Don Ostarbeiters with Turkic Identity: Some Outcomes of Heuristic Reconstructions

 Introduction. The article introduces original research reconstructions consistently aimed at identifying individuals of Turkic origin who had resided in Rostov Oblast before they were relocated for forced labor to the Third Reich. The approach is not that traditional for Russia’s historiographic tradition that primarily addresses systemic analyses of such issues in political, social and territorial perspectives. The study involves a total of six Soviet citizens whose personal portraits have been reconstructed to the greatest possible extent with the aid of available historical evidence. Materials and methods. Empirical data to shape some objective outcomes of heuristic endeavors have been collected from different documentary sections within the State Archive of Rostov Oblast (including its Taganrog Branch), Center for Contemporary Historical Documents (Rostov-on-Don), Center for Archival Documents (Shakhty), city archives of Lüdenscheid and Münster (Germany). The methodological basis is formed by traditional microhistorical approaches aimed at securing detailed reconstructions of local anthropological images united by a common sociocultural feature. Results and conclusions. The conducted study makes it possible to specify some significant aspects of criminal efforts undertaken by Nazi occupation authorities across Rostov Oblast ― in the form of involuntary deportations for forced labor to Germany. The paper confirms ethnic, religious or social identities of a potential Ostarbeiter were of no essential significance for authorized structures of the Third Reich, the latter having been exclusively focused on testing individual abilities for heavy physical work. There is also a comprehensive insight into the inhumane conditions of everyday life experienced by displaced Soviet citizens who formed an important part to the labor forces exploited by the Nazi regime ― only to be deprived of basic human rights. The considered representatives of Turkic origin not only survived the severest conditions but also preserved certain identity markers of their ethnic cultures.

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