German man or Latvian Dvina? National self-perceptions and identities of Hugo Wittrock and Harry Marnitz in Riga 1941–1943/44

ABSTRACT

Taking the concept of national indifference of Tara Zahra as a starting point, the article examines the national self-perception of two Baltic German officials within the Nazi administration in occupied Riga during the Second World War on the basis of their memoirs. While Hugo Wittrock, who had lived most of his prewar years in independent Latvia, was more inclined toward a conservative German nationalism, Harry Marnitz, who had become a Nazi member already in 1926, depicted himself as an admirer of the Latvian culture. Both enthusiastically described the nature as the crucial part of their beloved homeland.

KEYWORDS:

• Baltic Germans
• national indifference
• hybridity
• Second World War
• Nazi occupation
• civil administration of Riga

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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Tilman Plath

Tilman Plath is Assistant Professor in Eastern European History at the University of Greifswald (Germany). He studied Eastern European History and Philosophy at the universities of Kiel (Germany), Riga and Daugavpils (Latvia). He defended his PhD-thesis in 2011 at the university of Flensburg (Germany) with a thesis on Labor Policies of Nazi-Germany in the Baltic States, 1941–1944. His research interests concentrate on political history of Latvia in the 19^th and 20^th century, German occupational policy in the Baltic States during the Second World War and Russian foreign trade in the 18^th century. Recent publications include his PhD-thesis Zwischen Schonung und Menschenjagden. Arbeitseinsatzpolitik in den baltischen Generalbezirken des Reichskommissariats Ostland (Essen: Klartextverlag 2012) and Naval Strength and Mercantile Weakness. Russia and the Struggle for Participation in the Baltic Navigation during the 18th century in Beyond the Sea. Reviewing the manifold dimensions of water as barrier and bridge (ed. by Marta Grzechnik and Heta Hurskainen, Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau 2014).