Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Theses Department of History 6-9-2006 Germans as Victims? The Discourse on the Vertriebene Diaspora, 1945-2005 Kevin Marc Larson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Larson, Kevin Marc, "Germans as Victims? The Discourse on the Vertriebene Diaspora, 1945-2005." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2006. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses/8 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. GERMANS AS VICTIMS? THE DISCOURSE ON THE VERTRIEBENE DIASPORA, 1945-2005 by KEVIN MARC LARSON Under the Direction of Joe Perry ABSTRACT This thesis examines German memories of the Vertriebene, the twelve million Germans who fled their homeland in the face of Russian invasion in the closing days of World War II. I explore the acceptable limits of victim discourse and consider the validity of arguments about German victimization in light of the atrocities committed by Germans during the war. Three chapters discuss diaspora, discourse and commemoration. I relate diaspora historiography to the Vertriebene and then dissect the discourse of the Bund der Vertriebenen and its construction of a German "victim mythos" that undermined more acceptable claims for the recognition of Germans victimhood. I then analyze debates over the suitable commemoration of German victims in academic discourse, fiction, and efforts to build a memorial to the Vertriebene.