65 pages • 2-hour read
The Last Green Valley
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Background
Historical Context: Soviet-German Relations During World War II
The Nazi Party, which rose to prominence in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, focused on the destruction of the Soviet Union. The Nazis wished to eliminate the perceived Communist threat to Germany and seize lands within the Soviet borders. However, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was hesitant to launch an invasion of the Soviet Union since Germany was already facing conflict to the west with Great Britain and France.
In late August 1939, just days before invading Poland, Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. The pact included a pledge that Germany and the Soviet Union would remain at peace for 10 years. The pact also contained a secret protocol that established Soviet and German spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. Poland was split between the two, with Germany occupying western Poland and the Soviets occupying eastern Poland.
In violation of the non-aggression agreement, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The German military initiated a mass murder campaign that targeted Jewish males, Roma people, and officials in the Communist Party and Soviet State. By late July 1941, the mass murder of Soviet Jewish communities was underway. In mid-October, Hitler ordered the deportation of German Jewish people to German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union.
The German invasion of the Soviet Union led to an unlikely alliance between Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Though Great Britain and the United States were opposed to the political ideals of the Soviet Union, the three nations determined that an alliance was necessary to defeat Nazi Germany. On January 1, 1942, the three nations signed the United Nations Declaration, in which they agreed to join forces to defeat the Nazis.
The war on the Eastern Front between Germany and the Soviet Union is the setting for much of the action of The Last Green Valley. The Martel family is caught between oppression by the Soviet regime and participating in the war crimes of the Nazis who offer to help them. Toward the end of the novel, the action moves to Western Europe, where the family finally finds refuge from both Communists and Nazis.
Cultural Context: Volksdeutsche Communities in Soviet Ukraine
From the mid-18th through early-19th centuries, large numbers of German farmers moved to Ukraine, which was then part of the Russian Empire. The farmers were drawn by Russian offers of free land, tax exemptions, local autonomy, and freedom of religion in exchange for part of their grain harvests. These German farmers would eventually be known as Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans living outside of Germany.
The Volksdeutsche communities in Ukraine retained German as their official language. The communities were organized around churches that doubled as German-language primary schools. The Volksdeutsche took advantage of the local autonomy promised by the Russian government; the communities had their own hospitals and publishers and maintained local governments to oversee internal community affairs. Assimilation into Russian culture remained at a minimum, as the majority of Volksdeutsche communities maintained their German heritage and language despite being physically isolated from Germany.
The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which toppled the Russian monarchy, irrevocably changed life for the Volksdeutsche. The Soviet Union, governed by the Communist Party, was established in 1921. The Volksdeutsche living in Soviet Ukraine suffered enormously. In 1929, Joseph Stalin spearheaded the collectivization of agriculture. Many Volksdeutsche farmers were dispossessed of their land and deported to prisons in Siberia. The German churches and institutions at the core of Volksdeutsche communities were shut down. Many Volksdeutsche perished in the 1932-1933 famine orchestrated by Stalin to quash opposition to Soviet rule.
During World War II, the German government aimed to bring certain Volksdeutsche regions under the rule of “Greater Germany” and to relocate Volksdeutsche communities living in territories not under German control. Though Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact in 1939, the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 and took control of Ukraine. After years of oppression under Soviet rule, many Volksdeutsche relished their new privileges and became willing participants in the violence perpetrated by Nazi forces in Ukraine. During the German retreat from Ukraine in 1943-1944, many Volksdeutsche were evacuated by the German armies and relocated to Poland. This movement of population is the setting for much of the action of the novel. As ethnic Germans living in Soviet Ukraine, the Martel family finds that the only way to be liberated from oppression and perhaps murder by the Soviets is to become collaborators in Nazi war crimes.
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