Life stories of the displaced: Lecture in Markt Schwaben!”

Life stories of the displaced: Lecture in Markt Schwaben!”

On May 19th, a lecture by Willi Beck will take place in the Markt Schwaben Local History Museum, which will deal with the refugee problem after the end of the Second World War. Under the title “80 years of the end of the Second World War in Europe – displaced persons come to Markt Schwaben and are accepted into the barracks” the lecture will begin at 6.30 p.m. Mercury reports that Beck will shed light on the consequences of the German defeat for the ethnic German population groups from the east and southeast of Europe. The focus of the lecture is the flight, expulsion and reception of refugees in Markt Schwaben and the living conditions and difficulties associated with their fate in the post-war period.

A central theme will also be the historical consideration of the emigration of Germans to southeastern European areas, exemplified by the fate of the Danube Swabians. Beck will make the lecture not only informative, but also with humorous and thoughtful contributions in the dialects of the refugee barracks.

Historical backgrounds and memorial days

The memories of flight and expulsion become particularly active on various memorial days, such as the 40th anniversary of the surrender of the German Reich on May 8, 1945. On that day, Richard von Weizsäcker gave an important speech in the Bundestag in which he commemorated the displaced persons. bpb He made it clear that the displaced people's love of their homeland was not revanchism and called for understanding for their fate. Weizsäcker also spoke out in favor of permanent security for the displaced people and rejected a revision of Germany's eastern border.

The bilateral agreements between Germany and Poland, such as the Border Treaty signed in November 1990 and the Good Neighbor Agreement in June 1991, ended a long-running conflict and confirmed the rights of Germans living in Poland. These steps contributed to the integration of refugees and displaced persons into German society being viewed as successful, with the burden equalization of 1952 being seen as the decisive beginning of economic and social integration.

Current developments and challenges

Nevertheless, the discussion about flight and expulsion has experienced a marginalization in public perception in recent decades. While German historical scholarship began to deal with the expulsion at an early stage, mental coping with the loss has remained inadequate to this day. Particularly in the 1970s, under the social-liberal coalition, a new Eastern policy emerged that aimed at normalizing relations.

The crisis of displaced persons' organizations coincided with a revival of the topic of flight and expulsion in public, which led to new approaches in research, especially after the fall of the Wall in 1989/90. Current research and international collaborations are increasingly promoting understanding and comprehensive illumination of the topic. In addition, both the German minority in Poland and the issue of expulsion in the Czech Republic continue to be emotionally and politically burdened.