Liechtenstein – part 7 – Schellenberg
Part 1 - A State in the Third Millennium
Part 2 - Vaduz
Part 3 - Balzers
Part 4 - Triesenberg
Part 5 - Malbun
Part 6 - Eschen
Part 7 - Schellenberg
Our final Liechtenstein destination was the town of Schellenberg. The municipality is small even for Liechtenstein standards and has a population of just 1090. It is located in the northern part of the country bordering Austria.
For some reason I can't find our Shellenberg pictures so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia
Near the town there a ruins of not one but two castles but we arrived pretty late and didn't visit them. Next time.
This picure is also stolen from Wikipedia
We had dinner in this restaurant. Just below it there is a monument related to an interesting piece of Liechtenstein history. During World War II some Russian monarchists fought on the side of the Germans against the communists. As you can expect after the end of the war the USSR decided to deal with them and in the meantime to gather all it citizens from around the world especially ones who were critical to communism (most of them didn't fight for Germany). At this time the USSR was the hero of the day. They had defeated Hitler and the West bowed to their wishes. The Cold War had not started yet and Churchill had not given the Iron Curtain speech. Nobody wants to give asylum to these Russians and at the same time the Allies shamefully repatriate every person the communists request.
In this atmosphere small Liechtenstein with its enormous balls gives the mighty USSR the metaphorical finger, gives asylum to the refugees and resists pressure to repatriate them. 460 men and women stay in Liechtenstein. As I have already mentioned at the time the principality is relatively poor and the population is only 12 000 but the people of Liechtenstein not only accept the soldiers but also support them financially. All this happens with the full support of the population.
Unable to bend the will of Liechtenstein the Soviets try a new tactic. They send a delegation to negotiate with the Russians their voluntary return. I believe the negotiations went something like this:
Soviet agent: Vanya, do you want to come home in Russia?
Vanya: Do I look stupid? You are going to shoot me at the first stop.
Soviet agent: Vanya, your brother Seriozha got married and has beautiful kids and your mother is very happy with them.
Vanya: Well, if you put it this way I guess I will go back.
About 200 of the refugees get on a train to the USSR. They were never heard of again. Most of the remaining Russians moved to Argentina or other countries looking for better life.
Back to Schellenberg. After the dinner we're waiting for the bus and taking a look at the town after dark. Schellenberg has very few people even by Liechtenstein standards. There is light in less than half of the houses. We notice cats. I can't tell if they are wild cats, stray cats or just pets who are allowed to go outside but this is the first time we see animals on the streets. The perfect public transport arrives on schedule. A teenager gets out the bus, greets us and heads home. I wonder what he thinks of us. We head back to Vaduz for the last night before we leave the state in the third millennium.