Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans After the Second World War

More than 12 million German-speaking civilians in Europe were driven from their homes in the wake of WWII, yet barely anyone noticed or remembers.

Immediately after the Second World War, the victorious Allies authorized and helped to carry out the forced relocation of German speakers from their homes across central and southern Europe to Germany.

Key details include:

• Unimaginable numbers: Between 12,000,000 and 14,000,000 civilians, most of them women and children, were displaced.
• Horrifying losses: At least 500,000 people, and perhaps many more, died during this process.
  • Victims perished while detained in former concentration camps, locked in trains en route, or after arriving in Germany exhausted, malnourished, and homeless.

This book is the first in any language to tell the full story of this immense man-made catastrophe.

A Comprehensive and Authoritative Account

Based mainly on archival records from the countries that carried out the forced migrations and from international humanitarian organizations that tried—but failed—to prevent the disastrous results, Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War provides:

• An authoritative and objective account of this tragic episode.
• An examination of European history that few have wished to confront.
• Insights into how the expulsions were conceived, planned, and executed.

A Legacy That Reverberates Today

The book explores:

• The long-term effects of these expulsions on central Europe.
• The event as the largest recorded episode of what we now call "ethnic cleansing."
• What may be the most significant untold story of the Second World War.

This is an important and groundbreaking study of a dark chapter in history that demands recognition and understanding.

• 512 pages, 12 b-w illus. + 1 map