Socio-ethical consequences of the German and Romanian occupation (on the example of the southern and eastern regions of the USSR)

Abstract

The article dwells upon some social and moral consequences of the German-Romanian occupation in the Ukrainian SSR in 1941–1944. The source base are transcripts of conversations conducted by the staff of the Commission on the History of the Great Patriotic War of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union with residents of Donbass, Odessa, Melitopol, etc. at the end of 1943 – the first half of 1944. These were people of different ages, professions, social groups who had survived the occupation or had come to these areas immediately after their liberation. The policy of the German and Romanian invaders and their behavior, among other things, had negatively affected the state of legal culture, crime, labor and family relations, and the moral state of society. For example, the phenomenon of bribery had grown dramatically. For some people it was a means of enrichment, while for some others it was a way to survive the inhumane conditions of the occupation. Speculation had acquired a huge scale and had sometimes been a way to survive in the conditions of the socio-economic policy pursued by the invaders. Prostitution, legalized by the occupiers, and the moral corruption and sexual promiscuity imposed by them became a negative moment. These and many other negative aspects required from the Soviet government and from the people additional efforts to overcome the socio-ethical consequences of the occupation.

Received: 21.07.2022.

Citation
Marchukov A. V. Socio-ethical consequences of the German and Romanian occupation (on the example of the southern and eastern regions of the USSR) // Slavic almanac. 2022. No 3–4. P. 128–151 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2022.3-4.1.06