Reign of Terror and Displacement 1939-1949

Abstract

After the First World War, the Czechoslovak state in which the Germans formed only a minority was founded. The relationship between Germans and Czechs remained difficult as a result of the founding of the state. In 1938, the Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich; on 30.9.1938, the NS regime occupied the remainder of Czechia (“Rest-Tschechei”) as well. All Czech resistance was fought against uncompromisingly by imprisonment, detention in concentration camps, death sentences and retaliatory measures. Resulting from the war, during the six-year NS reign in Czechia, there also was ruthless exploitation of Czech workers. After the war, the displacement of Germans from Czechoslovakia followed. This controversial topic strains the German-Czech relations up to the present. Only under the umbrella of the European Union, reconciliation gradually succeeds.