"Migrations in the 20 th century and their consequences – ways forward for history lessons within a European context"

Passauer Neue Presse
, published an article entitled “The Mountain of Misery” which contained 
the following comment: “A reasonably fair balance between well-stocked china and linen 
cupboards and the pitifully empty cases of the refugees is not a form of interference in 
bourgeois family life which can be rejected as ‘undemocratic coercion’, but a necessity for all 
those who go through this world with open eyes, which has inevitable, grave implications for 
those who recognise it, particularly the wealthy.”
Particular problems were encountered by both churches in Bavaria and these were reflected in 
the parish magazines. They were particularly alarmed at the prospect that the refugees might 
set up their own churches. This prompted the Protestant regional synod held in Ansbach from 
9 to 13 July 1946 to come to the following conclusion: “… We wish to adopt them as brothers 
and sisters but we should also expect that they will not lead some form of separate existence 
within our church or even attempt to set up separate churches, but instead will be content with 
our ways, grow fond of them, and merge together with our communities to form a whole.” The 
Catholic church also anticipated difficulties with the common liturgy and the organisation of 
services and had difficulty in integrating expelled clerics, all of which was also reflected again 
and again in parish magazines.
By 1950, however, all the media had begun focusing on various aspects of the situation of the 
new citizens in their new homeland. The main focus of attention was the housing and living 
conditions in the collective accommodation provided, as well as progress on integration. From 
1948 onwards, when the expellees were allowed to present their own lists at the municipal 
elections in Bavaria, it was only natural that the media should monitor the political role of the 
refugees and highlight this theme. Apart from a few refugee newspapers all the daily 

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newspapers came out against the creation of a refugee party or the establishment of an 
“emergency assembly”. In this respect the newspapers were following the instructions of the 
allies to the effect that they should promote the integration of the expellees and refrain from 
anything which might have fostered a special status for the refugees.
Once allied press supervision was done away with, not only the refugee newspapers but also 
most of the daily newspapers demanded the amendment of the Potsdam Agreement and 
increased aid from abroad. Practically all the daily newspapers had a monthly refugee 
supplement and refused to comply with the allied order of 31 January 1946 demanding that the 
word “deportee” should be used instead of “expellee”. When in June 1946, the Munich-based 
newspaper, the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
, denounced the Czech authorities’ actions during the 
expulsion of the Sudetens in unusually stark terms, this gave rise to no more than a reprimand 
from the American authorities. The influence of American press censorship should therefore not 
be overestimated.
After the 1949 parliamentary elections the Bavarian press became less concerned with the day-
to-day problems of refugees and more with the passing of the various compensation laws.
However, the newspapers did follow the development of the “refugee towns” very closely. After 
1951 the newspapers’ interest in the refugee question declined noticeably - except in the 
expellee press.
When we talk about “Bavaria’s fourth tribe” we are implicitly acknowledging that the refugees 
and above all over a million expelled Sudetens have their own traditions which were and still are 
a major asset in their cultural integration and acculturation. Under the Federal Expellee Act of 
1953 the promotion of the cultural activities of refugees and expellees was even advocated by 
the state and, although there were other problems and concerns to be dealt with before this, 
Bavaria went ahead with this cultural promotion. As early on as the Sudeten German Rally in 
Munich in 1954, Bavarian State Prime Minister Erhard announced Bavaria’s patronage of the 
Sudeten German community on the basis of the centuries-old historical and cultural links 
between Old Bavaria, Franconia and Sudetens. This patronage is still exercised today.
I shall now come to my conclusion. In the immediate post-war period in Germany the integration 
of refugees and expellees was one of the greatest challenges in the country's history. Bavaria 
alone had to take in some two million people who had to be accepted, accommodated and 
cared for in the same way as the native population, if they were not to become a threat to the 
newly emerging democracy.
Occupation, denazification and regulations in practically all economic fields as well as 
Germany’s international isolation compounded the difficulty of the integration process. For many 
people, flight or expulsion meant not only giving up their homeland but also a major setback in 
their lives, a change of occupation, and a reduction in social status. Only with the economic 
miracle did new sources of livelihood emerge via the “imported industrialisation” process. Young 
expellees and refugees in particular made a substantial contribution during the reconstruction to 
the creation of modern Bavaria. The “integration miracle” really did take place.

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