The Assimilation of German Expellees into the West German Polity and Society Since 1945

The expulsions of German nationals from former Reich territories east of the Oder-Neisse Rivers and of German minority communities from various Eastern European nations following the collapse of the Nazi regime in 1945 constitute one of the least appreciated consequences of the Second World War. Numbering some ten million people, this group formed nearly a fifth of the total population of the new West German state which emerged in 1949 and presented a grave threat to its early stability. The sta