Germany, the expulsion, and the Cold War

The expulsion of innocent German civilians from 1944-1950 as a result of their defeat in World War II was the tip of the iceberg in world affairs that caused what we now know as the “Cold War”. I have encountered several sources as I researched for my Master’s Thesis that state the “Cold War” began with German unification of 1871. This  unification in 1871 sparked a series of events in Europe that ultimately caused the expulsion and the “Cold War.” Any history can agree or disagree with this statement but the expulsion of Germans is a clear tipping point that lead to the “Cold War.” Gilad Margalit’s work, called Guilt, Suffering, and Memory: Germany Remembers its Dead of World War II, published in 2010 is extremely detailed and informative. It gives an overview of the German expulsion, how soldiers and expellees are remembered from the end of the war until present day, and the relationship between former West and East Germany and their interpretation of the war and collective guilt. It is a work worth reading. Another work that looks at refugees and expellees and their presence in occupied Germany is Ian Connor’s Refugees and expellees in post-war Germany. His work covers the origins of the expulsion and the problems expellees and refugees faced in occupied Germany such as housing, food, and unemployment. The concept of how expellees should be represented in present-day Germany is hotly debated. Those expellee leaders, expellee organizations, and expellees, as well as their supporters, are labeled as revisionist because of their desire to give recognition to the suffering of 12 million Germans who were expelleed and the 2 million who perished on their journey to Germany. View museum exhibits have been created to acknowledge the expulsion form 1944-1950. Even though Germany and many other countries are working towards understanding their impact in World War II and the Holocaust, the events surrounding the expulsion and the expulsion themselves have not yet been included in this discussion thus causing a delayed acceptance of flaws on the hands of those who committed the expulsion.

Works mentioned:

Connor, Ian. Refugees, and expellees in post-war Germany. New York: Manchester University Press, 2007.

Margalit, Gilad. Guilt, Suffering, and Memory: Germany Remembers its Dead of World War II. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.