Tatars and the Tatar Language in Germany

Year 2021, Volume: 11 Issue: 19, 320 - 335, 24.07.2021

Sebastian Cwiklinski

Abstract

This article discusses the history of the presence of Tatar language in Germany which came
into being as the result of political developments following World War I. The Germans captured Tatar
soldiers from the Russian army and interned the captives in camps designated especially for them, in
order to subject them to Pan-Islamic propaganda. The propaganda developed by a central at the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs might be regarded as the start of Tatar language publishing in Germany.
From 1928 the prominent exile politician Ayaz Iskhaki published a monthly journal directed at a global
community of Tatar exiles.

After the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 Tatars became even more important for
Germany. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Soviet Red Army were taken captive and the
state was eager to make use of their presence. A Volga-Ural legion within the German army was
founded and the military efforts were accompanied by a propaganda central which published a
newspaper, journals and literary almanacs in Tatar. In the years following World War II the Tatar
language also became part of US American propaganda efforts directed at the Soviet Union. In 1953
a Tatar-Bashkir branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was founded in Munich. Since the 1990s
many Tatars have migrated individually to Germany, mainly from Russia, and they have gradually
articulated a Tatar identity in which the language plays only a minor role. Only in the past few years a
younger generation of Tatars, arriving in Germany for their studies, has started publicly expressing
the importance of the Tatar language.

Keywords

Tatar diaspora, Germany, World Wars, propaganda, identity-building

Almanya‘daki Tatarlar ve Tatar Dili

Abstract

Bu makale, Birinci Dünya Savaşı sonrası siyasi gelişmeler sonucunda ortaya çıkan Tatar dilinin
Almanya'daki varlığının tarihini ele almaktadır. Almanlar, Tatar askerlerini Rus ordusundan esir almış
ve pan-İslamist propagandaya maruz bırakmak için aldıkları esirleri özel olarak onlara ayrılmış
kamplara hapsetmiştir. Dışişleri Bakanlığı'ndaki bir merkezin geliştirdiği propaganda, Almanya'da
Tatarca yayıncılığın başlangıcı olarak kabul edilebilir. 1928'den itibaren, önde gelen sürgün politikacı
Ayaz İskhaki, küresel Tatar sürgün topluluğuna yönelik aylık bir dergi yayınladı.

Haziran 1941'de Almanların Sovyetler Birliği'ne saldırısından sonra Tatarlar Almanya için daha da
önemli hale geldi. Sovyet Kızıl Ordusu'ndan yüzbinlerce asker esir alındı ve devlet bu esirlerin
varlığından yararlanmak konusunda istekliydi. Alman ordusu içinde bir Volga-Ural lejyonu kuruldu ve
askerî çabalara Tatarca bir gazete, dergi ve edebi almanaklar yayınlayan bir propaganda merkezi eşlik
etti. II. Dünya Savaşı'nı takip eden yıllarda, Tatar dili, ABD'nin Sovyetler Birliği'ne yönelik propaganda
çabalarının da bir parçası oldu ve 1953'te Münih'te Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty'nin Tatar-Başkurt
şubesi kuruldu. 1990'lardan bu yana, çok sayıda Tatar, genellikle Rusya'dan Almanya'ya bireysel
olarak göç etti ve yavaş yavaş, dilin sadece küçük bir rol oynadığı bir Tatar kimliğini somut hale
getirdiler. Yalnızca son birkaç yılda Almanya'ya eğitim için gelen genç Tatar nesil, Tatar dilinin önemini
alenen ifade etmeye başladı.

Keywords

Tatar diasporası, Almanya, dünya savaşları, propaganda, kimlik inşası

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