After the Reich (57 page)

The confiscation of the Zistersdorf oilfields gave rise to an act of resistance by Renner, who refused to sign the agreement.
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The Russians threatened to report him to Koniev, but he must have known he had the backing of the Western Allies, Clark in particular, who - like Clay north of the Inn - could see the propaganda value in exposing Soviet knavery in this and other instances. Clark also claims to have foiled a Soviet attempt to take over the building of the Ministry of the Interior.

January 1945. The inhabitants of East Prussia have finally been allowed to flee, but the Red Army has cut them off from the Reich at Elbing. In desperation hundreds of thousands make their way across the frozen inland sea or Haff. Russian warships open fire on the ice

The ‘treks’ began that winter. These Silesians are making their way west in any transport they can find. Note the elegant carriage among the carts and traps

Over sixteen million Germans left their homes, few of their own free will. These Sudetenländer are being shipped out in cattle trucks. The manner of their going was a relief, however, after what many had suffered in the camps

Conditions on the trains were at best primitive. Everything had to be done in the carriages. If they were lucky the Czechs or Poles allowed them to take off the waste

Miserable Sudeten expellees wait to board the train to Germany

Pious Sudeten Catholics hear an open-air Mass on their way to their new lives

Silesians assemble in the streets of their town prior to their expulsion. This was only the beginning of their Calvary: they would often spend weeks in a transit camp where they would face the most abominable treatment. Many died

The Oder at Frankfurt. This was to be the new Polish-German border after the Western Allies gave in to Stalin’s demands at Potsdam

For the Jews life in the new Poland and the new Czechoslovakia had few temptations: the ruins of the White Stork synagogue in Wrocław (Breslau) in 1991

Sudetenländer rounded up in Bergreichenstein (Kasperské Hory) push their goods to the assembly camp. They are wearing white armbands to mark them out as Germans

Germans were allowed to take only the basic minimum with them. Here in Bergreichenstein in eastern Bohemia Czech officials inspect suitcases and clothing for anything of value

Note that the guard is wearing a recycled German helmet while his colleague is trampling on the German’s possessions