Germans at the Volga

As many are aware, there was a very large German population on the Volga river, which had its origins under Catharine the Great. Those initial settler colonies continued to prosper and grow, and under the Soviet Union were organized into their own SSR. With the German declaration of war, however, Stalin deported many of them to central Asia; supposing the intervention of alien space bats so that the Germans reach the Volga Germans and are able to actually somehow hold it militarily, how would they be treated by the Fatherland? After all, they are ethnic Germans, but they had lived peaceably under the Soviets for years. For me, it's hard to see what Hitler's response to them might be.

I'm not suggesting that this would actually be militarily feasible for Germany, just interested in what people think the outcome would be.
 
Well under Nazi ideology, I would presume they would probably be intergraded and, if not shipped off to the new colonies, remain where they are as a good foundation for a future German colony.

After all, they took 'Aryan-looking' Polish children and raised them as Germans.

In the minds of the Nazis, these Germans have been living under the yoke of Judeo-Bolshevism, so they're 'liberating' them from their Soviet oppressors.

Those capable of military service would probably be conscripted into the Wehrmacht.
 
The Nazis were obsessed with figuring out who the Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) in Slavic countries were and helping them "find their roots." As the war dragged on, they started finding "Germanic-looking" children and turning them into Germans. If the Wehrmacht actually conquered the Volga Germans, Himmler would have a field day with racial policy.
 
The Nazis would send in their racial specialists to confirm that the Volga Germans have remained ethnically German and not had their blood "polluted". They would be classified to their varying levels of racial purity which would determine what level they would need to be "Germanized." There would probably some level of universal indoctrination given their long stay in Russia and later the Soviet Union to install the proper National Socialist attitude in these Volksdeutsche. Any undesirable elements (Communist Party members, intermarriages with Jews, etc.) would be treated like they would in German - imprisonment or execution.

If the Germans don't stay at the Volga permanently because the Red Army is coming to push them out, likely they would all be evacuated back west for resettlement elsewhere. The NKVD isn't likely to let any of the "collaborators" live.
 
The Volga Germans are largely Anabaptists, with colonies and a policy of staying away from state affairs (i.e. refusal to conscription). Not sure how much that changed with Soviet policy trying to stamp out religion and kulaks, but I doubt they'll be that more cooperative to the Germans, though in all likelihood treated better than the Slavs since they're still considered 'Volksdeutsch'. Conscientious objectors, however, will still pose a problem. Those will be sent to the concentration camps.
 
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