In spring 1946 the small village of Meerbeck in the Schaumburger Land was the setting for a special chapter in European postwar history: fourteen top players met in a DP camp for an “international” chess tournament. Their contest reflected the political tensions of the time, the hopes of an uprooted elite and the complicated encounters between the refugees and the local German village community.
Already before the end of the war of extermination waged by national socialism, the United Nations was aware that the war had caused migration on a massive scale. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), established in 1943, was meant to provide for the return of an estimated 11 million victims of concentration camps, forced labor camps and deportations, and repatriate them as quickly as possible. After 1947 its successor organization, the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) dealt with the “final million” refugees, mainly from Eastern Europe, who were not willing to be repatriated.1
One example of such Displaced Persons
Almost all the displaced persons camps had chess groups in addition to their other sport clubs. The same was true for Meerbeck, where the UNRRA administration procured chess sets. What was special about the chess tournament that took place in 1946 was the fact that it involved more than one camp. Only two of the fourteen tournament participants – six, four , two and two Russians or Ukrainians who declared themselves to be of “unspecified nationality” – were registered with the Meerbeck UNRRA team. These were the Russian Evgeni Sadovsky and the doctoral candidate in law from Göttingen, Repecka, who organized the tournament. The other twelve travelled to Meerbeck from other camps in the British and American zones especially for the tournament. Initially, two German master chess players (who were not displaced persons and of international renown), Friedrich Sämisch and Ludwig Rellstab, were also meant to take part, but their participation was prohibited by the camp administration, since the provision of board and lodging to Germans was not permitted by camp regulations.
One example of such Displaced Persons
Displaced Person
also:
After the Second World War, the Allies used the term “Displaced Person” (DP) for the approximately eleven million civilians outside their home country due to the war or persecution. These mainly included liberated concentration camp prisoners, forced laborers and deportees, prisoners of war and survivors of Nazi persecution(particularly from Central and Eastern Europe) as well as those people and their families who because of their previous experiences fled West from the renewed Soviet rule in the Baltic states. They often suffered from poor health and malnourishment. The Allies and international aid organizations made efforts to return the DPs (some of whom were temporarily housed in former concentration camps) to their home countries.
who temporarily settled in Germany, is a group of chess players who were invited to a chess tournament in the small village of Meerbeck in the Schaumburger Land in March 1946. The fourteen highly qualified, mainly Baltic chess masters who met for the “international” competition were a special group of (mainly) young men in several ways. Records of their games were virtually unknown for a long time, but they have now been documented in many languages in a wide-ranging collection on Lithuanian chess history.2D. P., DP, Displaced Persons
Almost all the displaced persons camps had chess groups in addition to their other sport clubs. The same was true for Meerbeck, where the UNRRA administration procured chess sets. What was special about the chess tournament that took place in 1946 was the fact that it involved more than one camp. Only two of the fourteen tournament participants – six
Latvia
deu. Lettland, eng. Latvian Republic, lav. Latvija
Latvia is a Baltic state in the north-east of Europe and is home to about 1.9 million inhabitants. The capital of the country is Riga. The state borders in the west on the Baltic Sea and on the states of Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Belarus. Latvia has been a member of the EU since 01.05.2004 and only became independent in the 19th century.
Lithuania
deu. Litauen, lit. Lietuva
Lithuania is a Baltic state in northeastern Europe and is home to approximately 2.8 million people. Vilnius is the capital and most populous city of Lithuania. The country borders the Baltic Sea, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Latvia. Lithuania only gained independence in 1918, which the country reclaimed in 1990 after several decades of incorporation into the Soviet Union.
Estonia
deu. Estland, eng. Republic of Estonia, est. Eesti Vabariik, est. Eesti, deu. Republik Estland
Estonia is a country in north-eastern Europe. It is inhabited by around 1.3 million people and borders Latvia, Russia and the Baltic Sea. The most populous city and capital is Tallinn.
Today's Estonian state only regained its political independence in 1991 as a result of the so-called “Singing Revolution” in the Baltic states and in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Estonian independence was first proclaimed in 1918 and achieved through the “Estonian War of Independence” (1918-1920). As early as 1940, this first Estonian state was replaced by the “Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic”, which was founded under Soviet occupation. With an interruption due to the German occupation during the Second World War (1941-1944) and with slightly different borders, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union until 1991. Before 1918, the territory of present-day Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, with its northern part forming the Baltic Governorate of Estonia and its southern part the northern half of the Baltic Governorate of Livonia. In the High and Late Middle Ages and at the beginning of the early modern period, parts of today's country were also under Swedish, Danish and Polish rule, while the Livonian part was also under the sovereignty of the Teutonic Order until 1561.
Estonia has been part of the European Union and NATO since 2004.
The Meerbeck tournament was significant, and not only because of the freedom of movement that the allied authorities granted the chess players to pursue their hobby. The previous tournament, which took place with half of the Meerbeck participants in Blomberg, in the same British administrative area of Westphalia, called itself a “ Championship”. With its claim to internationality, the tournament in Meerbeck made an even clearer political statement. For the Baltic players, it strengthened the claim for the autonomy of the Baltic countries from the . This was also a motive for many Baltic players who had registered in their camps. The majority opted for a discharge either to their home countries that had been liberated from Soviet rule, or to countries outside Germany. Only one of them, Artūrs Dārznieks, agreed to be repatriated to Latvia and continued his chess career there.
Baltics
lat. Balticum, deu. Baltikum, deu. Baltische Staaten, deu. Baltische Provinzen
The Baltic States is a region in the north-east of Europe and is composed of the three states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Baltic States are inhabited by almost 6 million people.
Soviet Union
deu. Union der Sozialistischen Sowjetrepubliken, deu. Sowjetunion, rus. Sovetskiy Soyuz, rus. Советский Союз, . Совет Ушем, . Советонь Соткс, rus. Sovetskij Soûz, . Советий Союз, yid. ראַטן־פֿאַרבאַנד, yid. סאוועטן פארבאנד, yid. sovətn farband, yid. sovʿtn-farband, yid. sovətn-farband, . Советтер Союзу, . Совет Союзы, . Советон Цæдис, . Совет Эвилели
The Soviet Union (SU or USSR) was a state in Eastern Europe, Central and Northern Asia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It emerged from the so-called Soviet Russia, the successor state of the Russian Empire. The Russian Soviet Republic formed the core of the union and at the same time its largest part, with further constituent republics added. Their number varied over time and was related to the occupation of other countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Soviet republics that existed only for a short time (Karelo-Finlandia) or the division or merger of Soviet republics. In addition, there were numerous autonomous republics or other territorial units with an autonomy status that was essentially limited to linguistic autonomy for minorities.
Before its formal dissolution, the USSR consisted of 15 Soviet republics with a population of approximately 290 million people. At around 22.4 million km², it was the largest territorial state in the world at the time. The Soviet Union was a socialist soviet republic with a one-party system and an absence of separation of powers.
The Players and their Camp
What kind of a relationship did the participants in the Meerbeck chess tournament have to the Baltic inhabitants of that camp and other, similar camps? One striking aspect is that there were no female participants. This presented a contrast not only to other sports such as table tennis and gymnastics, but also to the large proportion of women in the Baltic population in Meerbeck, which was only slightly lower than that of men.3 The predominance of players from middle-class backgrounds and the high level of professional qualification is also conspicuous. They included lawyers, politicians, natural scientists, architects, literary scholars and artists as well as a professor of medicine, the tournament champion Fedor Bohatirtchuk.
They were not professional chess players although several of them had already taken part in international competitions before the war and had even represented their countries in
Chess Olympiads
Chess Olympiads
Chess Olympiads have been held since the 1930s, mostly organized by FIDE (World Chess Federation). The ones relevant to the Balts in Meerbeck were the unofficial Olympiad (team tournament) held in Munich in 1936 and the one held in Buenos Aires in 1939, where the Baltic countries were represented.
. In the time leading up to the revival of the international chess scene in 1948, only the best of them could earn extra income to supplement camp supplies through simultaneous matches. Even the prizes for tournaments were quite modest. In Meerbeck Bohatirtchuk received a dozen tins of meat for his victory.4
However, the high social aspirations of the Baltic chess masters could not be measured in financial terms. They formed a cultural elite, even if they were not associated with a particular place like the many ensemble members of Riga’s Latvian National Theatre who found themselves in Meerbeck, or the members of the Latvian and Lithuanian choirs and dance troupes. Accordingly, none of them applied for the simple factory and household employment positions that were offered under the
“Westward Ho” Scheme
Operation "Westward Ho!"
also:
Operation “Westward Ho” was a British recruitment campaign to acquire skilled workers (such as factory workers, domestic staff, nursery staff, etc.) in displaced persons camps within the British sphere of influence. The campaign served to remedy the labor shortage after the war. As an expression of British national self-interest, it was controversial at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA).
despite its guarantee of safe emigration to the United Kingdom.5 This scheme was otherwise quite successful in Meerbeck. Since the chess players had become used to an urban existence, these men refrained from promoting themselves by emphasizing their rural background, as was generally done in Baltic publications to indicate modest expectations, even though this would have been an advantage for manual labor positions.'Westward Ho!' scheme
The Camp and its Surroundings
Although the social divisions within the Baltic communities in Meerbeck were notable, the cultural gap between the forcibly evicted German villagers and the Balts who were to replace them for three years was even greater. With the exception of the cultivated fields, the whole of the village was allocated to them by the British military authorities for accommodation, after the German village population had already been forced to vacate the village at short notice at the end of the Second World War.6 The original population of Meerbeck was made up primarily of small-scale farming families, who usually had to supplement the profit from small agricultural areas with additional paid labor, for example, in herring fishing.7 Prior to the arrival of the displaced persons, evacuees from the Ruhr area, which had been devastated by bombing raids, had already sought refuge in their properties.
In contrast, the Baltic community was middle-class and nationalistic. The Latvians and Lithuanians successfully attempted to create a replica of their earlier autonomous state structure in religion, administration and community infrastructure. They were quick to develop an education system from kindergartens through primary and secondary schools up to pre-university courses. Their conservative Baltic nationalism was matched by an East Westphalian rural culture that was just as conservative, at least culturally. Even the forms of self-affirmation that were shared by both communities, for example, choral and singing traditions, existed side-by-side, unconnected to one another.
Although when compared to their relationship with the local farming population there was an overarching sense of community among the new Baltic population, there were also certain differences between the national groups of Balts. They even settled in slightly different areas of the village. Before the start of the tournament (9.3.1946), the village center around the church, the school and the vicarage was settled predominantly by the Latvian majority of 1479 adults and children. The 680 Lithuanians lived in the southern part of the village, and the 369 Estonians in the East. The local protestant minister noted differences in everyday behavior between these groups, too. He was one of the few Germans, other than suppliers and black-market dealers, who maintained regular contact with the foreigners. He complained about the "lordly” conduct of the Latvians who constantly justified their status based on their “kultūra”.8 It was easier for him to come to an understanding with the Catholic Lithuanians, despite the difference in denomination.
Although most of the DP camps in Germany were not isolated from their immediate surroundings, unlike many of the Jewish camps, parallel communities that were hostile towards each other nonetheless developed around them. This was particularly true for DP camps like Meerbeck that were the result of forced evictions. There the roles of victim and perpetrator were reversed in a truly astonishing fashion. In their demands for the return of their land and houses, the Meerbeckers invoked their social democratic past prior to 1933.9 They even accused the Balts in their village of having a fundamental affinity with national socialism, for example, through the use of greetings such as “Heil Hitler”. Although doubts about the communicative function of such expressions used within earshot of Germans are quite justified, one particular circumstance stands out: the evidence obtained of the accommodation of Baltic members of the SS and the Wehrmacht in Meerbeck, that was initially forbidden and later secretly facilitated, all comes from Latvian memories.10
When in February 1946 British military authorities recognized Baltic Wehrmacht members as displaced persons, the Latvian camp newspaper Latviskais Vārds (The Latvian Word) had something else to report in its local Meerbeck news on the first day of the international chess tournament: “Our soldiers are returning from prisoner-of-war camps in Belgium”11. There was no doubt about their own soldiers’ past. Just four days later, the newspaper praised the Meerbeck camp leadership for the “exemplary” cultural life in the village. But there is not enough to suggest that there was anything military about the participants in the chess championship. Only one young Estonian player, Herbert Valdsaar, was briefly deployed by the German Wehrmacht as an air force auxiliary. The two Russian citizens, Sadovsky and Bohatirtchuk, who clearly collaborated with the German troops, at least for propaganda purposes, had no connection to the Baltic states.
When in February 1946 British military authorities recognized Baltic Wehrmacht members as displaced persons, the Latvian camp newspaper Latviskais Vārds (The Latvian Word) had something else to report in its local Meerbeck news on the first day of the international chess tournament: “Our soldiers are returning from prisoner-of-war camps in Belgium”11. There was no doubt about their own soldiers’ past. Just four days later, the newspaper praised the Meerbeck camp leadership for the “exemplary” cultural life in the village. But there is not enough to suggest that there was anything military about the participants in the chess championship. Only one young Estonian player, Herbert Valdsaar, was briefly deployed by the German Wehrmacht as an air force auxiliary. The two Russian citizens, Sadovsky and Bohatirtchuk, who clearly collaborated with the German troops, at least for propaganda purposes, had no connection to the Baltic states.
A Stepping Stone to a Better Life
With one possible exception, the Baltic chess masters were united by a staunch anti-communism. During the war they did not have a high profile, either politically or militarily. Their efforts in the DP camps were mostly geared towards establishing chess contacts. Their flight from the Red Army was often motivated by hope for a better life in the West, but was also the result of panic engendered by a regional mass exodus. The case of the Lithuanian chess master Povilas Tautvaisas provides a good example. The registration form that he completed in September 1945 in the Displaced Persons Camp at Dillingen provides insights into his past and his present, but also his hopes of a future for himself and his family.
Tautvaisas saw his temporary camp stay as a stepping stone to a better life overseas. The form took into account Baltic reservations about Soviet citizenship. Tautvaisas answered the question about “what nationality is being claimed” as “Lithuanian”, just like the other three Lithuanian tournament participants. His answer regarding his intended destination after leaving the camp suggests an ambivalence towards his home. He named Boston as the hoped-for destination for his family but qualified this with a footnote referring to a possible return to Lithuania provided that the country was liberated from Soviet rule.
His adventurous escape between the frontlines with his wife and his son who was born in June 1945, over the Curonian Spit, finally ended at Camp Dillingen in the American occupied zone. From there he quickly began to make extensive trips to chess championships in the British and American occupied zones, usually accompanied by his friend and rival chess-player, the Lithuanian Romanas Arlauskas. This ease of movement granted for the sake of his sport does not seem to have been hindered by the transport problems of the postwar period. The pre-emigration screenings of the Allied authorities that were to take place later also represented little difficulty for Tautvaisas and almost all the other Meerbeck tournament players.
Tautvaisas first joined family in Boston but soon went on to Chicago, where, as in Boston, he was able to play a major role in regional chess. For him, as for almost all the Baltic chess masters who took part in the Meerbeck tournament, the multi-year stay in the German displaced persons camp was an in-between stage in his search for a chosen home. For him, just as for the other emigrants to the United States (Sadovsky, Zemītis, Rankis, Skema, Valdsaar, Repecka, Liepnieks), to Canada (Jurševskis, Bohatirtchuk), Australia (Arlauskas, Endzelīns) and to New Zealand (Sepp), life in the diaspora fulfilled his dream of individual self-determination and a middle-class existence in a Western society.
English translation: Gwen Clayton
