"Un do heibt zikh on undzer mayse" And here, Our story begins...
The end of World War II was chaotic, especially on the eastern front, and really small decisions made either way could have lasting impacts; I have developed a series of plausible PoDs that could lead to the "big" PoD that will be the center of this work:
Long story made short, the former East Prussia is incorporated into the USSR after the second world war as the "Jewish Soviet Socialist Republic"
In the 1944-1945 period IOTL, Stalin was considering creating a Jewish homeland in the western part of the Soviet Union, partly due to the failure of the JAO on the Chinese border in the far east to attract significant population, partly to ease tensions between Jews and anti-semites who they may live near, and partly as a means of dealing with the lands of former eastern Poland that the Soviets would be acquiring. Crimea was considered ans discarded.
ITTL, I have imagined that in the chaotic end to WWII, things play out slightly differently in East Prussia. Of course, it needn't necessarily, as Stalin could just force the issue; I have attempted to create a scenario where he might find this to be the easiest way to deal with all the competing issues.
IOTL, the Stutthof Concentration Camp was the last to be liberated by the Allies; it was just to the east of Gdansk. It had been acquiring prisoners shipped from other camps as the Soviets made steady ground in the east; by January of 1945, when the evacuation of East Prussia began, there were around 50,000 Jews remaining in the camp; over 38,000 were women.
IOTL, the withdrawal from East Prussia in the face of the invading Red Army. Seemingly not considering the possibility of losing the war even into 1945, little preparations had been made. Of East Prussia' near 2.7 million people, nearly 2 million, around 75%, would evacuate over the following few months. Priority was, inexplicably, given to military personnel, who would often commandeer supplies and transport meant for civilians, leaving them destitute and stranded in the snow with an incoming Soviet Army. Stutthof Camp was surrounded by April 1945, and made several attempts to march or ship the prisoners to Germany; surrounded by the Soviets they failed to advance. For months, Stutthof sat in limbo, surrounded by a Soviet Army who probably didn't know what was going on in Stutthof and almost certainly didn't want to find out. When the camp was finally liberated on May 9th, 1945, there were almost no survivors.
Lots of things could have played out differently here. The Soviets might have made a push to take the camp; the East Prussian withdrawal could have been more orderly, leading to a quicker Soviet advance.
ITTL, a Soviet commander pushes to take the camp as early as is plausible, but certainly before April. They face little resistance as the guards mostly flee from combat. The Soviet commander is overcome by the reality of the situation; he is aware of the vast depopulation of East Prussia, and possibly of vague Soviet plans to take and repopulate the area. He is facing a humanitarian crisis in the camp, of mostly women. He makes the bold decision to transfer the camp population into abandoned homes in nearby Elbing, where attempts can be made to nurse them to health.
און דאָ הייבט זיך אָן אונדזער מעשׂה
Un do heibt zikh on undzer mayse
"And here, our story begins"
Long story made short, the former East Prussia is incorporated into the USSR after the second world war as the "Jewish Soviet Socialist Republic"
In the 1944-1945 period IOTL, Stalin was considering creating a Jewish homeland in the western part of the Soviet Union, partly due to the failure of the JAO on the Chinese border in the far east to attract significant population, partly to ease tensions between Jews and anti-semites who they may live near, and partly as a means of dealing with the lands of former eastern Poland that the Soviets would be acquiring. Crimea was considered ans discarded.
ITTL, I have imagined that in the chaotic end to WWII, things play out slightly differently in East Prussia. Of course, it needn't necessarily, as Stalin could just force the issue; I have attempted to create a scenario where he might find this to be the easiest way to deal with all the competing issues.
IOTL, the Stutthof Concentration Camp was the last to be liberated by the Allies; it was just to the east of Gdansk. It had been acquiring prisoners shipped from other camps as the Soviets made steady ground in the east; by January of 1945, when the evacuation of East Prussia began, there were around 50,000 Jews remaining in the camp; over 38,000 were women.
IOTL, the withdrawal from East Prussia in the face of the invading Red Army. Seemingly not considering the possibility of losing the war even into 1945, little preparations had been made. Of East Prussia' near 2.7 million people, nearly 2 million, around 75%, would evacuate over the following few months. Priority was, inexplicably, given to military personnel, who would often commandeer supplies and transport meant for civilians, leaving them destitute and stranded in the snow with an incoming Soviet Army. Stutthof Camp was surrounded by April 1945, and made several attempts to march or ship the prisoners to Germany; surrounded by the Soviets they failed to advance. For months, Stutthof sat in limbo, surrounded by a Soviet Army who probably didn't know what was going on in Stutthof and almost certainly didn't want to find out. When the camp was finally liberated on May 9th, 1945, there were almost no survivors.
Lots of things could have played out differently here. The Soviets might have made a push to take the camp; the East Prussian withdrawal could have been more orderly, leading to a quicker Soviet advance.
ITTL, a Soviet commander pushes to take the camp as early as is plausible, but certainly before April. They face little resistance as the guards mostly flee from combat. The Soviet commander is overcome by the reality of the situation; he is aware of the vast depopulation of East Prussia, and possibly of vague Soviet plans to take and repopulate the area. He is facing a humanitarian crisis in the camp, of mostly women. He makes the bold decision to transfer the camp population into abandoned homes in nearby Elbing, where attempts can be made to nurse them to health.
און דאָ הייבט זיך אָן אונדזער מעשׂה
Un do heibt zikh on undzer mayse
"And here, our story begins"
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