Silesian expellees came to terms with their homeland loss over time.
Evidence
A i fth of West Germany’s post-1945 population consisted of ethnic German refugees expelled from Eastern Europe, a quarter of whom came from Silesia. As the richest territory lost inside Germany’s interwar borders, Silesia was a leading objective for territorial revisionists, many of whom were themselves expellees. The Lost German East examines how and why millions of Silesian expellees came to terms with the loss of their homeland. Applying theories of memory and nostalgia, as well as recent studies on ethnic cleansing, Andrew Demshuk shows how, over time, most expellees came to recognize that the idealized world they mourned no longer existed. Revising the traditional view that most of those expelled sought a restoration of prewar borders so they could return to the East, Demshuk offers a new answer to the question of why, after decades of violent upheaval, peace and stability took root in West Germany during the tense early years of the Cold War. — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East, 0
Categorization
- XREF: Directly serves the reader’s core question: what happens to threat-hardened group solidarity when the threat (return to the East) recedes? Here solidarity dissipates via nostalgia fading against lived integration. — connects to: Direct contact with Polish life dissolved an expellee leader’s resentment and political claims — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East: Forced Migration…, 981; News from the destroyed Heimat began expellees’ coping with loss — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East: Forced Migration…, 709; Expellee political power eroded once generational change and border settlement removed grievances — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 403 (+2 more)
- QUESTION: The abstract states the thesis — most expellees came to accept the loss — but the mechanism and timeline need the body chapters; worth tracking how the ‘idealized world no longer existed’ recognition was produced.
Broader Connections
- Direct contact with Polish life dissolved an expellee leader’s resentment and political claims
#exemplifies(0.90) — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East, 981 - News from the destroyed Heimat began expellees’ coping with loss
#expands(0.85) — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East, 709 - Expellee political power eroded once generational change and border settlement removed grievances
#expands(0.85) — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 403