'Unsere Heimat ist uns ein fremdes Land geworden...' Die Deutschen östlich von Oder und Neiße 1945-1950. Dokumente aus polnischen Archiven, 3: Wojewodschaft Posen, Wojewodschaft Stettin (Hinterpommern) by Wlodzimierz s> Borodziej Hans Lemberg (review)

Abstract

368 SEER, 84, 2, 2006 the time are available.This, unwittingly,leaves the impressionthat Hungarian politicianshad good reasons for tacklingthe Jewish question'. The book offers a wealth of detail on the organizational structuresand individualsthat oversawthe self-financinggenocide in Hungary.The focus on the economics of genocide and its profiteersrightlysuggeststhat mass murder had a 'rational' motive and was not simply a mass psychosis. Moreover, as Gotz Aly claimsin his latestbook, HitlersVolksstaat (Frankfurt am Main, 2005), the distributionof Jewish property among the Gentile population probably contributedto the broad acquiescence to the persecution of theJews. Yet no genocide has ever been committed on the basis of greed alone. The authors' hypothesis of the primacy of economics turns out to be the weakest point in their account. In fact, their own findingssuggestthat ideologicalmotives such as racistanti-Semitismand a long traditionof xenophobic nationalismplayed a significantrole too (e.g., pp. 30, 70, 76-82). A concluding chapter (missing from the book) would have placed their research into the broader discussion surrounding the motives behind the Holocaust and the conditions under which it was executed. Some reflectionson Hungary'slong-standingpolicy of Magyarization, and the role of anti-Semitism in the fate of Hungary'sJews would have rounded off the argumentwell. Histogy Department ULRIKE EHRET King'sCollege London Borodziej, Wlodzimierz and Lemberg, Hans (eds). 'UnsereHeimatist unsein ftemdesLandgeworden. . .' Die Deutschen dstlich vonOderundNeiJ3e I945-I950. Dokumente auspolnischen Archiven, 3: Wojewodschaft Posen,Wojewodschaft Stettin (Hinterpommern). Verlag Herder Institut, Marburg, 2004. viii + 701 PP. Documents. List of Documents. Thesaurus. List of Abbreviations. Indices. Map. ?70o00. THE transferof Germansfrom Centraland EasternEuropehas been the subject of numerous scholarlyworks. Indeed, the Second World War resultedin unprecedentedsocial and demographicshiftsin Europe, one of which was the removal of German minorities from places they had inhabited for centuries. Post-warevents in Poland are unique because the war brought about a shift in frontiersas well as populations. Poland gained territoryat the expense of Germany but was, in turn, also forced to cede territoryto the Soviet Union. WlodzimierzBorodziejand Hans Lemberghave edited a seriesof volumes on the transfer of Germans from Poland containing original documents from Polish archives. The third volume addressesevents in the Poznan (137 documents)and Szczecin (155 documents)regions. The firstpartof thisvolume dealingwith Poznan and the surroundingareas is introduced by StanislawJankowiak. In an effort to provide the reader with some historical background information on the German minority in the Poznan region, a number of sections covering differentperiods up until the outbreakof the Second WorldWar are included in the Introduction.The history of the German minority before I9I8 and during the interwarperiod REVIEWS 369 is discussed. The sociopolitical organization of the German minority in the Poznan region during the interwaryears is described as is its changing economic and culturalposition.Jankowiakbriefly,but convincingly, depicts the political evolution taking place among Germans in Poland during the I930s. Shortly after Hitler's ascent to power, a non-aggression pact was signed between Poland and Germany. Immediatelythereafter,some considered this an improvementin relationsbetween the two countries.However, such sentiments proved to be unfounded. Germany'sincreasingforeignpolicy successes only served to encourage anti-Polish sentiments among Poland's Germans, in whom nationalist sympathies had been fuelled by Hitler's policies and propaganda. Nazi occupation policies in Poland during the Second World War are discussedin detail. The goal of Germanizationwas to be achievedby means of exterminationofJews and Poles as well as expulsionscombined with the resettlementof ethnic Germans from other countries in Eastern Europe. In I944, as the situationon the easternfrontdeteriorated,increasingnumbers of Germans in Poland began searchingfor ways to evacuate Polish territory and move westward. FromJanuary I945 onwards, a very hasty exodus of Germans fleeing the steadily advancing Red Army took place. With the exception of a few cities, the Soviet forces met little German resistanceand, therefore, advanced rapidly . The establishmentof Polish authorityin the liberated regions occurred with varying degrees of difficultydepending on local conditions. By the time Polish authoritywas definitely restored, about io per cent of the population was German. The Poles in the Poznan region were convinced that the Germanminorityought to be expellednot only as punishmentforthe wartime behaviour of the Germans, but also to make room for Polish settlerscoming from eastern territoriesceded to the Soviet Union. From liberation up until September I945, expulsionsof Germanswere...