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In April 1946, northern East Prussia became an official province of the [[Russian SFSR]] as "''Kenigsbergskaya Oblast''", with the [[Klaipėda Region|Memel Territory]] becoming part of the [[Lithuanian SSR]]. In June 1946 114,070 German and 41,029 Soviet citizens were registered in the Oblast, with an unknown number of disregarded unregistered persons. In July of that year, the historic city of Königsberg was renamed [[Kaliningrad]] to honour [[Mikhail Kalinin]] and the area named the [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]. Between 24 August and 26 October 1948 21 transports with in total 42,094 Germans left the Oblast to the [[Soviet Occupation Zone]]. The last remaining Germans left in November 1949 (1,401 persons) and January 1950 (7 persons)<ref>Andreas Kossert, Damals in Ostpreussen, p. 179-183, München 2008 ISBN 978-3-421-04366-5</ref>. After the expulsion of the German population ethnic [[Russians]], [[Belarusians]], and [[Ukrainians]] were settled in the northern part.
In the Soviet part of the region, a policy of eliminating all remnants of German history was pursued. All German place names were replaced with new Russian names. Furthermore, in 1967 the remains of [[Königsberg Castle]] were destroyed by demolitions on the orders of [[Leonid Brezhnev]] to make way on the site for a new "House of the Soviets".
===Southern part to Poland===
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Since the [[Cold War (1985–1991)|fall of Communism in 1991]], some German groups have tried to help settle the [[Volga Germans]] from eastern parts of Russia in the [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]. This effort was only a small success, however, as most impoverished Volga Germans preferred to emigrate to the richer [[Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]], where they could become German citizens through the [[Right of return#Germany|right of return]].
Although the 1945–1949 expulsion of Germans from the northern part of former East Prussia was often conducted in a violent and aggressive way by Soviet officials seeking revenge for Nazi crimes committed in the Soviet Union, the present Russian inhabitants of the Kaliningrad Oblast have much less animosity towards Germans. German names have been revived in commercial Russian trade and there is sometimes talk of reverting Kaliningrad's name back its historic name of Königsberg. Because the exclave during Soviet times was a [[closed city|military zone]] which no one could enter without special permission, many old German villages are intact, though they have become dilapidated over the years. The city centre of Kaliningrad, however, had to be completely rebuilt, as [[United Kingdom|British]] bombs
== See also ==
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