Die Vertreibung aus Stadt und Kreis Frankenstein in Schlesien

The present book addresses the flight and expulsion catastrophe of 1945/1946, which has faded into the background amidst today's global refugee movements, with approximately 12 million Germans from the eastern provinces of Germany being its victims. The documentation reports on the expulsion from the Kreis Frankenstein in Lower Silesia, whose residents did not leave their homeland voluntarily.

In the first part of the documentation, the historical background that contributed to the westward shift of the Polish-German border to the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers is illuminated. The situation of the Western Allies towards Stalin during the negotiations in Potsdam from July 17 to August 2, 1945, is then discussed, including the tug-of-war over this border, the transfer of the German eastern provinces to Polish administration, up to a peace treaty and its effects on the German population there.

The main feature of the book is the documentation of the Polish land acquisition and the expulsion of the German indigenous population in the 'Operation Swallow' agreed upon between the British and the Poles, which led to the resettlement of the majority of the expelled in the British occupation zone. A table of the towns and villages of the Kreis Frankenstein with the dates of expulsion is included in the book. The numerous reports from eyewitnesses speak for themselves.