GERMANS IN MILLIONS

Grey River Argus, 19 September 1945, Page 5

GERMANS IN MILLIONS

- BANISHED FROM EAST EUROPE To West of Oder River FROM RUSSIA, BALKANS, POLAND AND EAST GERMANY. LONDON, September 17. It is estimated that nine million Germans may shortly be expelled to somewhere in Germany west of the Oder-Neisse line, which is now virtually; the eastern frontier of Germany. Germans, not only men, but also'women and children, are now straggling westward as they are being expelled from the provinces oi East Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia, Brandenbur" and the Sudetenland. In addition, all German-speaking people in Russia, Poland, and the Balkans seem to be on the march westward. In the Russian occupied zone in Germany five million of these expelled Germans are wandering about in circumstances of great distress and hardship, and enduring sufferingsimilar to that inflicted on the peoples of Western and Eastern Europe during the advance of the Wehrmacht in 1939-42. About one million German refugees already have passed through Berlin, and have been dispersed in the surrounding countryside. So far they have been forbidden bv the British and American authorities to enter their zones without special permission, which is rarely given. However, a good many have probably crossed the border clandestinely. A special correspondent of “The Times" at. Berlin said: At Berlin, which is the onlyplace where any organised effort to help these people is possible on a large scale, German authorities are doing everything in their power. One report said that at the city of Kustrin, on the Oder River, a trainload of several hundred Germans was stopped. Typhus was raging among them. They- were chased out into the fields bv ’ German authorities lest they should enter the (own and bring contamination with them. This may not be true. It may also not. be true that nearly all towns in the evacuation area have natrols out on the roads to intercept the refugees and prevent them entering the area and sharing the food rations alreadv depleted by Russian requisitions. But there ns no doubt that refugees arrive in Beriin in a horrible staffi. and (hat once- t.hev have been sent forward from Berlin where they r an remain onlv 24 hours unless too ill Io move, there is no check on what becomes of them. It is at present almost impossible to discover in detail what is going on. There is plenty reason to doubt whether the Potsdam clauses referring to humane conditions for the evacuation of these peonle ar° beffig respected, at least bv Poles. It is believed that in Danzig and elsewhere under Polish control, Germans are being rounded up on a house-to-house basis and marched off to rail wav stations with only the goods they can carry. Following recent disclosures, the 'Czech Government modified its evacuation policv. That factor largely was responsible for a drop in the average number of refugees arriving dailv from 15 000 to 8.000. The Russians are trying to cope with the situation, without, adequate transport facilities, food, medical supplies, or communications. This does not alter the fact that there are bands of hungry peonle scouring the countryside for food and shelter, which are not sufficient for the peonle who already live in the area. Most of 1 hp.se refugees are women and children since most adult, males who had not Fopri called un for service in the Wehrmacht are being retained in Poland to provide labour for lhe reconstruction of that country's areas. Tf will seem from all this that the problem is one that can only be tackled on international lines. The Russians alone cannot be exne”t n d to cope with it. The first, need is obviousiv for more information. Th-’n it will bo necessarv to divert _ the evacuated persons among the’ British. French. American, and Russian zones, so that, the whole burden does not fr.il on one area. Finally, supplies of al] sorts must be forthcoming.

Another report states that at Frank-furt-on-Mam renresentatives of the occupying Powers have been meeting. ! n an endeavour to cone with th° m-ob-lem presented by the refugee millions, a. laro-e p'e"centape of whom are exnecWl to die during the coming wintor from the effects of hunger and exhaustion.

it is felt ffi' many sections of the nublic in Britain that while the Germans may deserve nunishment, t.hev have not earned torture of this kind. A denutation of church leaders, headed by the Archbishon of York (Dr Garbett) who also represented the A-chhishop of Canterbury, waited on Mr Attlee and Mr P. J. No p l-Baker. Minister of State, at No. 10 Downing Street, to draw the attention of the Government to the nroblem. The deputation was told that, though the particular problem was not one for which lhe Government was in anv way responsible, it was hoped that steps taken at the Berlin conference to suspend further expulsions, nendin" consideration of the matter by the Allied Control Council in Germanv and bv the governments concerned, would he effective. Anoth Q r indication of concern in Britain is the formation of an organ-’•'-atinn called “Save Europe Now”, winch invites people to submit to ration cuts this winter in order to assist the W omen -and children of Europe.

Mr J. B. Priestly, the author, stated he stopped ’n Berlin on his way to Moscow, and .snent a whole dav insr.pefino- hospitals and camps in which child victims of mass expulsion were being cared for temporarily. He declared that An international children’s chrvtpv r>n lines of the “Save the Children" campaign after the last, war, should be sponsored by the Allied nations.