M.52.Crimea - Documentation from the State Archives of the Republic of Crimea

M.52.Crimea - Documentation from the State Archives of the Republic of Crimea History of the Archive: The Archive was established on 22 May 1919 as the Central Archive of Crimea. The Archive was affiliated with the Taurica University until November 1920. As of November 1920 it was the Central Archive of Crimea. The Archive was divided into two archives in April 1926, and became the Historical Archive and the Archive of the October Revolution. The two Archives were merged into the Central State Archive of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Crimea (Krymskaya ASSR) in April 1941. From June 1945 it became the State Archive of the Crimea Region. As of February 1954, it became the State Archive of the Crimea Region affiliated with the Archival Department of the Ministry of the Interior of Ukraine administration in the Crimea Region. From 1969 until 1980, it was called the Regional State Archive of Crimea. In 1980 it was called the State Archive of the Crimea Region. In November 1989 it became known as the State Archive of the Crimea Region affiliated with the Executive Committee of the Crimea Region. In March 1991 it became the State Archive affiliated with the Ministerial Council of Krymskaya ASSR. In August 1991 it became the Central State Archive affiliated with the Ministerial Council of Krymskaya ASSR. In February 1992 it became the Central State Archive affiliated with the Ministerial Council of the Republic of Crimea. Between April 1994 and January 1995 it was called the Central State Archive affiliated with the Government of the Republic of Crimea. As of January 1995, the Archive changed its name to The State Archive affiliated with the Government of the Republic of Crimea. As of March 1995, it was called the State Archive affiliated with the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Between April 1996 and October 1997, it was called the State Archive of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Between October 1997 and December 2002, it was the State Archive affiliated with the Ministerial Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In late January 2002, the Archive was called the State Archive in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In 2014, following the annexation of the peninsula of Crimea by Russia, the Archive became subject to the Archival Authority of the Russian Federation. Historical background: According to the population census, 65,000 Jews resided in Crimea before World War II. There were almost no Jewish communities; most of the Jews were citizens who resided in large cities, and some of the Jews worked in Kolkhozy (27,000 Jews). Most of the Jews were Ashkenazi; some of the Jews were Krymchaks (whose number was close to 7,000 people). Karaites also resided in Krym. Most of the Krymchaks were concentrated on the Crimean Peninsula in the cities of Feodosiya, Simferopol, the town of Karasu Bazar, and in other towns in the south of the peninsula. The Generalbezirk Krim (Crimea Region) was established officially on 01 September 1941, on the Crimean Peninsula and the Zaporozhye region, in an area of 52,000 square kilometers, and it included a population of approximately two million residents. The city of Simferopol was chosen as the capital of the region. The Crimea Region belonged to the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. The supreme body of the civilian administration of the occupation in the "Krym" region was the Generalkommissariat, under the leadership of Frauenfeld. Due to the fact that the area of the Crimea Region was near the rear line until summer 1942, the administrative division did not take effect, in actuality. Frauenfeld began to serve in his position, only on 01 September 1942. The Crimean Peninsula was considered subservient to a double command: both civilian (nominally) and military (in actuality). Civilian clerks had no power in the region. This situation lead therefore to the capital of the region being transferred to Melitopol, and the administrative region was called the Generalbezirk Taurien (Tauria Region). During the entire period of the German occupation, the actual force on the Crimean Peninsula was the German Army. At the head of the local office of the military government stood the commander of the Befehlshaber Krim (Crimea), of the German Army on the Crimean Peninsula. In general, this position was in the areas in which the head of the Wehrmacht administration served not only the security needs, but also the administrative tasks. This position was filled by Lt. General Karl Spang, commander of Infantry Brigade No. 337, during December 1941-May 1942. During this period, the name of his position was changed briefly to: Befehlshaber der landengen der Halbinsel Krim (Crimea), the Wehrmacht commander of the Crimean Peninsula. For several reasons, the administrative regime was, in these conditions, temporary and it was applied only to the Crimean Peninsula, where the fighting had already been completed. From the start of the German occupation and until the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula, the position of the commander of the Wehrmacht forces in Crimea was filled by: Mattenklott (08/1942-04/1943), Auleb (04-07/1943), Koehling (07-11/1943), Jaenecke (11/1943-05/1944), and Allmendinger (01-11/05/1944). Most of the Jews of Crimea managed to be evacuated to the interior of the Soviet Union, because the German Army occupied the Crimean Peninsula only in October 1941. The civilian administration managed to organize Judenrats that were active for only a very short period of time. The chairmen of the Judenrats were members of the Yalta, Simferopol and Yevpatoriya communities who were unknown to the public, and who had been appointed by the German authorities. In the cities of Crimea, the Jews were not concentrated in ghettos, except in Yalta, where they remained only for a very short period of time. The actual authority in Crimea was the Wehrmacht, which had no need of the Jews for manpower, and most of the Jews were therefore exterminated during the first months of the occupation. For example, in Simferopol, during 09-13 December 1941, Sondierkommando 10b and Sondierkommando 11a men shot to death almost all of the Ashkenazi Jews and Krymchak Jews of Simferopol. The Germans murdered the Krymchaks in some of the places, later on. Due to the lack of certainty regarding the Krymchaks' origin and affiliation to the "Jewish Race", and the minimal amount of knowledge that the Germans had regarding these Jews, the German occupation authorities in Crimea inquired in Berlin regarding the matter of the Krymchaks. The reply that arrived from Berlin was that the Krymchaks are to be designated for total extermination, like the rest of the Jews. During 1941 and early 1942, most of the Krymchaks were exterminated, along with the Ashkenazi Jews of Crimea. Most of the Jews of Kerch were executed during 01-03/12/1941, before the first retreat by the Germans. Regarding the Krymchak Jews, the reply arrived from Germany only at the end of December. The date for the murder of the Krymchaks was set for 03/01/1942, but the Red Army succeeded in liberating the city on 30/12/1941, and the Krymchak Jews were evacuated via the Kerch Bay, and thus were rescued. At the start of 1942, approximately 2,000 Krymchaks from Karasu Bazar were exterminated in gas vans. The murder of Jews who worked in Kolkhozy was postponed, due to the implementation of agricultural work, but these Jews were murdered at the start of the winter. The Crimean Peninsula was declared "Judenrein" (clean of Jews) on 26/04/1942. Karaites who resided in Crimea were not exterminated. Following the liberation of Crimea by the Red Army, in May 1944, some of the Jews who had been evacuated returned home. Bibliography: 1. A. Kruglov, "Catastrophe of Ukrainian Jewry 1941-1944", The Encyclopaedic Directory, "Karavella", 2001 2. Крым.Электронная еврейская энциклопедия 3. "И.А. Альтман. Жертвы ненависти. Холокост в СССР (1941-1945) Москва, Ковчег" 4. Места массового уничтожения евреев Крыма в период нацистской оккупации полуострова, 1941-1944. Михаил Тяглый ("Хесед Шимон" 2005). The documentation includes documents of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission in the area of the Republic of Crimea during World War II; documentation of the municipal administration in Kerch during the first occupation (16/11-30/12/1941), and documentation of the administration of the port in Kerch, from the period of the first occupation.