Expulsion of Germans

Expulsion Of Germans

The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals (Reichsdeutsche) regardless of ethnicity, and ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) regardless of which citizenship, from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria. These areas of expulsion included pre-war German provinces which were transferred to Poland and the Soviet Union after the war, as well as areas which Nazi Germany had annexed or occupied in pre-war Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, northern Yugoslavia and other states of Central and Eastern Europe.

The movement of Germans involved a total of at least 12 million people, with some sources putting the figure at 14 million, and was the largest movement or transfer of any population in modern European history. The largest numbers came from the former eastern territories of Germany acquired by Poland and the Soviet Union (about 7 million) and from Czechoslovakia (about 3 million). It was also the largest among all the post-war expulsions in Central and Eastern Europe, which displaced more than twenty million people in total. The events have been variously described as population transfer, ethnic cleansing or genocide.

The death toll attributable to the flight and expulsions is disputed, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to 2 million; more recent estimates are close to the lower 500,000 figure.

The policy was part of the geopolitical and ethnic reconfiguration of postwar Europe; in part spoils of war, in part political changes in Europe following the war and in part recompense for atrocities and ethnic cleansings that had occurred during the war.

The displacements occurred in three somewhat overlapping phases, the first of which was the spontaneous flight and evacuation of Germans in the face of the advancing Red Army, from mid-1944 to early 1945. The second phase was the disorganized expulsion of Germans immediately following the Wehrmacht's defeat. The third phase was a more organized expulsion following the Allied leaders' Potsdam Agreement, which redefined the Central European borders and approved orderly and humane expulsions of Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Many German civilians were also sent to internment and labor camps. The major expulsions were complete in 1950. Estimates for the total number persons of German ancestry still living in Eastern Europe in 1950 range from 700,000 to 2.7 million.