Major General Aleksei Aleksandrovich von Lampe and the Russian Èmigré community in Berlin 1923-1945

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The Russian emigre Aleksei von Lampe is a flamboyant figure within the Russian emigre colony in Berlin. His detailed diary, which he kept from 1919 to 1965, is an exceptional chronic of the Russian Berlin. This research project analyses the life of Aleksei von Lampe. His diary serves as the main primary source. The project mainly focuses on the period from 1923 to 1945 during which Lampe resided in Berlin. The project's outlook will briefly deal with the post-war period. Von Lampe became a key figure of the Russian Berlin, because he fought as a committed monarchist against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War and emigrated after the defeat of the Whites in 1920. In Berlin, he represented the "All-Russian Military Union", which was supposed to organize the White Army in emigration. Von Lampe stayed in the city even after the demise of the Russian Berlin and his decision to cooperate with the National Socialists is remarkable. During the Second World War he even attempted to organize an emigre division, which was intended to fight against the Red Army. After the war, Lampe relocated first to Munich and then to Paris, where he died in 1967. This research project pursues four distinct but related aims, which are not analyzed yet: 1. Von Lampe's autobiographical practice will be analyzed using his diary. This part will deal with the diary as a primary source and analyzes von Lampe's intentions by discussing the mere act of writing a diary itself. 2. Through this biographic approach, von Lampe's experiences during the revolution, emigration and the Second World War will be explored. This section will particularly focus on his political beliefs and his self-positioning in the dramatically changing circumstances in Germany between 1920 and 1950. 3. Based on von Lampe's interpersonal relationships the Russian colony will then be analyzed as a network in order to gain knowledge about the internal structures of the colony. 4. Finally, von Lampe's assessment of life in the Russian emigre colony and of the developments in Germany will be presented in detail in order to draw conclusions based on an internal perspective about individual and collective thinking patterns, value systems and the scope of action of the emigres. To do justice to the objectives of this research project despite the density of the source material, the analysis focuses on a few selected key years: 1923 marks the peak stage of the so-called Russian Berlin. In 1925 von Lampe was involved in a legal dispute caused by an accusation of espionage in favour of France. 1928 saw the end of Lampe's financial support through the All-Russian Military Union, which led to a dramatic change in his way of life. In 1933 von Lampe was arrested by the Gestapo and his daughter died. Between 1939 and 1945, von Lampe repositioned himself frequently due to the changeable and unsteady political situation in Germany. In 1957, von Lampe became head of the All-Russian Military Union in Paris.