Prague Apologizes for WWII Expulsions

[Theobald]

Prague Apologizes for WWII Expulsions

The Czech Republic's government made its first public statement of regret regarding the treatment and expulsion of anti-Nazi Czechoslovaks of German ethnicity after World War II on Wednesday.

The apology in reference to those who were expelled from the country or were not treated as equal citizens, is the first concession from the Czechs after recent months of increasing tension between Berlin and Prague regarding the post-war expulsions of the so-called Sudeten Germans.

The Czech government unanimously passed a resolution apologizing to all those who "actively fought fascism or suffered under Nazi rule'' in World War II.

"The government of the Czech Republic expresses deep recognition to all people from among the former Czechoslovak citizens, mainly those of German origin, who lived on the territory of the current Czech Republic before World War II, who remained loyal to the Czechoslovak Republic and actively participated in fighting for its liberation or suffered under the Nazi terror, " the statement from Prague read.

About 3.5 million ethnic Germans were deported from the border regions of Czechoslovakia after the war and about 200,000 temporarily lost Czechoslovak citizenship.

Benes decrees led to expulsions and confiscations

Decrees issued by Edvard Benes, the Czechoslovak president in1945, allowed the expulsion of ethnic Germans and Hungarians and the confiscation of their property. In 1946, further legislation was passed that exempted those who had committed crimes against the two minorities from prosecution.

The Benes decrees also stated that ethnic Germans who fought against fascism could stay in the country. Czech ministers admitted on Wednesday that some were expelled by mistake and that those allowed to stay were ethnically discriminated against.

"We are correcting an injustice committed against our German co-citizens,'' Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said. The apology is for "the opponents of Nazism who were affected by measures taken by former Czechoslovakia against its so-called enemy citizens after WWII.''

"We are documenting that the Benes decrees did not refer to anti-fascists,'' Paroubek continued. "We are expressing our admiration, appreciation and apology to the significant minority of those Czechoslovak citizens of German descent,'' who "had remained faithful.''

Several German, Austrian and Hungarian politicians have maintained that the Benes decrees were discriminatory and shouldn't still be considered valid by a European Union member. The European Commission has repeatedly said that the Benes decrees are in line with EU legislation.

President warns resolution's effect

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a vociferous opponent of any concessions, called the resolution "a conceptually wrong, useless and empty gesture, which can hurt the Czech Republic and its interests.''

Many Czech politicians have expressed concerns that rendering the decrees invalid could prompt a wave of lawsuits and property claims. Paroubek has rejected such speculation.

The Czech government also announced that it would be donating 30 million koruna (1.01 million euros, $1.2 million) to a foundation that will help locate anti-Nazi ethnic Germans and record their personal histories.

Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda revealed that the government would be calling on those directly affected or their relatives to come forward.

Source

[Aeternitas]

"The government of the Czech Republic expresses deep recognition to all people from among the former Czechoslovak citizens, mainly those of German origin, who lived on the territory of the current Czech Republic before World War II, who remained loyal to the Czechoslovak Republic and actively participated in fighting for its liberation or suffered under the Nazi terror, " the statement from Prague read.

So this is how much The Czech government values the lives of ethnic Germans. What a joke. What a sick and hypocritical joke. Such apologies are not worth anything, sorry to say.

I've read a similar article here

[...]Many elderly members of the German minority are disappointed that the gesture does not contain any financial compensation for their suffering. Many had to perform forced labour between the years 1945 and 1952 and were subject to confiscations and the loss of citizenship enacted by the infamous Benes decrees. They have never been compensated for the labour, nor can they count those years towards an often meagre old age pension. Their hopes to receive at least an increase in their pensions as part of the government measures were dashed with the yesterday’s announcement.

Some members of the German minority also hoped for cultural compensation in the form of bilingual signs and bilingual education, particularly in those areas where Germans formed the majority until 1945. However, the gesture does not contain a word on the protection of German heritage in the Czech Republic.[...]

[Aeternitas]

Some older articles:

Czech, German neo-Nazis in dispute over Sudetenland
[...]

"The National Resistance...wants to build up a new Europe along with their German friends. Let us overcome the old wrongs and step side by side towards the new future," Tyden quoted an anonymous author as writing on the Czech neo-Nazi website.

However, this was apparently not enough for the German neo-Nazis. At the beginning of August the organiser of the march, Juergen Rieger, told Czechs that they could give a speech at the meeting only on condition they pronounce the sentence: "We Czech nationalists agree with the return of Sudetenland to Germany and Austria."

The Czech side called this requirement "outrageous and absurd" and the talks ended up in a stalemate.

Whole story

The Sudeten Germans' forgotten fate

As Czechoslovakia was liberated from the Nazis at the end of World War II, the population of the country took its revenge - not on the Nazis themselves, but on three million of their fellow citizens.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3466233.stm

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Aeternitas

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3466233.stm

Interesting to notice..

As order returned to Czechoslovakia, the new president, Eduard Benes, put into operation a plan, hatched with the Allies during the war, to expel all 3 million Germans from the country without compensation. Agreed at Potsdam, this act of ethnic cleansing was openly sanctioned by Churchill, Stalin and Truman.

and..

Be that as it may, the Sudeten Germans found themselves squeezed between the Nazis who were false friends, the Czechoslovaks who wreaked disproportionate vengeance, and the victorious Allies who simply washed their hands.

That war left much rancour on all sides.