Nazi Philanthropy and German Society. Who are called Germans

Each nation is characterized by specific features of character, behavior and world outlook. This is where the concept of "mentality" comes in. What it is?

Germans are a special people

Mentality is a fairly new concept. If, characterizing an individual, we are talking about his character, then when characterizing an entire people, it is appropriate to use the word "mentality". So, mentality is a set of generalized and widespread ideas about the psychological properties of nationality. The mentality of the Germans is a manifestation of national identity and features people.

Who are called Germans?

The Germans call themselves Deutsche. They represent the titular nation. The people belong to the West Germanic subgroup of the Germanic peoples of the Indo-European language family.

The Germans speak German. It distinguishes two subgroups of dialects, the names of which originated from the distribution among the inhabitants along the course of the rivers. The population of the south of Germany belongs to the High German dialect, the inhabitants of the northern part of the country speak the Low German dialect. In addition to these main varieties, there are 10 additional dialects and 53 local dialects.

There are 148 million German-speaking inhabitants of Europe. Of these, 134 million people call themselves Germans. The rest of the German-speaking population was distributed as follows: 7.4 million are Austrians (90% of all inhabitants of Austria); 4.6 million are Swiss (63.6% of the Swiss population); 285 thousand - Luxembourgers; 70 thousand are Belgians and 23.3 thousand are Liechtensteiners.

Most of the Germans live in Germany, approximately 75 million. They constitute the national majority in all the lands of the country. Traditional religious beliefs are Catholicism (mainly in the north of the country) and Lutheranism (common in the South German lands).

Features of the German mentality

The main feature of the German mentality is pedantry. Their desire to restore and maintain order is fascinating. Precisely pedantry is the source of many national merit Germans. The first thing that catches the eye of a guest from another country is the thoroughness of the roads, life and service. Rationality is combined with practicality and convenience. The thought involuntarily arises: this is how a civilized person should live.

Finding a rational explanation for every event is the goal of every self-respecting German. In any, even an absurd situation, there is always step by step description what is happening. The mentality of the Germans does not allow to ignore the slightest nuances of the expediency of each activity. To make "by eye" is below the dignity of a true German. Hence the high evaluation of products, which is manifested in the famous expression "German quality".

Honesty and a sense of honor are the features that characterize the mentality of the German people. Young children are taught to achieve everything on their own, nobody gets anything for free. Therefore, cheating is not common in schools, and in stores it is customary to pay for all purchases (even if the cashier makes a mistake in the calculations or does not notice the goods). The Germans feel guilty for Hitler's activities, so in the country for the post-war decades not a single boy has been named after him Adolf.

Thrift - that's what else manifests the German character and mentality. Before making a purchase, a true German will compare the prices of goods in different stores and find the lowest one. Business dinners or lunches with German partners can confuse representatives of other nations, as they will have to pay for the meals themselves. The Germans do not like excessive extravagance. They are very thrifty.

The peculiarity of the mentality of the Germans is amazing cleanliness. Cleanliness in everything, from personal hygiene to the place of residence. An unpleasant smell from an employee or wet, sweaty palms can serve as a good reason for dismissal from work. Throwing garbage out of a car window or throwing a bag of garbage next to a trash can is nonsense for a German.

German punctuality is a purely national trait. The Germans are very sensitive to their time, so they do not like it when they have to waste it. They get angry at those who are late for a meeting, but they treat those who arrive earlier just as badly. All the time of a German person is scheduled by the minute. Even to meet a friend, they will need to look at the schedule and find a window.

The Germans are a very specific people. If they invited you for tea, know that there will be nothing but tea. In general, the Germans rarely invite guests to their house. If you have received such an invitation, it is a sign of great respect. Coming to visit, he presents flowers to the hostess, and sweets to the children.

Germans and folk traditions

The mentality of the Germans is manifested in the observance of folk traditions and strict adherence to them. There are a great many such norms passing from century to century. True, at the core they are not of a national character, but are distributed over a certain area. Thus, urbanized Germany has retained traces of rural planning even in large cities. In the center of the settlement is a market square with a church, public buildings and a school. Residential neighborhoods diverge from the square in radii.

Folk clothing on the Germans appears in each locality has its own colors and decoration of the costume, but the cut is the same. The men wear tight pants, stockings and buckled shoes. light colors shirt, vest and long-skirted caftan with huge pockets complete the look. Women dress in a white blouse with sleeves, a dark corset with lacing and a deep neckline, and a wide pleated skirt, over which is a bright apron.

The national one is pork dishes (sausages and sausage) and beer. A festive dish is a pork head with stewed cabbage, a baked goose or carp. Drinks include tea and coffee with cream. Dessert consists of gingerbread and biscuits with confiture.

How Germans greet each other

The rule that came from the depths of centuries to greet each other with a strong handshake has been preserved by the Germans to this day. The gender difference doesn't matter: German women do the same thing. When parting, the Germans again shake hands.

At the workplace, employees on "You" and strictly by last name. And besides business sphere, among the Germans, the appeal to "you" is common. Age or social status does not matter. Therefore, if you are working with a German partner, be prepared to be called "Mr. Ivanov." If your German friend is 20 years younger than you, then he will still address you as “you”.

Passion for travel

The desire to travel and discover new lands - that's what the mentality of the Germans is manifested in. They like to visit exotic corners of distant countries. But visiting the developed USA or Great Britain does not attract Germans. In addition to the fact that it is impossible to get unprecedented impressions here, a trip to these countries is expensive for a family wallet.

Commitment to education

The Germans are very sensitive to the national culture. That is why in communication it is customary to demonstrate one's education. A well-read person can show off knowledge of German history, show awareness in other areas of life. Germans are proud of their culture and feel a sense of belonging to it.

Germans and humor

Humor is, from the point of view of the average German, an extremely serious matter. The German style of humor is crude satire or caustic witticisms. When translating German jokes, it is not possible to convey all their colorfulness, since humor depends on the specific situation.

Joking in the workplace is not accepted, especially in relation to superiors. Jokes about foreigners are condemned. Jokes spread over East Germans after German reunification. The most common witticisms ridicule the carelessness of the Bavarians and the cunning of the Saxons, the lack of intelligence of the East Frisians and the quickness of the Berliners. The Swabians are offended by jokes about their thrift, because they see nothing reprehensible in it.

Reflection of mentality in everyday life

German culture and German mentality are reflected in daily processes. For a foreigner, this seems unusual, for Germans it is the norm. There are no 24-hour shops in Germany. On weekdays they close at 20:00, on Saturday - at 16:00, on Sunday they do not open.

Shopping is not in the habit of the Germans, they save their time and money. Spending on clothes is the most undesirable item of expenditure. german women forced to limit the cost of cosmetics and outfits. But few people care. In Germany, they do not strive to meet any accepted standards, so everyone dresses the way they want. The main thing is comfort. No one pays attention to unusual clothes and does not condemn anyone.

Children from early childhood receive pocket money and learn to satisfy their desires on them. From the age of fourteen, a child enters adulthood. This is manifested in attempts to find their place in the world and rely only on themselves. Elderly Germans do not seek to replace parents for children, becoming nannies for their grandchildren, but live their own lives. They spend a lot of time traveling. In old age, everyone relies on himself, trying not to burden children with self-care. Many old people end up in nursing homes.

Russians and Germans

It is generally accepted that the mentality of Germans and Russians is complete opposite. The proverb “What is good for a Russian is like death for a German” confirms this. But there are common features national character for these two peoples: humility before fate and obedience.

Once they were invited to Russia by Catherine II. They came in search of a better life, cultivated the steppe lands, gave birth to children. And after a few centuries they were forced to leave their homes and sent in cattle cars to Far North, Altai, in Siberia, Kazakhstan. Where many did not return.

Our story is about the Russian Germans, who suffered a lot severe trials. About all this "AiF on Don" talked with the chairman of the Rostov regional organization Russian Germans "Wiedergeburt-Don" by Irina Weber. She could have lived in Germany, but she chose Rostov.

cozy nest

Yulia Morozova, AiF on Don: Irina Fridrikhovna, the first Germans who arrived in Russia were called colonists. Why did Catherine need them?

In 1763, the queen signed the "Manifesto on the Advances and Privileges Granted to Foreign Settlers" (exemption from military service and taxes for decades, settlement in any part of the country, duty-free trade, interest-free loans, etc.).

Irina Weber Photo: From the personal archive /

And the carts were drawn from European countries. Most - from Germany, torn apart by internal problems.

The Germans came to the Don later, around the 70s of the XIX century. The settlers, with characteristic German pedantry, were able to arrange a neat family nest, to recreate a corner of the Germany they had left.

In 1914, there were 123 German settlements in the Don Host Region, among them Olgenfeld (Olgino Field), Ruenthal (Valley of Peace), Mariental (Valley of Mary), Blumenthal (Valley of Flowers), Eigenheim (Our Home), Eigenfeld (Our Field).

And in 1917, 35,000 Germans lived on the Don. Their way of farming was adopted by landowners, Cossacks and peasants.

Indeed, there was much to learn. The Germans had the most modern agricultural equipment for that time. Which, by the way, for the most part they themselves made in iron foundries.

Factories and forges, carpenters, craft workshops, steam and water mills, oil mills - all this was in almost every village. With indigenous local residents the Germans communicated, but still their communities were isolated. Only the settlers spoke their native language among themselves, and at school all instruction was in German.

- Probably, hard times began for the Don Germans with the onset of the First World War?

Not certainly in that way. This war did not particularly affect the measured course of their lives. During civil war the German colonies were plundered by numerous gangs traveling around the steppes. But the same thing happened in the Cossack villages.

Then food detachments went along the Don, a wave of requisitions and requisitions swept. However, the majority of Germans accepted Soviet power and collectivization. And already in the 30s, newspapers were full of reports about the victories of German brigades and collective farms in various socialist competitions.

And on August 28, 1941, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the deportation of Germans to Siberia and Kazakhstan was issued.

Representatives of my people were accused of espionage. Thousands of Germans died in prisons, in deportation, in labor army camps and special settlements.

Children were torn from their mothers, sent to orphanages. And on all the stigma "fascist saboteur." The charges were dropped only in 1965. Now August 28 is the Day of Memory and Sorrow of the Russian Germans.

Separation for a lifetime

- Did all these tragic events destroy your family as well?

My father was the director of the school in the small town of Kizel in Perm region taught German. There he met a Russian woman who worked as an accountant. Her first husband was shot in the 30s, leaving a daughter.

Friedrich Weber, father of Irina Weber Photo: From personal archive /

My parents' marriage was a happy one. But when the war began, my father was arrested, under a political article (enemy of the people) he was given seven years. Mom was not touched, she is Russian, and she had three children (my brother and I and a daughter from my first marriage).

There was always a picture before my eyes: a broken country road, me, my mother and brother walking along it in the pouring gray rain. On a date in a transit prison. Cold. Iron gates, bars.

Then my mother told me that while her father was in prison in Perm, she was given one visit, to which she was allowed to bring her children. It's strange that I remember it, because I was only three years old ...

Mom tried her best to feed us, her half-sister died of leukemia, there was nothing to treat her with. My father's term was coming to an end.

How we rejoiced at the letter in which dad asked us to send money for the journey home. But he did not come, and we had no further news of him. We were constantly on the lookout, we found his mother and sister, the relatives said: "Don't look for him, most likely, Friedrich is dead."

Years have passed. We moved to Solikamsk, then I got married in Rostov, a son was born. Suddenly phone call, in the tube my mother's voice: "Irina, now you will talk to your father." I still can’t remember without tears, it doesn’t go away over the years. Hearing dad after 21 years of separation...

- How did it happen that he could not be with you all these years?

When his father's prison term came to an end, he was sent to Kazakhstan. He also looked for us, but letters from neither side did not reach. Later we found out that private correspondence was subject to lustration and was undesirable for the authorities.

In 1964, during a business trip to the Baltic States, my father lived in a hotel and got into a conversation with one of the guests. We found out that the one from Perm knows the address of my mother's sister's husband. Immediately from the Baltic states, my father rushed there.

My cousin gave the details to the mother. I can't imagine what the parents' meeting was like... I know that they cried for three days.

My story is not unique, there are thousands of such broken destinies. One of the members of our organization, Polina Ivanovna, joined the labor army at the age of 17. She recalls that they, like criminals, were driven to work under escort. And she was inexpressibly ashamed of the fact that on her feet were heavy wooden shoes that rumbled on the pavement.

Such shoes were given to the Germans on purpose, you can’t run far in it. By the way, returning to my father, I will say that he was never allowed to work as a teacher in his specialty. Until his retirement, he was ... a livestock specialist.

Take off your rose colored glasses

- Almost all of your relatives are already in Germany. Why didn't you leave for your historical homeland?

All my childhood and youth I experienced difficulties because of a German surname. So, I was the only one from the class who was not accepted as a pioneer: “Wait a minute, girl.”

In the questionnaire, I had to write that my father was convicted under Article 58. There were problems with admission and work. But the patronymic and surname of the father did not change even in marriage.

Now I don't want to deal with paperwork again. And I don't want to go anywhere. Refused to leave and my brother. He said: “I don’t need their cleaned lawns and flower gardens. Needed where was born".

You know, many Russian Germans, having visited their historical homeland, talk about the extraordinary feeling of “touching their roots”, etc. I don’t feel anything like that, it seems to me that this is for a red word.

- Are those who returned to Germany satisfied with their lives there?

To many people leaving for their historical homeland, I advise you to take off your rose-colored glasses. So, one woman, a musician, before leaving Russia, planned that she would work as a musician in Germany and have students.

But in the end, the Germans take on the prestigious, well-paid work of their native citizens, not visitors. Education must be proven, retrained.

My friends left, one graduated from the philological faculty, the other also has higher education. As a result, both found work in the Bundeswehr (War Ministry) ... as cleaners. At the same time, they had to complete special courses for this.

Some of the holders of a diploma from a Russian university agree to work on garbage trucks, in bars, but it’s hard for someone to come to terms with this. It seems that the pay is quite decent by our standards, but pride suffers. Therefore, there are cases when people return to Russia.

- You are the chairman of the Wiedergeburt-Don organization, what does it do?

Once in the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" I saw an article about the Rostov regional organization of Russian Germans "Wiedergeburt-Don". Found them, wrote an application for entry.

Communication with people close to me in spirit, studying German language, culture - all this became necessary for me. In 1999, I became the chairman of the organization and still remain in this position.

My dream was to return the Lutheran Church to all Don Germans. Before the revolution, it was one of the most beautiful buildings on Sedova Street. But then only the pastor's house remained. Later he was gone too.

This place is now a private institution, a restaurant and a trading house. Now the Lutherans of the Rostov region do not have their own church. We held many events to tell the people of Donetsk the history of our people.

Surprisingly, many still sincerely believe that the Russian Germans are "unfinished fascists", I quote verbatim. To this I say: “We are the ones who came at the invitation of Catherine. We are the ones for whom Russia has become a homeland.”