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German People's Group in Czecho-Slovakia

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The German People's Group in Czecho-Slovakia (German: Deutsche Volksgruppe in der Tschecho-Slowakei, abbreviated DVG) was a German minority political party in the Second Czechoslovak Republic.

Formation

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The Sudeten German Party (SdP) was banned by the Czechoslovak government on 15 September 1938, in the midst of the Sudeten crisis.[1] In areas that had remained in Czechoslovakia after the German annexation of Sudetenland its followers re-grouped as DVG.[2][3][4] The party had a National Socialist profile and represented German state interests towards Czechoslovakia.[3]

In Slovakia, the movement had constituted itself as the German Party (Deutsche Partei) on October 8, 1938.[2] DVG was launched on 30 October 1938.[2] In Carpatho-Ukraine the movement worked under the name German People's Council (Deutsche Volksrat).[2] Ernst Kundt [de] was the leader of the party and in-charge (Volksgruppeführer) in Bohemia and Moravia,[4] Franz Karmasin the leader of the German Party in Slovakia and Anton Ernst Oldofredi the leader of the German People's Council in Carpatho-Ukraine.[2]

Press

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In Brno the party published Tagesboten, which was renamed as Volksdeutsche Zeitung in February 1939.[5][6][7] Volksdeutsche Zeitung was published from Prague and Brno.[2][8][9]

National Assembly

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After the annexation of Sudetenland, six of the SdP/KdP members of the Chamber of Deputies and four of its senators had remained in Czechoslovakia.[2] One of them, deputy Gustav Peters [de], resigned from his seat on 5 November 1938.[2] On 7 November 1938, the remaining five deputies formed the Club of German National Socialist Deputies as their new parliamentary faction.[2] The club was chaired by Kundt.[2][4] The four other members were Franz Karmasin, Robert Mayr-Harting, Hans Lokscha [de] and Stanislav Králíček [cs].[2] On the same day the four senators formed the Club of German National Socialist Senators, chaired by Dr. Karl Hilgenreiner [de].[2] The three other Senators were Kurt Brass [de], Sigmund Keil [sk] and Emil Schrammel [de].[2]

In Slovakia

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On December 18, 1938 the German Party got two deputies elected to the parliament of Slovakia on the Slovak unity list; Karmasin and Josef Steinhübl.[10] The party published Grenzbote and Deutschen Stimmen from Bratislava.[10] The German Party in Slovakia would continue to exist after the end of the Second Czechoslovak Republic.[10]

In Carpatho-Ukraine

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The German People's Council functioned as the National Socialist unity party amongst the German minority in the Carpatho-Ukraine 1938–1939.[11] In the elections to the Soim (parliament of Carpatho-Ukraine) held on 12 February 1939, the party was able to get Oldofredi elected as its candidate on the unity list of Ukrainian National Union [uk] (UNO).[11]

References

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  1. ^ Norman Stone; Edward Strouhal (25 November 1989). Czechoslovakia: Crossroads and Crises, 1918–88. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-349-10644-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mads Ole Balling (1991). Von Reval bis Bukarest: Einleitung, Systematik, Quellen und Methoden, Estland, Lettland, Litauen, Polen, Tschechoslowakei. Dokumentation Verlag. pp. 283–284. ISBN 978-87-983829-3-5.
  3. ^ a b The Twentieth Century. Nineteenth Century and After. 1939. p. 395.
  4. ^ a b c František J. Kolár; Historický ústav (Akademie věd České republiky) (1998). Politická elita meziválečného československa, 1918–1938: kdo byl kdo. Pražská edice. p. 143. ISBN 978-80-901509-8-0.
  5. ^ Karl Wilhelm Fricke; Roger Engelmann (1998). Konzentrierte Schläge: Staatssicherheitsaktionen und politische Prozesse in der DDR 1953–1956. Ch. Links Verlag. p. 339. ISBN 978-3-86153-147-0.
  6. ^ Zeitungs-Verlag: Fachblatt für das gesamte Zeitungswesen. 1939. pp. 138, 210.
  7. ^ Dušan Tomášek (1988). Deník druhé republiky. Naše vojsko. p. 239.
  8. ^ Great Britain. Foreign Office; Sir Ernest Llewellyn Woodward (1951). Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919–1939. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 126.
  9. ^ Zeitschrift für Ostforschung: Länder und Völker im östlichen Mitteleuropa. N.G. Elwert. 1958. p. 517.
  10. ^ a b c Mads Ole Balling (1991). Von Reval bis Bukarest: Ungarn, Jugoslawien, Rumänien, Slowakei, Karpatenukraine, Kroatien, Memelländischer Landtag, Schlesischer Landtag, komparative Analyse, Quellen und Literatur, Register. Dokumentation Verlag. pp. 662, 665. ISBN 978-87-983829-5-9.
  11. ^ a b Mads Ole Balling (1991). Von Reval bis Bukarest: Ungarn, Jugoslawien, Rumänien, Slowakei, Karpatenukraine, Kroatien, Memelländischer Landtag, Schlesischer Landtag, komparative Analyse, Quellen und Literatur, Register. Dokumentation Verlag. pp. 673, 677. ISBN 978-87-983829-5-9.