Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans After the Second World War

by R. M. Douglas

  83. Report by J. Adamkiewicz, head of the PUR Health Unit, Białogard, March 1, 1947, ibid., pp. 508–510.

  84. Reports by E. Kinsner, MZO, July 3 and 4, 1946, MZO 541b/B-7414.

  85. Report by L. Musial and J. Lipiński, MZO, May 2, 1947, MZO 541b/B-7414.

  86. Kazimierz Kuźmicki to Roman Fundowicz, July 28 and August 12, 1946, MZO 541b/B-7414.

  87. Kuźmicki to Fundowicz, August 12 and October 6, 1946, MZO 541b/B-7414.

  88. Boothby to Aleksander Barchacz, Voivode of Lower Silesia, June 14, 1946, in Borodziej and Lemberg, Die Deutschen östlich von Oder und Neiße, vol. 3, p. 580; report of the Inspection Department, MZO, on Assembly Camp no. 3, Szczecin, April 15, 1946, ibid., p. 454.

  89. Notes by the commandant, Kaławsk embarkation point, for meeting with Fundowicz, June 28, 1946, in Borodziej and Lemberg, Die Deutschen östlich von Oder und Neiße, vol. 3, pp. 580–581; Boothby to Fundowicz, July 11, 1946, ibid., p. 592; Chief Representative for the Repatriation of the German Population, MZO, to Barchacz, August 21, 1946, ibid., p. 598.

  90. Kinsner to MZO, November 25, 1946, MZO 541c/B-7415.

  91. J. Lipiński, PUR, to Main Delegate, MZO, Szczecin, December 14, 1946, MZO 541h/B-7420.

  92. Report by Adam Targosz, PUR, November 8, 1946, MZO 541d/B-7416; I. Zawadzki to MZO, January 7, 1947, MZO 541b/B-7414.

  93. Report by Lipiński for the Voivode of Szczecin, September 20, 1946, in Borodziej and Lemberg, eds., Die Deutschen östlich von Oder und Neiße, vol. 3, p. 477.

  94. Beddington to Kenchington, April 18, 1946, FO 1052/323.

  95. Letter from A. Richter, April 7, 1946, FO 1052/324.

  96. Statement of Käthe Hoffman, Kaławsk, July 1, 1946; Boothby to the Voivode of Silesia, same date, FO 1052/474.

  97. Kuźmicki to Fundowicz, July 18, 1946, MZO 541c/B-7415.

  98. M. Langer to PUR headquarters, January 15, 1947, in Borodziej and Lemberg, Die Deutschen östlich von Oder und Neiße, vol. 3, p. 493.

  99. Statement by Franz Muller, transport leader, train no. 74, April 6, 1946, FO 1052/474.

  100. Memorandum by Maj. I. E. Carr, Military Government, Hanover, June 13, 1946, FO 1052/324.

  101. Cavendish-Bentinck to C. F. A. Warner, Foreign Office, September 19, 1945, FO 371/47651.

  102. See J. T. Gross, Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz. An Essay in Historical Interpretation (New York: Random House, 2006), pp. 81–117.

  103. S. Rolinek, “Jüdische Fluchthilfe im Raum Salzburg: Das Netzwerk von Bricha und Betar 1945 bis 1948,” in T. Albrich, ed., Flucht nach Eretz Israel: Die Bricha und der jüdische Exodus durch Österreich 1945 (Innsbruck: Studien Verlag, 1998), pp. 93–118. See also S. Rolinek, Jüdische Lebenswelten 1945–1955: Flüchtlinge in der amerikanischen Zone Österreichs (Innsbruck: Studien Verlag, 2007).

  104. A. J. Kochavi, Post-Holocaust Politics: Britain, the United States, and Jewish Refugees, 1945–1948 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001), p. 175.

  105. W. H. B. Mack to Troutbeck, December 6, 1945, FO 371/46661.

  106. Telegram from Hankey to Foreign Office, January 9, 1946, FO 371/57684.

  107. J. Walters, “Stettin General Report No. 3,” May 26, 1946, FO 371/56596.

  108. Maj. E. M. Tobin to CCG (BE) Main HQ, Hanover, June 12, 1946, FO 1052/324.

  109. Boothby to Lt.-Col. B. I. James, 229 (P) Det. Military Government, Hanover, June 15, 1946, FO 1052/474.

  110. Boothby to Ford, July 11, 1946, FO 1052/474.

  111. Report by Ford for Kenchington, December 27, 1945, FO 1952/470.

  112. Maj.-Gen. J. S. Lethbridge, Chief, Intelligence Division, BAOR to Lieut.-Gen. Sir Brian Robertson, Deputy Military Governor, British zone, Germany, dated “Jul 46,” FO 1030/331.

  113. G. W. Rendel to Hector McNeil, n.d. (c. January 9, 1946), FO 371/57684.

  114. Erskine to Sir Gilmour Jenkins, COGA, August 1, 1946, FO 945/68.

  115. Lethbridge to Robertson, “Jul 46”; unsigned and undated BAOR memorandum, “Organisation in Prague for the Despatch of Illegal Polish Immigrants to Palestine”; Robertson to Sir Arthur Street, Permanent Secretary, COGA, August 14, 1946, FO 1030/331.

  116. T. Staněk and A. von Arburg, “Organizované divoké odsuny? Úloha ústředních státních orgánů při provádění “evakuace” německého obyvatelstva (květen až září 1945),” part 3: “Snaha vlády a civilních úradu o řízení ‘Divokého Odsunu,’” Soudobé dějiny 13:3–4 (January 2006): 342.

  117. See, e.g., unsigned and undated (c. September 1945) “Transport Calculation,” MNO 1151/951 (1945).

  118. Gen. B. Boĉek, Chief of Staff, Ministry of National Defense, to Lieut.-Gen. Dratvin, Office of the Prime Minister, May 6, 1946, ÚPV-T, 127/2, box 308, Prague.

  119. Memorandum by Gen. P. Bohumil, April 10, 1946, MNO 2617/785 (1946).

  120. Pravda (Plzeň), July 27, 1946; Sever, July 30, 1946; F. Frenzel to the Ministry of the Interior, June 27, 1945, MV-NR, box 7446, file B 458.

  121. A. Kuĉera to Z. Fierlinger, June 9, 1946, ÚPV-T 127/2, box 308.

  122. Rudé právo, May 16, September 8, 1946.

  123. Gen. K. Klapálek, “Observations on the Transfer of Germans into the Soviet Occupation Zone,” December 18, 1946, MNO 196/1140 (1946).

  124. Unsigned memorandum, “Transfer of Germans in May and June 1946: Negotiations with American Generals in Prague,” April 10, 1946, MNO 2617/785 (1946).

  125. Second Division to HQ, Military Region 1, January 15, 1946, Vojenská oblast 1 papers, file 52005, VÚA.

  126. Gen. K. Klapálek, “Observations on the Transfer of Germans into the Soviet Occupation Zone,” December 18, 1946, MNO 196/1140 (1946).

  127. Undated and unsigned memorandum on Sudeten expulsions (c. winter 1946), U.S. PW & DP Division, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128; Capt. H. W. Lambert, Expulsion Officer, Furth im Wald, “Problems Encountered in Accepting Sudeten German Refugees,” March 5, 1947, Office of Military Government for Germany, Records of the Civil Administration Division, Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons Branch: Records Relating to Expellees in the U.S. Zone, 1945–49, RG 260/390/42/26/1-2, box 189, “Expellees (Czech) 1947” file, NARA.

  128. Capt. H. W. Lambert, “Problems Encountered in Accepting Sudeten German Refugees.’

  129. Capt. Charles B. Rovin, Chief, Refugee Section, OMGB, to Col. J. H. Fye, Third U.S. Army Liaison Officer to the General Staff, Ministry of National Defense, Prague, August 5, 1946, box 127, RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, NARA.

  130. Lambert, “Problems Encountered in Accepting Sudeten German Refugees.”

  131. Fye, “Final Report,” p. 22.

  132. Lt.-Col. O. Zampach, Czechoslovak Army, to Fye, September 6, 1946, box 127, RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, NARA.

  133. W. Rudolf to the Fond Národní Obnoby, Liberec, December 14, 1946; C. G. Haucke, shipping agency, Liberec, to Schröder-Barkhausen law firm, Alsfeld (Hesse), November 23, 1946, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128, NARA.

  134. Lt.-Col. H. S. Messec, PW & DP Division, OMGUS, to the Public Safety Officer, October 2, 1946, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128, NARA.

  135. Lt.-Col. E. J. Jordan, Chief, Plans and Operations Branch, OMGB, to Messec, May 31, 1946, box 128, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128, NARA.

  136. Maj. W. T. Bradbury, CRX, to Lt.-Col. Ott, PW & DP Division, OMGUS, November 2, 1945, box 128, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128, NARA.

  137. State Commission for Refugees, Schwaben and Neuberg, to State Commission for Refugees, Munich, April 16, 1946, box 128, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128, NARA.

  138. Medical report by Dr. Böhm, Bavarian Red Cross, Wissau, April 13, 1946, box 128, OMGUS RG 260/390/42/24–25/7–1, box 128, NARA.

  139. Manchester Guardian, September 12, 1946.

  140. Staněk and von Arburg, “Organizované divoké odsuny?” part 2: “Ĉeskoslovenská armáda vytváři ‘hotové skuteĉnosti,’ vláda je před cizinou legitimizuje,” Soudobé dějiny 13:1–2
(January 2006): 32; N. Naimark, The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1995), p. 148.

  141. J. A. Grant, British Consulate, Bratislava, to Nichols, June 26, 1946, FO 371/55395.

  142. W. Frąck, Deputy Commissar for Repatriation Affairs, Wrocław, to the Commissar for Repatriation Affairs for Lower Silesia, January 3, 1946, in Lippóczy and Walichnowski, eds., Przesiedlenie ludności niemieckiej z Polski po II wojnie światowej, pp. 135–7.

  143. Maj.-Gen. G. P. Hays, Deputy Military Governor, OMGUS, Berlin, to Col. F. Dastich, October 22, 1947; Messec to Hays, August 16, 1947, RG 260/390/42/26/1-2, box 189, “Expellees (Czech) 1947” file, NARA.

  144. Telegram from Maj. A. E. Levey, OMGUS, to Capt. Haller, U.S. Forces, European Theater, June 8, 1946, RG 260/390/42/26/1-2, box 189, “Expellees” file, NARA.

  145. Col. J. H. Fye, “Final Report—Transfer of German Populations from Czechoslovakia to U.S. Zone, Germany,” November 30, 1946, p. 45, Margaret Eleanor Fait papers, accession no. 84040–9.02, box 4, file 16, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University; A. Bauerkämper, “Assimilationspolitik und Integrationsdynamik: Vertriebene in der SBZ/DDR in vergleichender Perspektive,” in M. Krauss, ed., Integrationen: Vertriebene in den deutschen Ländern nach 1945 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008), p. 34; Naimark, The Russians in Germany, p. 148.

  146. Draft memorandum by Thicknesse, n.d. (c. November 23, 1946), FO 1049/492.

  147. Unsigned memorandum, “Proposed British Policy with Regard to the Movement of Germans into the British Zone with a View to Permanent Residence,” March 1946, FO 1051/497.

  CHAPTER 7. THE NUMBERS GAME

  1. Der Spiegel, January 25, 1947.

  2. Picture Post, February 15, 1947.

  3. Maj. E. M. Tobin, “Report on Train No. 514 carrying Expellees under Operation Swallow,” December 27, 1946, FO 1049/739.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Tobin, “Report on Swallow Train No. 513 ex Kohlfurt,” December 18, 1947, FO 1052/323; unsigned and undated “Nominal Roll of Frostbite Cases on Swallow Train no. 513 of 15 Dec. 1946,” ibid., unsigned and undated “Brief for the Deputy Military Governor for his Discussion with the Chancellor,” FO 1049/739; Dr. Loebell, Marienthal camp physician, “Second Report on Swallow Train no. 513 of 15 Dec 1946,” December 17, 1946, FO 1052/472.

  6. Telegram from Advanced HQ, CCG (BE), Berlin, to Main HQ, CCG (BE), Lübbecke, January 18, 1947, FO 1052/472.

  7. The Times, February 1, 1947.

  8. B. Nitschke, Wysiedlenie ludności niemieckiej z Polski w latach 1945–1949 (Zielona Góra: Wyśsza Szkoła Pedagogiczna, 1999), n. 278.

  9. “Note of the French Delegation on Transport Difficulties Confronting Transfers of Population in Germany,” November 30, 1945, FO 1032/2284.

  10. Brig. A. C. Kenchington to PW & DP Division, July 6, 1946, FO 1052/471.

  11. Memorandum by Col. A. C. Todd, Deputy Chief, PW & DP Division, July 8, 1946, FO 1052/471.

  12. Telegram from Main HQ, CCG (BE), Lübbecke, to COGA, June 29, 1946, FO 1052/471.

  13. Telegram from Sir William Strang, Political Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief, Germany, to British Embassy, Prague, April 23, 1946; P. B. Nichols, British Ambassador, Prague, to C. R. Attlee, July 31, 1946, FO 945/432.

  14. Col. J. H. Fye, “Final Report—Transfer of German Populations from Czechoslovakia to U.S. Zone, Germany,” November 30, 1946, pp. 20–21, Margaret Eleanor Fait papers, accession no. 84040–9.02, box 4, file 16, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University.

  15. J. Hynd, “The Problem of the German Refugee Populations in the British Zone,” O.R.C. (46) 74, July 27, 1946, FO 945/67.

  16. Nichols to Attlee, July 31, 1946, FO 945/432; minute by the head of the Political Department, Office of the Prime Minister, Prague, on discussions between Ambassador Steinhardt and Dr. F. Ševĉik, July 23, 1946, ÚPV-T, 127/2, box 308, Prague; Fye, “Final Report,” p. 18.

  17. Telegram from Main HQ, CCG (BE), Lübbecke, to CRX Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover regions, July 19, 1946, FO 1052/471.

  18. Maj. E. A. L. Ford, CRX, to PW & DP Division, July 26, 1946; telegram from 709 (R) Detachment, Military Government, to Ford, same date, FO 1052/471.

  19. Maj. F. A. C. Boothby to Lieut.-Col. B. I. James, 229 (P) Detachment, Military Government, Hanover, July 14, 1946; Kenchington to Headquarters, PW & DP Division, July 25, 1946, FO 1052/471.

  20. Telegram from Advanced HQ, CCG (BE), Berlin, to Control Office for Germany and Austria, July 14, 1946, FO 371/55395.

  21. Minute by A. A. E. Franklin, July 19, 1946, FO 371/55395.

  22. Telegram from Control Office for Germany and Austria to Advanced HQ, CCG (BE), Berlin, August 6, 1946, FO 1049/515; same to same, October 23, 1946, FO 945/673.

  23. Minute by Sargent, December 3, 1945, FO 371/46816.

  24. Minute by Sargent, December 3, 1945, FO 371/46816; minute by R. M. A. Hankey, July 21, 1946; same to Warner, July 26, 1946, FO 371/55395; A. A. E. Franklin, “Operation Swallow,” August 24, 1946, FO 371/55396.

  25. Transcript of Radio Warsaw broadcast, July 18, 1946, FO 371/55396; D. Wilson, Foreign Office, to R. S. Crawford, COGA, July 30, 1946, FO 1049/515.

  26. Kenchington to Crawford, n.d (c. October 3, 1946), FO 371/55397.

  27. Ibid.

  28. Table by Lieut.-Col. Ugriumov and Lieut.-Cmdr. T. Konarski, Soviet and Polish Representatives, CRX, showing transfers of Germans from Poland to the Soviet zone, November 30, 1945–June 15, 1946, FO 1052/471.

  29. “Report of the Activities of C.R.X.,” DPOW/P (46) 50, April 26, 1946, FO 1005/839; same title, DPOW/P (46) 82, July 12, 1946, FO 1005/840; Kenchington to Crawford, n.d (c. October 3, 1946), FO 371/55397.

  30. Telegram from Main HQ, CCG (BE), Lübbecke, to Advanced HQ, CCG (BE), Berlin; April 6, 1946, FO 1032/2285; Lt.-Col. E. D. Bevan, Military Government, to CCG (BE), Lübbecke, May 18, 1946, FO 1052/474.

  31. Kenchington to Erskine, October 1, 1946, FO 1052/472; “Report of the Activities of C.R.X.,” DPOW/P (46) 101, August 26, 1946.

  32. Telegram from Advanced HQ, CCG (BE) to COGA, August 19, 1946, FO 371/55396.

  33. J. Misztal, “Wysiedlenia i repatriacja obywateli polskich z ZSRR a wysiedlenia i przesiedlenia niemców z Polski—próba bilansu,” in H. Orłowski and A. Sakson, eds., Utracona ojczyzna: Przymusowe wysiedlenia deportacje i przesiedlenia jako wspólne doświadczenie (Poznań: Instytut Zachodni, 1996), pp. 69–70.

  34. Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Ministry of National Defense, March 28, 1946, ÚPV-T 127/2, box 308.

  35. Memorandum by Lieut.-Col. G. B. Vaughan-Hughes, PW & DP Division, British Military Government, Germany, August 10, 1946; minutes of 20th meeting of quadripartite PW & DP Directorate, April 5, 1946, FO 1032/2285.

  36. Maj. A. K. Jones, “German Expellees from Poland (Operation “Swallow”), n.d., FO 1052/472; British Consul General, Frankfurt am Main, to C. E. Steel, Political Division, CCG (BE), Berlin, August 27, 1947, FO 945/760.

  37. Telegram from CCG (BE), Berlin, to COGA, August 19, 1946, FO 371/55396.

  38. Erskine to Col. J. P. Prawin, Polish Military Mission, August 26, 1946, FO 1049/515.

  39. Telegram from Cavendish-Bentinck to Foreign Office, September 2, 1946, FO 1049/515.

  40. Prawin to the Office of the Deputy Military Governor, CCG (BE), September 3, 1946, FO 1049/515. Emphasis in original.

  41. Circular telegram by PW & DP Division, Lemgo, September 11, 1946, FO 1032/2285.

  42. Minute by Franklin, September 13, 1946, FO 371/55397.

  43. Erskine to Prawin, September 20, 1946, FO 1049/515.

  44. Kenchington to Crawford, n.d (c. October 3, 1946), FO 371/55397.

  45. Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to British Embassy, Warsaw, September 30, 1946; minute by D. Wilson, October 8, 1946, FO 1049/515.

  46. L. D. Clay to G. H. Weems, May 19, 1946, FRUS, 1947: Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, vol. 4 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Offi
ce, 1972), p. 376 n. 14; “Report of the Activities of C.R.X.,” DPOW/P (46) 62, May 24, 1946, FO 1005/840.

  47. J.-L. Muller, L’expulsion des allemands de Hongrie: Politique internationale et destin méconnu d’une minorité (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2001), p. 31.

  48. S. Balogh, “Population Removal and Population Exchange in Hungary After World War II,” in F. Glatz, ed., Études historiques hongroises 1990 (Budapest: Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1990), p. 410.

  49. Á. Tóth, “Zwang oder Möglichkeit? Die Annahme der Maxime von der Kollektivschuld und die Bestrafung der Deutschen Minderheit in Ungarn,” in R. G. Plaschka, H. Haselsteiner, et al., eds., Nationale Frage und Vertreibung in der Tschechoslowakei und Ungarn 1938–1948 (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997), p. 101.

  50. Muller, L’expulsion des allemands de Hongrie, pp. 42–44, 48, 154.

  51. C. D. Eby, Hungary at War: Civilians and Soldiers in World War II (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998), p. 292.

  52. Telegram from Gascoigne to Foreign Office, May 15, 1945, FO 371/46810; E. Roman, Hungary and the Victor Powers 1945–1950 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996), p. 64. The latter work incorrectly states that “the western powers did not receive a similar request …”

  53. J. Grew to H. F. Arthur Schoenfeld, U.S. Representative in Hungary, June 14, 1945, FRUS: Diplomatic Papers, 1945: General: Political and Economic Matters, vol. 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1967), p. 1254.

  54. Telegram from Gascoigne to Churchill, June 26, 1945, FO 371/46810.

  55. Muller, L’expulsion des Allemands de Hongrie, pp. 85–6.

  56. Undated “Report on the Deportation of Germans from Hungary,” covered by letter from Marshal K. Y. Voroshilov to Gen. O. P. Edgcumbe, December 8, 1945, FO 371/55390.

  57. Maj. A. D. Spottswood, U.S. Forces in Austria, Displaced Persons Division, to Maj. Wiliam Bradbury, CRX, January 16, 1946; same to Col. E. E. Hyde, chief, Displaced Persons Division, January 4, 1946; telegram from Key to Hyde, February 7, 1946; same to Commanding General, U.S. Forces in Austria, March 14, 1946; Maj. J. F. Asselta to ACC (H), May 9, 1946; same to same, same date; telegram from Lt.-Col. J. D. Wilmeth, ACC (H) to PW & DP Branch, OMGUS, July 23, 1945; telegram from Clay to ACC (H), June 2, 1946, Office of Military Government for Germany papers, Records of the Civil Administration Division: The Combined Repatriation Executive, U.S. Elements: Records re Interzonal Population Transfers, 1945–1949, box 226, “Movement of Swabians, vol. I” file, RG 360/390/42/26–27/6-1, NARA.