Part 12 (2/2)
The soldiery was not only Russian, but included Mongolian cavalry and contingents from the other 150, mainly Asiatic, nationalities under Soviet rule. All were let loose to do anything and everything they wanted, except show mercy. Gang rapes were rewarded as if they were heroic acts. Not partic.i.p.ating in the killing of German civilians could lead to court-martial and was punished by either imprisonment (as in the case of Solzhenitsyn) or execution.
The winter of 1945 was harsh. The exodus of Germans from East Prussia took place at temperatures of eighteen to twenty-five degrees below zero. The Soviet air force, and later its tank divisions, shot at and bombed the refugees. In a flanking maneuver the infantry cut off escape routes to West Germany and many of the refugees chose to walk toward the coast instead, where they tried to board s.h.i.+ps. One of these s.h.i.+ps, the Wilhelm Gustloff, designed to carry 1,460 pa.s.sengers, was sunk by a Soviet submarine. Of the 11,000 civilians on board, 9,000 died in that one attack roughly six times as many as drowned in the sinking of the t.i.tanic.
KoNIGSBERG BECOMES KALININGRAD.
Many fugitives were stranded in Konigsberg, the besieged East Prussian capital. The harbor city of Konigsberg was once one of Germanys finest, cultured and elegant and full of beautiful old buildings, including a famous cathedral, museums, and theaters. Before Hitlers rise to power, the university in Konigsberg was internationally acclaimed. The city boasted seven newspapers and Germanys biggest bookshop, which catered to among others its many scientists and artists. In July 1944 a group of Konigsberg officers carried out a failed attempt to kill Hitler.
Over the seven hundred years of its existence, Konigsbergs population had grown to 380,000, but after it surrendered to the n.a.z.is only about 100,000 remained: many of them were refugees who had fled from the countryside east of the city and others were families on the run from the bombing raids on Berlin who now harbored the hope of returning to the German capital.
The American diplomat and historian George Frost Kennan flew over the deserted East Prussian land. He wrote in his memoirs: The Russian invasion is a catastrophe for this region that has no counterpart in contemporary Europe. In many areas the original population has been decimated so that hardly a man, woman, or child remains alive; it is impossible to believe that they all managed to escape to the West.
After the defeat of Germany this part of the old Prussian territory came under Soviet rule. This meant that three quarters of the remaining population of Konigsberg died from sickness and starvation. The 25,000 survivors were deported in 1947 to what was to become the newly designated DDR. Some ended up in n.a.z.i-built concentration camps, which were now used by both the Polish and the Soviets. Here, about 75 percent of the prisoners died, mainly from starvation, typhus, and torture.
EXPULSIONS IN THE POSTWAR YEARS.
The forced displacement of civilians from the old German provinces of East Prussia, Silesia, and Pomerania continued during the postwar years. Stalin, at his meetings with Churchill and Roosevelt, insisted on holding on to the parts of Poland that the Soviet Union had annexed after Stalins pact with Hitler in 1939. Poland therefore had to be compensated. At the Teheran conference in December 1943, Churchill used three matches to demonstrate how this could be done: he put down two matches first, removed the right one, and added a new match to the left of the remaining one.
In the real world, this s.h.i.+ft in Polish territory led to the removal of 3 million Germans from their old homeland, which now belonged to Poland, and the relocation of the displaced people. They were left to fend for themselves and make a living as best they could. The emptied rural areas and towns were then to be repopulated by the 3 million Poles deported from the new Soviet territory.
With callous brutality, Germans were also driven out of German-speaking regions in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and other European countries. They lost their homes and all property that they could not carry.
EUROPES LARGEST ETHNIC-CLEANSING OPERATION.
More than 15 million Germans were expelled from their native regions. Also, more than 2 million German civilians either were murdered or died from starvation, cold, or the terrible ordeals they endured during 1945 and the first five years after peace was declared. Sheer numbers make this one of Europes largest genocides, and it wiped out East German culture.
No one doubts the correctness of the figures, which are based on doc.u.mentation in German archives. Despite this, international research has paid relatively little attention to this ma.s.s extermination.
In the Encyclopedia of Genocide, the deportation of Germans is referred to in a table listing the greatest genocides of the twentieth century, but there is no separate article describing it. This work of reference does, however, include long articles about other numerically smaller genocides.
Similar weaknesses are found in other standard works, such as Century of Genocide and The History and Sociology of Genocide. n.o.body contradicts that the postwar forced displacement of Germans was one of the largest Europe has ever seen, but it is also true that n.o.body has chosen to write about it at any length. It is not difficult to understand why this should be.
The Germans started it. No serious researcher would like to be a.s.sociated with changing the emphasis placed on the German slaughter of Jews, Slavs, gypsies, and h.o.m.os.e.xuals. It was indeed the Germans who systematized genocide and constructed machinery that made killing people more efficient than ever before.
It follows that the question of guilt is critical. Can German children be held responsible for unimaginable crimes against humanity committed by their older male relatives? The n.a.z.is themselves would have argued that this is the case: according to their principles, whole populations are rightly punished for the crimes of individuals.
But do we still think this way today?
AN INFORMATION GAP.
Even though academic interest in the ethnic cleansing of Germans has increased a great deal during recent years both inside and outside Germany it can still be difficult to find precise and objective information. For instance, if one tries to look up the greatest s.h.i.+pping disaster in the world the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff there is no entry in the Danish National Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, or the large German encyclopedia Brockhaus.
Web searches on the German words Vertreibung (expulsion), deutsche (German), and 1945 produce many thousands of links, mostly to the large societies supporting German displaced persons. The objectivity of such societies is obviously questionable. A search on the corresponding English words results in a much more compact collection of links.
However, many of these sites display distorted narratives of the history of the Second World War and especially of the Holocaust. Although they claim to provide neutral, academically valid research results, much is in fact written by those who deny the reality of the Holocaust. In many cases, Holocaust denial is a symptom of alignment with neo-n.a.z.i organizations.
THE DCIG ARRANGES A CONFERENCE ABOUT THE GERMAN EXPULSION.
In other words, it is still difficult to find reliable information about this particular genocide and especially for those not professionally concerned with genocide research. Highly tendentious books and Web sites are mixed in with more valid sources.
This is why the DCIG will be holding a public conference about the expulsion. The conference will take place on May 1517. The Center hopes it will help support new research and detach the knowledge of this tragedy from the home pages created by those who aim to falsify history.
Set these dates aside now. Further information about the program and registration will be available in a later issue of Genocide News.
chapter 14.
frederik Thorsteinsson is the only man on the DCIG board who is younger than Paul, which might have something to do with Pauls dislike of him.
Frederiks main academic subject was history. His doctoral thesis, The Origins of the Democratic Tradition in Denmark, was completed at an unusually early age and was awarded Copenhagen Universitys Gold Medal. After a stint at the Modern History Research Unit at Roskilde University, he landed the post at the Center for Democracy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then the place on the DCIG board.
It was not long before Frederik and Paul had their first skirmish. They disagreed about how to handle an information project in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb republic. During the week of the worst infighting, the DCIG staff held their Christmas party at a chic lakeside restaurant. Late that evening, Paul, Malene, and Iben ended up in a club in Nrrebro full of stragglers from umpteen other Christmas dinners.
In the middle of the noise and music Paul suddenly confided in Malene: Malene, dont you see that Frederik is only in it for himself? Thats why hes always so f.u.c.king astute and politically correct. All he thinks about is his own career. I mean, can you point to one single ethical value hed stick to if it wasnt in his own interest?
The following Monday, Paul asked Malene to have a word with him in his office. He tried to backtrack on what he had said, but he didnt do too good a job of it.
Malene, Im not happy about what I said to you on Friday night. You know what I mean about Frederik. I have no real reason to suspect him of bad faith, and it was very poor form to pa.s.s my doubts on to you. I really regret it. So, could we let it stay between us?
She said, Yes, of course.
Im probably prejudiced, Paul went on. To me, he looks just like an SS officer in one of those American war films from the sixties. That is, apart from his hairstyle.
Malene laughed. Actually, Pauls description seemed rather apt: Frederik was easily six inches taller than all the other men on the board and was apparently very pleased with his blond hair, high cheekbones, and small, straight nose.
Women tend to like Frederik, who can be charming in spite of his upper-cla.s.s mannerisms. Indeed, Malene suspects he could have any one of the four women working in the Center, but no one mentions this when Paul is within earshot. Malene herself has a great relations.h.i.+p with Frederik, with just the right amount of flirtation.
Three weeks after the Christmas party, Paul was offered a seat on the board of the Center for Democracy, and he accepted at once. In one way, even though he isnt the deputy chairman, he is now senior to Frederik.
On Wednesday afternoon Frederik phones Malene. He is researching a book and needs to see proceedings from old Polish court cases.
Of course Malene can arrange for him to have access to the doc.u.ments, but by now Pauls new rule is in force. She should refer Frederik and his library request to Anne-Lise. She looks quickly across the desk at Iben. Iben has obviously figured out who is on the other end of the line. They raise their eyebrows simultaneously.
Malene pauses briefly and then says, pleasantly, that she will arrange to have the doc.u.ment boxes put in the large meeting room.
Afterward Malene confesses to Iben. Look, I simply couldnt do it. Not today. She tries to smile. Not when it was Frederik who asked me.
Iben says nothing, just reaches out for her mug of coffee.
Malene catches on to what was left unsaid. I know, I know.
She locates the registration code. Its easy, because Anne-Lise has entered the codes in the library catalog. She chats with Iben for a few moments to steady herself before fetching the boxes. As she pa.s.ses Anne-Lises desk, she makes an effort to say h.e.l.lo.
The Polish doc.u.ments are buried at the back of the library, on shelving left from the days when the city council kept its archives there. On the way out, pus.h.i.+ng a small trolley with five boxes, Malene feels she must say something.
Hows it going?
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