Allenstein

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File:East Prussia Allenstein 1920s colour.png
Allenstein town centre 1920s.
File:East Prussia counties pre 1945.png
East Prussia until mid-1945 showing the counties.

Allenstein is an ancient German town in East Prussia situated in a county of that name. In 1935 its population numbered 38,105. It was notable for its breweries and sawmills[1] and was a major railway junction.[2] Before May 1945 it was the largest city in the county, the headquarters of the provincial administration, and the seat of a large garrison. The county itself had an area of 12,000 square kilometres and a population of 550,000 (in 1920). The Masurian lakes, ponds and marshes lay within the county.[3]

Since 1945 it has been occupied by Poland.

History

The Teutonic Knights had founded the town, and between 1350 and 1359 erected a castle here, with a large round tower.[4] The town gate of Allenstein, a typical example of the extension of the red-brick fortress architecture of the Teutonic Order to the defences of the town, still stands today in good condition.[5]

At the outbreak of war in 1914 two Russian armies invaded East Prussia and the advance of the Russians into Allenstein was accompanied by the ruthless destruction of houses and property, outrages and massacres. Bombs were placed in houses, sometimes before the inhabitants had time to escape.[6]

In 1945 East Prussia fell into the Allies Soviet Zone of Occupation. They, however, placed it under "Polish administration". It remains to this day under the occupation of Poland.

1920 plebiscite

File:East Prussia Allenstein 1920 Pelbiscite memorial.png
Memorial to the 1920 plebiscite victory (destroyed after May 1945 by the Poles).

Following the end of World War I the Polish delegation at the Paris Peace Conference demanded the county of Allenstein be given to the new Poland claiming there was a considerable ethnic Polish majority [due to migration over the centuries from Poland]. They opposed any "plebiscite comedies", but one was nevertheless taken by the Allied Commission on 11 July 1920 under British military supervision. Despite Poles crossing the border and terrorising the population (the British put a stop to this) the result was that of the 361,055 votes recorded, 353,655, or 98 per cent, were given for Germany, and only 7,400 for Poland.[7] "In other words, the alleged 'Polish majority' proved to be an insignificant minority of two in every hundred of the population."[8] Allenstein county remained in East Prussia. The more fanatical of the Polish minority continued to "carry on active propaganda in Allenstein and issue Polish newspapers". The Germans had nevertheless always permitted Polish to be taught in the schools in areas of Masuria where there was a demand for it.[9] This was contested by Poland who continued their agitations[10] citing the Versailles Minorities Treaty, notwithstanding their own rampant abuses of it in those parts of West Prussia and Upper Silesia now in their hands.

World War II

East Prussia was relatively quiet until the closing months of 1944 when the province began to be invaded and over-run by the Red Army. Of Allenstein's population some fled, others were expelled, and often murdered, by the Soviets and Polish Communists, their town then being resettled by Polish settlers.[11] Allenstein remains under occupation.

Pictures

  • East Prussia Allenstein Schloss.png

    Allenstein schloss in 19th century, built by the Teutonic Order.

  • East Prussia Allenstein Castle.png

    Allenstein schloss.

  • East Prussia Allenstein Schloss (2).png

    Allenstein schloss (part of) with restored tower.

  • East Prussia Allenstein 15 Jan 2021.png

    Allenstein, ancient Prussian building.

  • East Prussia Allenstein church during plebiscite.png

    Allenstein, St.Joseph's church postcard with Western Allied authority postage stamp issued during the 1920 Plebiscite.

  • East Prussia Allenstein (2).png

    Allenstein town centre.

  • East Prussia Allenstein street scene.png

    Allenstein street scene with Prussia flags, before WWI.

  • East Prussia Allenstein 1930s.png

    Allenstein, with Graf Zeppelin flying overhead.

  • East Prussia Allenstein (4).png

    Allenstein Zeppelinstrasse.

  • East Prussia Allenstein c1938.png

    Allenstein, Zeppelinstasse 1938.

  • East Prussia Allenstein Rathaus.png

    Allenstein Rathaus, 1930s.

  • East Prussia Allenstein Plebiscite memorial in colour.png

    Allenstein, memorial to the 1920 Plebiscite.

  • East Prussia Allenstein womans' sanitorium.png

    Sanitorium for females, outside Allenstein.

  • East Prussia Allenstein Feb 1945.png

    Allenstein, 1945.

  • East Prussia Allenstein today.png

    Allenstein scene today. The alien occupiers are evident.

Sources

  1. ↑ Odhams Press Ltd., The New Pictorial Atlas & Gazetteer of the World, London, 1935, p.232.
  2. ↑ Baedeker, Karl, Northern Germany, 14th revised edition, Leipzig & London, 1904, p.164.
  3. ↑ Donald, Sir Robert, G.B.E., LL.D., The Polish Corridor and its Consequences, London, 1929, pps:65-6, 79.
  4. ↑ Donald, 1929, p.66.
  5. ↑ Turnbull, Stephen,Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights (1), Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2003, pps: 15, 32.
  6. ↑ Donald, 1929, pps:66, 79.
  7. ↑ Donald, 1929, p.65, states the figures as 363,209 votes cast with only 7,980 for Poland.
  8. ↑ Dawson, William, Harbutt,Germany Under The Treaty, London & New York, 1933, p.53-6, 66, 78.
  9. ↑ Donald, 1929, p.67.
  10. ↑ Les Questions Minoritaires (Polish Review), Nov 1928.
  11. ↑ Schieder, Professor Theodore, editor-in-chief, The Expulsion of the German Population from the Territories East of the Oder-Neisse-Line, published by the Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims, Bonn, West Germany, 1954, contains harrowing accounts.
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