Germans After The War. Ethnically Cleansed From Other Countries

[Harleyman]

---------- Post added 25-05-2015 at 22:45 ----------

 

Hitler sowed the seeds and reaped the whirlwind. There were stories of Russian soldiers who when advancing sometimes passed through the very villages they were born and grew up in and found their mothers, fathers and other family members hanged by the neck in what was left of their burned out homes.

 

Hard therefore to condemn men like these who when crossing into East Prussia had the urge to do the same to the Germans

Edited May 25, 2015 by Harleyman

[tinfoilhat]

---------- Post added 25-05-2015 at 22:45 ----------

 

Hitler sowed the seeds and reaped the whirlwind. There were stories of Russian soldiers who when advancing sometimes passed through the very villages they were born and grew up in and found their mothers, fathers and other family members hanged by the neck in what was left of their burned out homes.

 

Hard therefore to condemn men like these who when crossing into East Prussia had the urge to do the same to the Germans

 

Looks like a bit more than rumours.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_British_Free_Corps

[whiteowl]

Slightly off-topic but I've never understood why we didn't declare war with the Soviet Union on the 17th September 1939 when they invaded Poland. After all, that's why we went to war with Germany, because of a treaty.

If anybody could shed any light on this (and yes I have googled it, but it's still not clear) I would be grateful.

[Waldo]

Slightly off-topic but I've never understood why we didn't declare war with the Soviet Union on the 17th September 1939 when they invaded Poland. After all, that's why we went to war with Germany, because of a treaty.

If anybody could shed any light on this (and yes I have googled it, but it's still not clear) I would be grateful.

 

Imagine it wouldn't have been pragmatic / expedient to do so. You can't fight everyone you have a disagreement with, it makes sense to pick and choose your battles, and focus on one enemy at a time; maybe the other enemy can become a friend, in time?

[Annie Bynnol]

In 1919 both Russia and Germany were weakened to the point that treaties were imposed. The Curzon Line was put forward by the western Allies after World War I as the demarcation line between Poland and Russia.

This was rejected by the Polish state as it was seen as strategically indefenceable by its leaders.

 

The Russian civil war enabled the newly created Poland to push their borders east. They defeated the Ukranians and the the Russians and forced their acceptance of a new eatern border in Belarus via the treaty of Riga.

The Soviet regained this territory claiming their version of the Curzon line as the Polish/Soviet border.

 

Wars, treaties, marriages and alliances made for ever changing and unstable borders for a thousand years- it is not by accident that Copernicus is known by his Latin name.

[MikeFrank]

Thanks for the interesting responses. One thing all this has learnt me, is the importance of the EU. I may be changing my mind on that.

[Event Horizo]

A great-uncle of mine was forced to fight for the Wehrmacht in World War 2, despite being Dutch. When he returned the family was ostricised and worse. The winners write history.

 

If he had of been recruited to the SS i doubt he's had been allowed to live.

[retep]

When looking into my uncles time as a POW,

I found the Allies were just as bad as the Germans, if not worse as the war had ended, yet they were deliberately starving people to death.

[MikeFrank]

When looking into my uncles time as a POW,

I found the Allies were just as bad as the Germans, if not worse as the war had ended, yet they were deliberately starving people to death.

 

My grandfather was a POW during the war. Firstly, with the Germans and then with the Italians. He said that the Germans treated the prisoners very well but the Italians were cruel to them...

 

My Great Aunt, who's 89 now, was a Land Army Girl and she has great stories of her time. She still says the war was the best time of her life

 

She worked on the Forests felling trees etc... there was a German POW Camp nearby and they all talked to the Germans through the wire fence. They formed friendships and they used to take them food.

 

An important lesson to learn from all this that it only takes a minority of one nation, in this case Nazis (I read once that only 10% of Germans were Nazis) to create misery for the majority.....

 

Most people are intrinsically good, but we're easily led astray...

 

My Great Grandfather was shot in the head during the first world war and survived... he went on to be the last ivory carver in Sheffield. Wars last for generations in families and with the elderly ones they are still discussed... My dad was in Korea the forgoton war in many respects.. He was 18 when dragged away to a foreign land.. I remember when I was eighteen and starting a new job how nervous I was walking into town.. I can only imagine how nervous I would have been walking up a gang plank to sail to the other side of the world..

Edited May 26, 2015 by MikeFrank

[alchresearch]

There was a piece on BBC Coast about how German civilians living in UK at the time of the war were all interred on the Isle of Man.