In 1957, walter schlesinger discussed reasons for these actions, which reversed the effects. It started as soon as the red army entered east prussia and silesia in 1944, and in many towns and villages every female aged from 10 to 80 was raped. Ethnic cleansing of germans after ww2 what the nazis did was downright evil, but what the allies did as the second world war ended to germans and germany was no less evil. What happened to prussia and why was it seemingly erased. The second world war ended in may 1945 but not for the german wolfskinder, or wolf children. It had been one of the strongest progerman holdouts in the war that formed an independent latvia after. After world war 2, germany were ousted from romania, czechslovakia, poland and to a lesser extent, other baltic and slavic nations. Koch was appointed as head of the volkssturm of east prussia on 25 november 1944. Why were innocent german men, women and children persecuted and thrown out from their centuries old homes. The former state was divided among the former west and east germanies, poland, and the ussrs russian republic now russia. After world war ii, in 1947, prussia was officially dissolved by the allied control council, which characterized the state as a bearer of militarism and reaction in germany. He was an apprentice cabinetmaker when he was drafted at the beginning of.
List of books and articles about prussian history online. The most bloody incidents occurred in prussia, where they were deported across the world. Following wwi, east prussia became an enclave cut off from the rest of germany as the land between west and east prussia was ceded to poland. From october 1944 to april 1945 the red army fought a bloody campaign to destroy the german army in east prussia, and capture the capital of the province, konigsberg. There was a strong minority of people who spoke a polish dialect in east prussia, but the majority of that territory, the southern twothirds of east prussia, went to poland after the war. The girls, women and nuns were raped incessantly for hours on end, the soldiers standing in queues, the officers at the head of the queues, in front of their victims. A part of the evacuation of german civilians towards the end of world war ii, these events are not to be confused with the expulsion from east prussia that followed after the war had ended. Since 1945, the territory has been divided between poland and russia, stretching from the border between russia and lithuania in the. A region that has always fascinated me is east prussia, a german province that was cut off from germany by the polish corridor between 1920 and 1945, then was divided between poland and the soviet union after world war ii. The flight and expulsion of germans from poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of germans in europe during and after world war ii. Flight and expulsion of germans 19441950 wikipedia. This book follows the course of one of historys forgotten battles, the fall of the city of konigsberg. This was true for children of east prussia who were separated from their.
In this book, the author recounts her experiences as an orphan in east prussia after wwii. The evacuation of east prussia was the movement of german civilian population and military personnel from east prussia between 20 january and march 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by state authorities but quickly turned into a chaotic flight from the red army. In 1984 i worked with a man in the brd who was a refugee from silesia. The book swivels back and forth between history and alternating accounts of a dozen figures who lived in east prussia before and during world war ii. The northern line separates the northern part of east prussia, which went to lithuania, and the central part, which went to the u. Until the end of world war ii, east prussia was the german empires farthest eastern redoubt, a thriving and beautiful land on the southeastern coast of the baltic sea. It was in gilgenburg that their first two daughters were born. All for nothing by walter kempowski translated by anthea bell 343 pp. In the final weeks of the war, between february 11 and may 5, about 250,000 german women, children and elderly refugees from east prussia, pomerania and the baltic provinces fled from the red army across the baltic sea.
On their own, they made their way from east prussia to lithuania, a decision theyll never forget. After world war ii, 12 million refugees and expellees came to germany a country that was in tatters and hardly had any food. This book provides a view of east prussia and the pain that accompanied its loss after world war ii. The castle, in what is now poland, was damaged significantly during world war ii, but has since been mostly reconstructed.
During the first night many of the nuns and women were raped as many as fifty times. What happened to the germans that remained in konigsberg. They raped every german female from eight to 80 books. After world war ii its territory was divided between the soviet union and poland. Prussia was the largest state in germany and because of the martial history of that kingdom before it became germany, most of the old guard prior to hitlers rise was made up of the prussian gentry. In the first frigid months of 1945, nearly 750,000 germans fled east prussia.
Journeys among the ghosts of east prussia, max egremont reconstructs the tragic sequence of events that took place in this picturesque region on the baltic sea. In this region, part of germany which was lost to other countries after world war ii, many records, both churchparish registers and civil registration records, were damaged, destroyed, or misplaced. Flight and expulsion of germans from poland during and. Kurland had a mixed population of latvians and germans. The death of east prussia describes the immense collateral damage inflicted on east prussia resulting from hitlers war of annihilation in poland and the soviet union. Map of east prussia showing the old german names of towns and the new names given by the conquerors remains of a day. In the aftermath of world war ii, children were often left without parents to help them bear the fallout of conflict. The author was one of 4 very young girls in a family who experienced the horror of being in a territory that was being ethnically cleansed by the soviets. Millions of women victims raped by russian soldiers during the last months of world war ii. For one thing, its the fact that if a prussian state was allowed to exist or rather, be restored after the illegitimate dissolution thereof by the nazi government, then it would make a problem, so to speak, with poland. The east prussian offensive was a strategic offensive by the soviet red army against the german wehrmacht on the eastern front world war ii. It lasted from january to 25 april 1945, though some german units did not surrender until 9 may.
It was ethnically cleansed of germans by poland, the soviet union and the allies after world war 2. Culture what germanys postwar refugees taught us about integration. I didnt know any residents or natives of konigsberg but i did know a sudeten czech by the name of karl pilsen who served in the wehrmacht at the end of wwii in konigsberg. The rise and downfall of prussia, 16001947 by christopher clark, salt to the sea by ruta sepetys, skeletons at t. East prussia, german ostpreussen, former german province bounded, between world wars i and ii, north by the baltic sea, east by lithuania, and south and west by poland and the free city of danzig now gdansk, poland. Expulsion of germans after world war ii shortly after the end of the war in may 1945, germans who had fled in early 1945 tried to return to their homes in east prussia. As we delve into the history of east prussia, the author introduces us to a range of people. East prussia after world war 1 most of posen and west prussia a part of upper silesia after world war 2 all of silesia not already transferred to poland most of pommerania the southern.
Why was prussia dissolved after world war 2 but austria. Marienburg castle, the former headquarters of the teutonic order, marienburg, east prussia, 1928. The history of east prussia is related episodically, with the author going into greater detail as this history intertwines with the lives of several of the people that he describes in the book. All vestages of german government and control were removed following ww2. The german population fled or was expelled from all regions which are currently within the territorial boundaries of poland, including the former eastern territories of germany and parts of prewar poland.
It applies to the capitulation at midnight on may 8, 1945, or more generally. They raped every german female from eight to 80 this article is more than 18 years old antony beevor, author of the acclaimed new book about the fall of berlin, on a massive war crime. The southern line separates the central part, now in russia, from the southern part of east prussia, now in poland. In one horrible situation, some ten thousand german children under five died in danish camps after liberation. Map of east prussia showing the old german names of towns and the new names give. As the red army advanced into his area during 1945, koch initially fled konigsberg to berlin at the end of january after condemning the wehrmacht from attempting a similar breakout from east prussia. During the later stages of world war ii and the postwar period, germans and volksdeutsche fled or were expelled from various eastern and central european countries, including czechoslovakia, and the former german provinces of silesia, pomerania, and east prussia, which were annexed by other countries. Gertrud baltutt, nee jakumeit, was born in 19 in memel, east prussia, germany now klaipeda, lithuania, eventually marrying otto baltutt in 1934, whereupon they moved to gilgenburg, east prussia because of his military service.