Name:
Peter Rentschler Aikman
data:
2008-07-04 23:28:37
email:
itspete99@aol.com
The Germans were victims of World War II no less than the other nations involved in this horrendous catastrophe. The crimes committed against women and girls ages 8 to 80 (mass rape) by the Russians is incomprehensible. The terror Air War killed half a millions Germans, primarily women, children and old people. At the end of the War, the Americans let hundreds of thousands of German POWs die due to lack of shelter and adequate food. How many of you know that Germany lost her ancient eastern provinces of East Prussia, Silesia, East Pomerania etc. where Germans had lived, in some cases, for hundreds of years? How would we Americans feel if we lost a war and the Mexicans took back the lands that were historically theirs. At least the Mexicans have a much better claim to the US Southwest and California than the Russians, Poles and Czechs do to East Prussia, Silesia and the Sudetenland. Before uttering 'Nazi' under our breath, I would ask all of us to learn more about both sides of the War which caused the Germans to be as they are today. Maybe we won't so quickly come to the conclusion that we hate Germany! Today is the 4th of July and you know what the Americans are saying, 'Love it or leave it!' With best wishes and with the hope that the next Expatica topic will be a little more up living. How about the rebirth of Dresden 60 years after its senseless destruction in a holocaust firestorm?
Name:
Peter
data:
2008-07-02 13:40:16
email:
itspete99@apl.com
The Allies forfeited any right to moral superiority when they committed crimes against the Germans of an equal or greater degree than the crimes committed by the Germans themselves. The death of half of a million Germans in the terror Air War, the death of some two million Germans during the flight and expulsion from Eastern Europe and the death of hundreds of thousands of German POWs showed the Allies to be no less morally corrupt than the Germans. Although we are urged to call World War II 'the good war', it was as bad as all wars due in no small part to the revenge-motivated atrocities of the Russian and the other Allies.

The reason the Germans have not paid restitution to the Poles is because Poland was awarded over one fourth of prewar Germany at the end of the War. It is hard to comprehend that at that time there existed someone smart enough to decide that one fourth of prewar Germany was probably enough restitution. Today the value of these areas, now incorporated into Greater Poland, are in the trillions. At least four times the value of Eastern Poland which the Soviet Union decided it deserved. I will name again the major German cities now in Poland: Danzig Stettin, Breslau and Posen. Besides these cities, there were the churches, museums and cultural properties, the highly developed infrastructure, factories, universities (Brahms composed his well-known 'Academic Overture' for the hundredth anniversary of Breslau University), schools, autobahns and various 'breadbaskets' upon which Germany as a whole depended. It should be remembered that Poland has signed an international document attesting that it will not seek further restitution. Like everything, however it could become an open question. Yes, I am aware of the often quoted three partitions of Poland which took place in the 18th century. I can name the where, when and how it all came about. Probably it is no surprise that the Russians got the bear's share and the Germans came out short by comparison. If there is anything the Poles are masters of it is claiming that such and such an area was originally Polish due to the efforts of some Piast prince. Yes, there were a lot of Poles in West Prussia and even in Posen where Hindenburg was born. But I can also point out that before the War, Danzig and Breslau were ethnically and culturally nearly 100% German. The attempts by the Poles to prove beyond a doubt the 'polonicity' of these two cities has been first comical and then painful. As there were Poles in West Prussia, the repressive Versailles Treaty which ended World War I resulted in a large number of Germans ending up in Poland. It was the random murder and oppression of these Germans which ignited World War II. The Poles stubbornly refused to negotiate this issue and the return of the German city of Danzig. Had they been more practical, the War could have well be avoided. Even in this "good" war, as it is called (There are no good wars!), the little person pays with his life and property instead of the majority of the party 'Bonzen'. The grandmother in East Prussia who was gang raped and nailed to the barn door in East Prussia, the women and children who suffered a horrible death in the icy waters of the Baltic when the refugee ship with 9,000 aboard was arbitrarily sunk by a Soviet submarine captain, (He later for the Order of Lenin for his heroic action.) and finally the old German farmer who was beaten to death in one of the Polish revived concentration camps in Silesia all paid the ultimate prices for being seen as Nazis and not Germans I do recognize what was done to the Poles and others. I abhor and condemn the crimes committed against them no less than those committed against the Germans. But I am drawn to try and point out that the Germans should not be (even after 65 years) painted with the wide brush of 'NAZI and their sufferings and victimization should not be dismissed with the erroneous, but unforunately oft repeated statement, 'THEY DESERVED IT.!' RUDOLPH

Name:
Peter R. Aikman
data:
2009-03-01 18:37:06
email:
itspete99@aol.com
I agree. This subject is far from being exhausted. If we were to elaborate on each war crime committed by the Russians, Poles, Czechs and others against the Germans during combat in and the Expulsion from the East, we would be busy for months! And now we have the spectacle of poor Erika Steinbach being harassed, libeled and pilloried and the sovereign country of Germany being harangued for daring to entertain an internal question of who should be on the board of the Center Against Expulsion. The Poles know full well that the Center was the idea and creation of Ms. Steinbach and that she has the complete support of the German expellees themselves. If the German government had raised a ruckus, as it should have, over the deflamatory and liablous statements from the Kaczynski twins there would have been a steady stream of accusations of meddling in internal affairs from Warsaw. But, of course, the playing field for negotiations between Poland and Germany can never be even. Best regards to everyone!

5 May 2009 1:25 PM
Berlin said...
The brutal and deadly expulsion of the Germans from the Sudetenland was no less a crime than those committed by the Nazis. Hundreds of thousands of German old men, women and children were killed in what the Allies decreed would be a humane transfer. Young women, girls and grandmothers were brutally raped and often killed. Indiscriminate murder, beatings and stealing of property were common occurences. Innocent Germans were mistreated in the same concentration camps that had only recently been liberated. The massacres at Eger and other locations were unprecedented. As the article indicates, the Germans had lived in the Sudetenland since the l300s. Still they were driven from their ancient homes while being killed, beaten and violated often by gangs of roving young Czechs. This is not a page of history which the Czechs can be proud of. They still refuse to repeal the criminal Benes dictates resulting in tense relations with present-day Germany. World War II was not a 'good war' like they would have us believe. It was a 'bad war' like all wars. The Allies committed their share of atrocities and the criminal and bloody expulsion of the Germans from the Sudetenland was one of the worst.
5 May 2009 7:17 PM

Hello everyone! World War II was not a 'Good' war, as they want us to believe. It was a Bad war like ALL wars! How Three Million Germans Died AFTER the War was Over Why the Germans were ALSO Victims of World War II The crimes committed AGAINST the Germans by the Allies in WW II were almost as horrendous as those committed BY the Germans. Five hundred thousand Germans, mainly women, children and old people were victims of the Air War which left European cultural centers such as Dresden a desert of smoldering ruins. The purpose of these bombings was to to terrorize the German civilian home front. Attempts to hinder German war production by bombing were basically unsuccessful. Another serious crime against the Germans was the treatment of German POWs in open areas along the Rhine. This was primarily an American endeavor. Hundreds of Germans died in these camps due to the lack of cover and adequate food. Germans who tried to throw food and water over the wire were physically threatened. Certainly 'die Flucht und Vertreibung' (flight and expulsion) was a GERMAN holocaust. At least l5 million Germans were forcibly and brutally expelled from Eastern Germany and Eastern and Southern Europe by Poles, Czechs and Russians. In many cases, they were expelled from areas which had been Prussian and/or German for as long as 800 years (East Prussia). Of the l5 million Germans expelled from their ancestral homes, some 2 million died from mass rape, murder, beatings and starvation on the road to what was left of Germany. Women and young girls were mass raped from the ages of 8 to 80. Old men and boys who tried to protect them were often castated and beaten or shot to death. Many of the German women who were raped were killed and, in some cases, nailed (crucified) to barn doors as documented in Nemmersdorf, East Prussia. (See videos on www. youtube.de.) The Allies' criminal and ill-conceived decision to deprive Germany of l/4 of her land in the East resulted in some 82 million residents of 'rump' Germany now being crammed into an area the size of Montana. Poland, with a much smaller population, is nearly as big as her western neighbor (nemesis). Within Poland's borders are the old German provinces of Silesia, half of former East Prussia, West Prussia, Danzig and parts of Brandenburg. Gone are the bastions of German culture such as Koenigsberg, Breslau, Danzig and Stettin. Stettin is on the WEST side of the Oder but it was still given to the Poles. What German could not help but feel the pain and helplessness of such unfair criminal losses? Of course, the propaganda is that since the Russians refused to give back the eastern part of Poland which they had taken in conjunction with the Nazi in l939, Germany was to be deprived of territory in the east to compensate poor Poland. Rarely known is the fact that Poland had taken the land in the East from the Soviet Union back in the 20s when the Soviets were weak. As early as l920, Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Minister, had proposed that the so-called Curzon Line would be a fair border for Poland. The present boarder of Poland with Russia is now basically along the Curzon Line so the need to fill the Polish goose with East German corn was a hypocritical fallacy. I am an American who served in West Germany twice during the Cold War. I learned about the Flight and Expulsion from Germans who had lost their homes and everything else and had experienced first-hand famine, mass rape and the murder of their loved ones. Even I, an American, who experienced none of this feel compelled to study this great injustice while experiencing deep sorrow, pain and anger. I find it haard to believe that America and its allies sanctioned these crimes against the German people. Yes, there are treaties forced on the Germans so they could achieve unification which recognize the inappropriate Oder-Neisse Line. But as Abramam Lincoln said, 'Nothing is settled untdil it is settled fairly. The problem of the flight and expulsion and Germany's eastern border with Poland will continue to fester until a fair solution is found. Perhaps Americans could better understand the feelings of millions of German expellees if they could imagine the US losing a war and the victors arbitrarily awarding my home state California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and the great state of Texas to Mexico. If the truth be known, Mexico had a much more valid claim to these states than Poland ever did to Eastern Germany. Our friends the Brits could better understand if they would allow themselves to imagine the lost of one quarter of their present territory. One last thought; the German expellees from the very first days formally renounced violence and revenge when it came to reclaiming their homes and property. If they had not done this, can you imagine what the situation might be even now. Like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they very might very well might be daily acts of violence between the German expellees and the Poles. Instead, the German expellees have remained peaceful, but never the less, well aware of the great injustice that was done to them. Someone has said, 'The greatest loss there is, is the loss of one's home.' Dear Friends, If you find the above interesting, I would be grateful if you could do some research about the 'Flight and Expulsion.' Ask your German friends and aquaintances if they are from the 'lost lands' in the East. Ask them about their experiences at the end of the War. You will be amazed and perhaps shocked by what they went through. There are some informative videos on www.youtube.de (and com) showing the explusion and atrocities against the Germans. Sincere best wishes to you all, Peter

Name:
Peter Rentschler Aikman
data:
2008-09-23 19:00:30
email:
itspete99@aol.com
The expulsion of the Germans l945-l947 was a major crime. Some l5 million Germans, mainly old men, old women, mothers, girls and boys, were brutally driven from their ancient homes in Silesia, East Prussia, West Prussia, Eastern Brandenburg and East Pomerania. Of the 15 million, some two to three million were killed or died. There were numerous incidents of murder, mass rape of German women, old women and young girls ages 8 to 80, and the plundering of private property. These acts were committed by Poles, Czechs and Russians and they are a black page on the history of all these countries. Why do you Poles hate (fear?) Erika Steinbach so much. Don't the Germans who were mercilessly expelled from their Homeland have the right to remember what happened to them? It doesn't matter where Frau Steinbach came from. She has the authority and the support of the German expellees. As our famous president Abraham Lincoln said: 'Nothing is settled until it is settled fairly.' The Oder-Neisse Line is still not a fair solution and until a better solution is found, there will be no real peace. The crimes committed AGAINST the Germans in World War II by the Allies were as terrible as those committed BY the Germans. The Poles, Czechs and others need to admit the crimes they committed against the Germans during the Expulsion. Many of us here in the USA know the truth about the crimes committed against the Germans (the Expulsion, the murderous air war that cost 500,000 German lives and the treatment of German POWS by the Americans on the Rhine fields. We don't need the hateful propaganda and falsehoods coming from Eastern Europe. I certainly know what the Poles themselves suffered, but it does not change the reality and horror of the Expulsion of the Germans. (The above was written in response to a lenghly Polish article on the background and moral fiber of Erika Steinbach

Name:
Peter
data:
2009-02-01 12:55:22
email:
itspete99@aol.com
Malbork Massacre: World War II Mass Grave Unearthed in Poland... Malbork (MARIENBURG) will no longer be just the location of the magnificent castle of the Teutonic knights. It will be the place where some 1,800 or more defenseless German women, children and old men were murdered by either the Russians or Poles. It other words, it will be another Katyn or Auschwitz committed this time against the Germans by our Allies supposedly fighting for freedom and self-determination. What the Russians, Poles and Czechs did in reality was to kill thousands of innocent German civilians and take their land in the name of 'a terrible revenge' not liberation.