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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information The Lost German East A fifth 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. The 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. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information The Lost German East Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 ANDREW DEMSHUK University of Alabama at Birmingham © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107020733 © Andrew Demshuk 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, 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 978-1-107-02073-3 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. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information Contents Maps and Illustrations page vi Preface and Acknowledgments vii Glossary of Terms xi Acronyms xv List of German and Polish Place Names xvii Introduction 1 1. From Colonization to Expulsion: A History of the Germans in Silesia 33 2. The Quest for the Borders of 1937: Expellee Leaders and the “Right to the Homeland” 63 3. Homesick in the Heimat: Germans in Postwar Silesia and the Desire for Expulsion 96 4. Residing in Memory: Private Confrontation with Loss 122 5. Heimat Gatherings: Re-creating the Lost East in West Germany 161 6. Travel to the Land of Memory: Homesick Tourists in Polish Silesia 185 7. 1970 and the Expellee Contribution to Ostpolitik 232 Epilogue: The Forgotten East 263 Bibliography 277 Index 295 v © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information Maps and Illustrations Maps 1. Silesia inside Germany’s 1937 borders page xxi 2. Silesia 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. Prewar image of a “market day in Liegnitz,” the basis of Heyer’s idealized painting (circa 1939) 133 4.5. Th. Le.’s Oppeln Triptych (1960) from the Oppeln Heimatstube, Bad Godesburg (2007) 134 5.1. The Brieg Tower: Gate with coats of arms and interior 179 5.2. The Brieg Tower: Speech under the inscription “you are standing in Brieg” (late 1950s) 180 5.3. The Brieg Tower: Plans for a stained-glass window (late 1950s) 181 6.1. Margarete Jüttner in Brieg/Brzeg: “I don’t know where this is?” (1962) 201 6.2. Helmuth Wesemann’s photo of “Breslau Today” (1957) 215 vi © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information 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 Tübingen 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 project 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 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02073-3 - The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 Andrew Demshuk Frontmatter More information 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 Kläs. This project benefited 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 Kügler, Michał Kwiecien, Christian Lotz, Tim McMahon, Mark Micale, Will Morris, Michael Parak, Peter Polak-Springer, Dietmar Popp, Maren Röger, Wiebke Rohrer, Kai Struve, Gregor Thum, Jakub Tyszkiewicz, Tobias Weger, Peter Wörster, 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 Kraków; the 2009 Silesian conference in Görlitz; 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 first 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 Heimatzeitungen in December 2007, and to the Briegische Briefe for their advertisement in October/November 2008.

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