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 state (Land) which received the greatest number of these largely destitute expellees in proportion to...

The Netherlands is an unusual nation in many ways. It is not only that nearly half her land is below sea level. Nor is it that she is one of the world's most crowded lands; her more than 13 million people create a population density of about 1000 per square mile. Nor is it that half her national income is dependent upon world trade. Nor is it that so small a nation could achieve peace and prosperity with so little natural resources. What is most unusual is that the Netherlands has made such a rapid and total adjustment to the demands of modern technological society. In no small measure this...

Who, in 1945 and 1946, could have foreseen that the economic and social integration of the millions of Germans from the East expelled into West Germany after Wodd War II would largely be accomplished in a few years? And, who could have foreseen that many years after this accomplishment the political repercussions of the expulsions would go on? Yet, surprisingly enough, this is what has happened. In 1969, as usual, the major issues of the federal election campaign in West Germany hardly reflect any specific economic and social concerns of the expellees, not even those bruited about by the NPD...