Czechoslovak Refugees in the Displaced Persons Camps in the Early Cold War

Abstract

The paper deals with various aspects of the life of Czechoslovakian refugees at the displaced persons camps in Allied–occupied Germany and Austria. About 60,000 people left the country within a few years following the Communist takeover in February 1948. The first steps in the “free world” brought them behind the walls and fences of the camps, where accommodation met only very basic needs. Wooden shacks, former prisoner–of–war camps, military barracks, schools, factories or even more primitive housing, such as tents or train cars. The atmosphere in the camps was extremely tense because of the widespread belief that the Cold War would quickly change into an armed conflict between the USA and the USSR. But as time passed, people remained long months or even years in the camps, sending visa applications, waiting for work permits and transport to a new home. The camps could be likened to a unique microcosm, with prostitution, black market, subversive activities of Communist informants, violent and boozy clashes as well as churches, chapels, libraries, schools, kindergartens, shops, craft workshops, sports associations, scout troops or even the recruitment offices for Western armies. Moreover, the first magazines, brochures and leaflets were published there, and the first seeds of political activity were born. Nevertheless, their existence and everyday operations are almost forgotten by contemporary historiography.