The lost German East forced migration and the politics of memory, 1945-1970

325 Pages·2013·4.122 MB·English

by  Demshuk, Andrew

The Lost German East
A i fth of West Germany’s post-1945 population consisted of ethnic
German refugees expelled from Eastern Europe, a quarter of whom
came from Silesia. As the richest territory lost inside Germany’s interwar
borders, Silesia was a leading objective for territorial revisionists, many
of whom were themselves expellees. T he Lost German East examines
how and why millions of Silesian expellees came to terms with the loss
of their homeland. Applying theories of memory and nostalgia, as well
as recent studies on ethnic cleansing, Andrew Demshuk shows how,
over time, most expellees came to recognize that the idealized world
they mourned no longer existed. Revising the traditional view that
most of those expelled sought a restoration of prewar borders so they
could return to the East, Demshuk offers a new answer to the question
of why, after decades of violent upheaval, peace and stability took root
in West Germany during the tense early years of the Cold War.
Andrew Demshuk is Assistant Professor of History at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham.
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The Lost German East
Forced Migration and the Politics
of Memory, 1945–1970
ANDREW D EMSHUK
University of Alabama at Birmingham
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© Andrew Demshuk 2 012
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no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2012
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data
Demshuk, Andrew, 1980–
The lost German East : forced migration and the politics of memory,
1945–1970 / Andrew Demshuk.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-107-02073-3 (hardback)
1. Germans – Europe, Eastern – History – 20th century. 2. Silesians – Germany
(West) – History. 3. Silesians – Ethnic identity. 4. Nationalism – Silesia.
5. World War, 1939–1945 – Refugees. 6. Population transfers – Germans.
7. Refugees – Germany (West) – History. 8. Refugees – Silesia – History.
9. Germany (West) – Emigration and immigration – History. I. Title.
djk28.g4d45 2012
304.809438′509045–dc23 2011049972
isbn 9 78-1-107-02073-3 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not
guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Contents
Maps and Illustrations p age vi
Preface and Acknowledgments vii
Glossary of Terms xi
Acronyms xv
List of German and Polish Place Names xvii
Introduction 1
1. F rom Colonization to Expulsion: A History of
the Germans in Silesia 3 3
2. T he Quest for the Borders of 1937: Expellee
Leaders and the “Right to the Homeland” 6 3
3. H omesick in the H eimat : Germans in Postwar
Silesia and the Desire for Expulsion 96
4. R esiding in Memory: Private Confrontation with Loss 122
5. H eimat Gatherings: Re-creating the Lost East
in West Germany 161
6. T ravel to the Land of Memory: Homesick
Tourists in Polish Silesia 185
7. 1 970 and the Expellee Contribution to O stpolitik 2 32
Epilogue: The Forgotten East 263
Bibliography 277
Index 2 95
v
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Maps and Illustrations
Maps
1. S ilesia inside Germany’s 1937 borders p age xxi
2. S ilesia inside contemporary Poland, Herder
Institut city atlas project xxii
Illustrations
4.1. H . Heyer, Breslau City Hall (1957) 131
4.2. H . Heyer, The Nicholas Gate in 1800 (1956) 132
4.3. H . Heyer, Liegnitz, the Market with the
“Heringsbuden” (1957) 133
4.4. P rewar image of a “market day in Liegnitz,” the basis
of Heyer’s idealized painting (circa 1939) 133
4.5. T h. Le.’s Oppeln Triptych (1960) from the Oppeln
Heimatstube, Bad Godesburg (2007) 134
5.1. T he Brieg Tower: Gate with coats of arms and interior 1 79
5.2. T he Brieg Tower: Speech under the inscription “you are
standing in Brieg” (late 1950s) 180
5.3. T he Brieg Tower: Plans for a stained-glass window
(late 1950s) 181
6.1. Margarete Jü ttner in Brieg/Brzeg: “I don’t know
where this is?” (1962) 2 01
6.2. Helmuth Wesemann’s photo of “Breslau Today” (1957) 2 15
vi
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Preface and Acknowledgments
Inspiration for this project began in the undergraduate classroom, when
my professor unveiled a map of early-modern Prussia and narrated that
millions of Germans had once inhabited vast eastern lands. Then, at the
end of World War II, they were forced out. And the lecture moved on.
This left me wondering: Who were these people, what became of them,
and why were they absent from my knowledge of history? I had never
heard of Pomerania, Silesia, or East Prussia before, and amid my lan-
guage studies in T üb ingen over the following summer, I was surprised to
discover that these territories are all but unknown to most Germans as
well. A decade of research followed, and all the while my conviction grew
that it is impossible to understand postwar Europe without examining
the fate of the Lost German East and its former inhabitants. Analyzing
how Silesian expellees fantasized about and experienced the world they
had lost, I uncovered what I believe is an essential facet in the story of
postwar Europe, a new answer to the question of how, after the horrors
of Nazi genocide and postwar ethnic cleansing, and during the worst of
the Cold War, peace became possible on Europe’s most violent border.
Countless librarians, archivists, scholars, and friends assisted me in
the course of my research and writing. Although some contributions will
only appear in my future projects, I wish to recognize them here for the
insights and support that they offered. Every mistake and misinterpre-
tation is, of course, my own, and I welcome any and all comments and
corrections as I continue my scholarly exploration. Above all, this proj-
ect is indebted to my mentors at the University of Illinois (UIUC), espe-
cially my dissertation advisor Peter Fritzsche and committee members
Matti Bunzl, Akira Iriye, and Maria Todorova. I felt thoroughly at home
vii
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viii Preface and Acknowledgments
whenever I was in Germany thanks to the support and friendship of
Hannes Kleinhenz and Inge Lind; Annette and Andreas Wallrabe; Franz
and Claudia Bardenhauer; and Christa, Reinhardt, and Andreas Kl äs . This
project benei ted from conversations with Jim Bjork, Dan Diner, Andy
Donson, Kristen Ehrenberger, Jutta Faehndrich, Margarete Feinstein,
Marc Frede, Darek Gierczak, Eagle Glassheim, Christopher Gorlich,
Chad Gunnoe, Mateusz Hartwich, Peter Haslinger, Heidi Hein-Kircher,
Andreas Hoffmann, Winfried Irgang, Wolfgang Kessler, Sho Konishi,
Craig Koslofsky, Wolfgang Kreft, Markus Krzoska, Martin Kü g ler, Michał
Kwiecien, Christian Lotz, Tim McMahon, Mark Micale, Will Morris,
Michael Parak, Peter Polak-Springer, Dietmar Popp, Maren Rö g er, Wiebke
Rohrer, Kai Struve, Gregor Thum, Jakub Tyszkiewicz, Tobias Weger, Peter
W ör ster, and additional colleagues at the Herder Institut; the Dubnow
Institut; UIUC; the University of Alabama at Birmingham; annual GSA
and ASEEES meetings; the 2007 Polish-German Post/Memory conference
in Bloomington; the 2009 international Slavic conference in Chicago; the
2009 transatlantic seminar in Krakó w; the 2009 Silesian conference in
Gö rlitz; the 2010 conference on trauma, violence, and displacement at
UIUC; the 2011 Upper Silesian borderland conference in Gliwice; and
my 2011 presentation at Miami University of Ohio. This work was also
made possible through support from librarians and archivists throughout
Germany and the United States, including Ulrich Albers, Antje Brekle,
Silke Findeisen, Nickel Hartmut, Angelika Lehrich, and Jens Nicolai.
This book is inspired by themes and material i rst explored in articles
I have published, and I appreciate permission from journal and book edi-
tors to develop them further here. Many thanks as well to Goldammer
Verlag and the Grafschafter Bote for publishing advertisements in thir-
teen Silesian H eimatzeitungen in December 2007, and to the B riegische
Briefe for their advertisement in October/November 2008. This made it
possible for me to access a host of valuable private narratives, which I
reference both in this project and in those to come. Among those who
contributed their time, materials, and insights to my research, I wish
to thank: Kurt Basler; Anngret, Christian, and Peter Beske; Elisabeth
Bomhard; Peter Bö r ner; Norbert Buchmann; Ulrich Buchs; Gerda
Dittert; Huburtus D ör ner; Hans Eil er; Josef Engel; Margareta Erber;
Margaret Feinstein; Michael Ferber; Herbert Geisler; Hans-Joachim
Girock; Helmut and Irmgard Goebel; Gü n ther Gr ö ger; Herbert Grö g er;
Roland Grö g er; Peter Groß p ietsch; Karl-Heinz Grü n ; Ursula Haase-
Dresing; Ekhard Heider; Sigrun Ifl and; Henry Kamm; Walter Kariger;
Waltraud Maria Keiper; Heinz-Peter Keuten; Ruth Knaut; Renate Koslik;
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Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Werner Krutscher; Heinrich Kudoweh; Elisabeth Kynast; Elisabeth Lenz;
Wolfgang Liebehenschel; Werner Liewald; Detlef Linzer; Ekkehard and
Else Loch; Christian Lü d ke; Aloys Manthey; Horst Markwirth; Horst
Misch; Ulrich Mü l ler; Johanna Naumann; Beate Paschen; Barbara
Pawlowski; Volker Pfeiffer; Ingeborg Gr äi n von Pfeil; Hans Pohlmann;
Stephan Rauhut; Roland Reche; Magarete Reiter; Wilfried and Nicole von
Rekowski; Hermann Ritter; Klaus Rosenthal; Richard Rü c kert; Thomas
R üf fer; Hubert Sauer; Josef Sauer; Jobst von Schaubert; Wolfgang S.;
Leo Schiller; Klaus Schneider; Georg Schoeller; Renate Schortmann;
Christian Erdmann Schott; Eitel-Friedrich Schrape; Lillie and Sybille
Schrey; Ingeborg Schwarz; Niklas von Selchow; Ruth Sens; C. S., Damian
Spielvogel; Harmut Stelzer; Willibald Stephan; Christa Stock; Monika
Taubitz; Werner Taubitz; Franz Toenniges; Dorothea Tscheschner; Rudolf
Uzt; Ursula Waage; Gü n ter Weiß ; Gerhard Werner; Klaus and Ellen
Werner; Bernhard Wieczorek; Marianne Wiese; Ursula Willens; Hubert
Wolff; Gü nther W ün sch; and Sigismund Freiherr von Zedlitz.
Aid from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD);
Dubnow Institut; Herder Institut; and UIUC History Department,
Graduate College, and European Union Center were essential for the
completion of this work. I want to extend my particular appreciation
to the editors and anonymous reviewers at Cambridge University Press
for their helpful insights and comments as this project entered into its
published form. Finally, this book would not have been possible with-
out support from friends and family, notably Ray Bruck, Jim Chelich,
John Takis, and above all my intellectual companion and wife, Rebecca
Mitchell, to whom I wish to dedicate this work.

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