Disorderly and Inhumane: the United States and the Expulsion of Germans After World War II
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Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1-1-2015 Disorderly and Inhumane: the United States and the Expulsion of Germans after World War II Bradley J. Brewer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td Recommended Citation Brewer, Bradley J., "Disorderly and Inhumane: the United States and the Expulsion of Germans after World War II" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1528. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/1528 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Scholars Junction. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Automated Template A: Created by James Nail 2011 V2.02 Disorderly and inhumane: The United States and the expulsion of Germans after World War II By Bradley J. Brewer A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Department of History Mississippi State, Mississippi May 2015 Copyright by Bradley J. Brewer 2015 Disorderly and inhumane: The United States and the expulsion of Germans after World War II By Bradley J. Brewer Approved: ____________________________________ Richard V. Damms (Director of Dissertation) ____________________________________ Alan I. Marcus (Committee Member) ____________________________________ M. Kathryn Barbier (Committee Member) ____________________________________ William Anthony Hay (Committee Member) ____________________________________ Stephen C. Brain (Graduate Coordinator) ____________________________________ R. Gregory Dunaway Professor and Dean College of Arts & Sciences Name: Bradley J. Brewer Date of Degree: May 9, 2015 Institution: Mississippi State University Major Field: History Major Professor: Richard V. Damms Title of Study: Disorderly and inhumane: The United States and the expulsion of Germans after World War II Pages in Study: 274 Candidate for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation examines the role of the United States in the mass expulsion of Germans from East-Central Europe from spring 1945 through 1947. By agreeing to allow Czechoslovakia and Poland to expel their German minority populations in 1943, and again in 1945 under Article XIII of the Potsdam Agreement, the United States permitted approximately 14 million to 16 million Germans to be forcibly relocated into a truncated, war-torn Germany, an incident that is the largest example of ethnic cleansing in world history. Although these expulsions threatened the postwar stability of Europe and were of great concern they were of marginal interest to most people in the United States. Informed discussion of these expulsions occurred among a fairly narrow group of military officials, diplomats, politicians, intellectuals, and immigrants or exiles. In fact there was a dearth of contemporary debate and analysis on all aspects of the United States role in the expulsion of Germans, both within governmental and in society more generally. Newspaper reports, magazine articles, diplomatic documents, government documents and the personal papers of diplomats and politicians reveal that the expulsion of Germans it seems that most Americans lacked both awareness of and compassion for the plight of the German expellees. These expulsions however, changed the politics and the demographics of Europe forever and made the ethnic cleansing of the minority populations of nations an international legal precedent. Today, the expulsions remain a controversial subject within the region of East-Central Europe where the people of Czechoslovakia, Germany and Poland still debate the expulsions as if they occurred yesterday. In the United States, however, the expulsions have been long forgotten. This dissertation is unique in that examines the involvement of the United States in the planning of the expulsions and the reaction of the American press, intellectuals and policymakers whereas previous literature has focused very sparingly on this aspect of the expulsions. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my mother Beverly Sue Brewer. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Richard Damms, Dr. Alan Marcus and Dr. Johnpeter Grill for all of the assistance and understanding they have shown that allowed for this dissertation to be completed. Special thanks also goes out to Dr. William Anthony Hay and Dr. Mary Kathryn Barbier for being on the dissertation committee. I know time is a precious commodity and would like to thank all of the above for the time and input they have devoted to this project. A Special thanks also goes to Stacy Ann Simily, James T. Brewer and Sofia the Golden Retriever who was there at my side through the good and the bad. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Review of Literature ........................................................................................12 II. ETHNIC CLEANSING IN EUROPE BEFORE THE POST–WORLD WAR II EXPULSIONS .......................................................................20 Ethnic Cleansing Defined ................................................................................20 How Turkey Made the Armenians Disappear .................................................23 Trading Populations for the Greater Good .......................................................34 Toward a Greater Germany .............................................................................40 III. THE ORIGIN OF THE EXPULSIONS ..........................................................49 The Czech Government in Exile and the idea of German Expulsion ..............52 Poland and the Transfer of Germans ...............................................................78 IV. FROM WILD EXPULSIONS TO ALLIED SANCTIONED ETHNIC CLEANSING .......................................................................................89 The Wild Expulsions........................................................................................90 The Quest for Order .......................................................................................109 Somewhat Orderly and Somewhat Humane ..................................................118 Planned Chaos ................................................................................................130 V. AMERICAN MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE GERMAN EXPULSIONS ...................................................................................147 American Press Coverage of the Expulsions .................................................148 iv American Public Opinion and Public Persuasion ..........................................153 Biased Opinions .............................................................................................178 American Intellectuals and the Expulsions ....................................................186 VI. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLICY AND OPINION ........................203 Loyal Servants but Skeptical Observers ........................................................204 Criticism from Afar........................................................................................211 Government Justification of Expulsion Policy ..............................................222 VII. UNIFICATION, COMPENSATION, VICTIMIZATION AND MEMORY..........................................................................................230 The Post-Cold War Era ..................................................................................231 The Expulsions in the Twenty-First Century .................................................243 VIII. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................259 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................264 v LIST OF FIGURES 1 Ethnic Cleansing in Europe: 1944-1948. .............................................................6 2 The Oder Neisse Line .......................................................................................113 vi ABBREVIATIONS ACC Allied Control Council ACLU American Civil Liberties Union AFC American Friends of Czechoslovakia AFL American Federation of Labor CDU Christian Democratic Union CIA Central Intelligence Agency CRALOG Council of Relief Agencies Licensed for Operation in Germany CSD Czech Social Democratic Party CSU Christian Social Union CSL People’s Party CSNS Czech national Socialist Party CSR Czechoslovakian Army DS Democratic Party DP Displaced Person EAC European Advisory Commission EU European Union EUCOM European Command United States Army FDP Free Democratic Party FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt vii FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States GDR German Democratic Republic KSC Communist party of Czechoslovakia KSS Slovak Communist