German exodus from Eastern Europe
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The German exodus from Eastern Europe refers to the exodus of ethnic German populations from lands to the east of present-day Germany and Austria. The exodus began in the aftermath of World War I and was implicated in the rise of Nazism. It culminated in expulsions of Germans from Eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War II. These were part of negotiated agreements between the victorious Allies to redraw national borders and arrange for "orderly population transfers" to remove ethnic minorities that were viewed as "troublesome".
[edit] Background
- See also: Ethnic German
Migrations that took place over more than a millennium led to pockets of Germans living throughout Eastern Europe as far east as Russia. By the sixteenth century, much of Pomerania, Prussia, the Sudetenland, Bessarabia, Galicia, South Tyrol, Carniola, and Lower Styria had many German towns and villages. By the early nineteenth century, every city of even modest size as far east as Russia had a German quarter and a Jewish quarter. Travellers along any road would pass through, for example, a German village, then a Czech village, then a Polish village, etc., depending on the region.
The rise of nationalism in Europe from the middle of the nineteenth century spread the idea of a "people" who shared a common bond through race, religion, language and culture, and had a right to form its own state. In these circumstances various situations could lead to conflict. One was when one nation asserted territorial rights to land outside its borders on the basis of a common bond with the people living on that land. Another was when a minority ethnic group sought to secede from a state either to form an independent nation or join another nation with whom they felt stronger ties. A third source of conflict was the desire of some nations to expel people from their territories on the grounds that those people did not share a common bond with the majority of people living in that nation.
[edit] Territorial claims of German nationalists
By World War I, there were isolated groups of Germans or so-called Schwaben as far southeast as the Bosphorus (Turkey), Georgia, and Azerbaijan. After the war, Germany's and Austria-Hungary's loss of territory and the rise of communism in the Soviet Union meant that more Germans than ever constituted sizable minorities in various countries.
German nationalists used the existence of large German minorities in other countries as a basis for territorial claims. Many of the propaganda themes of the Nazi regime against Czechoslovakia and Poland claimed that the ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) in those territories were persecuted.
The Nazis negotiated a number of population transfers with Joseph Stalin and others with Benito Mussolini so that both Germany and the other country would increase their ethnic homogeneity. However, these population transfers were not sufficient to appease the demands of the Nazis. The "Heim ins Reich" rhetoric of the Nazis over the continued disjoint status of enclaves such as Danzig and Königsberg was an agitating factor in the politics leading up to World War II, and is considered by many to be among the major causes of Nazi aggressiveness and thus the war. Adolf Hitler used these issues as a pretext for waging wars of aggression against Czechoslovakia and Poland.
[edit] Support of Nazi invasion by German population in invaded countries
As Nazi Germany invaded first Czechoslovakia and later Poland, some members of German minorities in those countries aided the invading forces and the subsequent Nazi occupation. These acts would cause enmity against Germans and later be used as part of the justification for the expulsions.
[edit] Czechoslovakia
According to the 1920 Czechoslovakian constitution, German minority rights were carefully protected; their educational and cultural institutions were preserved in proportion to the population. Local hostilities were engendered, however, by policies intended to protect the security of the Czechoslovak state and the rights of Czechs. There were also economic tensions, as Sudeten Germans suffered more during the Great Depression, because they were more dependent on foreign trade and economic conditions in Germany.
Sudeten German nationalist sentiment affected their politics during the early years of the republic. In 1926, however, Chancellor Gustav Stresemann of Germany, advised Sudeten Germans to cooperate actively with the Czechoslovak government. In consequence, most Sudeten German parties changed from negativism to activism, and a number of Sudeten Germans accepted cabinet posts. By 1929, only a small number of Sudeten German deputies - most of them members of the German National Party (propertied classes) and the Sudeten Nazi Party (Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei) - remained in opposition.
On October 1, 1933, Konrad Henlein created a new political organization, the Sudeten German Home Front which professed loyalty to the Czechoslovak state but championed decentralization. It absorbed most former German nationals and Sudeten Nazis. In 1935 the Sudeten German Home Front became the Sudeten German Party (Sudetendeutsche Partei, SdP) and embarked on an active propaganda campaign. In the May election the SdP won more than 60 percent of the Sudeten German vote at the expense of the German Agrarians, Christian Socialists, and Social Democrats who each lost approximately half of their constituencies. [1]
The SdP became the fulcrum of German nationalist forces. The party represented itself as striving for a just settlement of Sudeten German claims within the framework of Czechoslovak democracy. Henlein, however, maintained secret contact with Nazi Germany and received material aid from Berlin. The SdP endorsed the idea of a führer and mimicked Nazi methods with banners, slogans, and uniformed troops. Concessions offered by the Czechoslovak government, including the transfer of Sudeten German officials to Sudeten German areas and possible participation of the SdP in the cabinet, were rejected. By 1937, most SdP leaders supported Hitler's pan-German objectives. [2]
[edit] Poland
Some ethnic Germans living in Poland were activists in the groups Deutscher Volksverband and Jungdeutscher Partei, and before the war opposed any form of co-existence within the Polish state, and condemned speaking in Polish or contact with Polish culture. Polish national events were boycotted and Germans who did not act in the required manner were branded as traitors and renagades by these German minority organisations. Such organisations also distributed propaganda films and brochures with anti-Polish statements.
One Polish historian estimates that 25% of the German population in Poland belonged to Nazi-sponsored organizations that supported the Nazi conquest of Poland.[3] Selbstschutz and German nationalist organisations created in Poland and Czechoslovakia by Germans took part in various actions (sabotage, etc.) which targeted the Polish population. For example, Selbstschutz took part in and itself conducted mass executions of Poles in Operation Tannenberg. As Selbstschutz counted 82,000 members out of 741,000 Germans living in Poland, over 10 % of Germans living in Poland were members of this organisation.
Polish historians estimate that, in areas that were incorporated into the Third Reich, 40,000 Poles were murdered and 20,000 were sent to concentration camps during the so-called Intelligenzaktion, in which Selbstschutz also took part. Only a few percent of those sent to concentration camps survived.
In the early days of the occupation, 90% of those who were sent to concentration camps were targeted by German nationals [4] The overwhelming majority of those victims were selected by local Germans who identified them as enemies of the Reich [5]. Germans living in Poland made lists of Poles targeted for execution and hunted down and captured Poles.[5]
At the time of the expulsion, many Germans still supported Nazism. For example according to polls conducted among Germans in the American Zone of Occupation from November 1945 till December 1947, the percentage of the German population that supported the view that "National Socialism was a good idea, but badly implemented" was on average 47%, while in August 1947 the percentage increased to 55% [6]
[edit] Nazi-Soviet population transfers
Main article: Nazi-Soviet population transfers.
Germans were resettled from territories which were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, notably from Bessarabia and the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, all of which traditionally had large German minorities. The majority of the Baltic Germans had already been resettled in late 1939, prior to the occupation of Estonia and Latvia by the Soviet Union in June 1940. These Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) were then resettled in place of expelled Poles both in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany and in Zamość County in line with the Generalplan Ost.
[edit] The Allies decide the postwar German-Polish border
As it became evident that the Allies were going to defeat Nazi Germany decisively, the question arose as to how to redraw the borders of Eastern European countries after the war. In the context of those decisions, the problem arose of what to do about ethnic minorities within the redrawn borders.
Winston Churchill was convinced that the only way to alleviate tensions between the two populations was the transfer of people, to match the national borders. As he stated in a speech to the House of Commons in 1944, "Expulsion is the method which, in so far as we have been able to see, will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble... A clean sweep will be made. I am not alarmed by these transferences, which are more possible in modern conditions."
[edit] The Yalta Conference
The final decision to move Poland's boundary westward was made by the US, Britain and the Soviets at the Yalta Conference, shortly before the end of the war. The precise location of the border was left open; the western Allies also accepted in general the principle of the Oder River as the future western border of Poland and of population transfer as the way to prevent future border disputes. The open question was whether the border should follow the eastern or western Neisse rivers, and whether Stettin, the traditional seaport of Berlin, should remain German or be included in Poland.
Originally, Germany was to retain Stettin while the Poles were to annex East Prussia with Königsberg. [7]. Eventually, however, Stalin decided that he wanted Königsberg as a year-round warm water port for the Soviet Navy and argued that the Poles should receive Stettin instead. The wartime Polish government in exile had little to say in these decisions.[8]
[edit] The Potsdam Conference
At the Potsdam Conference the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union placed the German territories east of the Oder-Neisse line (Poland referred to by the Polish communist government as the "Western Territories" or "Regained Territories") as formally under Polish administrative control. It was anticipated that a final peace treaty would follow shortly and either confirm this border or determine whatever alterations might be agreed upon.
The final agreements in effect compensated Poland for 187,000 km² located east of the Curzon line with 112,000 km² of former German territories. The northerneastern third of East Prussia was directly annexed by the Soviet Union and remains part of Russia to this day.
It was also decided that all Germans remaining in the new and old Polish territory should be expelled, to prevent any claims of minority rights. Among the provisions of the Potsdam Conference was a section that provided for the "orderly transfer of German populations". The specific wording of this section was as follows:
The Three Governments, having considered the question in all its aspects, recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations, or elements thereof, remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and humane manner.
[edit] Evacuation and Flight
German plans for the evacuation of the civilian population were prepared well in advance. The evacuation plan for East Prussia was completed and ready for implementation by the middle of 1944. It comprised both general plans for each province and detailed plans for each town. The detailed plans consisted of 5 parts, including general outline and concentration points, preparation tasks for local administration, specific instructions and detailed scenarios of the foreseen two phases of evacuation. Separate plans were prepared for industrial plants. The plans covered not only evacuation of civilians but also livestock and plans to destroy the industry and infrastructure.
Despite these preparations, Nazi authorities were late to order the evacuation of areas close to the advancing front, before they were overrun by the Red Army. About 50% of the Germans residing in areas annexed by Germany during WW2 and almost 100% residing in unannexed occupied areas were evacuated. [9] While around 7.5 million Germans [10] (both "Imperial Germans" and "Ethnic Germans") were either evacuated or otherwise escaped the East Prussia and the previously occupied territories, many lost their lives either because of severe winter conditions, poor organisation or military operations.
[edit] Expulsion
Main article: Expulsion of Germans after World War II.
The remaining German inhabitants either were expelled or fled from present-day Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, today's Kaliningrad Oblast, and other East European countries. Up to 16.5 million of the post-war German population were forced to leave. Those who fled in fear of the Red Army were banned from returning. Some Germans were persecuted because of their activities during the war, yet the single reason for their expulsion was their ethnicity as Germans. They were sent to makeshift camps or cities in western Germany, mostly according to their Landsmannschaft.
According to some German sources, more than 2.5 million lost their lives during this process. Other German, Czech and Polish sources give a much lower estimate (Czech historians arguing that most of the estimated losses stemmed from the deaths of soldiers killed at the front).
The population transfer itself included about 7 million from the former eastern Germany; 1.5 million from Poland (1938 borders) or 5.075 million from the postwar borders (see Oder-Neisse Line); 2.5 million from Czechoslovakia; around 2 million from the Soviet Union; 240,000 from Hungary; 300,000 from Romania; and another 1 million from other Eastern European regions.
The expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe was tolerated by the Potsdam Agreement, which stated that the process should be undertaken in a "humane" and "orderly" manner, though it failed to specify detailed rules for, or supervision of, the process to guard against humanitarian and other crimes.
[edit] Emigration of Germans from Eastern Europe
Between 1950 and 1990, 1.4 million people emigrated from Poland to Germany claiming German ancestry (770 000 of them in the 1980s). Between 1970 and 1990 Communist Romania allowed the migration of ethnic Germans (Danube Swabians, Carpathian Germans and Transylvanian Saxons) to West Germany and Romanian Jews to Israel in exchange for hard currency. Since the Romanian Revolution, this migration has continued.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, large numbers of Russian Germans (Wolgadeutsche) took advantage of Germany's liberal law of return to leave the harsh conditions of the Soviet successor states. By 1999 about 1.7 million former Soviet citizens of German origin had emigrated, mainly from Russia and Kazakhstan, to Germany. About 6,000 settled in Kaliningrad Oblast (former East Prussia).
[edit] The results
During the period of 1944/1945 - 1950, more than 14 million Germans were forced to flee or were expelled as a result of actions of the Red Army, civilian militia and/or organised efforts of governments of the reconstituted states of Eastern Europe. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans were detained in internment camps or sentenced to forced labor, some of them for years. The number of expellees and refugees, whose fate could not be ascertained, was estimated to be around 2.1 million, according to two major studies conducted in 1958 and 1965, which were commissioned by the German Bundestag. Millions of German women were raped (the process of escape and expulsion includes the actions taken by the Red Army against German civilians). Private property of the expelled Germans was confiscated. More than 4 million Germans were resettled in Germany from the end of the 1950s, joining the 14 million expellees and refugees.
A German expellees source from the mid-1980s[11] gives the following estimates of the population transfers.
| German Expellees |
|
|---|---|
| Expelled from | Number expelled |
| Eastern Germany | 7,122,000 |
| Danzig | 279,000 |
| Poland | 661,000 |
| Czechoslovakia | 2,911,000 |
| Baltic States | 165,000 |
| USSR | 90,000 |
| Hungary | 199,000 |
| Romania | 228,000 |
| Yugoslavia | 271,000 |
The integration of expellees and refugees into German society required great efforts from the 1940s to the 1960s. In some areas, for instance in Mecklenburg, the number of inhabitants doubled as a result of the influx. Other areas, like Bavaria, which had been predominantly Roman Catholic before the war now had to deal with an influx of non-Catholic and non-Bavarian Germans from the East.
The areas, from which the Germans escaped, or which were ethnically cleansed, were subsequently re-populated by nationals of the states to which they now belonged, many of whom were expellees themselves from lands further east.
[edit] Legacy
During the Cold War era, there was little public knowledge of the expulsions outside Germany and thus scant discussion over the morality of the policy. Perhaps the primary reason for this is that Cold War geopolitics discouraged criticism of post-war Allied policies by the West Germans and of post-war Soviet policies by the East Germans. There was some discussion of the expulsions in the first decade and a half after World War II but serious review and analysis of the events was not undertaken until the 1990s. It can be surmised that the fall of the Soviet Union, the spirit of glasnost and the unification of Germany opened the door to a renewed examination of these events.
[edit] Cold War assessments of the expulsions
In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered a memorable speech in Fulton, Missouri in the presence of US President Truman. Churchill made the USA aware of the Iron Curtain coming down "from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic". In this speech, Churchill also emphasised the wrongful Soviet-directed Polish incursions into Germany (that is, the land east of the Oder-Neisse line) and the plight of millions of Germans refugees/expellees. However, taking into account his personal responsibility for and - though reluctant - acceptance of the decisions made in Potsdam, the sentence would seem to have been motivated by the contemporary political agenda.[citation needed]
During the Cold War, anti-Communists in the U.S. used the expulsions to excoriate the Soviet Union and its satellites for alleged cruelty and inhumanity of the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. Because of the polemic nature of these allegations, estimates of deaths due to the expulsions tended to run higher than subsequent assessments by historians. For example, in a speech before the U.S. House of Representatives on May 16, 1957, the Hon. B. Carroll Reece of Tennessee called the deportation and violent expulsion of German civilians "genocide". He charged that over 16 million Germans had been expelled from their homes east of the Oder-Neisse Line, resulting in over 3 million deaths. [12]
Both Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Lev Kopelev, during their Soviet military service, had objected to the brutal treatment of German civilians of East Prussia. Lev Kopelev wrote about the cruel events in post-1945 East Prussia in the autobiographical trilogy To Be Preserved Forever (Хранить вечно, Khranit' Venchno).
[edit] Expelled Germans in postwar Germany
After World War II many expellees (German: Heimatvertriebene) found refuge in both West Germany and East Germany. Refugees who had fled voluntarily but were later refused to return are often not distinguished from those who were forcibly deported, just as people born to German parents that moved into areas under German occupation either on their own or as Nazi colonists.
In a document signed 50 years ago the Heimatvertriebene organisations have also recognized the plight of the different groups of people living in today's Poland who were by force resettled there. The Heimatvertriebene are just one of the groups of millions of other people, from many different countries, who all found refuge in today's Germany.
Some of the expellees were active in politics and belonged to the political right-wing. Many others do not belong to any organizations, but they continue to maintain what they call a lawful right to their homeland. The vast majority pledged to work peacefully towards that goal while rebuilding post-war Germany and Europe.
The expellees and their descendants are still highly active in German politics, and are one of the major political factions of the nation, with still around 2 million members. The president of their organization is as of 2004 still a member of the national parliament. Although the prevailing political climate within West Germany was that of atonement for Nazi actions, the CDU governments have shown considerable support for the expellees and German civilian victims.
[edit] Federation of Expellees
The Federation of Expellees (German: Bund der Vertriebenen (BdV)) is a non-profit organization formed to represent the interests of Germans displaced from their homes in Historical Eastern Germany and other parts of Eastern Europe by the expulsion of Germans after World War II. ("Heimatvertriebene": "Homeland expellees").
It represents the diaspora of German citizens (today numbering approximately 15 million) who after World War II were transferred from Poland and the Soviet Union and former German territories, together with ethnic Germans who were transferred from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and other countries. The current president is CDU politician Erika Steinbach.
[edit] Centre Against Expulsions
The foundation Centre Against Expulsions has its registered office in Wiesbaden and is headed by CDU politician Erika Steinbach. One of Steinbach's main aims is to build the Centre Against Expulsions (German: Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen) in Berlin, a memorial dedicated to the victims of forced migrations or ethnic cleansing in Europe, particularly those of the Germans displaced after World War II.
It was initiated by the Federation of Expellees, with the support of the CDU/CSU faction in the German parliament and of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who intends to support the building of the centre.[citation needed]
The initiative has caused much controversy, both in Germany and abroad. Some critics of the Federation of Expellees criticize the movement to build a centre and monument against forced migration for focusing primarily on the expulsion of Germans rather than giving more weight to expulsions throughout all Europe.[citation needed]
Critics argue that this focus on German expulsions "risks de-contexualizing the past, thus breaking the causal relationship between the Nazi policies of radical nationalism and racial extermination on one hand and the flight and expulsion of ethnic Germans on the other hand"[13]. This line of criticism argues that the expulsion of ethnic Germans was indirectly a result of Nazi policies during World War II. It charges that the Centre Against Expulsions portrays expelled Germans as victims of the war and thereby downplays the German responsibility for the Holocaust, atrocities and the aggression leading to the outbreak of the war.
Other voices pointed out that it is important to document every part of history in order to be accurate. Furthermore, some argue German responsibility for World War II is and will continue to be known, thus the fear is unsubstantiated.[citation needed]
[edit] Polish-German relations
Although relations between the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany have generally been cordial since 1991, there remain disputes about the war, the post-war expulsion, and the treatment and preservation of German cultural heritage in modern day western and northern Poland.
Since 1990, historical events have been examined by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Its role is to investigate the crimes of the past without regard to the nationality of victims and perpetrators. In Poland, crimes motivated by the nationality of victims are not covered by a statute of limitations, therefore the criminals can be charged in perpetuity. In some cases, the crimes against Germans were examined. One suspected perpetrator of retaliatory crimes against expelled innocent German civilians, Salomon Morel, fled the country to Israel, which has denied Polish requests for his extradition.
[edit] Finalization of the Polish-German border
The Oder-Neisse line as the Polish-German border was accepted by the East German government. The border was even referred to as the "Border of Peace" (German: Friedensgrenze) in official Communist Party propaganda. It was initially rejected as unacceptable by all West German political parties, with the exception of the Communists. By the 1960s this opposition had mellowed, especially within the Social Democrats and the Liberals. The government declared the border an issue to be solved in a future peace treaty. The Oder-Neisse line was formally accepted by the Two plus Four treaty, effecting Germany's reunification in 1990, and a Polish-German border in 1991. The agreement also gave to minority groups in both countries several rights, such as the right to use national surnames, speak their native languages, and attend schools and churches of their choice.
[edit] Restrictions on the sale of property to foreigners
In November 2005 Der Spiegel published a poll from Allensbach Institut which estimated that 61% of Poles believed Germans would try to get back territories that were formerly under German control or demand compensation.[14][15]
There are also some worries among Poles that rich descendants of the expelled Germans would buy the land the Polish state confiscated in 1945. It is believed that this may result in large price increases, since the current Polish land price is low compared to Western Europe. This led to Polish restrictions on the sale of property to foreigners, including Germans: special permission is needed. This policy is comparable to similar restrictions on the Baltic Åland Islands. These restrictions will be lifted 12 years after the 2004 accession of Poland to the European Union, i.e on May 1, 2016. The restrictions are weak, they are not valid for companies and certain types of properties.
The attempts by German organisations to build a Centre Against Expulsions dedicated to documentation of, among other subject matter, the Expulsion of Germans after World War II has provoked strong reactions in Poland. A proposal by Polish politicians that Germany should instead build a Center for the Memory of the Suffering of the Polish Nation (called also Center for the Memory of Suffering of the Polish Nation) was rejected by German politicians, who argue that this suffering has already been documented in memorial centers and expositions while that of the expelled Germans has not.[16]
[edit] Indemnity claims
The officially proposed policy of the expellees is not to repeat the post-war expulsions with new expulsions, annexations and population transfers. Most expellees accept the territorial changes of 1945 as far as territorial claims are concerned and consider the Poles now living in former East Germany as friends and neighbours in the European Union. However, a few of them demand compensation from the Poles and support the Prussian Claims Inc.
At the end of August 2004, a heated debate took place in the Polish Sejm over a proposed bill calling upon the Polish government to enforce Germany's payment of reparations for damage inflicted on Poland during World War II. The issue of German reparations was raised in response to signals coming from Germany, or rather from certain German circles which in civil legal proceedings wanted to lay indemnity claims for property left behind in the postwar territory of Poland. The Polish nation had reacted strongly to statements made by Erika Steinbach, chair of the Union of the Expelled (BdV), and claims made by Prussian Claims Inc. Polish politicians asserted that only a response in the form of Poland's reparations claim could suppress endeavors of German citizens and their political advocates who are attempting to claim indemnity from Polish citizens in civil proceedings. The majority of Poles have not received any compensation from the Soviet Union or Germany for losses suffered during World War II. However, Steinbach has sharply rejected any compensation claims and distanced herself from the Prussian Claims Inc.[citation needed]
[edit] Czech-German relations
On 28 December 1989, Václav Havel, at that time a candidate for president of Czechoslovakia (he was elected one day later), suggested that Czechoslovakia should apologise for the expulsion of ethnic Germans after World War II. Most of the other prominent politicians disagreed with this proposal. There was also no reply from leaders of Sudeten German organizations. Later, the German President Richard von Weizsäcker answered this by apologizing to Czechoslovakia during his visit to Prague on March 1990 after Václav Havel repeated his apology saying that the expulsion was "the mistakes and sins of our fathers". The Beneš decrees, however, remain in force in Czechoslovakia.
In Czech-German relations, the topic has been effectively closed by the Czech-German declaration of 1997. One principle of the declaration was that parties will not burden their relations with political and legal issues which stem from the past.
However, some expelled Sudeten Germans or their descendants are demanding return of their former property, which was confiscated after the war. Several such cases have been taken to Czech courts. As confiscated estates usually have new inhabitants, some of whom have lived there for more than 50 years, attempts to return to a pre-war state may cause fear. The issue is revived periodically in Czech politics. As in Poland, there are restrictions in the Czech Republic on land purchases by foreigners. According to a survey by the Allensbach Institut in November 2005, 38% of Czechs believe Germans want to regain territory they lost or will demand compensation.
[edit] Recognition of Sudeten German anti-Nazis
In 2005 Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek announced an initiative to publicise and formally recognise the deeds of Sudeten German Anti-Nazis. Although the move was received positively by most Sudeten Germans and the German minority, there has been criticism that the initiative is limited to anti-Nazis who actively fought for the Czechoslovak state, but not to anti-Nazis in general or non-Nazis. Some also expected some financial compensation for their mistreatment after the War. [17]
[edit] Status of the German minority in the Czech Republic and Slovakia
There are about 40,000 Germans remaining in the Czech Republic. Their number has been consistently decreasing since World War II. According to the 2001 census there remain 13 municipalities and settlements in the Czech Republic with more than 10% Germans.
The situation in Slovakia was different from that in the Czech lands, in that the number of Germans was considerably lower and that the Germans from Slovakia were almost completely evacuated to German states as the Soviet army was moving west through Slovakia, and only the fraction of them that returned to Slovakia after the end of the war was deported together with the Germans from the Czech lands.
[edit] The German minority in Hungary
Today the German minority in Hungary has minority rights, organizations, schools, local councils, and spontaneous assimilation is well under way. Many of the deportees have visited their old homes since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1990.
[edit] Russia
Many descendants of Germans who were expelled from the former city of Königsberg can be found today in Germany. The deportation of Germans from the northern part of what was formerly East Prussia often was conducted in a violent and aggressive way by Soviet officials who sought to exact revenge for the atrocities committed by the Nazis in Soviet areas during the war. However, the present Russian inhabitants of the Kaliningrad sector (northern East Prussia) have much less animus against Germans. German names have even been revived in commercial Russian trade. Thus, it is possible that, in the future, the name of Kaliningrad might be reverted to the original name, Königsberg. Because the exclave was a military zone during Soviet times and nobody was allowed to enter without special permission, many old German Prussian villages are still intact, though they have become dilapidated over the course of time.
[edit] See also
- Danube-Swabians
- Population transfer
- Regained Territories
- Volga German
- History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
[edit] Notes
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ a b (Polish)Polacy - wysiedleni, wypędzeni i wyrugowani przez III Rzeszę" Doctor Maria Wardzyńska Warsaw 2004" Created on order of Reichsfuhrer SS H.Himler from German minority, terrorist organisation called Selbstschutz co-worked in mass executions during „Intelligenzaktion”, made alongside operational groups of security policy, by pointing out local Poles and interning them
- ^ Rocznik Polsko-Niemiecki Tom I "Polska a Niemcy; ludność, odbudowa, przemiany polityczne w pierwszych latach powojennych" Edmund Dmitrów Warszawa 1992
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ Nitschke, "Wysiedlenie ...", pp. 59-60
- ^ source: Die Vertriebung der deutschen Bevölkerung aus den Gebieten östlich der Oder-Neisse, Band I, Munich 1984
- ^ (German) Gerhard Reichling (1986). Die deutschen Vertriebenen in Zahlen. Bonn: Kulturstiftung der deutschen Vertriebenen (Cultural Society of the German Expellees), 72. ISBN 3-88557-046-7.
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9]
- ^ [10]
- ^ [11]
- ^ [12]
[edit] References
- Nitschke, Bernadetta (2001). "Wysiedlenie czy wypędzenie ? Ludność niemiecka w Polsce w Latach 1945-1949" (in Polish). Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek. ISBN 8371746326.
