Misplaced Pages

#692307

77-563: At the end of the Second World War, at least 40 million people had been displaced from their home countries, with about eleven million in Allied-occupied Germany . Among those, there were around 1.5 million people who refused to return to their countries of origin. These included former prisoners of war , released slave laborers , and both non-Jewish and Jewish concentration-camp survivors . The Allies categorized

154-502: A day. Sanitary conditions had been improvised at best, and there had been minimal medical care. As a result, they suffered from malnutrition, a variety of diseases, and were often unclean, lice-ridden, and prone to illness. In addition, most of the refugees suffered from psychological difficulties. They were often distrustful and apprehensive around authorities, and many were depressed and traumatized. Displaced persons were anxious to be reunited with families they had been separated from in

231-400: A humanitarian basis. Norway accepted 200 refugees who were blind or had tuberculosis, and Sweden also accepted a limited number. In the end most of them were accepted by Germany and Austria for their care and ultimately full resettlement as citizens. The building of the former mikvah in camp Föhrenwald now houses the museum Erinnerungsort Badehaus . It provides detailed information about

308-838: A number of Soviet citizens were repatriated. Many of these met with the hardship they feared, including death and confinement in the Gulags . There were also cases of kidnapping and coercion to return these refugees. Many avoided such repatriation by misrepresenting their origins, fleeing, or simply resisting. Rejecting claimed Soviet sovereignty over the Baltic states, allied officials also refused to repatriate Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian refugees against their will. Similarly, many refugees who were repatriated to Yugoslavia were subjected to summary executions and torture. Many Poles, who later agreed to be repatriated, did in fact suffer arrest and some were executed, particularly those that had served in

385-497: A punitive approach championed by Roosevelt 's Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr. (the " Morgenthau Plan "). Under this plan, Germany would have been broken into four autonomous states and not only demilitarized but also deindustrialized to the point of becoming chiefly agrarian. The Morgenthau plan was opposed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull and War Secretary Henry L. Stimson , and Roosevelt distanced himself from

462-731: A sponsor and a place to live before their arrival, a guarantee that they would not displace American workers and, even more preferable, was that they had a relative that is an American citizen. Voluntary social service agencies, created by religious and ethnic groups, helped the refugees settle into American life. Of the DPs the US admitted from eastern Europe between 1941 and 1957, 137,450 were European Jews . By 1953, over 250,000 refugees were still in Europe, most of them old, infirm, crippled, or otherwise disabled. Some European countries accepted these refugees on

539-641: A whole' in respect of West Germany and Berlin. At the same time, East Germany progressed from being a satellite state of the Soviet Union to increasing independence of action; while still deferring in matters of security to Soviet authority. The provisions of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany , also known as the "Two-plus-Four Treaty", granting full sovereign powers to Germany did not become law until 15 March 1991, after all of

616-463: The Allied armies. In portions of Eastern Europe, both civilians and military personnel fled their home countries in fear of advancing Soviet armies, who were preceded by widespread reports of mass rape , pillaging, looting, and murder. As the war ended, these people found themselves facing an uncertain future. Allied military and civilian authorities faced considerable challenges resettling them. Since

693-625: The Allied Control Council de facto broke down on 20 March 1948 ( restored on 3 September 1971) in the context of growing tensions between the Allies, with Britain and the US wishing cooperation, France obstructing any collaboration in order to partition Germany into many independent states, and especially: the Soviet Union unilaterally implementing from early on elements of a Marxist political-economic system (enforced redistribution of land, nationalisation of businesses). Another dispute

770-648: The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee , American Friends Service Committee , Friends Relief Service , the Lutheran World Federation , Catholic Charities , several national Red Cross organizations, Polish American Congress and Ukrainian American Relief Committee . Over one million refugees could not be repatriated to their original countries and were left homeless as a result of fear of persecution. These included: The agreement reached at

847-703: The French Army . In April and May 1945, the French 1st Army had captured Karlsruhe and Stuttgart , and conquered a territory extending to Hitler's Eagle's Nest and the westernmost part of Austria. In July, the French relinquished Stuttgart to the Americans, and in exchange were given control over cities west of the Rhine such as Mainz and Koblenz . All this resulted in two barely contiguous areas of Germany along

SECTION 10

#1732790710693

924-652: The General Treaty (German: Deutschlandvertrag ) entered into force. However, upon the creation of the Federal Republic in May 1949, the military governors were replaced by civilian high commissioners , whose powers lay somewhere between those of a governor and those of an ambassador. When the Deutschlandvertrag became law, the occupation ended, the western occupation zones ceased to exist, and

1001-523: The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which had already been running many of the camps, took responsibility for the administration of displaced persons in Europe, though military authorities continued to play a role for several years to come, in providing transportation, supplies and security. Those who were easily classified and were willing to be repatriated were rapidly sent back to their country of origin. By

1078-784: The Warsaw Uprising of 1944, or in the Polish Resistance against the Nazis. Jewish Holocaust survivors typically could not return to their former homes because these no longer existed or had been expropriated by former neighbors; the few Eastern European Jews who returned often experienced renewed antisemitism. In 1945, most Jewish Holocaust survivors had little choice but to stay in the DP camps; most Jews who wanted to could not leave Europe because Britain had severely limited legal Jewish immigration to Palestine and illegal immigration

1155-639: The Yalta Conference required in principle that all citizens of the allied powers be repatriated to their home country. The Soviet Union insisted that refugees in the American, British, and French sectors who were or at some point had been Soviet citizens be sent back to the Soviet Union. Many refugees resisted this, fearing that their fleeing Soviet rule had condemned them as traitors. American, British, and French military officials, as well as UNRRA officials, reluctantly complied with this directive, and

1232-925: The American sector set it at August 1, with the exception of those persecuted for race or religion, or who entered the zone in "an organized manner." The American sector ceased receiving new arrivals on April 21, 1947. An unknown number of displaced persons rejected by authorities were left to find their own means of survival. Displaced persons began to appear in substantial numbers in the spring of 1945. Allied forces took them into their care by improvising shelter wherever it could be found. Accommodation primarily included former military barracks, but also included summer camps for children, airports, hotels, castles, hospitals, private homes, and even partly destroyed structures. Although there were continuous efforts to sort and consolidate populations, there were hundreds of DP facilities in Germany, Austria, Italy, and other European countries by

1309-523: The British implemented government modeled on the UK system, placing heavy emphasis on local level democracy. The goal was to create a British-style administration with employees who viewed themselves as public servants, on the basis that this would help to reeducate Germans to democratic modes of thought. To that end the British introduced new local government structures, including a nonpolitical position similar to

1386-480: The English town clerk ("city director") that replaced the office of mayor. In general, the British believed strongly in reeducation as a means to achieve democracy, which led them to prioritize the reestablishment of schooling and university education in their zone. The French were less concerned with improving Germany's moral and civic character, focusing instead on ensuring France's future security and utilizing

1463-617: The French border which met at just a single point along the River Rhine . Three German states ( Land ) were established: Rheinland Pfalz in the north and west and on the other hand Württemberg-Hohenzollern and South Baden , who later formed Baden-Württemberg together with Württemberg-Baden of the American zone. The French zone of occupation included the Saargebiet , which was disentangled from it on 16 February 1946. By 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between

1540-404: The French occupation zone, was separated from Allied-occupied Germany to become a French protectorate with its constitution took effect on 17 December 1947, however the separation was opposed by the Soviet Union and Germans here were not expelled. In October 1946, the population of the various zones and sectors was as follows: The original Allied plan to govern Germany as a single unit through

1617-463: The French zone) and Hesse (without Rhenish Hesse and Montabaur Region , both part of the French zone) with a new capital in Wiesbaden , and of northern parts of Württemberg and Baden . Those formed Württemberg-Baden and became northern portions of the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg founded in 1952. The ports of Bremen (on the lower Weser River ) and Bremerhaven (at

SECTION 20

#1732790710693

1694-469: The French zone, let alone into the separated Saar protectorate. However, the native population, returning after Nazi-imposed removals (e.g., political and Jewish refugees) and war-related relocations (e.g., evacuation from air raids), were allowed to return home in the areas under French control. The other Allies complained that they had to shoulder the burden to feed, house and clothe the expellees who had to leave their belongings behind. In practice, each of

1771-702: The GDR declared it its capital (Hauptstadt der DDR). Allied aims with respect to postwar Germany were first laid out at the Yalta Conference , where Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin signed an agreement stating that they intended to: disarm and disband the German armed forces ; break up the German General Staff ; remove or destroy all German military equipment; eliminate or control German industry that could be used for military production; punish war criminals; exact reparations for damage done by Germany; wipe out

1848-543: The GDR established a military, the National People's Army (NVA). Despite the grants of general sovereignty to both German states in 1955, full and unrestricted sovereignty under international law was not enjoyed by any German government until after the reunification of Germany in October 1990. Though West Germany was effectively independent, the western Allies maintained limited legal jurisdiction over 'Germany as

1925-682: The German surrender, leaving Northern Germany to be occupied by the British. The British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from the British Liberation Army . In July the British withdrew from Mecklenburg 's capital Schwerin which they had taken over from the Americans a few weeks before, as it had previously been agreed to be occupied by the Soviet Army . The Control Commission for Germany (British Element) (CCG/BE) ceded more slices of its area of occupation to

2002-612: The Nazi government in 1937. The British also created the new German states of: Also in 1947, the American zone of occupation being inland had no port facilities – thus the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Bremerhaven became exclaves within the British zone. At the end of October 1946, the British zone had a population of: The British headquarters were originally based in Bad Oeynhausen from 1946, but in 1954 it

2079-421: The Nazi party and its institutions; remove all Nazi and militarist influences from public life; and take any other measures in Germany as might be necessary to ensure future peace and safety. The consensus among the Allies was that it was necessary to ensure Germany could not cause further world wars, but beyond that their opinion on what Germany's future should look like differed. The US originally considered

2156-483: The Nazis in the murder of Jews (Yad Vashem, 2020). The information detailed in this report resulted in President Truman appointing military advisors to oversee the camps and restore humanity and sanitation to them as well. Food rations were increased, and conditions soon improved. A number of charitable organizations provided significant humanitarian relief and services among displaced persons - these include

2233-479: The Potsdam Agreement they were handed over to Soviet and Polish civilian administrations and ceased to constitute part of Allied-occupied Germany. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, United States forces had pushed beyond the agreed boundaries for the future zones of occupation, in some places by as much as 320 km (200 miles). The so-called line of contact between Soviet and U.S. forces at

2310-573: The Saar area and Allied-occupied Germany. The French zone ceded further areas adjacent to the Saar (in mid-1946, early 1947, and early 1949). Included in the French zone was the town of Büsingen am Hochrhein , a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory. The Swiss government agreed to allow limited numbers of French troops to pass through its territory in order to maintain law and order in Büsingen. At

2387-408: The Saar region, fusing it with France in a customs and currency union and encouraging the development of export industries. As a result, the French managed to extract a surplus from their occupation zone, and prevented it from becoming a financial liability the way the British and American zones were to their respective occupying powers. Soviet aims in Germany were similar to those of the French, with

Displaced persons camps in post–World War II Europe - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-590: The September 1990 Peace Treaty) the northern portion of East Prussia became the Kaliningrad Oblast within the Soviet Union (today Russian Federation ). A small area west of the Oder, near Szczecin , also fell to Poland. Most German citizens residing in these areas were subsequently expropriated and expelled . Returning refugees, who had fled from war hostilities, were denied return. Saarland, an area in

2541-665: The Soviet Union – specifically the Amt Neuhaus of Hanover and some exclaves and fringes of Brunswick , for example the County of Blankenburg , and exchanged some villages between British Holstein and Soviet Mecklenburg under the Barber-Lyashchenko Agreement . Within the British zone of occupation, the CCG/BE re-established the city of Hamburg as a German state , but with borders that had been drawn by

2618-728: The Soviet imposition of the Berlin Blockade that was enforced from June 1948 to May 1949. The three western zones were merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) i.e. West Germany in May 1949, and after that the Soviets followed suit in October 1949 with the establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) i.e. East Germany. In the west, the occupation continued until 5 May 1955, when

2695-843: The Technical University in Esslingen set up by the Polish Mission , the Free Ukrainian University , the Ukrainian Technical-Agricultural Institute of Prodebrady , the Baltic University and the short-lived UNRRA University . German universities were required to accept a quota of DP students. The Allies were faced with the repatriation of displaced persons. The initial expectation of the Allies

2772-435: The US government, Earl G. Harrison documented the conditions of these camps. The Harrison Report documents crowded living spaces, a lack of necessary medical supplies, “pathetic malnutrition” of concentration camp prisoners, and a general lack of proper care for displaced persons (Berger, 2008). Another revelation to come from this report was that Jewish refugees were forced to intermingle with others who had collaborated with

2849-488: The United States, Truman asked Congress to enact legislation. Truman’s administration, along with a lobbying group for refugees, Citizens Committee on Displaced Persons, favored allowing European refugees from World War II to enter the United States. Truman signed the first Displaced Persons Act on June 25, 1948. It allowed 200,000 displaced persons to enter the country within the next two years. However, they exceeded

2926-1071: The Weser estuary of the North Sea ) were also placed under U.S. control because of the U.S. request to have certain toeholds in Northern Germany . At the end of October 1946, the American zone had a population of: The headquarters of the American military government was the former IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main . Following the complete closure of all Nazi German media, the launch and operation of completely new newspaper titles began by licensing carefully selected Germans as publishers. Licenses were granted to Germans not involved in Nazi propaganda to establish those newspapers, including Frankfurter Rundschau (August 1945), Der Tagesspiegel (Berlin; September 1945), and Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich; October 1945). Radio stations were run by

3003-506: The closure of these camps found that forced displacement has a direct link to “elevated risk for PTSD and somatoform symptoms and lowered health related quality of life” (Freitag et al., 2012). To overcome the disastrous nature of the Yalta Conference, Displaced Persons Camps were established, and quickly it was understood that the conditions in these camps were a result of the improvised manner of their establishment. Commissioned by

3080-838: The course of the war. Improvised efforts to identify survivors became formalized through the UNRRA's Central Tracking Bureau and facilities of the International Red Cross . The organization collected over one million names in the course of the DP era and eventually became the International Tracing Service . Displaced persons often moved from camp to camp, looking for family, countrymen, or better food and accommodation. Over time, ethnic and religious groups concentrated in certain camps. Camp residents quickly set up churches, synagogues, newspapers, sports events, schools, and even universities. Among these were

3157-670: The detachment from Germany of the territories east of the Oder–Neisse line , with the exact line of the boundary to be determined in a final German peace treaty. This treaty was expected to confirm the shifting westward of Poland's borders, as the United Kingdom and United States committed themselves to support the permanent incorporation of eastern Germany into Poland and the Soviet Union. From March 1945 to July 1945, these former eastern territories of Germany had been administered under Soviet military occupation authorities, but following

Displaced persons camps in post–World War II Europe - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-479: The end of 1945, over six million refugees had been repatriated by the military forces and UNRRA. (The term displaced persons does not typically refer to the several million ethnic Germans in Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands etc.) who were expelled and repatriated in Germany.) British authorities made June 30, 1946 the cutoff for accepting further displaced persons in their sector of occupation, and

3311-775: The end of 1945. One camp was even set up in Guanajuato in Mexico. Many American-run DP camps kept Holocaust survivors in horrific conditions, with insufficient food and inmates living under armed guard, as revealed in the Harrison Report . The UNRRA moved quickly to field teams to take over administration of the camps from the military forces. A number of DP camps became more or less permanent homes for these individuals. Conditions were varied and sometimes harsh. Rations were restricted, and curfews were frequently imposed. Camps were shut down as refugees found new homes and there

3388-644: The end of October 1946, the French zone had a population of: (The Saar Protectorate had a further 0.8 million.) From November 1945, Luxembourg was allocated a zone within the French sector. The Luxembourg 2nd Infantry Battalion was garrisoned in Bitburg and the 1st Battalion was sent to Saarburg . The final Luxembourg forces in Germany, in Bitburg, left in 1955. The Soviet occupation zone incorporated Thuringia , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , Brandenburg and Mecklenburg . The Soviet Military Administration

3465-556: The end of hostilities, mostly lying eastward of the July 1945-established inner German border , was temporary. After two months during which they held areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone, U.S. forces withdrew in the first days of July 1945. Some have concluded that this was a crucial move which persuaded the Soviet Union to allow American, British and French forces into their designated sectors in Berlin, which occurred at roughly

3542-405: The fall of 1946, it was not clear whether the remaining DPs would ever find a home. Between 1947 and 1953, the vast majority of the "non-repatriables" would find new homes around the world, particularly among these countries: After World War II ended in 1945, there were 7 to 11 million displaced people, or refugees, still living in Germany, Austria and Italy. To have some of these refugees come to

3619-596: The four occupying powers wielded government authority in their respective zones and carried out different policies toward the population and local and state governments there. A uniform administration of the western zones evolved, known first as the Bizone (the American and British zones merged as of 1 January 1947) and later the Trizone (after inclusion of the French zone). The complete breakdown of east–west allied cooperation and joint administration in Germany became clear with

3696-703: The high commissioners were replaced by normal ambassadors. West Germany was also allowed to build a military, and the Bundeswehr , or Federal Defense Force, was established on 12 November 1955. A similar situation occurred in East Germany. The GDR was founded on 7 October 1949. On 10 October the Soviet Military Administration in Germany was replaced by the Soviet Control Commission , although limited sovereignty

3773-638: The history of the camp, including interviews with contemporary witnesses. The association that runs the museum offers guided tours of the museum and the former camp in English. Allied Occupation Zones in Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II , from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan , Nazi Germany

3850-585: The idea after it was reported on by major American newspapers. Ultimately, US occupation policy came to be determined chiefly by the War Department , with long-term objectives summed up by the four Ds : denazification , democratization , demilitarization , and decentralization (or decartelization ) . Initially, the US was extremely rigorous in its efforts to prevent fraternization with German civilians. US soldiers were forbidden to shake hands with Germans, visit their homes, play games or sports with them, exchange gifts, take part in social events, or walk in

3927-437: The military government. Later, Radio Frankfurt , Radio München (Munich) and Radio Stuttgart gave way for the Hessischer Rundfunk , Bayerischer Rundfunk , and Süddeutscher Rundfunk , respectively. The RIAS in West-Berlin remained a radio station under U.S. control. By May 1945 the British and Canadian Armies had liberated the Netherlands and had conquered Northern Germany. The Canadian forces went home following

SECTION 50

#1732790710693

4004-433: The negotiation of the Bonn–Paris conventions during 1951–1952, which terminated the occupation and prepared the way for the rearmament of West Germany. Army units from other countries were stationed within the British occupation zone. The French Republic was at first not granted an occupation zone in Germany, but the British and American governments later agreed to cede some western parts of their zones of occupation to

4081-525: The new eastern German border by giving Poland and the Soviet Union all regions of Germany east of the Oder–Neisse line (eastern parts of Pomerania , Neumark , Posen-West Prussia , East-Prussia and most of Silesia ) and divided the remaining "Germany as a whole" into four occupation zones, each administered by one of the Allies. All territories annexed by Germany before the war from Austria and Czechoslovakia were returned to these countries. The Memel Territory , annexed by Germany from Lithuania before

4158-467: The participating governments had ratified the treaty. As envisaged by the Treaty, the last occupation troops departed from Germany when the Russian presence was terminated in 1994, although the Belgian Forces in Germany stayed in German territory until the end of 2005. A 1956 plebiscite ended the French administration of the Saar protectorate, and it joined the Federal Republic as Saarland on 1 January 1957, becoming its tenth state. The city of Berlin

4235-450: The primary goals being to prevent future aggression by Germany and to extract reparations. Political activity in the Soviet occupation zone was overseen by the Soviet Military Administration (SMAD), which maintained close control over the Germans and allowed little room for independent action on the part of local German officials. Key posts in local administration, particularly those dealing with security members, were given to members of

4312-421: The quota by extending the act for another two years, which doubled the admission of refugees into the United States to 415,000. From 1949 to 1952, about half the 900,000 immigrants that entered the United States were displaced persons. In order to qualify for American visas, only those that were in internment camps by the end of 1945 were eligible. The displaced persons that were trying to come to America had to have

4389-538: The reasons for displacement varied considerably, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force classified individuals into a number of categories: evacuees, war or political refugees, political prisoners, forced or voluntary workers, Organisation Todt workers, former forces under German command, deportees, intruded persons, extruded persons, civilian internees, ex- prisoners of war , and stateless persons. In addition, displaced persons came from every country that had been invaded or occupied by German forces. Although

4466-487: The refugees as “ displaced persons ” (DPs) and assigned the responsibility for their care to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Combat operations, ethnic cleansing , and the fear of genocide uprooted millions of people from their homes over the course of World War II. Between 40 million and 60 million people were displaced. A large number were inmates of Nazi concentration camps , labor camps and prisoner-of-war camps that were freed by

4543-450: The resources of their occupation zone to facilitate economic recovery within France itself. Since one of their key goals was to ensure that Germany would never again be in a position to threaten France, the French were strongly opposed to a unified approach to occupation, and favored political structures that were as decentralized as possible. On the economic front, the French seized the opportunity to extract coal and steel resources from

4620-429: The rest of Germany – this included the Soviet sector of Berlin, which was legally separate from the rest of the Soviet zone. At the end of October 1946, Berlin had a population of: In 1945 Germany east of the Oder–Neisse line was assigned to Poland by the Potsdam Conference to be "temporarily administered" pending the Final Peace Treaty on Germany between the four Allies and a future German state; eventually (under

4697-427: The same time; the need for intelligence gathering ( Operation Paperclip ) may also have been a factor. On 20 March 1948, the Soviets withdrew from the Allied Control Council. The split led to the establishment in 1949 of two new German states, West Germany and East Germany . The American zone in Southern Germany consisted of Bavaria (without the Rhine Palatinate Region and the Lindau District , both part of

SECTION 60

#1732790710693

4774-412: The situation of many of the DPs could be resolved by simply moving them to their original homes, this could not be done, for example, where borders changed to place the location in a new country. Additionally, many could not return home for fear of political persecution or retribution for perceived (or actual) collaboration with Axis powers. The original plan for those displaced as a result of World War II

4851-403: The streets with them. How strictly this policy was applied varied from place to place, but in many places the restrictions were frequently ignored, as a result of which the policy was quickly abandoned. Germans were also prohibited from inhabiting any part of a building in which US soldiers were housed, leading to large numbers of Germans being ejected from their homes. British occupation policy

4928-415: The war, a meeting now referred to as the Yalta Conference (Office of the Historian, 2000). This meeting resulted in a series of decisions, but a specifically important decision made resulted in forced repatriation, where displaced persons were forced back to their countries of origin, and this use of force resulted in acts of antisemitic violence against the survivors of the war. Studies conducted years after

5005-415: The war, was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and transferred to the Lithuanian SSR . All territories annexed by Germany during the war from Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland and Yugoslavia were returned to their respective countries. Deviating from the occupation zones planned according to the London Protocol in 1944 , at Potsdam, the United States, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union approved

5082-461: Was continuous consolidation of remaining refugees into fewer camps. By 1952, all but two DP camps were closed. The last two DP camps, Föhrenwald closed in 1957 and Wels in 1959. Many displaced persons had experienced trauma, and many had serious health conditions as a result of what they had endured. The immediate concern was to provide shelter, nutrition and basic health care. Most DPs had subsisted on diets of far less than 1,500 calories

5159-534: Was headquartered in Berlin-Karlshorst , which also came to house the chief rezidentura of Soviet intelligence in Germany. At the end of October 1946, the Soviet zone had a population of: While located wholly within the Soviet zone, because of its symbolic importance as the nation's capital and seat of the former Nazi government, the city of Berlin was jointly occupied by the Allied powers and subdivided into four sectors. All four occupying powers were entitled to privileges throughout Berlin that were not extended to

5236-451: Was moved to Mönchengladbach where it was known as JHQ Rheindahlen . Another special feature of the British zone was the enclave of Bonn . It was created in July 1949 and was not under British or any other allied control. Instead it was under the control of the Allied High Commission . In June 1950, Ivone Kirkpatrick became the British High Commissioner for Germany . Kirkpatrick carried immense responsibility particularly with respect to

5313-443: Was not granted to the GDR government until 11 November 1949. After the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953, the Soviet Control Commission was replaced with the office of the Soviet High Commissioner on 28 May 1953. This office was abolished (and replaced by an ambassador) and (general) sovereignty was granted to the GDR, when the Soviet Union concluded a state treaty (Staatsvertrag) with the GDR on 20 September 1955. On 1 March 1956,

5390-418: Was not part of either state and de jure continued to be under Allied occupation of the four countries until the reunification of Germany in October 1990. For administrative purposes, the three western sectors of Berlin were merged into the entity of West Berlin being de facto part of the FRG. The Soviet sector became known as East Berlin and while not recognised by the Western powers as a part of East Germany,

5467-500: Was often improvised, and there were many instances of military personnel sharing from their own supplies of food, medicine, clothing, etc. to help the refugees. Initially, military missions of the various Allied nations attached to the British, French and U.S. army commands assisted in the sorting and classifying the DPs of their own nationality. For example, during 1945 and 1946 there were several dozen Polish liaison officers attached to individual occupation army units. On October 1, 1945,

5544-474: Was similar to that of the United States, but with a greater focus on economic problems. The British Occupation Zone included the Ruhr industrial region, which had experienced the heaviest bombing and therefore faced the greatest shortages of housing and food. Initial British occupation directives were concerned primarily with economic considerations and food supply. To further the long-term aim of democratization,

5621-469: Was stripped of its sovereignty and former state : after Germany formally surrendered on 8 May 1945, the four countries representing the Allies (the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France) asserted joint authority and sovereignty through the Allied Control Council (ACC). At first, Allied-occupied Germany was defined as all territories of Germany before the 1938 Nazi annexation of Austria . The Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945 defined

5698-716: Was strongly curtailed. Jewish refugees hoping to reach other countries, including the United States, were also met with restrictions and quotas. Many Hungarians in Austria, fearing communist repression or war crimes charges, were reluctant to be repatriated. Relief workers were resistant to pressuring the Hungarians, and invoked recent UN and government statements against forced repatriation. Once it became obvious that repatriation plans left many DPs who needed new homes, it took time for countries to commit to accepting refugees. Existing refugee quotas were completely inadequate, and by

5775-483: Was that the prisoners of concentration camps would simply be sent back to their countries of origin, but in the aftermath of the war, this soon became impossible (Berger, 2008). In February 1945, near the end of the war, the heads of the Allied powers, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin convened to decide matters relating to rebuilding Europe after

5852-707: Was the absorption of post-war expellees. While the UK, the US and the Soviet Union had agreed to accept, house and feed about six million expelled German citizens from former eastern Germany and four million expelled and denaturalised Czechoslovaks , Poles, Hungarians and Yugoslavs of German ethnicity in their zones, France generally had not agreed to the expulsions approved by the Potsdam agreement (a decision made without input from France). Therefore, France strictly refused to absorb war refugees who were denied return to their homes in seized eastern German territories or destitute post-war expellees who had been expropriated there, into

5929-409: Was to repatriate them to their countries of origin as quickly as possible. Throughout Austria and Germany , American, French, British, or Soviet forces tended to the immediate needs of the refugees located within their particular Allied Occupation Zone and set in motion repatriation plans. Nearly all of the displaced persons were malnourished, a great number were ill, and some were dying. Shelter

#692307