How to Measure an Expellee's Suffering

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I think that is necessary to create a permanent exhibition and memorial of German expellees. The suffering of millions of Jews, Poles, Czechs and other Europeans during the World War II should not be underestimated, but, on the other hand, the European public should be informed also about the suffering of the German civilians. Unfortunately, many people don't know the fact that tens of thousands of German civilians were killed by the English and American bombardments of Dresden, Leipzig, Hamburg and other cities. I think that the suffering of civilians is similar in many cases, and the fact that Nazi Germany is responsible for many atrocities during World War II should not be accepted as an excuse for crimes committed against the German civilian population. -- Levent Inanc

A critical issue indeed. How many centuries back in history does one go to prove whether the lands were German or Polish? Also, how many Germans, in 1945, knew what the Nazis had done outside Germany, and why Poles might react in the way they did in 1945? How relevant was the Nazi reaction to the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, and the numerous Nazi slave labor and extermination camps in the same territories? How often were Poles treated as "inferiors" during Nazi occupation? The question in some cases is about individuals suffering for the inhumanity and injustice of politicians and other social powerbrokers. It seems to me that the corporate supporters of the Nazi party should compensate the displaced Germans who were expelled from Poland, as they both aided the Nazis to abuse and/or kill thousands of Poles, and provided the justification for the expulsions of Germans from East Prussia and Silesia in 1945. If not for the corporate supporters of the Nazi party, the problem might never have existed. To be fair, those in positions of social power, responsible for the entire fiasco, starting in 1939, should make any reparations requested by the expellees, particularly those pro-Nazi corporations still flourishing today in Germany. -- Blake Finley

Congratulations to Erika Steinbach and Wilfried Rogasch for showing this exhibit. How can it be hurtful to Polish-German relations? These are historical facts which cannot be erased. Part of my family was expelled and in doing so, were very badly treated by the Polish administration, so much though that my aunt died of a heart-attack. This exhibit is important German history! -- Dieter Reimers

I hope that they mention why Germans had to be expelled from those lands. Do they mention millions of Poles moved from Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania because the border had been moved to west? Germany started the war and they, and millions of others, paid the price. It is shame to raise the issue of "victims" when you are the reason for all that unhappy time and those tragedies. My mother lost whole family in the war. She lived in the Dachau and then a slave worker in Germany for three years. Is Ms. Steinbach aware about those dramas or does she not care? Germans should respect those who became victims of their action, not play the victims of others. -- Wally Kowalski

If an exhibition of photographs and similar historical facts is "rewriting history," then that is a clear indicator that history, as it is written now, is currently not representing the truth and does need to be re-written. -- Martin Wahl, Canada.

I think it's great that this subject is finally getting some light. For too long those that participated in the expulsion of the eastern European Germans have worked hard to keep the facts swept under the rug or outright deny that they ever happened. I also think it is time that the German government stop avoiding the issue and start representing all of its citizens. One should not fear being branded an extremist simply for standing up for basic human rights. The true lessons of history and war will never be learned until we fully examine and accept all that has happened. -- Joseph Klein

The story is full of horrors. All people are guilty. I don't see any innocents under the sun. Please, stop the polemics: We must try to build a new European way of life. Some forces don't like and don't want a strong, really independent European Union. Every day, someone blows on the fire of our errors of the past decades and centuries. Do you Remember the Latin motto "Divide et Impera?" Please, European citizens, don't fall again in the traps of the past! -- Marco