The secret protocols caused Hitler to be in the humiliating position of having to hurriedly evacuate ethnic German families, the Volksdeutsche, who had lived in Finland and the Baltic countries for centuries, while officially condoning the invasions.
When the six children began to scream at the sight of their parents' bodies, Joseph Kokott, a German police officer (Volksdeutsche from Sudetenland), shot them after consulting with his superior.
Morale of the isolated troops was low, they were susceptible to Allied propaganda; many were "Volksdeutsche" (ethnic Germans born in foreign countries), and "Hiwis" (foreign volunteers).
These cities were designated as urban strongholds for Volksdeutsche natives.
He also brought in German engineers to supervise the construction of the new city of Saint Petersburg.
•
These settlers (many of whom intended to stay only temporarily) were generally confined to the German Quarter in Moscow (which also included Dutch, British and other western or northern European settlers whom the Russians came to indiscriminately refer to as "Germans").