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Summary: Time for Truth
Review: Most historians or the public in general do not have knowledge of this ethnic cleansing.How can this have been silenced away for so many years? 15 Million Germans were herded out of their homelands of eastern Germany and other parts of eastern Europe, that in earlier years were part of the German Empire. People act as if this never happened or dismiss it. Any attempt at making this expulsion known, was until now totally rejected by any mainstream publisher. Anyone daring to even hint at it, was and is immediately attacked. A. de Zayas has the courage to stand up against intimidation. This book is the tip of the iceberg of the actual records of the survivors. De Zayas made an event public, that by mere denial of the actively involved perpetrators for the last 50 years, led to many repeats such as Kosovo.
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Summary: An enlightening experience
Review: Mr. deZayas has written one of the great works of this era.This work has bore light on perhaps the greatest atrocities of the entire war. Nazi war crimes have been previously well documented, and the world rightfully condemned them. Mr. deZayas has offered irrefuable evidence that the worst acts of war were reserved for the German peoples.Perhaps the greatest tragedy until now had been the worlds ignorance of this most barbaric of atrocities.Thanks to this work , people will finally know the true nature of the war.
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Summary: An important contribution to the truth
Review: The author of this book has managed to stay above the primitive finger pointing, instead he adds to the truth and many times points out the terrible consequences of feeding the monster called : revenge. It is sad though that many historians so eagerly forget this aspect of history and fall victim to the urge of revenge. This book has helped me to understand what my mother (a child then) and her parents went through when they were told to leave their farm or get shot. It also helped me to appreciate the wonderful fact that Germany is at solid peace with all its neighbors. This book is a good start for exploring history on your own. Sometimes you are surprised by what they told or didn't tell you at school.
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Summary: A balanced review of an act of vengance
Review: The book presents evidence of the explusion from territories their families had inhabited for centuries. The author does not gloss over nor excuses the crimes planned and executed by the Nazi government during WW2, and I found this to be very reassuring. After reading the book, I went and did more research, and found that there were other authors also writing books that present some of the facts that are contained in Mr. De Zayas' research (for example, John Sachs' book on Polish concentration camps for Germans). I even found books at Rutgers University library (from the 1950's)that detailed the Allied plans to resettle millions of expelled Germans from Poland and the (current) Czech republic within the four occupation zones of postwar Germany -- these details were negotiated by the victorius western powers and the Soviet Union. I applaud this and other efforts to inform the public of the truth, regardless of ideology. It is a reminder that, after all, the blood we all spill is exactly the same shade of red ...
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Summary: An important book about a little known event.
Review: The facts behind this tragedy are practically unknown, as the world has been almost exclusively preoccupied with the Holocaust. Yet, if one looks at the crimes committed by Germany and the German people in two World Wars, and the almost indescribable tragedy that resulted, of which the Jewish Holocaust is but a part, the ethnic cleansing of the East European Germans is surely insignificant by comparison.
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Summary: Tells Only Half of the Story
Review: The forced expulsion of the Germans is only half of what took place. Millions of Poles were also forcibly relocated at the end of the war and deprived of their centuries-old domiciles without due process of law. The eastern half of Poland had been annexed in 1939 by the Soviet Union as part of the German-Soviet conquest of Poland. This thievery was re-affirmed in 1944, this time with the Allies. Millions of Poles were henceforth expelled from eastern Poland and resettled into those territories from which the Germans were simultaneously being expelled. And Poland was supposed to be on the winning side of the war. On that basis, the reader should conclude that the expulsion of Germans had less to do with revenge and more to do with big-power politics.
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Summary: Payback
Review: This book is payback for the short shrift given by the media to the plight of the Germans in 1945. Mandatory reading for anyone concerned with ethnic cleansing and the media silence that often surrounds such events. De Zayas is a hero for telling this story. The author is clearly anti-Hitler, but after reading about the atrocities committed by Russians I found myself wishing the Soviets had bitten the dust in 1941. Absolutely horrrifying stories and an outstanding book on a piece of (almost) forgotten history.
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Summary: Why should this surprise me??
Review: This book is very credible and well written. The author comes squarely on the side of HUMANITY. Moreover, the author succeeds in providing a GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE to this genocide and then leaving it up to you to make your conclusions. But what conclusions might I draw? That the Germans got a raw deal?! Of course they did. Any sane person would come to that realization. Did these people deserve it? No, without a doubt. But the victorious armies sweeping the German Reich had amongst its shell shocked ranks men who felt with cause that they deserved little sympathy. Add to these ranks (like the ranks of ALL ARMIES no matter what cause they are upholding) the usual scum - ie. pedophiles, rapists, alcoholics, sociopaths and all around mentally disturbed and undisciplined criminals with a carte blanche to committ the most unspeakable acts. So these scum simply piggy backed and hijacked the Allied cause which was a noble cause - the destruction of the Third Reich and simply ran amok. This tarnishes the Allies but does not make them less moral than the Axis cause. Why should it? I hear detractors saying quite frequently that Stalin killed more people than Hitler. Well, friends, only because Stalin had a good head start. Because I live in North America am I supposed to be surprised and awe struck by this uncovered and shady chapter of the 20th century?! Of course not. Nothing surprises me anymore. This book continues to illustrate that Realpolitik - or "might makes right" will reign forever whether it's Native Americans, Germans, Palestinians, Jews, Ukrainians, Armenians, Russians, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Anatolians, etc etc etc
No group can monopolize agony. Monopolizing breeds resentment and dooms us to repeat history as easily as forgetting it's lessons to the ignorant. Read this book. It's sobering and well written. The author provides the necessary background to bring the full impact of this tragedy (genocide) to light. Cheers!!
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Summary: Harrowing tales of forgotten victims
Review: This book tells the tale of millions of ethnic Germans who were murdered, deported or otherwise ethnically cleansed from areas in eastern Europe towards the end of World War II and in the immediate years following the Third Reich's final defeat. This story has rarely been touched upon in books until now. The author recounts many first hand narratives of survivors of the violence that was doled out to anyone of German ancestry who found themselves in areas conquered by the Soviet army plus lists evidence gathered by the German Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau. Among the horrors the reader will encounter is the savagery dealt out to citizens of the German town of Nemmersdorf which included crucifictions of women and the mass murder of children. The reader will march along ethnic Germans being forced from their homes in eastern Europe and will witness the wholesale murders that befell many. De Zayas proves that victims know no nationality. I recommend this book for all interested in World War II and the immediate aftermath.
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Summary: History of Germany after the war
Review: This is a wonderful book that one cannot do without. This would complete your knowledge of WWII. What happened to the Germans is a hidden chapter that no one wants to talk about or write about. This book explains almost everything with a smooth tone, the author gives you the backround of what he is talking about first, so you cannot get lost. He has plenty of facts and in them he describes how the Allies turned their backs on Humanity, the humanity they championed as one of the reasons for them going to war and let many, many horros happen to many innocent people, who's only crime was to live in an area in which they were a Minority. In essence almost no Germans live in places were there families use to live for hundreds of years. Pussia, Bohemia, Morovia, Siliesa, Pomenaria. They were put into camps, were most starved to death. The were robbed of all there possesions, beaten, some escaped but most just died. The main point that the author puts forth and proves it is that all that happened, happened because the Allies allowed it to happen. The treaty of Potsdam, in which Relocations of all German populations living outside of Germany was approved, was the cruelest of all punishment for a people who were not Nazis but just farmers and who wanted to live a peaceful life. The relocations were supposed to be humane, but no one was there to reinforce them and so, the New Rulers of the the land did as they pleased. Read this book and understand that from hate comes hate. The unltimate responsibility of one's mind is his own. Feed your mind with good things and good things will come out of it. Read this story and understand the suffering that people go through because they are different, no matter who they are, in the end were are all just human.
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