 3 -1 9 4 6 ), a rg u in g th a t th e h u m a n ra ces w ere n o t eq u a l an d p la cin g th e “A ryan ” race

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a t th e top o f th e r a c ia l lad d er. In h is book e n t it le d D e r M y th u s d es

20. J a h r h u n d e r ts , p u b lish ed in 1930, R osen b erg ju stifie d ra cism and G erm a­

n y ’s p olicy o f p er se cu tio n a g a in s t th e S la v ic n a tio n s. A lth o u g h R osenberg h a d a d ecisiv e role in s h a p in g N S D A P ’s ideology, h e w a s m erely a p arty official w ith no p rev io u s record o f a cad em ic a ch ie v em en t. H is v ie w s and th e o r ie s lack ed s u b sta n tia l w e ig h t, th erefore, th e y req u ired a d d itio n a l su b ­ s ta n tia tio n from sc ie n tific k n o w led g e and fin d in g s, m a in ly in th e area o f archeology, lin g u istic s an d history. A sid e from oth er a re a s o f life an d th e econom y, H itle r ’s rise to pow er in 1933 h ad a n im m e n se im p a ct on th e p reh isto ry o f G erm an y and E a s t P ru ssia .

T he tw elv e y e a r s th a t follow ed w ere g iv e n d ifferen t n a m e s in G erm an historiography. In th e in tro d u ctio n to h is d isse r ta tio n on P r u ssia n history, C arl E n g e l (1 8 9 6 -1 9 4 7 ), one o f th e m o st accom p lish ed an d r e la tiv e ly p o liti­ ca lly n e u tr a l a rch eo lo g ists from E a s t P r u ssia , referred to it a s th e p e r io d o f

a n a tio n a l r e v o lu tio n 1. A ccording to E n g e l, th e d em an d for sc ien tific evid en ce

p o stu la te d by th e N a z i a u th o r itie s crea ted a w e a lth o f o p p o rtu n ities for archeology. A rcheology p layed a v ita l role in th e e a ste r n p rovin ces o f th e T hird R eich, in p a rticu la r E a s t P r u ssia , G erm an y’s m o st east-b o u n d stro n g ­ hold before its territo ria l ex p a n sio n o f th e la te 1 9 30s. T he on ly problem w a s th a t K önigsberg, E a s t P r u s s ia ’s a cad em ic hub, h a d n e v er a ch iev ed ex cellen ce e v e n by e a ste r n p rovin ce’s sta n d a rd s. T he A lb ertu s U n iv e r sity o f K önigsberg, fou n d ed in 1544, ra n k ed low in th e h iera rch y o f G erm an sch ools o f h igh er ed u cation . It w a s a p rovin cial u n iv e r sity th a t had produced only on e world- fa m o u s a lu m n u s, Im m a n u el K an t, in th e cou rse o f its 4 0 0 -y ea r history. The s ta tu s o f it s a cad em ic s ta f f w a s n e v er im p r e ssiv e , and th e u n iv e r sity e m ­ p loyed a m ere 171 le ctu rer s u p on th e o u tb reak o f W orld W ar I2.

D e sp ite th e above, K ö n igsb erg and, in broader term s, E a s t P r u ssia w ere o f v ita l sig n ifica n c e for th e N a z is for g eo p o litica l re a so n s. A fter its d efea t in th e w a r an d in co n seq u en ce o f th e T reaty o f V ersa illes, E a s t P r u ssia w a s cut o ff from G erm any, b eco m in g a n en cla v e b e tw e e n P o la n d an d L ith u a n ia , tw o co u n tries th a t h ad only ju s t reg a in ed th eir autonom y. T he p o litica l situ a tio n con trib u ted to a n a tm o sp h ere o f a “fo rtress u n d er sie g e ” in G erm any, in p a rticu la r in E a s t P r u ssia . R eg a r d less o f th e p o litica l u n d erto n es, th e W ei­ m ar g o v ern m en t n o t only did n o th in g to a p p ea se th o se fe e lin g s, b u t it a c tu a l­ ly fu elled th em . A n u m b er o f m e a su r e s w ere in itia te d to reinforce th e Ger­ m a n id e n tity in th is region . T h ose efforts ra ised fea rs and ju stifie d th e c la im s m a d e by m e m b e r s o f th e P o lis h p o litic a l e lite , m a in ly R o m a n D m o w sk i and th e N a tio n a l D em ocracy, w ho d em an d ed E a s t P r u ssia ’s p o liti­ cal se p a ra tio n from G erm any and th e a n n e x a tio n o f th e territo ries b e tw e e n th e low er V istu la and th e N e m e n to P o la n d 3.

1 C. E n g el, Vorgeschichte d e r a ltp re u ß isc h e n S ta m m e , Bd. I, K ö n ig sb erg 1935, p. 12. 2 J . S erczyk, A lb e rty n a . U n iw ersy tet w K ró lew cu (1 5 44-1945 ), O lsz ty n 1994, p. 146. 3 Ib id em , p. 1 4 6 -1 4 7 .

T he A lb ertu s U n iv e r sity o f K ö n igsb erg w a s th e id e a l acad em ic h u b for in cu b a tin g th e N a z i id eology also for oth er rea so n s. T he P a n -G erm an ic doc­ trin e h a d b e e n prom oted by som e o f th e u n iv e r sity ’s a ca d em ics sin ce th e la te 19t h century, and th e ir v ie w s w ere a rticu la ted in a m ore or le s s ex p licit m anner. T he m a in ad vocate o f th e P a n -G erm a n ic id eology w a s A d alb ert B ezz en b erg er (1 8 5 1 -1 9 2 2 ), a n o u tsta n d in g lin g u ist, h isto r ia n and eth n o g r a ­ p h er4. B ez zen b erg e r r e p r esen ted th e la s t g en e ra tio n o f s c ie n tis ts w ho com ­ b in ed arch eological an d eth n o g ra p h ic re sea rch and v a lid a te d th e ir fin d in g s by a n a ly z in g arch eological so u rces in folk tr a d itio n s th a t w ere p reserv ed by th e reg io n ’s a u to c h th o n o u s p op u la tio n for g e n e r a tio n s5. In th e 19t h century, th is resea rch m eth o d w a s a g e n e r a lly ob served rule. B ezzen b erg er served th ree te r m s in office a s th e u n iv e r sity ’s rector, an d h e w a s one o f th e few s c ie n tis ts w ho co n trib u ted to th e u n iv e r sity ’s ran k o f a m od ern acad em ic in s titu tio n6. A n a tiv e o f H e sse n , h e b eca m e a w e ll-e sta b lish e d n a m e in K ön igsb erg’s a cad em ic co m m u n ity also, and p erh a p s above a ll, by p o p u la riz­ in g arch eological fin d in g s in th e sp ir it o f n a tio n a lism , u s in g p reh isto ric a rg u ­ m e n ts to ju stify G erm an ex p a n sio n to E a ste r n E urope. A ccording to B ezzen - berger, G erm an y w a s fu lly ju stifie d in its a tte m p ts to recla im G erm anic territo ries th a t h ad b e e n colon ized by th e B a ltic people in th e e a r ly M iddle A ges. B ezzen b erg er g ave a fu ller accou n t o f h is v ie w s in th e in tro d u ctio n to

Analysen vorgeschichtlicher Bronzen Ostpreussens,

Germany academic lecturer is, more than anyone else, bound

by the obligation to cultivate the purity o f German thought. For his attempts

to be successful, we have to address not only the intellect, but also the hearts o f

our listeners. We m ustn’t simply train theologians or lawyers, we have to

educate scientists with a strong German backbone, people who will take every

opportunity to invoke and strengthen the German spirit

4 M. J . H o ffm an n , A d a lb e r t B ezzen b erg er - archeolog, ję z yk o zn a w c a , h isto ry k i etnograf, „ B o ru ssia”, vol. 1 (1992), pp. 97-101.

5 M. J . H o ffm a n n , K u ltu r a i o s a d n ic tw o p o łu d n io w o -w s c h o d n ie j str e fy n a d b a łty c k ie j

w I tysią cleciu p .n .e ., O lsz ty n 2000, p. 9.

6 J . Serczyk, U n iw e rsytet w K rólew cu w X I X i X X w ie k u ja k o ośrodek b a d a ń h isto ryczn ych , in: D zieje h is to r io g r a fii P r u s W s c h o d n ic h i Z a c h o d n ic h do 1 9 2 0 ro k u . K ie r u n k i, o śro d ki,

n a jw y b itn ie jsi p rzed sta w ic ie le, T o ru ń 1989, pp. 2 5 -2 7 .

7 G. von Selle, G eschichte d e r A lb e r tu s -U n iv e r s itä t z u K ö n ig sb erg in P re u ssen , 2 n d ed., W ü rz b u rg 1956, p. 327.

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se n a te o f th e K ö n igsb erg u n iv ersity , h a d a profound im p a ct on resea rch into E a s t P r u ssia ’s prehistory.

S in ce K ö n igsb erg an d E a s t P r u ssia w ere e x c la v e s o f th e W eim ar R ep u b ­ lic, A lb ertu s cam e to be regard ed a s a u n iv e r sity o f th e R eich (

Reichsuniver­

sität

Reichsuniversität

1970), H a n s R othfels (1 8 9 1 -1 9 7 6 ) and Theodor Schieder (1 9 0 8 -1 9 8 4 ). G erm a­ n y ’s n a tio n a l so c ia list g o v er n m e n t w e n t to g r e a t le n g th s to e le v a te th e u n i­ v e r s ity ’s ran k , and its acad em ic s ta ff sp ared no effort in m e e tin g th e ir p a ­ tron ’s d em an d s. A n ex a m p le o f th e above is a book p u b lish ed in 1934 by H a n s R oth fels, a h isto r ia n w ith J e w is h roots, e n title d

Ostraum - Preussen-

tum und Reichsgedanke

In th e ea rly 1 9 3 0 s, th e u n iv e r sity in K ö n igsb erg op en ed a n u m b er o f n ew d ep a rtm en ts, in c lu d in g th e In stitu te for E a s t E u ro p ea n S tu d ie s (I n s titu t für d as S tu d iu m O steu rop as), th e E a s t P r u ssia n I n stitu te (O stp r e u sse n -In stitu t) an d th e I n stitu te o f P r e h isto ry an d E a rly H isto ry (I n stitu t für Vor- und F rü h g esch ich te). T he follow in g la n g u a g e co u rses w ere p laced in th e u n iv e r si­ ty ’s curriculum : E sto n ia n , F in n ish , L ith u a n ia n , P o lish , R u ssia n an d R o m a n i­ an. T he I n stitu te o f P reh isto ry an d E a rly H isto ry b ecam e one o f th e u n iv e r si­ ty ’s m o st p ro m in en t u n its for its d ev o u t efforts p rom otin g th e N a z i ideology. W olfgang L a B a u m e (1 8 8 5 -1 9 7 1 ) o f G d ań sk , th e in s tit u te ’s fir st director and lecturer, w a s rep laced by P rofessor B olko v on R ich th ofen (1 8 9 9 -1 9 8 3 ) alread y in 1934. T h a n k s to v on R ich th ofen , w ho, b e g in n in g from 1935, w a s back ed by H a n s-L ü tjen J a n s s e n , y e t a n o th er avid su p p orter o f th e N a z i d octrine, th e role o f th e I n stitu te o f P reh isto ry an d E a rly H isto ry co n tin u ed to grow rap id ly in th e stru ctu re of th e

Reichsuniversität

Alt-

preussen. Vierteljahresschrift fü r Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde

8 J . S erczyk, A lb e rty n a ...., p. 148. 9 Ib id em , p. 149.

10 e.g. v o n R ich th o fen , R a sse u n d V o lk stu m in d e r bolsch ew istisch en W issen sch a ft (m it

besonderer B erü ck sich tig u n g d er Vor- u n d F rühgeschichte), A ltp re u s se n , vol. 1, 1935, pp. 1 2 9-144; D er U rsp ru n g d e r O s tju d e n u n d d ie C h a za ren , A ltp re u s s e n , vol. 3, 1938, pp. 3 3 -3 8 o r J a n s s e n , Vom W esen n a tio n a lso z ia listisc h e r S in n b ild e r , A ltp re u s s e n , vol. 1. 1935, pp. 3 6 -3 8 .

siasm of the university’s pro-Nazi staff members continued to grow each year

with increasingly grotesque m anifestations of their support th a t included

lecture titles, such as Hans-Lütjen Janssen ’s speech of 1938 entitled Die

Zusammenarbeit zwischen Vorgeschichte, Rassenkunde und Volkskunde

and

Bolko von Richthofen’s lecture Judengegnerische Bewegungen ausserhalb

Deutschlands

.

A series of carefully-planned lectures and study tours was engineered to

prepare the students of In stitu t für Vor- und Frühgeschichte for the promi­

nent role they would play in the future. In 1937-1938, Professor Jan ssen ’s

students participated in a series of foreign study tours - in Lithuania in the

summer of 1937, in Poland in the spring of 1938, in Lithuania, Latvia,

Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark in July and August 1938.

The Polish study tour included a visit to Toruń (a presentation of Toruń

Municipal M useum’s collection was delivered by Lebiński, MA), Bydgoszcz

and Poznań where museum collections were presented by Dr. K arpińska and

the university’s collection - by Dr. Rajewski (1907-1974). In Cracow, the

students were given a tour of the Archeological Museum by Professor Suli-

mirski (1898-1983). According to Jan ssen ’s account, the group proceeded to

Lwów/Lemberg (Lviv) where the university’s collection was presented by Dr.

Smieszko, and Dr. P astern ak guided the students through the archeological

treasures of the U krainian Taras Shevchenko Museum. The next stop on

the route was Warsaw where the visitors toured the Majewski Museum and

the N ational Archeological M useum w ith the assistance of Dr. Jażdżewski

(1908-1985). The last two destinations were Grodno and Vilnius where Dr.

Hołubiczowa assisted the students in exploring the collection of the Archeologi­

cal Museum13. Study tours were undoubtedly a great attraction for the stu­

dents, especially as all travel expenses were covered by the Reichsuniversität.

Archeology was also included in the curriculum of the SS-Hochschule für

Lehrerbildung, founded in Elbląg in 1934. The program comprised lectures

in German prehistory, with a strong emphasis on the Germanic roots of

eastern provinces. Universities of the type opened in many cities of the

Reich, including the SS-Hochschule fü r Lehrerbildung in Lębork where in

1937, H ellm ut Agde (1909-1940) became a docent of prehistory and history

teaching methods at the age of 28. Agde, former assistant at the Königsberg

monument conservation office, was a model example of career opportunism

11 M. J a h n , V orgeschichte a n d e n d e u ts ch e n U n iv ersitä te n u n d T ech n isch en H ochschulen.

V orlesungverzeichnis des S o m m e r se m e s ters 1938, N a c h ric h te n b la tt fü r d e u ts c h e V orzeit, vol. 14,

1938, p. 52

12 S. G ollub, Vorgeschichte a n d e n d e u tsch e n U n iv ersitä te n u n d T ech n isch en H ochschulen.

V o rlesu n g -verzeich n is d e s W in terrsem esters 1 9 3 9 /4 0 , N a c h r ic h te n b la tt fü r d e u ts c h e V orzeit,

vol. 15, 1939, p. 104.

13 H .-L. J a n s s e n , A u s la n d s s tu d ie n fa h r te n des S e m in a r s f ü r Vor- u n d F rü h g e sc h ic h te d er

A lb e r tu s u n iw e r s itä t K ö n ig sb e rg in Pr. 1 9 3 7 /1 9 3 8 , N a c h r ic h te n b la tt fü r d e u ts c h e V orzeit,

170

th a t affected many young supporters of the Nazi ideology. In 1930, Agde

joined the NSDAP a t the age of 21. He became a member of the SA in 1933

and joined the ranks of the SS in 1937. Having fulfilled his mission in

Lębork, he transferred to the university in Frieburg holding the title of

docent habilitated. Several months later, he joined German troops on the

frontline where he was killed on 12 May 1940.

The impact of Nazi ideology on archeology is most profoundly demon­

strated by the publications of the time, in particular the periodicals founded

after 1933. In addition to the cited Altpreussen..., other prom inent examples

included Germanen-Erbe. Monatsschrift fü r Deutsche Vorgeschichte, a flag­

ship publication of Reichsbund für Deutsche Vorgeschichte. Published in

Leipzig, this monthly magazine reached every corner of the Third Reich. The

covered issues, the underlying propaganda and graphic design make it by far

the most prominent example of nationalistic publications in history.

The extent to which the Nazi ideology affected the lowest stra ta of

archeological and conservation employees in E ast Prussia, namely social

custodians of architectural monuments, is a fascinating issue th a t has not

been researched to date. The social custodian initiative, implemented in E ast

Prussia by Wilhelm Gaerte (1890-1958) in the mid 1920, was far from being

a success a t the beginning. Yet thanks to a training scheme, several years

later, some social custodians had scored many achievements in the area of

archeological restoration, contributing to the salvation of many valuable

sites. U ntil 1931, only selected districts had social custodians. This was to

change in 1934 when social custodians were appointed in nearly all (except

two) of E ast Prussia’s 32 districts. It is reasonable to assume th a t the majori­

ty of the new social custodians believed in, or a t least manifested their

support for the Nazi doctrine. Social custodians did not leave a visible im­

print on the archeological science in E ast Prussia. Most of them did not

conduct field research, they were not published authors, nonetheless, some

took their “service for the eastern provinces” very seriously. One of them was

Paul Lemke, a teacher and a custodian of Kreis Preussisch Eylau, who au­

thored an article in a high-circulation regional calendar for the two mentioned

E ast Prussian districts14. The article is an account of Paul Lemke’s cycling

trip to an early iron age kurgan necropolis in Glamslawki when the site was

investigated by Dr. Otto Kleemann in the summer of 1935 (1911-2003).

Having arrived a t the site and browsed through the results of archeolog­

ical explorations, Lemke asked Kleeman: “Why do you study these graves,

anyway?”. Kleeman replied: “Many people still fail to understand it. B ut in

these trenches, shovel in hand, we fight for our fatherland, ju s t the way sol­

diers do with their guns. You can still read in the papers that according to

14 S. S zczep ań sk i, A rch a eo lo g y in the service o f the N a z is : H im m le r ’s p ro p a g a n d a a n d the

e xc a va tio n s a t the h illfo r t site in S ta r y D z ie rz g o ń (A lt C h ristb u r g ), L ie tu v o s A rch eo lo g iia.

some Lithuanians and Poles, our Ostpreussen had belonged to them in an­

cient times. Our mission is to prove that the Lithuanians and the Poles had

never settled in this land. No historical records have survived from those

times, and our only evidence are archeological treasures which, although

mute, provide us with the clearest proof. That’s why we cherish every broken

clay vessel, every rust-stained javelin tip. They tell us that this country had

never been colonized by the Lithuanians or the Poles, and that their claims

are completely unfounded. We tell every farmer and every field worker to

report any findings directly to a school teacher or a social custodian o f archeo­

logical monuments. This evidence will enable us to shout to the world that

this land will always be German land because it had never been colonized by

any o f those nations, and it was the hard work o f our ancestors that turned

this country into the land o f the German people”15.

By virtue of their function, social custodians m aintained direct contacts

with members of the ru ral community. The effectiveness and the mecha­

nisms underlying the custodians’ attem pts to instill Nazi ideals in the locals

is an interesting, yet unresearched issue. The above example suggests th a t

such measures could have been effective, and th a t the argum ents justifying

“Germany’s eternal right” to the territory between the lower Vistula and the

Nemen were probably more th a n obvious for the average reader of Natanger

Heimatkalender fü r die Kreise Heiligenbeil und Pr. Eylau. The situation pro­

bably differed across districts. Social custodians from the districts of

Kwidzyn, Susz, Sztum (Waldemar Heym [1883-1967])16 and, in particular,

Olsztyn, which was p art of the Catholic region of Warmia (Leonhard Fromm

[1887-1975]), had been active field archeologists since the early 1920s, and

they probably had little interest in the national socialist doctrine. A higher

level of support for the Nazi ideology was reported in the traditionally

“Polish” region of Mazury. Adolf Pogoda, a teacher and social custodian in

Elk, was renowned for his nationalist ideas which he disseminated in Unsere

Masurenland, a local newspaper. The social custodian in Szczytno, Hans

Tiska (1892-1969), a teacher and a native of Mazury, like Pogoda17, was an

active field researcher at the tu rn of the 1920s and the 1930s who had scored

numerous achievements in archeology and started a museum in Szczytno.

Tiska was also one of the region’s most active employees of Bund Deutscher

Osten which was founded by Alfred Rosenberg in 1933. The union brought

together the leading German organizations conducting anti-Polish activities

15 P. L em ke, D a s H ü g e lg ra b im G la m s la c k er W alde, N a ta n g e r H e im a tk a le n d e r fü r die K re ise H eilig e n b eil u n d P r. E y la u , Pr. E y la u , vol. 9, 1936, p. 56.

16 S. T a ta ra , M. J . H o ffm an n , W a ld em a r H e y m — k w id z y ń s k i m u z e a ln ik , e tn o g r a f i a rch e­

olog. W czterdziestolecie śm ierci, in: „A cta A rch aeo lo g ica P o m o ra n ic a III. XVI S e sja Pom orzo-

zn aw cza, Szczecin 2 2 -2 4 . lis to p a d a 2007 r.”, p a r t 2, (ed. A n d rzej J a n o w s k i, K rz y sz to f K ow alski, S ław o m ir S łow iński), S zczecin 2009, pp. 3 9 9 -4 1 4 .

17 J . Sobieraj, H a n s T isk a — szczycieński nauczyciel, o p ieku n za b y tkó w i m u z e a ln ik , Rocznik M a z u rs k i, vol. IV, 1999, pp. 5 3 -6 0 .

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“that neither the party nor the government should attem pt to perform”. The

union grouped the most devoted fighters for “the German eastern provinces”

in the Nazi movement, and it worked closely with the NSDAP, m ilitary

organizations and the German secret police. In recognition of his services for

Bund Deutscher Osten, Tiska became the head of the Untergruppe Ostpreus-

sen Süd, which covered the southern p art of E ast Prussia, before the out­

break of the war.

Social custodians of architectural monuments manifested various de­

grees of support for the Nazi propaganda in the “eastern provinces”. The

most politically involved activists were the custodians in the traditionally

“Polish” region of Mazury, a fact th a t cannot be attributed to coincidence.